Question (7/11/03):
I ran my first marathon, in London this April, my 2nd
5 weeks later in Bayshore, my 3rd will be Oct.: Detroit Free Press,
how close together do runners enter marathons?
Answer:
The "safe" frequency for repeat marathons is related to how close you came
to an all-out performance. After working with over 100,000 runners, here
are my recommendations:
* If you ran as fast as you could have--or close to this, there should be
4-6 months between marathons.
* If you ran one minute per mile slower than you estimate your top
performance (and recovered within a week or so), wait 2-3 months before your
next one.
* If you ran two minutes per mile slower than you could have run, or slower,
(and recovered within 3 days or so) you can run a marathon every 3-4 weeks.
- Jeff Galloway
Olympian and RUNNER'S WORLD columnist Jeff Galloway has helped over 100,000 runners in his clinics and training programs. For more running information you may see his books Galloway's Book on Running (2nd ed.) and Marathon: You Can Do It. Jeff conducts one day running schools (Chicago Aug 16, NYC Sep 6), Florida Beach Retreats (Aug 1-3 & Sep 12-14), and offers more info on his website: www.RunInjuryFree.com |
