Dude forget MAF. I'll give you a Sage Running BQ plan (for a sub 3!). Congrats on the finish...I know how tough it is to struggle in that last 10km at Houston!
Thanks so much for commenting, Sage! This really is a hard offer to refuse. Believe me. But I think my next marathon is too soon to try yet another training style. And I’ve been a bit of a mess lately. I wouldn’t want to drag you down with me with how I’ve been performing. If I don’t get closer to where I want to be after Boston, you can be sure I’ll be buying a Sage Running Plan.
Your training/post event analysis and reflection are so helpful for me. Sorry it did not turn out how you wanted, but thank you for sharing with us what to do when it happens to us.
I agree, I have been doing 70 miles. Week of LHR training and have my marathon in 3 weeks. 3 hours is my dream race and 3:10 might be more realistic. 169 is my LTH so I think I need to stay below that until at least mile 20.
When I see 35 minutes for a recap my day gets better since I prepare with some popcorn and having your video in my tv thank you for this amazing content
I love how you opened up the video. This was what your body had to give at the current fitness. Awesome analysis. Dont be hard on yourself. We all make mistakes. Specially during a marathon. It's so great that you are sharing all this with us. I love it
You’re actually an amazing athlete man. Great time despite you missing your goal. Keep it up and it will happen. Your subscribers are proud of you. Your time WILL come :)
Really interesting analysis. It’s actually very helpful for your training to know how long you can run in Z5. You can use that info to design tempo and threshold workouts that make sense for you. Also, great attitude for a day that didn’t go as you hoped for.
@@kofuzi I mean it…I watched every one of your videos to do with Maffetone style training and I remember thinking to myself time & time again that I could never put myself through that without becoming incredibly frustrated! Kudos to you for seeing it through! I learned from you that it is a legitimate training style and, while it's not for me, it is capable of producing results for a lot of people. Thank you!
Your straightforward honesty about things I am sure will help you in the long run. But I think one thing that you should bear in mind that often seems to get forgotten about is that sometimes we have good days and other times we don’t. Keep up the hard work and I am sure you’ll get there. And by the way, this channel is really inspiring and helpful to me. I am a long way off (ran my first ever marathon in October and took 4:07), but my goal is eventually to run a sub-3 marathon as well, and so to see someone striving as hard as you to reach that goal is brilliant.
I ran the Rock N Roll Arizona the same day as you ran Houston and feel I underperformed. Felt great at mile 17 and then, for unknown reasons, died and started the dreaded death march. This was my 64th marathon and you'd think I'd have pacing figured out better. Appreciate your breakdown as I do a similar review of my race-day strategy.
Recently discovered your channel and have been watching your chasing 3 vids plus some race recaps. This one really hit home as a masters runner who's in a similar position: I'm chasing that elusive first sub-3 road marathon and haven't quite got there yet. In preparation for last year's A race I ran a 1:23 half and thought that sub-3 was in the bag, but got a cold in the weeks before race day and ran a 3:09. Good luck in your next race!
Certainly not everything but that whole..”thinking about my shoes/foot pain” was more than a contributing factor. We appreciate all your efforts over here sir!
Thanks for such a detailed analysis. So helpful! Also, some thoughts - i think your health level is incredible. A 3:17 marathon is beyond the reach of so many people. So, congratulations! Celebrate! Like you said-expectations are the reason why you're upset. But in the larger scheme of things, you are doing something incredible!
thank you. i feel good about it. i feel good about where i am. i feel good about where i can go. i'm not satisfied, and i'm not finished. but i feel good.
Yo MK... yet another great recap. Brutally humble and honest. I can identify with you every step of the way bud! Thank you. 👍🏼 Congrats! You showed up at a Marathon, ran your heart out (no pun intended) and stayed healthy - it was a good day in my book. To run to our potential - all the stars have to be aligned on race day. I tell myself: “There are factors that are exogenous... which we have no control of; whereas there are endogenous ones which we have full control. We can only execute the ones we can control.” No doubt you are on
Oops ... pressed the wrong key. Fat fingers!!! Cont’d.... No doubt you are on your way to better executing your next Marathon and many more. As a fan, we can’t wait to see you achieve and smash your potential! 👌🏽
'How can you be frustrated at the best my body had to give?' - That is beautiful, excellent attitude. I think us runners often get lost in comparing times, you trained hard and ran hard, that is something every one should be proud of. Well done!
Ran my First Marathon after watching your video last year on Chicago, my time was 3:26:43. You have inspired many. planning to run my 2nd this Feb. Hope to see improvements in my time. Nice video recap, watched it from start to finish.
You are such an inspiration, Michael. Races come and go. Some are good, others not that much but what matters at the end of the day is the impact you have on thousands of runners around the globe. Sub 3 is waiting for you, I am sure of that.
Congrats! I love that you’re a realist, and you analyze your race so well. You know where you are, and where you want to be in your next race. Keep on truckin’!
Great content. So pertinent too. I've run 2 full marathons and I've blown up twice and the whole narrative of running about 5bpm too high or your head convincing yourself it's ok to run a little hot for a while to keep on pace rings so true! Thanks for sharing. Amazing content.
Without meaning any disrespect, having done this myself many times, BUT this is exactly how a marathon goes wrong. I always tell myself to not be tricked by the amazing freshness you feel at the start. It almost never works. You tell yourself you are running at 80% effort but really you should feel like 60% effort, it seems, because the halfway mark is mile 20 and you should be feeling absolutely fresh and as if you have gone too slow at mile 18. Even then you might just make it home strong. That is why the marathon is so interesting. Loved this recap.
Thanks for sharing such a detailed recap, we can probably all learn something out of it. I think your assessment is spot on. Some of the points too close to home even, like the part at the end where you mentally check out as you failed your time goal and the "oh I'll just walk here for a minute, time is irrelevant now so why completely exhaust myself" becomes 8x1 min. All too familiar. Your HR analysis seems good and something very useful for the future. In the end it's still a good result, as you say maybe 5-7ish mins slower than you were capable, but lessons learned which could be even more important going forward. I enjoyed following you this training block and looking forward to more great content.
I love you man keep up the good work. One of the things that helps me the most is not looking at my watch too much and instead conserve and run by feel. Don't overthink!
Love hearing about your preparation and analysis, Got my dinner and watched all 35 minutes haha. Thanks for taking the time to share and make such an in-depth video
Wow! Thanks for the video! It takes a lot to be that transparent, especially about a race that didn't work out the way you wanted. I did the same thing on my third marathon. I had specific expectations and really over thought things and messed with pace to try to achieve a specific result and ended up completely blowing up and walking a lot of the final quarter of the race. It really helped me realize that I have to listen to my body that day rather than be fixated on forcing a certain pace if it feels wrong.
i definitely overthought things. there's another commenter somewhere in here where he was trying to insult me by saying that this was a How To Overcomplicate Running 101. And i'm just thinking: welcome to the channel! i'm neurotic and overthink things! it's what i do!
One thing I noticed that you mentioned was slowing down and tucking into a group. I can attest that mentally, going from a 6:30 to a 6:45 pace literally feels as if I'm walking initially until my body can adjust to the new pace. I can't speak to the footpod over-correcting the data, but I do feel that running a marathon is 99% mental. Don't let the numbers own you... introspection on race day allows me to become a better runner. The numbers just cloud my mind with doubt. Tuck into the group and let the body stabilize for a second. Everything will take care of itself.
Good job! It sounds like you are naturally better in a half marathon. Maybe set yourself a goal of 1:15-1:22 for a half marathon since you ran under 1:30 before? I would like to see you in your best distance.
I’ve been thinking a lot that the marathon is not my best distance. Like many athletic endeavors in my life, what I want to be good at and what I’m actually good at seem to be two very different things.
Aww don’t be disappointed since you find out more about yourself. I think I saw in one of your videos that your 1/4 mile time was between 60 and 75 seconds when you were doing speed work. That was good and because of your consistent long distance training, I think you can do well in half marathon.
“I spent the whole race running away from people” Now that I’m commuting again to work, all 35 mins of this was great! Plenty of takeaways in here, the thing that stood out the most to me was aligning what you believe you’re capable of and how you’re feeling on a given day. Lots of opportunity to have a breakthrough with this approach 🙌🏾
Congrats Kofuzi. Good effort and take plenty of rest for now. I’ve stopped doing FM after my third attempt with not much improvement. Don’t over analyse and just go with the flow. I’ve concluded that I’m just not cut out to do FMs and switched to the Half and got a PB end November’19.
surprisingly, you're the first to comment on that. i thought it was worth mentioning because i see so many signs these days about Never Trust A Fart Late in the Race. i trusted mine. it was fine.
Even though you didn’t run at the pace you expected to run you still did a great job. You have a lot of people who are inspired and who are proud of you, me being one of them. Looking forward to your future training plans.
The bad thing with setting goals before running a marathon is that you usually get carried away and start the race a little faster than you should and that almost every time catch up to you in the last kilometres. I have gotten to realise that the first 3 mikes/5k should be at the long run beginning pace in order for the body and heart to start working good and from that point to start dropping the pace to the desired one. Congratulations for your result and your hard efford and for the great filming of your videos. I just registered to your channel after seeing many videos of yours.
Ran Auckland marathon after about 1 year of MAF, with 6 week speed work prior to marathon. mid 50s, 82kg, chronic pain in right Achilles. Target was 3:18, based upon pre race workouts, finished 3:16. Joined 3:15 pace group early on. HR was higher for me (148 overall, last 1/2 low 150s) than planned but trusted the feel. Eventually dropped by pacer at 41km. critique was 1 too few gels or poor aide station technique (too slow hydrating and food intake). For me, when I deviate too much from MAF I get injured. I am not maniacal with MAF, I focus on ave HR not what my HR is every minute of the run. Works for me, but my focus is ultra. thanks for video. felt the pain of the dreaded walk.
Great effort Kofuzi 👍 looks a great marathon! Here’s a bunch of thoughts/suggestions re. Pace - good idea to not have it shown on main screen and if you do have it on another screen set it to avg. pace for the lap you’re in & avg. pace for whole run - that way it doesn’t jump around as much. Would recommend looking at advanced marathoner book and Jack Daniels for the next training block? I reckon they’d get you close to 3hrs-3:10 on your next marathon. Practice running neg. splits on all your training runs. Once a week do a track/hills session with a group if poss. Group running with people of similar of ability will really help push you on. I’m not a coach though so feel free to ignore all of the above 😁Thanks so much for sharing your journey- very inspirational and informative 👍
i appreciate the insights. i think i need to give the current method a little more time. but i will be looking at Advanced Marathoning. it's always good to learn about other approaches
Brilliant Mike. Always so honest and reflective. Keep going keep getting stronger. I’d ditch the hr analysis as you seemed to mix this with the pace expectation on the day. Just go out next time and hit 7:10’s a mile and you’ll smash all 26.2 miles at the same rate with no drop off I’m 100% sure of that. More importantly have fun out there 👍🏻👌🏻👏🏼
What I mean is you are in great shape but twice have hit the wall. If your looking at HR then you can’t mix this with pace as your heart will do what you want it to. At the start you’ll always have a higher than ideal rate but they doesn’t mean it’ll be ineffective later or will affect your pace. Would it be better to be realistically 10 secs a mile back of where you want to be get to 20 miles and know you can push on to neg split it. I’m no real runner, I’m 47 did my first marathon last year and wanted a 3:15 - 3:20 so went out at 7:20’s got to 20 miles and felt good so pushed on and got a 3:13 with a 7:08 in mile 24. Your training is excellent and weekly mileage/interval sessions and strength sessions are amazing. I just think you should run the first 16 miles back a bit of where you know you can do to give the confidence later in the race. I’m a stat geek and love hr, cadence and pace but just use pace to concentrate on in a race You are inspirational and will get a 3:10 then a 3hr no doubt 👍🏻👏🏼
Hey man, I've watched some of your vids and appreciate the honest and analytical approach you take. Good to watch. Not sure if you're interested in my "history", but it my come useful? I'm 38yo, a fairly new runner, started about 5-6 years ago after 15 years of smoking, being circa 20kg overweight (just over 100kg at 180cm /5f11), desk job, ZERO FITNESS - I couldn't jog a mile when I started. I have a full time IT job and 3 kids. I'm by no means a talented runner, what I have though is a lot of determination, focus etc. And so I managed to steadily build my way up to finally running a few marathons in 2017 around the 3:15-3:17 mark, with the fastest being 3:11 (I did a few significantly slower ones before, though, to be clear). Then I got injured (couldn't see it coming, too cocky, tried running 12 in 12 months and paid for it...). Took a few weeks off / physio / cross training, resumed training with a bit more cautious approach to things. I managed to put a solid training block in again and run one in April 2018 circa 4 months later finishing with 3:13. That was on a scorching hot day, I aimed for 3:15 and somehow managed to get a bit quicker, so really happy with that. Berlin 2018, 6 months later - 3:02. I trained specifically for sub-3 there and went for it for the first time. Slight bonk in the final few km, but a great result for me. And I caught Eliud Kipchoge at the airport and got a selfie, which must be the best highlight of my marathon journey so far! That's when he set the current WR! Anyway - I followed the same plan since the injury. And did it again for April 2019 (Manchester), but I slowed down further in most of the non-key workout runs that time to ensure that I was recovering for the key sessions and was also able to add a bit of time/distance to all of the medium-long and long runs. E.g. where one was 16km, I'd do 18-20km, 26km > 28-30km, 32km > 34-39km). And that allowed me to go sub-3 (2:58:56). It was a perfectly executed slight negative split, right on the edge. With the 1st 5k slightly slower than the goal pace, to get going (circa 4:20km instead of 4:15), then pick up to circa 4:10-12 for as long as possible and a contingency to slow down a bit in the end - which I did a little, as my glutes and hamstrings were cramping up, but even those last few km were within the avg goal pace. So not a bonk, just a barely noticeable drop in pace (by a few seconds per km). I've had some practice, that was my marathon number 13 I think. So it took a while to build up that endurance and learn to suffer, pace, dig deep and all that. You know what I mean! Nothing like a few of my younger mates that came with and ran sub-3, faster than me by a few minutes, in their first marathon ;) So what was my training plan? You may have heard of the P&D bible (Pfitzinger and Douglas, Advanced marathoning). I did the lowest mileage plan (up to 55Mi per week). Before Berlin and even more in this last block before going sub-3 - I have modified it. Made it more 80/20 if you wish. I did that by running most runs at easy effort / recovery pace and also added a bit of mileage by lengthening the long runs (as explained earlier). Most long runs were easy pace (when I say easy, I mean 4:45-5:20 km pace, always starting at the easy end later picking up the pace a little, but almost never faster than 4:50km). There are also MP workouts there, so a progression of a long run every 3 weeks or so with 13, 16, 19, 23km @ goal MP in the middle. So that caters for the faster long runs and MP practice! I can't recommend the book enough. Why am I saying this? I've done even more really easy running since I've gone sub-3, focusing on shorter distances. Most of my non track / workout runs in the last year were recovery runs. Focusing on my HR being not even close to my MAFF of 142bpm! Some would be in low 120s (recovery) and 125-135 (low GA - general aerobic). Why did I not run around my MAFF effort? Because it felt too fast / hard. I wouldn't have recovered for the long runs or tempos etc. Plus - even if going a bit slower, focusing on form / foot strike, it always felt like a good, steady strengthening for the feet, calves etc. And with time the pace of those runs did improve, too, just like MAFF promises. And the main thing is - I believe doing the tempos / lactate threshold is super important for the marathon. VO2max, that comes in the last few weeks - maybe a little less so for our level, but still plays a role. As long as you're fit to do these sessions in the first place by not running most of your runs somewhere in the middle - neither easy nor tempo. Good luck with your journey!
The issue I have with P&D is that LT comes before VO2max in their periodization. There is no pure LT workouts in the last 4 weeks at all unless one includes some M pace running in the long runs.
Thanks so much for sharing. I’d ideally love for my maf pace to feel too hard to do on a regular basis, but I’m far from that. I’ve been running 80 miles a week near maf or maf-5, which tells me I have a lot of work to do. As I prepared for this marathon, I switched from pure maf to incorporating MP or marathon HR into the long runs, which I enjoyed. I plan on sticking with this approach for the next marathon, running all other miles at maf. But I have bought both Jack Daniel’s and Pfitzinger’s books. I’m reading them now, although I currently plan on continuing in more of a polarized fashion when I’m in a marathon training cycle.
I really appreciate your candid and honest reviews. We have all had races where we didn't get the result we wanted. For me, it is just an opportunity to train, after I have pin-pointed my weaknesses. Best of luck in your future marathons Kofuzi. Maybe I will see you at one, one day.
Great video Michael!!! I like to do a lot of this kind of analysis of my marathons just like you. I tried to run by pace, run by feel and what works best for me is to run by heart rate. After 12 marathons I've learned that my body isn't capable of running more than 1 hour in Z5 bpm. Managing this limitation was a real breakthrough for me.
Thanks for the recap. Even though you didn’t hit things perfectly, you finished with a great time and you finished. I’ll be there next year and enjoyed your recap.
Congrats on yet another finish! If you are up for some recommendations, here is my humble one. Last year I followed the Runners World specific time target training, I did the 3:15 one. There's a few things that I loved about it. For one, telling me exactly the volume of miles that I needed to run each week, typical for most of trainings. The other was the exact interval training that I needed to do with the exact times that I needed to achieve, as well as the long run times as well, which will usually be on slow side. Here is what I found, as I strived for meeting the fast running times, either through intervals or tempo runs, the heart rate on my long runs would keep dropping. So, I was becoming faster and at the same time my long runs were becoming easier. I think by my last 20 miler, I was at around 145 bpm. Comes races day, I stuck with the 3:15 paces and ended in 3:13:59, never hitting a wall. Also, did core work 3 times a week which I believed helped greatly. Here is the sub 3:00 training, just in case you want to give it a try, I am following it now for an April race. www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/marathon/a760127/rws-ultimate-marathon-schedule-sub-300/
I’ll take a look, but I am generally of the opinion that runners world plans are good for runners that are of a different type than I am. Maybe I’m wrong on that
"Failure isn't fatal, but failure to change might be" i would only dream in 3:17:12 time on a marathon, but seeing you training for your goal, is helping me reach mine. Thank you for sharing and documenting your races.
Well done for giving it a go.I'm also aiming for 2:59 this year,current best is 3:07,dropped 7 mins last year by all easy running so hoping to get close to 3 by the same,not strictly maf as I don't use it fully but all of my training is around 140bpm which is about 72% mhr.
Great analysis and congrats again. The most important part is that you had fun and learned from this experience. You are slowly figuring out what works for you and can use all this knowledge in Boston. My 2 cents. . . I train a lot with HR, but when I race I don't wear a HRM, by that time I know what zones I need to be in by feel. Also, I incorporate hill training in my routine instead of just miles, this will build that hip/cardio strength. And finally, I keep the plan simple and just hide in the pace group till mile 20. Like Seth James DeMoor says - Onward and Upward! Cheers!🍻
Thanks for your very detailed analysis of the race! That is a great way to improve going forward. I really feel for you man as I was in that 3:10 pace group and similarly hit the wall at mile 24. That cost me my bq so close to the finish line, something I have been working on for a long time. We did have a head wind in the second half so we had to push far harder. Also fueling during the race, tapering and nutrition leading up into the race could have played a big part in your final result. I am not trying to look for excuses, but don't be too hard on yourself. There are so many variables going into running a good marathon, some are in our control and others are not. Keep pushing!
One of the workouts I did that helped me over the hump was to run 4-5 miles at threshold pace after a solid 10 miles at, say 20 seconds slower than marathon pace.
Thanks for the data analysis but more so for sharing your emotions throughout your race! Cant wait to hear your plans for 2020, and the year just started!!!!
Sorry you didn't do what you wanted, but kudos on being bold and trying new training methods. We all have fallen into the "A goal/lofty pace" trap when we know deep down it won't work (one drawback with self coaching). And like you say: be the runner you are today, not the runner you'll be in 3 months. Hope you're not too sore!
If you look at your heart rate between Chicago vs Houston, you were averaging 20 BPM lower. I'm still shocked you ran into difficulties at the end. But I was never a huge fan of you personally running a marathon in the carbon rocket. You have so much more overhead now to rely upon in terms of BPM. One race soon, things will fall into place and you will crush your goal. Keep inspiring us mid pack people!
Congratulations on your race! As in the past, I do look forward to your race recaps. Fascinating hearing your thoughts on what went right and what went wrong. Love the in-race footage. Let’s not forget that you ran a pretty good race while filming and carrying a selfie stick. IMO, may have to to forego the filming during your race to break 3. Great effort 👊🏽
Nice race recap. No doubt you will hit your goals in coming months with the diligence and effort you put in. Was definitely surprised by the Carbon Rocket choice for the race, because it seems that if you have the means to do so, and no sponsorship commitments to deal with, almost everyone right now chooses the Next%.
“3 different paces” hit home with me. You’re right. “Dream/Goal, Training Pace, and what’s your body is going to do that day. Another idea to think about...how do you think your taper went? Felt fresh on race day? Do you believe your fitness is at 3:10 pace on another day in future? The single race day is such a acute time frame for your body to respond with peak performance with months of training. Love your data analysis! Also how can i get a “NonElite” shirt? Lol
I really don’t know how to taper and I’m debating whether a 7 day taper makes sense. I just get so antsy. But I can’t imagine feeling more rested than I did for this race.
I think you should look at the bright side in that you can consistently get below 3:20 because of your fitness levels. That's still awesome compared to where you were two years ago. Maybe you need to space out your races more and have up to 20-week plans. Longer build-ups may suit you more than what you've had recently.
I kinda agree with u on kofuzi's length of preparation for his race.. perhaps throw in a twice weekly 3-4 hours zone 1-2 cycling to train the hamstring and gives himself the needed rest from the hard pounding of the pavements... it looks like he is not running naturally as he is swaying more side to side from i first saw him 1 year ago.. @kofuzi
Hi @kofuzi proud to see that you're putting yourself out there. Regardless of successful or not unsuccessful outcome, you are true inspiration for all of us recreational joggers. Regarding your 0.25 extra mileage gps vs actual comment, perhaps you may want to try "manual lap" for Boston so you can get down to exact pace by hitting the lap button after each mile marker. This worked for me at Philly marathon and also kept me mentally sharp throughout the race.
Great analysis! All that time in the red zone (2 hours+) showed why you hit the wall. Having a target time is good for your training plan but after that it is irrelevant - removing the 'pace' metrics from your watch is a good idea to just focus on your body's ability and let it bring you home!
For a while, I was thinking that I had squandered a great race and great weather. But then I realized that the good conditions gave me a really clean readout in my HR fitness. So a lot to glean here, I think
You describing your experience with the Carbon Rocket sounds exactly like what I went through when I wore Newtons for the Long Beach Marathon. By mile 4-6 I was like "what the fuck was I thinking?" and then the rest of the race was a disaster for me. Really beat my feet up badly and that crept into my mind big time. Solidarity.
Ho kofuzi, you had a great 21 miles, flying, good time for the half as well. Go for a time soon for the half.. you always learn from each race. I've got money on you getting a good marathon this year. Have a good rest now and recover. Try some trail runs to get some hill strength, thanks for the vid. Cheers from Anglesey...
Kofuzi, thanks for the video. I really enjoy how you approach and analyse your training. You can see how much running means to you and that is inspiring. I know you're getting a lot of conflicting info / suggestions re Maffetone but I would say stick with it. It's only been a few months so it would be unusual to get such drastic improvements over such a short space of time. One suggestion could be to use some of your long runs during your next training block to see what HR your body can maintain and for how long. So you could go out for 2.5 hours and set the limit on the watch at 160bpm and see how that goes. If you run out of steam then maybe it was too intense or if it was easy you know that you can bump it up a notch. As hard and ridiculous as this sounds, try and ignore pace. I know it's the holy grail for us runners but maybe focus on HR and how long your body can maintain certain intensities. If you keep up with low HR training you will improve so your pace should get quicker at all ranges of HR. Thanks for sharing your experience and for all the rgeat videos.
Seems I'll pick up the vaporfly next instead. I was on the fence thinking I could go with the carbon rocket or carbon X, but my training shoe has been the zoomfly so i might as well stay in the same family
I ran in the Vaporfly NEXT% for last weekend's marathon but thinking of going to the Carbon X for my next attempt. I've done some great half marathons in the Vaporfly but haven't really felt that same boost in the two marathons done in that shoe. Not sure why but for me it feels like the Vaporfly is more suited to shorter races.
I uses the zoomfly sp for my daily runs and next % for my races.. i like it just because of the geometry i get from the shoe and the extra boasts and comforts from the next %.. the speed is all from yr trainings...😊
You gave a good breakdown of everything. Hit your "A goal" or learn. I can understand feeling awful going for sub 3-hr as you're so close to it. I'm pretty stubborn with running plans as well, but I'm coming around to them after my times dropped a lot after trying tempo runs. I also started reading Koop's book and Pfitzinger's "Advanced Marathoning" which are incredible. In "Advanced Marathoning", they say to not push over 10s/mile over your planned race pace in a race if you need to speed up, so you don't build up lactic acid too fast. I def can't pace myself that close, but I do like the concept which might come in handy in future races. I also haven't done a proper marathon trial. I like either 50k+ just try to finish or half marathons. HM's are so forgiving with trying stuff as my pacing is awful, but the penalty for it is minimal compared to what I think would happen to me for marathon distance.
You did good, Kofuzi. If you would stay with the 3:10 pace group , what would you think it could happen? I think that you would obtain 3:10 or less. But it was a good run and maf method works. You tun anperfect 1st half marathon at 165 bpm, then loke you said , change the race plan. But you could maintain the training for the next marathon and I'm sure you would do better. Keep it up!!! Nice race and your analisis is very clear . Thanks for sharing your experience.
Well done on the race Michael even though it didn’t get as well as you hoped. As runners we’ve all been there. 1st Marathon of the year and it was an experimental race in many ways. Plenty of data to work with. I think for your eventual sub 3 all roads will lead to Chicago in October.
Focusing on HR and switching off pace screen would be a nice psychological change to the time pressure off and get the best out of the day - Maybe also think of setting HR zones for the first 21KM to 160-165, 21-31 165-170, then 170+ for last 10 or so KM's to give you some HR safety room. From my limited experience when I run past my limit it's hard to get back into your target pace Zone without blowing up, have fun as you said I think the time will come. Keep up the great work, I like many others really enjoy sharing the journey even more than the end result :) Thanks !!!!
I get the doubt, expectations, frustration that creeps in during a race. I ran a race two years ago - just stuck with a pace group, and while the time was great for my age and level of fitness, it was also almost too effortless mentally.
Well done Kofuzi, totally admire your commitment to training and your openness to talking it through. I'd like to offer some thoughts on where things may be going wrong: I believe it is mostly to do with energy systems ie fat versus carb burning during training and therefore racing. From what I've seen of your training and vlogs of diet and timing of eating prior to workouts there is room for improvement. If you can work towards improving your fat max pace I can see a sub 3hour pace as totally achievable. All the best 💓
Thanks for the report/analysis. I didn’t have all of that data for my Houston Marathon but the pacing/effort “errors” I made were similar to yours. Great experience though and it’s always and education to run a marathon
Since you've got Stryd I think it would be interesting to have you do their CP test and have the zones actually map to Stryd zones for future events. It looks kinda odd when your zones have been z1 and z2 during Houston. Stryd's new Powercenter is being rolled out and I think the analytics are really helpful for a recreational runner.
1) At 5K, you don't talk in full sentences easily, so you are already going too fast for that point in the race. It could have been a fine pace later on in the race, though. Oxygen debt is hard to pay back in a marathon. 2) What I see doesn't say you do not have enough endurance, it says you do not have the speed endurance you need. 3) So, you can continue with low-HR training, but you cannot use a fixed (180 - age) formula. Go to a lab and have them figure out your metabolic thresholds, VT1/VT2/LT. Then use VT1/VT2/LT - 10% as your aerobic pace for base runs. None of these fixed formulas work for everyone. 4) A long block of base building must be followed by a 6-8 week block of race-specific training. 5) You should insert time trials into your training. I am always amazed that people go to races essentially blindfolded as to what kind of pace is CURRENTLY reasonable for them. And, for a marathon, I would focus on 1-hour time trials. 6) You won't live long enough to make all the mistakes you could make, so it's important that you learn from the mistakes of others. 7) The number and your performance on the day are not bad at all. In fact, they are good. It's just that you expect more of yourself and that's a goal setting problem. 8) This entire wall of text may seem harsh and even downright nasty. It's not my intent, though. I just hope to give you something you can work with and use to bridge the gap between your expectations and your performances.
Lots to unpack here. But I will say that, two weeks out, I did a 20 mile run with 13 miles at goal marathon HR. I had some idea what to do. I just wasn’t smart enough to do it. And perhaps I just don’t take racing as seriously as you do. I’m guessing you would try and find like a 15k to race near Chicago in the winter around New Year’s Eve. But I’m not that dedicated.
@@kofuzi Good point about that long run ; that should have been one of my bullet points. That run was too hard to be a training run and too long to be a test/time trial. I know you felt good and you wanted to put your mind in the right place, but 2 weeks out, that's too much stress. I would not test/time trial in the last 3 1/2 weeks. Even a half-marathon race 4 weeks out is questionable, if you go all out, even though I have used that many times myself. But again, chin up, your attitude is right and you are obviously plenty smart, so you will get there!
Dude forget MAF. I'll give you a Sage Running BQ plan (for a sub 3!). Congrats on the finish...I know how tough it is to struggle in that last 10km at Houston!
Vo2maxProductions not a bad shout? 🤷♂️
Now theres an offer you cant refuse!
Thanks so much for commenting, Sage! This really is a hard offer to refuse. Believe me.
But I think my next marathon is too soon to try yet another training style. And I’ve been a bit of a mess lately. I wouldn’t want to drag you down with me with how I’ve been performing.
If I don’t get closer to where I want to be after Boston, you can be sure I’ll be buying a Sage Running Plan.
I ran 3:19 for my first marathon March 2019. I bought the sub 3 plan from sage and last month I ran 2:58 at CIM. I definitely recommend it.
I've been using sage plans and they're amazing 👏🏾👏🏾
Your training/post event analysis and reflection are so helpful for me. Sorry it did not turn out how you wanted, but thank you for sharing with us what to do when it happens to us.
I’m happy to be everyone’s cautionary tale
I agree, I have been doing 70 miles. Week of LHR training and have my marathon in 3 weeks. 3 hours is my dream race and 3:10 might be more realistic. 169 is my LTH so I think I need to stay below that until at least mile 20.
When I see 35 minutes for a recap my day gets better since I prepare with some popcorn and having your video in my tv thank you for this amazing content
Thanks so much! I appreciate that. I get a lot of comments going to opposite way.
kofuzi I love a long video, great idea having a clear overview vs detailed section
Seeing this after your Tokyo PB. It nice to see how you figured to pace better, prepare better and learnt when to push.
I love how you opened up the video. This was what your body had to give at the current fitness. Awesome analysis. Dont be hard on yourself. We all make mistakes. Specially during a marathon. It's so great that you are sharing all this with us. I love it
I can’t be mad at it when I look at it like that
@@kofuzi and you shouldn't be. It was a great effort and it made you a better runner. 🙂
You’re actually an amazing athlete man. Great time despite you missing your goal. Keep it up and it will happen. Your subscribers are proud of you. Your time WILL come :)
thank you
Really interesting analysis. It’s actually very helpful for your training to know how long you can run in Z5. You can use that info to design tempo and threshold workouts that make sense for you. Also, great attitude for a day that didn’t go as you hoped for.
it was an expensive way of seeing what my run to failure graph looks like. but i think it will be useful information for me going forward.
Congrats on the Houston marathon Kofuzi! Proud of you!
Thank you
@@kofuzi I mean it…I watched every one of your videos to do with Maffetone style training and I remember thinking to myself time & time again that I could never put myself through that without becoming incredibly frustrated! Kudos to you for seeing it through! I learned from you that it is a legitimate training style and, while it's not for me, it is capable of producing results for a lot of people. Thank you!
This is so great. Thank you for sharing!
Man, I can only dream of a 3:17 right now. You're doing awesome, and the times will come. Keep at it!
thanks for watching!
Your straightforward honesty about things I am sure will help you in the long run. But I think one thing that you should bear in mind that often seems to get forgotten about is that sometimes we have good days and other times we don’t. Keep up the hard work and I am sure you’ll get there.
And by the way, this channel is really inspiring and helpful to me. I am a long way off (ran my first ever marathon in October and took 4:07), but my goal is eventually to run a sub-3 marathon as well, and so to see someone striving as hard as you to reach that goal is brilliant.
that's a great start! my first marathon was closer to 5 hours than 4.
I ran the Rock N Roll Arizona the same day as you ran Houston and feel I underperformed. Felt great at mile 17 and then, for unknown reasons, died and started the dreaded death march. This was my 64th marathon and you'd think I'd have pacing figured out better. Appreciate your breakdown as I do a similar review of my race-day strategy.
That’s a lot of marathons!
Good work out there! Live and learn. And kudos on carrying the extra weight of the camera to bring us footage!
It’s second nature to me by now
Recently discovered your channel and have been watching your chasing 3 vids plus some race recaps. This one really hit home as a masters runner who's in a similar position: I'm chasing that elusive first sub-3 road marathon and haven't quite got there yet. In preparation for last year's A race I ran a 1:23 half and thought that sub-3 was in the bag, but got a cold in the weeks before race day and ran a 3:09. Good luck in your next race!
Certainly not everything but that whole..”thinking about my shoes/foot pain” was more than a contributing factor.
We appreciate all your efforts over here sir!
walter burrell shoes and clothing should never be an issue!! These things have to be non issues
It was a bit of a gamble, but I’d take the shoes out to 20 miles without issue. I was surprised I didn’t like them for the marathon
“Hope vs capable” wise words my friends. Keep up the fight, you’re on the right path! 👊🏽
i've been getting ahead of myself. i need more patience.
Thanks for such a detailed analysis. So helpful! Also, some thoughts - i think your health level is incredible. A 3:17 marathon is beyond the reach of so many people. So, congratulations! Celebrate! Like you said-expectations are the reason why you're upset. But in the larger scheme of things, you are doing something incredible!
thank you. i feel good about it. i feel good about where i am. i feel good about where i can go.
i'm not satisfied, and i'm not finished. but i feel good.
Yo MK... yet another great recap. Brutally humble and honest. I can identify with you every step of the way bud! Thank you. 👍🏼
Congrats! You showed up at a Marathon, ran your heart out (no pun intended) and stayed healthy - it was a good day in my book.
To run to our potential - all the stars have to be aligned on race day. I tell myself: “There are factors that are exogenous... which we have no control of; whereas there are endogenous ones which we have full control. We can only execute the ones we can control.” No doubt you are on
Oops ... pressed the wrong key. Fat fingers!!!
Cont’d....
No doubt you are on your way to better executing your next Marathon and many more.
As a fan, we can’t wait to see you achieve and smash your potential! 👌🏽
Thank you. I do need to work in what I can control. I think I’m figuring out now though
'How can you be frustrated at the best my body had to give?' - That is beautiful, excellent attitude. I think us runners often get lost in comparing times, you trained hard and ran hard, that is something every one should be proud of. Well done!
Thank you
Ran my First Marathon after watching your video last year on Chicago, my time was 3:26:43. You have inspired many. planning to run my 2nd this Feb. Hope to see improvements in my time. Nice video recap, watched it from start to finish.
that's an incredible first marathon time! great work!
good luck in february!
You are such an inspiration, Michael. Races come and go. Some are good, others not that much but what matters at the end of the day is the impact you have on thousands of runners around the globe. Sub 3 is waiting for you, I am sure of that.
It feels farther away than ever, but that’s ok
3:17 is a great time 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 congratulations from Cardiff
Thanks so much!
Congrats! I love that you’re a realist, and you analyze your race so well. You know where you are, and where you want to be in your next race. Keep on truckin’!
i wasn't realistic during the race, but i won't make that mistake again
Great content. So pertinent too. I've run 2 full marathons and I've blown up twice and the whole narrative of running about 5bpm too high or your head convincing yourself it's ok to run a little hot for a while to keep on pace rings so true! Thanks for sharing. Amazing content.
i've realized i can't be trusted to make good decisions on the fly during a marathon
Without meaning any disrespect, having done this myself many times, BUT this is exactly how a marathon goes wrong. I always tell myself to not be tricked by the amazing freshness you feel at the start. It almost never works. You tell yourself you are running at 80% effort but really you should feel like 60% effort, it seems, because the halfway mark is mile 20 and you should be feeling absolutely fresh and as if you have gone too slow at mile 18. Even then you might just make it home strong. That is why the marathon is so interesting. Loved this recap.
i infer no disrespect.
this is classic rookie mistakes.
@@kofuzi I have run 16 marathons and made this mistake on my 16th :-)
Thanks for sharing such a detailed recap, we can probably all learn something out of it. I think your assessment is spot on. Some of the points too close to home even, like the part at the end where you mentally check out as you failed your time goal and the "oh I'll just walk here for a minute, time is irrelevant now so why completely exhaust myself" becomes 8x1 min. All too familiar. Your HR analysis seems good and something very useful for the future. In the end it's still a good result, as you say maybe 5-7ish mins slower than you were capable, but lessons learned which could be even more important going forward.
I enjoyed following you this training block and looking forward to more great content.
thank you for relating
I love you man keep up the good work. One of the things that helps me the most is not looking at my watch too much and instead conserve and run by feel. Don't overthink!
I love you too
Love hearing about your preparation and analysis, Got my dinner and watched all 35 minutes haha. Thanks for taking the time to share and make such an in-depth video
thanks so much for watching!
Wow! Thanks for the video! It takes a lot to be that transparent, especially about a race that didn't work out the way you wanted. I did the same thing on my third marathon. I had specific expectations and really over thought things and messed with pace to try to achieve a specific result and ended up completely blowing up and walking a lot of the final quarter of the race. It really helped me realize that I have to listen to my body that day rather than be fixated on forcing a certain pace if it feels wrong.
i definitely overthought things.
there's another commenter somewhere in here where he was trying to insult me by saying that this was a How To Overcomplicate Running 101. And i'm just thinking: welcome to the channel! i'm neurotic and overthink things! it's what i do!
One thing I noticed that you mentioned was slowing down and tucking into a group. I can attest that mentally, going from a 6:30 to a 6:45 pace literally feels as if I'm walking initially until my body can adjust to the new pace. I can't speak to the footpod over-correcting the data, but I do feel that running a marathon is 99% mental. Don't let the numbers own you... introspection on race day allows me to become a better runner. The numbers just cloud my mind with doubt. Tuck into the group and let the body stabilize for a second. Everything will take care of itself.
Great point
Good job! It sounds like you are naturally better in a half marathon. Maybe set yourself a goal of 1:15-1:22 for a half marathon since you ran under 1:30 before? I would like to see you in your best distance.
I’ve been thinking a lot that the marathon is not my best distance. Like many athletic endeavors in my life, what I want to be good at and what I’m actually good at seem to be two very different things.
Aww don’t be disappointed since you find out more about yourself. I think I saw in one of your videos that your 1/4 mile time was between 60 and 75 seconds when you were doing speed work. That was good and because of your consistent long distance training, I think you can do well in half marathon.
“I spent the whole race running away from people” Now that I’m commuting again to work, all 35 mins of this was great! Plenty of takeaways in here, the thing that stood out the most to me was aligning what you believe you’re capable of and how you’re feeling on a given day. Lots of opportunity to have a breakthrough with this approach 🙌🏾
I think it will help with a lot of my race day anxieties and execution erros
Congrats Kofuzi. Good effort and take plenty of rest for now. I’ve stopped doing FM after my third attempt with not much improvement. Don’t over analyse and just go with the flow. I’ve concluded that I’m just not cut out to do FMs and switched to the Half and got a PB end November’19.
It has certainly occurred to me that perhaps the marathon is not a distance I am best suited for
kofuzi food for thought huh?
"(some farting late in the race, but no discomfort)"
I love how you keep it real :)
surprisingly, you're the first to comment on that.
i thought it was worth mentioning because i see so many signs these days about Never Trust A Fart Late in the Race.
i trusted mine. it was fine.
Even though you didn’t run at the pace you expected to run you still did a great job. You have a lot of people who are inspired and who are proud of you, me being one of them. Looking forward to your future training plans.
Thank you for your support!
The bad thing with setting goals before running a marathon is that you usually get carried away and start the race a little faster than you should and that almost every time catch up to you in the last kilometres.
I have gotten to realise that the first 3 mikes/5k should be at the long run beginning pace in order for the body and heart to start working good and from that point to start dropping the pace to the desired one.
Congratulations for your result and your hard efford and for the great filming of your videos.
I just registered to your channel after seeing many videos of yours.
Desire is the root of suffering, to be melodramatic
The fact that you embrace your low moments and see them as an opportunity to grow is inspiring. Live and learn.
sometimes, the low moments are all i have in running. and there's nothing left but to face it head on.
Ran Auckland marathon after about 1 year of MAF, with 6 week speed work prior to marathon. mid 50s, 82kg, chronic pain in right Achilles. Target was 3:18, based upon pre race workouts, finished 3:16. Joined 3:15 pace group early on. HR was higher for me (148 overall, last 1/2 low 150s) than planned but trusted the feel. Eventually dropped by pacer at 41km. critique was 1 too few gels or poor aide station technique (too slow hydrating and food intake). For me, when I deviate too much from MAF I get injured. I am not maniacal with MAF, I focus on ave HR not what my HR is every minute of the run. Works for me, but my focus is ultra. thanks for video. felt the pain of the dreaded walk.
Thanks for the insight. It’s always great to hear about how others apply the ideas.
Great effort Kofuzi 👍 looks a great marathon! Here’s a bunch of thoughts/suggestions re. Pace - good idea to not have it shown on main screen and if you do have it on another screen set it to avg. pace for the lap you’re in & avg. pace for whole run - that way it doesn’t jump around as much. Would recommend looking at advanced marathoner book and Jack Daniels for the next training block? I reckon they’d get you close to 3hrs-3:10 on your next marathon. Practice running neg. splits on all your training runs. Once a week do a track/hills session with a group if poss. Group running with people of similar of ability will really help push you on. I’m not a coach though so feel free to ignore all of the above 😁Thanks so much for sharing your journey- very inspirational and informative 👍
i appreciate the insights. i think i need to give the current method a little more time. but i will be looking at Advanced Marathoning. it's always good to learn about other approaches
Brilliant Mike. Always so honest and reflective. Keep going keep getting stronger. I’d ditch the hr analysis as you seemed to mix this with the pace expectation on the day. Just go out next time and hit 7:10’s a mile and you’ll smash all 26.2 miles at the same rate with no drop off I’m 100% sure of that. More importantly have fun out there 👍🏻👌🏻👏🏼
i think we're both urging for the same thing - the number we suggest ditching is just different.
What I mean is you are in great shape but twice have hit the wall. If your looking at HR then you can’t mix this with pace as your heart will do what you want it to. At the start you’ll always have a higher than ideal rate but they doesn’t mean it’ll be ineffective later or will affect your pace. Would it be better to be realistically 10 secs a mile back of where you want to be get to 20 miles and know you can push on to neg split it.
I’m no real runner, I’m 47 did my first marathon last year and wanted a 3:15 - 3:20 so went out at 7:20’s got to 20 miles and felt good so pushed on and got a 3:13 with a 7:08 in mile 24.
Your training is excellent and weekly mileage/interval sessions and strength sessions are amazing. I just think you should run the first 16 miles back a bit of where you know you can do to give the confidence later in the race.
I’m a stat geek and love hr, cadence and pace but just use pace to concentrate on in a race
You are inspirational and will get a 3:10 then a 3hr no doubt 👍🏻👏🏼
This is really what I want in a running youtube channel! On to the next one, Kofuzi :-)
Thank you staying though the highs and lows
Hey man, I've watched some of your vids and appreciate the honest and analytical approach you take. Good to watch.
Not sure if you're interested in my "history", but it my come useful?
I'm 38yo, a fairly new runner, started about 5-6 years ago after 15 years of smoking, being circa 20kg overweight (just over 100kg at 180cm /5f11), desk job, ZERO FITNESS - I couldn't jog a mile when I started. I have a full time IT job and 3 kids. I'm by no means a talented runner, what I have though is a lot of determination, focus etc. And so I managed to steadily build my way up to finally running a few marathons in 2017 around the 3:15-3:17 mark, with the fastest being 3:11 (I did a few significantly slower ones before, though, to be clear). Then I got injured (couldn't see it coming, too cocky, tried running 12 in 12 months and paid for it...).
Took a few weeks off / physio / cross training, resumed training with a bit more cautious approach to things. I managed to put a solid training block in again and run one in April 2018 circa 4 months later finishing with 3:13. That was on a scorching hot day, I aimed for 3:15 and somehow managed to get a bit quicker, so really happy with that.
Berlin 2018, 6 months later - 3:02. I trained specifically for sub-3 there and went for it for the first time. Slight bonk in the final few km, but a great result for me. And I caught Eliud Kipchoge at the airport and got a selfie, which must be the best highlight of my marathon journey so far! That's when he set the current WR!
Anyway - I followed the same plan since the injury. And did it again for April 2019 (Manchester), but I slowed down further in most of the non-key workout runs that time to ensure that I was recovering for the key sessions and was also able to add a bit of time/distance to all of the medium-long and long runs. E.g. where one was 16km, I'd do 18-20km, 26km > 28-30km, 32km > 34-39km). And that allowed me to go sub-3 (2:58:56). It was a perfectly executed slight negative split, right on the edge. With the 1st 5k slightly slower than the goal pace, to get going (circa 4:20km instead of 4:15), then pick up to circa 4:10-12 for as long as possible and a contingency to slow down a bit in the end - which I did a little, as my glutes and hamstrings were cramping up, but even those last few km were within the avg goal pace. So not a bonk, just a barely noticeable drop in pace (by a few seconds per km). I've had some practice, that was my marathon number 13 I think. So it took a while to build up that endurance and learn to suffer, pace, dig deep and all that. You know what I mean! Nothing like a few of my younger mates that came with and ran sub-3, faster than me by a few minutes, in their first marathon ;)
So what was my training plan? You may have heard of the P&D bible (Pfitzinger and Douglas, Advanced marathoning). I did the lowest mileage plan (up to 55Mi per week). Before Berlin and even more in this last block before going sub-3 - I have modified it. Made it more 80/20 if you wish. I did that by running most runs at easy effort / recovery pace and also added a bit of mileage by lengthening the long runs (as explained earlier). Most long runs were easy pace (when I say easy, I mean 4:45-5:20 km pace, always starting at the easy end later picking up the pace a little, but almost never faster than 4:50km). There are also MP workouts there, so a progression of a long run every 3 weeks or so with 13, 16, 19, 23km @ goal MP in the middle. So that caters for the faster long runs and MP practice! I can't recommend the book enough.
Why am I saying this? I've done even more really easy running since I've gone sub-3, focusing on shorter distances. Most of my non track / workout runs in the last year were recovery runs. Focusing on my HR being not even close to my MAFF of 142bpm! Some would be in low 120s (recovery) and 125-135 (low GA - general aerobic). Why did I not run around my MAFF effort? Because it felt too fast / hard. I wouldn't have recovered for the long runs or tempos etc. Plus - even if going a bit slower, focusing on form / foot strike, it always felt like a good, steady strengthening for the feet, calves etc. And with time the pace of those runs did improve, too, just like MAFF promises. And the main thing is - I believe doing the tempos / lactate threshold is super important for the marathon. VO2max, that comes in the last few weeks - maybe a little less so for our level, but still plays a role. As long as you're fit to do these sessions in the first place by not running most of your runs somewhere in the middle - neither easy nor tempo.
Good luck with your journey!
The issue I have with P&D is that LT comes before VO2max in their periodization. There is no pure LT workouts in the last 4 weeks at all unless one includes some M pace running in the long runs.
Thanks so much for sharing. I’d ideally love for my maf pace to feel too hard to do on a regular basis, but I’m far from that. I’ve been running 80 miles a week near maf or maf-5, which tells me I have a lot of work to do.
As I prepared for this marathon, I switched from pure maf to incorporating MP or marathon HR into the long runs, which I enjoyed.
I plan on sticking with this approach for the next marathon, running all other miles at maf. But I have bought both Jack Daniel’s and Pfitzinger’s books. I’m reading them now, although I currently plan on continuing in more of a polarized fashion when I’m in a marathon training cycle.
@@kofuzi Sure, whatever you feel works for you in the long term. Good luck.
I really appreciate your candid and honest reviews. We have all had races where we didn't get the result we wanted. For me, it is just an opportunity to train, after I have pin-pointed my weaknesses. Best of luck in your future marathons Kofuzi. Maybe I will see you at one, one day.
I hope for that
Great video Michael!!! I like to do a lot of this kind of analysis of my marathons just like you. I tried to run by pace, run by feel and what works best for me is to run by heart rate. After 12 marathons I've learned that my body isn't capable of running more than 1 hour in Z5 bpm. Managing this limitation was a real breakthrough for me.
I hope it will be for me too
I really appreciate this detailed breakdown and your overall summary of your race. Very inspiring and I learned a lot.
Thanks for the recap. Even though you didn’t hit things perfectly, you finished with a great time and you finished. I’ll be there next year and enjoyed your recap.
Congrats on yet another finish! If you are up for some recommendations, here is my humble one. Last year I followed the Runners World specific time target training, I did the 3:15 one. There's a few things that I loved about it. For one, telling me exactly the volume of miles that I needed to run each week, typical for most of trainings. The other was the exact interval training that I needed to do with the exact times that I needed to achieve, as well as the long run times as well, which will usually be on slow side. Here is what I found, as I strived for meeting the fast running times, either through intervals or tempo runs, the heart rate on my long runs would keep dropping. So, I was becoming faster and at the same time my long runs were becoming easier. I think by my last 20 miler, I was at around 145 bpm. Comes races day, I stuck with the 3:15 paces and ended in 3:13:59, never hitting a wall. Also, did core work 3 times a week which I believed helped greatly. Here is the sub 3:00 training, just in case you want to give it a try, I am following it now for an April race. www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/marathon/a760127/rws-ultimate-marathon-schedule-sub-300/
I’ll take a look, but I am generally of the opinion that runners world plans are good for runners that are of a different type than I am.
Maybe I’m wrong on that
"Failure isn't fatal, but failure to change might be" i would only dream in 3:17:12 time on a marathon, but seeing you training for your goal, is helping me reach mine. Thank you for sharing and documenting your races.
Thank you for watching
You did awesome! We had the best weather in Houston on Sunday for the marathon! Very informative breakdown. Onto the next race!
Couldn’t have asked for more
Well done for giving it a go.I'm also aiming for 2:59 this year,current best is 3:07,dropped 7 mins last year by all easy running so hoping to get close to 3 by the same,not strictly maf as I don't use it fully but all of my training is around 140bpm which is about 72% mhr.
Always appreciate being humble about analysis. Maybe not the day you had in mind, but stay hungry!
Very hungry
Great analysis and congrats again. The most important part is that you had fun and learned from this experience. You are slowly figuring out what works for you and can use all this knowledge in Boston. My 2 cents. . . I train a lot with HR, but when I race I don't wear a HRM, by that time I know what zones I need to be in by feel. Also, I incorporate hill training in my routine instead of just miles, this will build that hip/cardio strength. And finally, I keep the plan simple and just hide in the pace group till mile 20. Like Seth James DeMoor says - Onward and Upward! Cheers!🍻
Yeah. I’d love to be at the point where I can trust my feel for a zone. Clearly, I’m not there yet though
Thanks for your very detailed analysis of the race! That is a great way to improve going forward. I really feel for you man as I was in that 3:10 pace group and similarly hit the wall at mile 24. That cost me my bq so close to the finish line, something I have been working on for a long time. We did have a head wind in the second half so we had to push far harder. Also fueling during the race, tapering and nutrition leading up into the race could have played a big part in your final result. I am not trying to look for excuses, but don't be too hard on yourself. There are so many variables going into running a good marathon, some are in our control and others are not. Keep pushing!
sorry you didn't hit the BQ. it was a good group there. i wish i would have been smart enough to stick around for longer
Keep pounding that anaerobic threshold. Keep hammering that marathon pace. You'll get there!
I’d like to spend a lot more time in the next weeks at 168-173bpm
One of the workouts I did that helped me over the hump was to run 4-5 miles at threshold pace after a solid 10 miles at, say 20 seconds slower than marathon pace.
You are super relatable bc of your honesty
it's all i've got
So proud of you! Thanks for another great video and for always keeping it real. Will continue to root for you. Boston bound...exciting!!
Thanks so much!
Thanks for the data analysis but more so for sharing your emotions throughout your race! Cant wait to hear your plans for 2020, and the year just started!!!!
a lot of fun and running coming up!
Very insightful recap! I enjoyed the 35 minute analysis. I’ll be looking forward to your Boston Marathon training and race.
i think you're mocking me, but i'll take it as a compliment.
kofuzi never. I can’t get enough
Sorry you didn't do what you wanted, but kudos on being bold and trying new training methods. We all have fallen into the "A goal/lofty pace" trap when we know deep down it won't work (one drawback with self coaching). And like you say: be the runner you are today, not the runner you'll be in 3 months. Hope you're not too sore!
Feeling good. Keeping an eye on a weird pain here and there. But feeling good
Great video with lots of valuable racing information. Although not the result you hope, still a very strong effort. Well done, Kofuzi!
I am confident the lessons will stick this time.
If you look at your heart rate between Chicago vs Houston, you were averaging 20 BPM lower. I'm still shocked you ran into difficulties at the end. But I was never a huge fan of you personally running a marathon in the carbon rocket. You have so much more overhead now to rely upon in terms of BPM. One race soon, things will fall into place and you will crush your goal. Keep inspiring us mid pack people!
There’s been a lot of tinkering. I’m getting my settings dialed in. I’ll figure it out. Eventually
Congratulations on your race! As in the past, I do look forward to your race recaps. Fascinating hearing your thoughts on what went right and what went wrong. Love the in-race footage. Let’s not forget that you ran a pretty good race while filming and carrying a selfie stick. IMO, may have to to forego the filming during your race to break 3. Great effort 👊🏽
I could be completely wrong in my analysis, but all I can give is what I think. And I try to keep learning for next time
Great job! That time is something I can only dream of! I know it wasn’t the race you hoped for, but it is still an amazing accomplishment.
Thank you so much
Nice race recap. No doubt you will hit your goals in coming months with the diligence and effort you put in. Was definitely surprised by the Carbon Rocket choice for the race, because it seems that if you have the means to do so, and no sponsorship commitments to deal with, almost everyone right now chooses the Next%.
“3 different paces” hit home with me. You’re right. “Dream/Goal, Training Pace, and what’s your body is going to do that day.
Another idea to think about...how do you think your taper went? Felt fresh on race day? Do you believe your fitness is at 3:10 pace on another day in future?
The single race day is such a acute time frame for your body to respond with peak performance with months of training. Love your data analysis!
Also how can i get a “NonElite” shirt? Lol
I really don’t know how to taper and I’m debating whether a 7 day taper makes sense. I just get so antsy.
But I can’t imagine feeling more rested than I did for this race.
Always appreciate the detail and honesty in the race recaps.
that's all i have
Similar experiences on that course, the middle miles feel good till they don’t. The last 10k is tough if you’re not ready for it..
a lot of dips
Great job Kofi and very honourable finish time, keep going!
thank you
I think you should look at the bright side in that you can consistently get below 3:20 because of your fitness levels. That's still awesome compared to where you were two years ago. Maybe you need to space out your races more and have up to 20-week plans. Longer build-ups may suit you more than what you've had recently.
I kinda agree with u on kofuzi's length of preparation for his race.. perhaps throw in a twice weekly 3-4 hours zone 1-2 cycling to train the hamstring and gives himself the needed rest from the hard pounding of the pavements... it looks like he is not running naturally as he is swaying more side to side from i first saw him 1 year ago.. @kofuzi
I signed up for Houston before I decided to switch up training methods. In retrospect, that was a rash decision
Hi @kofuzi proud to see that you're putting yourself out there. Regardless of successful or not unsuccessful outcome, you are true inspiration for all of us recreational joggers. Regarding your 0.25 extra mileage gps vs actual comment, perhaps you may want to try "manual lap" for Boston so you can get down to exact pace by hitting the lap button after each mile marker. This worked for me at Philly marathon and also kept me mentally sharp throughout the race.
i thought about it, but it's too much tinkering with the watch. i get obsessed/panicked with the numbers as it is.
Excellent breakdown, you obviously have a fi understanding of your own approach needed going into the next block. Well done
Great analysis! All that time in the red zone (2 hours+) showed why you hit the wall.
Having a target time is good for your training plan but after that it is irrelevant - removing the 'pace' metrics from your watch is a good idea to just focus on your body's ability and let it bring you home!
Lessons learned for next time
Thanks for the honest and open reflection on your performance. Be the best you can be, that's all anyone can ask!
That’s all I can do. But I can’t control what people do or don’t ask for.
Data dump! Thanks for the insightful recap and congrats on another good race.
For a while, I was thinking that I had squandered a great race and great weather. But then I realized that the good conditions gave me a really clean readout in my HR fitness. So a lot to glean here, I think
I don’t even run 26 miles in a WEEK so watching you accomplish such a feat is incredibly impressive!
thank you so much!
Watching videos of people talking about races they did makes me so nostalgic to get out there and race myself
we're all missing races a bit
@@kofuzi definitely!
I really like your analysis and take on it! 👍
You describing your experience with the Carbon Rocket sounds exactly like what I went through when I wore Newtons for the Long Beach Marathon. By mile 4-6 I was like "what the fuck was I thinking?" and then the rest of the race was a disaster for me. Really beat my feet up badly and that crept into my mind big time. Solidarity.
i saw a lot of Newtons out on the course on this day. i'd never seen to many in one place before.
Ho kofuzi, you had a great 21 miles, flying, good time for the half as well. Go for a time soon for the half.. you always learn from each race. I've got money on you getting a good marathon this year. Have a good rest now and recover. Try some trail runs to get some hill strength, thanks for the vid. Cheers from Anglesey...
i could use a good marathon. i've got two more chances in 2020.
@@kofuzi you will smashit next time...
Kofuzi, thanks for the video. I really enjoy how you approach and analyse your training. You can see how much running means to you and that is inspiring. I know you're getting a lot of conflicting info / suggestions re Maffetone but I would say stick with it. It's only been a few months so it would be unusual to get such drastic improvements over such a short space of time. One suggestion could be to use some of your long runs during your next training block to see what HR your body can maintain and for how long. So you could go out for 2.5 hours and set the limit on the watch at 160bpm and see how that goes. If you run out of steam then maybe it was too intense or if it was easy you know that you can bump it up a notch. As hard and ridiculous as this sounds, try and ignore pace. I know it's the holy grail for us runners but maybe focus on HR and how long your body can maintain certain intensities. If you keep up with low HR training you will improve so your pace should get quicker at all ranges of HR. Thanks for sharing your experience and for all the rgeat videos.
I’ve been ignoring pace for much of the buildup. I wish I would have done the same for the race
Seems I'll pick up the vaporfly next instead. I was on the fence thinking I could go with the carbon rocket or carbon X, but my training shoe has been the zoomfly so i might as well stay in the same family
I ran in the Vaporfly NEXT% for last weekend's marathon but thinking of going to the Carbon X for my next attempt. I've done some great half marathons in the Vaporfly but haven't really felt that same boost in the two marathons done in that shoe. Not sure why but for me it feels like the Vaporfly is more suited to shorter races.
I uses the zoomfly sp for my daily runs and next % for my races.. i like it just because of the geometry i get from the shoe and the extra boasts and comforts from the next %.. the speed is all from yr trainings...😊
Makes sense
You gave a good breakdown of everything. Hit your "A goal" or learn. I can understand feeling awful going for sub 3-hr as you're so close to it. I'm pretty stubborn with running plans as well, but I'm coming around to them after my times dropped a lot after trying tempo runs. I also started reading Koop's book and Pfitzinger's "Advanced Marathoning" which are incredible. In "Advanced Marathoning", they say to not push over 10s/mile over your planned race pace in a race if you need to speed up, so you don't build up lactic acid too fast. I def can't pace myself that close, but I do like the concept which might come in handy in future races. I also haven't done a proper marathon trial. I like either 50k+ just try to finish or half marathons. HM's are so forgiving with trying stuff as my pacing is awful, but the penalty for it is minimal compared to what I think would happen to me for marathon distance.
You did good, Kofuzi.
If you would stay with the 3:10 pace group , what would you think it could happen? I think that you would obtain 3:10 or less. But it was a good run and maf method works.
You tun anperfect 1st half marathon at 165 bpm, then loke you said , change the race plan.
But you could maintain the training for the next marathon and I'm sure you would do better.
Keep it up!!! Nice race and your analisis is very clear . Thanks for sharing your experience.
i think i would have come in around 3:11 or 3:12 if i had stayed with that 3:10 group. but that's pure speculation and likely fanciful wishes
Well done on the race Michael even though it didn’t get as well as you hoped. As runners we’ve all been there. 1st Marathon of the year and it was an experimental race in many ways. Plenty of data to work with. I think for your eventual sub 3 all roads will lead to Chicago in October.
a lot of questions answered
Houston has been my favorite marathon so far - flat, great crowd support and the weather was great (for 2022) - running it again in 2023
Focusing on HR and switching off pace screen would be a nice psychological change to the time pressure off and get the best out of the day - Maybe also think of setting HR zones for the first 21KM to 160-165, 21-31 165-170, then 170+ for last 10 or so KM's to give you some HR safety room. From my limited experience when I run past my limit it's hard to get back into your target pace Zone without blowing up, have fun as you said I think the time will come. Keep up the great work, I like many others really enjoy sharing the journey even more than the end result :) Thanks !!!!
that seems like a very disciplined approach. i know i wasn't disciplined enough for that on this particular day. i hope to get there soon.
Congrats on the Finish! Best you can do on that day is all you can ask for! Keep it up!
Thanks so much!
Fantastic insight especially for a Marathon Beginner like me! Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
i'm also a beginning marathoner. i make beginner mistakes.
@@kofuzi I'm training for my 1st one... You are no beginner! ;-)
thanks for all the information. looking forward to the next cycle and race!!!
Me too!
great analysis and great effort! thanks for taking us along
thanks for watching!
Such a stunning effort and analysis. Well done!
thanks, Dan!
Thanks for your full marathon sharing. Really appreciate it 👍🏼
thank you for watching!
I get the doubt, expectations, frustration that creeps in during a race. I ran a race two years ago - just stuck with a pace group, and while the time was great for my age and level of fitness, it was also almost too effortless mentally.
Sounds nice
Well done Kofuzi, totally admire your commitment to training and your openness to talking it through. I'd like to offer some thoughts on where things may be going wrong: I believe it is mostly to do with energy systems ie fat versus carb burning during training and therefore racing. From what I've seen of your training and vlogs of diet and timing of eating prior to workouts there is room for improvement. If you can work towards improving your fat max pace I can see a sub 3hour pace as totally achievable. All the best 💓
Thanks for the report/analysis. I didn’t have all of that data for my Houston Marathon but the pacing/effort “errors” I made were similar to yours.
Great experience though and it’s always and education to run a marathon
An unforgiving school, but I wouldn’t have it any other way
Great video! And it sounds like you had a good trip. Hope you’re recovering well!
it was a lot of fun
Congratulations on your race. Enjoy your insight into all things running.
Thank you for watching
Great Content! Working towards my first Marathon, I appreciate the knowledge.
Good luck with your training!
Since you've got Stryd I think it would be interesting to have you do their CP test and have the zones actually map to Stryd zones for future events. It looks kinda odd when your zones have been z1 and z2 during Houston. Stryd's new Powercenter is being rolled out and I think the analytics are really helpful for a recreational runner.
I’ll take a look
1) At 5K, you don't talk in full sentences easily, so you are already going too fast for that point in the race. It could have been a fine pace later on in the race, though. Oxygen debt is hard to pay back in a marathon. 2) What I see doesn't say you do not have enough endurance, it says you do not have the speed endurance you need. 3) So, you can continue with low-HR training, but you cannot use a fixed (180 - age) formula. Go to a lab and have them figure out your metabolic thresholds, VT1/VT2/LT. Then use VT1/VT2/LT - 10% as your aerobic pace for base runs. None of these fixed formulas work for everyone. 4) A long block of base building must be followed by a 6-8 week block of race-specific training. 5) You should insert time trials into your training. I am always amazed that people go to races essentially blindfolded as to what kind of pace is CURRENTLY reasonable for them. And, for a marathon, I would focus on 1-hour time trials. 6) You won't live long enough to make all the mistakes you could make, so it's important that you learn from the mistakes of others. 7) The number and your performance on the day are not bad at all. In fact, they are good. It's just that you expect more of yourself and that's a goal setting problem. 8) This entire wall of text may seem harsh and even downright nasty. It's not my intent, though. I just hope to give you something you can work with and use to bridge the gap between your expectations and your performances.
Laurent Therond I couldn’t agree with you more!! More MP miles for sure. Also a good time trial. Excellent post
Lots to unpack here. But I will say that, two weeks out, I did a 20 mile run with 13 miles at goal marathon HR. I had some idea what to do. I just wasn’t smart enough to do it.
And perhaps I just don’t take racing as seriously as you do. I’m guessing you would try and find like a 15k to race near Chicago in the winter around New Year’s Eve. But I’m not that dedicated.
@@kofuzi Good point about that long run ; that should have been one of my bullet points. That run was too hard to be a training run and too long to be a test/time trial. I know you felt good and you wanted to put your mind in the right place, but 2 weeks out, that's too much stress. I would not test/time trial in the last 3 1/2 weeks. Even a half-marathon race 4 weeks out is questionable, if you go all out, even though I have used that many times myself. But again, chin up, your attitude is right and you are obviously plenty smart, so you will get there!
@@kofuzi And goodness, you are dedicated, don't tell yourself anything else. Anyone who puts in 80-mile weeks as you did is dedicated.
You have a clear vision, you know exactly what you have to do as you explained. Maintain that focus and it will come 👍🏻
I hope so