Marathon Training

Although I've done a marathon the past few years, I haven't really trained to run a fast race for several years. This year, I set the lofty goal of breaking 3:20 in the marathon. After running 3:53 in 2025, a sub-3:20 would be a huge improvement.

While on its face a 3:20 may look like a nearly unattainable goal, I'm very optimistic.

First, I'll look at why I ran a 3:53 last year. My mileage per week for 2025 was the lowest it had been since I started running again in 2009. I also wasn't racing, didn't have a structured training plan, and weighed more than I'd weighed in years,

Now, I have reason to be optimistic for this year. First, I'll be putting in more miles in this training cycle than I have in years. Second, I've started lifted weights, which I think has been a missing piece in my training puzzle. Third, I've gotten down closer to my racing weight, and if I stay on track, I should be down to race weight by race day. And lastly, I'll be following a structured training plan for the first time in years.

As I move through my training cycle, I'll be running a few 5Ks to get a gauge on my fitness. I did one at the beginning of this training cycle, clocking in at 21:32.  With only a couple weeks of training under my belt, I was happy with this result. According to the VDOT calculator, a 21:32 in the 5K is equivalent to a 3:25:48 marathon — not a sub-3:20, but this early in the training cycle, not a bad result.

Just three weeks later, I posted a 20:44 — a big improvement in a short amount of time. This time is equivalent to a 3:18:18, which would mean I'm on track to hit my goal.

The caveat to these 5K times is that I've always skewed at being faster in the shorter distances than the longer ones. My 5K PR, 16:17, is equivalent to a 1:14:36 half marathon and a 2:36:05 marathon, and my PRs in those distances are 1:16 and 2:50 (though my marathon PR would be faster had a couple of courses been marked correctly).

I'm six weeks into my 16 week training plan. I'm fortunate to have a work schedule where I have ample time in the morning to work out. A couple days I week I have time to get in a run and then lift weights before work.

In a week I'll be racing another 5K, and I'm excited to see how my training is progressing. I've run some good workouts, and I really think I'm going to see some solid progress.