Run Run Away

Question:

Hi paul:

Hi Dan, I’m planning to do a marathon in March next year, with a small possibility of doing another one exactly 5 weeks later. What are my chances of being able to run the second roughly as well as the first? I run 50k mountain races about 5-6 weeks apart often.  I find that I can run the second one just as well, sometimes better, than the first one.  My base is about 75/week.  The bigger the base, the quicker the recovery, I’ve found. The trick is to go easy for 10 days.  I’ve found that I can jump right into speedwork after that without problems. Here’s what I did after the first 50k race mentioned above:

[snip] This is starting to sound like a good idea. I hope I get through the ballot for the second marathon now. Thanks for the advice. Paul

Response:

Hi paul: I’m planning to do a marathon in March next year, with a small possibility of doing another one exactly 5 weeks later. What are my chances of being able to run the second roughly as well as the first?

I run 50k mountain races about 5-6 weeks apart often.  I find that I can run the second one just as well, sometimes better, than the first one.  My base is about 75/week.  The bigger the base, the quicker the recovery, I’ve found. Here’s what I did after a recent 50k — the next one was 5 weeks away, and I was notably stronger on the next 50k.  Twelve days after the race, I ran a speed workout faster than my last one before the first race. The trick is to go easy for 10 days.  I’ve found that I can jump right into speedwork after that without problems. I’m 52;  if you’re young, you may be able to accelerate it a bit, but don’t be afraid to take it easy for at least 7 days.  When I was in my 30’s I raced a PR marathon, then did nothing but easy running for 3 weeks, no speedwork.  Then ran a very strong 20 miler and beat several Athletics West (Nike sponsored) runners. Here’s what I did after the first 50k race mentioned above: Sat: 50k race Sun:  6.5 mile hike up 2,000