If all goes as planned I will have completed the Houston Marathon Jan 14th then I've signed up to run the Rocky 50km Feb 12th. If it matters, for the marathon training I am using a Matt Fitzgerald 80/20 plan. Between the marathon and 50k I was planning on recovering for the work week after the marathon, focusing solely on trails/hills + long runs on weekends for the two weeks leading up to the 50k, and then a taper week the week of the 50k. This will be my first marathon and earlier this year I ran the Hell's Hills 25k. I think this sounds pretty reasonable but I have no experience stacking races, if that's even a thing. What do y'all think?

Your plan is fine, in theory, if your goal is to finish both races. However, at mile 23 of the marathon, if you are trying for some ambitious time standard, you will be asking yourself why you were so stupid.

As for the 80/20 stuff, maybe that will work for you now that it's fall. I found that in Houston in the summer, I don't need somebody from London telling me to go for 3 hour walks in summer to get my mileage without getting my heart rate too high. Not only is it a waste of time, but it exposes me to the elements needlessly and risks injury from the unnatural motion of walking.

I just had a good summer, never running more than 6.55 miles in the heat, versus the 10 - 15 mile long slow runs that I did last summer. Dropped 10 seconds off my mile too, and didn't lose 7 lbs every Saturday morning.

Haha! My goal for both runs is to finish. I have no doubt I am going to have lots of regret towards the end of the marathon. It's something I've wanted to do and once I have I want to focus more on trail running.

Regarding 80/20 running, in the summer most of my "foundation" runs, in zone 2 / sub-153bpm HR, were at a decent pace for me. I typically run very early in the morning or on a treadmill in the heat of the summer. Obviously, since it has cooled off my pace has improved drastically at the same HR's.

ETA: I ran 1:38 half marathon this past Jan with minimal training, outside of just logging miles, and 2:30 Hell's Hills 25k (kicked my ass). I don't really have a time goal in mind for the marathon. Any finish will be a PR.

first marathon? I would not recommend doing a 50k that close. If you are hell bent on doing it, i'd at least wait a week or so after the marathon to see how your body feels before registering for the 50K.

Plenty of people will probably come along and say its fine. And maybe it will be. You can most likely finish both. However, you are putting yourself at a higher risk for injury, and there's a high likelihood that your 50K experience will not be enjoyable. Remember, you will be on trails, the pace will be slower and you will be on your feet for a lot longer period of time than "just adding 5 miles" to the marathon. When you are hurting at mile 22 or 24 in the marathon, think about having to continue that for another 2-3 hours.

Someone who has been doing endurance running for a long time could easily do what you are asking, but their body is use to is. Yours is likely not.

That all sounds really reasonable and gives a little different perspective for me. Thank you.

AggieOO said:

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first marathon? I would not recommend doing a 50k that close. If you are hell bent on doing it, i'd at least wait a week or so after the marathon to see how your body feels before registering for the 50K.

Plenty of people will probably come along and say its fine. And maybe it will be. You can most likely finish both. However, you are putting yourself at a higher risk for injury, and there's a high likelihood that your 50K experience will not be enjoyable. Remember, you will be on trails, the pace will be slower and you will be on your feet for a lot longer period of time than "just adding 5 miles" to the marathon. When you are hurting at mile 22 or 24 in the marathon, think about having to continue that for another 2-3 hours.

Someone who has been doing endurance running for a long time could easily do what you are asking, but their body is use to is. Yours is likely not.

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I agree. The following weekend after my 1st marathon, I had signed up for a double trail race weekend 25k Saturday and 15k Sunday months in advance thinking it would be fine. Turns out the marathon aggravated my IT band and it made for a miserable weekend on the trails. Took me a couple months to recover.

IMO not a good idea. Thinking you could recover from your first marathon in a week is not realistic.

If I was going to attempt this after my first marathon it would be a challenge to get any sort of realistic long-run mileage between the two races. I'd train for Houston as if that was the 50K and get in some longer runs. The time between the two races would largely be focused on recovering from the marathon.

I too remember being super confident training for my first marathon and thought it would be no problem turning and burning once I crossed the finish line. Boy was I wrong. Just recovering from BCS in early December enough to run Cowtown in February was a stretch. Granted, that was back when I ran with a running group that led me to believe 3 runs per week was enough to get me to the finish.

Not to mention that everyone thinks they'll be fine training through the winter and the holidays. But three eggnogs later and the Saturday morning long run becomes a sluggish march.

IF you're consistently running 5-6 days per week in the 50-60 MPW range then I think you'll make it through your first marathon no problem. How well you feel afterwards with solely depend on your pacing and nutrition - it's easy to get caught up in the excitement and PR your half while forgetting you still have another to get through.

I'd hardly say I'm "super confident" going in to my first marathon. What I am doing is taking training very seriously. I am not drinking, eating healthy (working with a nutrition coach), getting plenty of sleep, and stretching every day, sometimes 2x per day. My only goal for the marathon is to finish. Like I said, IF I finish, which I think I will, that will be a PR.

The more I think and read about doing the 50K after the marathon the less likely it is to happen.

Thanks all for the input!

I ran about 35 miles per week training for my first marathon, which was this past Jan 1st. I had leg cramps the last 3 miles, but was able to go on a long walk withy wife later that day. Two days later I was back running, but a week later after a 12 miler I felt some knee pain (beginning of IT), so I spent a week on the stationary trainer. I ran the 2nd marathon 6 weeks after the first, and lowered my time by 5 minutes, running out of gas at mile 24. The third marathon was a month later. I primarily did speed work to get ready. At mile 20, the knee began to hurt again, so I walked the last quarter. Oh well.

All this is to say that you can try and do whatever you want, but if you try to train through pain, you will fail. You HAVE to get healthy before training.

Know where your problem points are, and if you feel a twinge, give it a week of rest.

Finally, if you PR your half during a full, may God have mercy on your soul. Don't do that. Some really good runners have pulled that crap. On that day they were fools. If you are wired to do that sort of crap, don't listen to yourself. Just don't.

For my PR, I hit my target pace for the first time at mile 10, spent the next 10 miles tracking down "lost" time, and the last 2 giving some of it back (out of gas).