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Looks like I was not the only one to take it to the grass today. I found it really helps recovery. Man you have some impressive credentials especially in the 10k recently. Ever thought about the marathon?

thanks! I gave the thon a try once and it was the disaster of all disasters. basically i made it to 18 miles well then spent the last 8 walking at times barefoot. i race halfs though every now and then but only when I've completely prepared for them.

That is rather odd, but it is a common theme for US college and briefly post-college runners. Excellent speed up to half-marathon, and exceptional under-performance in the marathon even after proper training. My theory on that - you need a very well working liver after an hour and a half of running to keep the pace, and a typical American diet and lifestyle will not give you one.

Otherwise, I see no reason why you could not run at least 2:13.

2:13 is WAY out of my range. I think that if I really trained at it I could be a 2:20 guy but I tend to struggle more and more the longer the race gets. My half marathon PR is only 67 and I couldn't possibly imagine running that back to back. My one marathon attempt wasn't an overly serious one that I trained specifically for. Thinking I could run that far at 6min pace without training for it was my mistake

Ryan - the fact that you can run 1:07 half indicates that it is not impossible for you to double it with some adjustments.

I also find it rather odd that you call a 6:00 pace an easy run, but yet at the same time find it challenging to run a marathon at that pace. My marathon pace is 5:30-5:40, and I really have to focus and dig in to keep it. On a bad day, I might not even be able to keep it for a 10 K. On any day, running at any pace faster than 6:40 requires me to concentrate.

I am still convinced you have a 2:13 marathon in you and that with some soul searching you could unearth it. My intuition tells me the answer is in your overall health. You performance patterns indicate you are very efficient biomechanically, have a decent cardiovascular system, but perhaps there is something not quite right with one or more of the organs that are responsible for energy supply. The most obvious culprit would be the liver as I pointed out earlier.

If I were you the first thing I'd check is the diet. Make it as much liver friendly as you can. It will probably take a few years for it to heal. A good diet will also allow you to take your cardiovascular system even further.

I've done a major dietary renovation of the last year or two and have seen great results. I used to think I could eat anything and burn it off which technically is true but it's not helping my performances any. Now I focus on what I call the "anti-inflammatory" diet. Basically it's the same thing as the Paleodiet. There's a huge emphasis on Omega 3 though. I replaced all normal eggs and meats with grass fed vegitarian for the increase in omega 3. I also will have wild fish at least 2-3 times per week which is incredible for Omega 3. What I've gotten rid of is processed foods. I also have replaced my carbs from grains (which are very inflammatory) with carbs from fruits and veggies. When I say inflammation I'm talking about cytokines. Some promote inflammation and are anti inflammatory. The original diet (paleo) conisisted of a 1:1 omega 3:6 balance providing the body with the perfect balance of pro and anti inflammatory cytokines. Now our diets are more like 20-30:1 omega 6:3.

Long story short, my diet has had great benefits for me recently but when I did attempt a marathon my diet was garbage.

But even with that said I've always been more of a 1500m/5k guy with my toughest weekly runs being my long runs. 6 min pace is relaxed for me but after I start to break down from long runs I break down hard. Eventually I'm going to see if my training can handle the mileage and the long runs to give the marathon a chance. When it comes down to it I'm more of a distance runner with speed that a long distance guy. If I felt that I could even do 2:16-18 I'd be focused on doing 2 a year because that's where the money is.

Ryan - your dietary improvements overtime might make you more fit for the marathon than you expect. Just give it some time, and keep trying.

A fast 1500 meter guy often makes a good marathoner even if he does not think of himself as one. I do not think Paul Tergat is really a marathoner. His 5,000 and 10,000 performances impress me more than his marathon. His is very fast in 1500. But the natural tendency towards shorter distances did not keep him from setting a world record in the marathon.

I think really the question is why the 1500 meter guy is fast. If he is fast primarily because he has too much faster-twitch fibers, that does not bode well for his marathon. But if he is fast primarily because of good biomechanics, that is a whole different story. My intuition tells me you belong to the second category. You could do very well in the half-marathon and the marathon after some healing and proper endurance training.