ARTICLE > Athletes Reports

Back to Athletes Reports Ι Back to Articles

Folow-up questions for Twin Cities Marathon

October '06

Michael L, what were you weekly miles and how did these compare to what you did previously?

The best part about the M2 program was I never counted miles. It was a very refreshing change. Let me do the math though. Besides race week, I don’t think I ran more than 30-33 miles in any week. Just looking at my log, over the entire 12 weeks, I averaged 190 minutes of running a week and an additional 30 minutes of non-running workouts. Taking into account all of the interval work, I bet I averaged between 7:15-8:00 minute miles, so 23-26 miles a week (I just did the math 3 times to double check; it still does not seem possible).

My 1st marathons, a 4:02 on the same course in 2003, I followed a very traditional heavy mile program:

It was a 36 week program that had me running many more miles. 5 weeks were over 40 miles in the week and three 20 plus mile runs. Keeping in mind that I was running at a slower pace, this was extremely hard on my body and I saw very little improvement along the way. And mentally, it was very hard to stay focused (I found myself getting bored with “logging miles.”)

My second marathon, a 3:51 16 weeks ago, I followed a similar program that was even heavier on the miles. The problem this time was right when I felt like I was hitting a decent stride, my body broke down and I had a bad foot injury from over usage. Instead of running the last 4 weeks of the program, most of my time was spent trying to heal just so I could run the marathon.

How long have you been a runner?

In high school and college I was a tennis player. Any running I did was usually speed work or around 3 miles. The first two marathons I did I ran as something to do, but not very focused on time. After my June marathon I wanted to try and train more serious but was lost with all of the different methods. So I would say that I have been a “hack” runner since 2003, but working with you is the first time I have actually trained correctly for a faster speed.

How many marathons had you run previously?

This was my third.
Twin Cities in 2003, 4:02
Grandma’s Marathon, June 2006: 3:51
Twin Cities in 2006, 3:18,

Another good data point is I ran a 1:40 half marathon on August 5th. According to some time charts I have looked at, that would have put me at a 3:30 marathon. Somehow I gained 12 minutes in the last 7 weeks with the training.

Let me know how else I can help.

Thanks again.

Mike Lippold