All 3 are challenging goals, but am I the only one more concerned about the running goals than the bench goal?
I haven't read entire thread. Have you told us your running history? What's the longest race you've run, how long ago was it, and how well did you do?
What is your current assessment of your ability to do the marathon and the 6 minute goal?
Only considering running goals, based on info so far, I'd say your marathon is the easiest to achieve, but not by much. You can be cruising along fine and very easily run into a wall at mile 17.
"Let's say you're cruising through your first marathon. You're running a little faster than you've trained, but hey, it's race day, and you're charged with adrenaline.
You cross the halfway point five minutes faster than you had planned based on your training pace. You're rocking your first race, and everything is great. And then disaster strikes.
At Mile 15, it hits you. For the first time, you notice your legs feel heavy. By Mile 16, the idea of a quick walk break sounds great. By 17, you're not sure you can even finish the race.
What happened? You were so disciplined in your training, and you tried to listen to your body on race day. The problem is that you didn't know what you were capable of and had no idea how fast to run. And a good rule of thumb is that for every minute too fast that you run the first half of a marathon, you'll lose two minutes in the second half.
You need a better idea of how fast you can reasonably expect to run. These three marathon prediction methods well help you do that, and avoid the race-day disaster that so many runners experience."
http://www.nomeatathlete.com/marathon-prediction/
For the marathon, there are formulas to predict your marathon time based on shorter runs.
Mcmillian
http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmil...calculator.htm
calculates that for a 25 minute 3 mile, you're predicted marathon is 4:12:50,
with a 9:40 pace.
That's good news. You may not be too far off your marathon goal already.
However, this guy
http://www.hillrunner.com/jim2/id70.html
say that 10k is the best predictor and that 5k or less aren't accurate predictors:
"For instance, I would NEVER use a 5k race as a primary predictor for a marathon. Why? Because a 5k race is run at or near aerobic capacity (VO2max) which, next to percent of fast twitch fibers, is, arguably, the least important physiological factor for a marathon. A 5k race, much like a set of Yasso 10x800's, predicts the marathon time that your aerobic capacity will support. However, neither tells you much about your lactic threshold (LT), endurance, running strength, or running efficiency.....all of which have a greater effect on marathon performance than aerobic capacity. A 5k race really isn't a heck of a lot more relevant to a marathon than is a 1-mile race or a 100 yard dash....both of which can theoretically be used in race calculators to "predict" a marathon time."
So I say you should try to get in a 10k soon and tell us how you did. We can go from there.
Also, I'm most concerned about your mile times/goal. I think you should time yourself at an all-out mile at least once a week (have a school track nearby?) and report here.
fyi I have recovered from a bad ankle injury a year ago, have been running 3 miles a day for a year straight (started basically out of shape), and my best mile is 6:40 right now. I may be the worst miler ever (though I did run track and CC in high school years back), but take it for what it's worth. That' 6 minute mile ain't gonna be easy.
Good luck.
Cygnus
