I just registered for a marathon next month. Help
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I did a 16.6 mile run last weekend and 42 miles total for the week. I'm just running for fun. Also I've never done anything longer than about 18 miles. I'll do that again this weekend but am I really prepared? The race is December 14th.
If you continue with 40+ miles per week and can do a 20 miler or 22 miler 3 weeks before your event you should be fine. Keep in mind, your pace for the event should probably be a little slower than your long runs.
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I thought you were supposed to do your long runs slower than the event pace.hermann341 wrote: »I did a 16.6 mile run last weekend and 42 miles total for the week. I'm just running for fun. Also I've never done anything longer than about 18 miles. I'll do that again this weekend but am I really prepared? The race is December 14th.
If you continue with 40+ miles per week and can do a 20 miler or 22 miler 3 weeks before your event you should be fine. Keep in mind, your pace for the event should probably be a little slower than your long runs.
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You can do it, you're a super star runner! Go get it and have fun.0
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If you're already doing 18, then you're most of the way there! Keep to your training plan and manage your expectations for the race, and you should be fine. Seriously--you say that the last 6.2 miles is what you are worried about--there is no shame in walking some of it. Make sure you test out fuel/energy drinks while running your long training runs.
Here's my other tip--not sure of your overall goals, but do not, I repeat, do not attempt to run a full marathon while cutting. You are going to need all of those calories!
Good luck!0 -
I'm not even doing a marathon or half marathon training plan but I was talked into doing a marathon next month. What should I do? How do I get prepared?
Not a smart move... but what is done is done. Reco pulling up the novice Hal Higdon plan, and see if your currently weekly running approximates where the plan is with that number of weeks out. Make sense? Jump into the plan there.
However with only 4 weeks to go you are in the last build week before a 3 week taper. Now since you haven't been running that much, you don't need to taper for so long so you can conceivably get 2 weeks of real training. If you are at 45 miles a week now, perhaps a push to 50 with an 18 mile long run would be good.
I personally usually don't bother with anything more than 18 as my longest ahead of a marathon, but I also run 50-60 mile weeks in there.0 -
I thought you were supposed to do your long runs slower than the event pace.hermann341 wrote: »I did a 16.6 mile run last weekend and 42 miles total for the week. I'm just running for fun. Also I've never done anything longer than about 18 miles. I'll do that again this weekend but am I really prepared? The race is December 14th.
If you continue with 40+ miles per week and can do a 20 miler or 22 miler 3 weeks before your event you should be fine. Keep in mind, your pace for the event should probably be a little slower than your long runs.
Yes, but that assumes a full build schedule.
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Are you religious? If not, you will be when you're 90% through the race.0
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Which religion?uconnwinsnc1 wrote: »Are you religious? If not, you will be when you're 90% through the race.
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Sounds like you already have the fitness in place, you just have to find a good prep plan to work with. I did one marathon in my entire life. I walked strange for an entire week and my feet felt like somebody beat them with baseball bats. Scratched that off of my bucket list and never want to do it again. Some people just love the high the get from it.0
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uconnwinsnc1 wrote: »Are you religious? If not, you will be when you're 90% through the race.
I recall telling the following story after my first marathon:
Things were good until mile 20. Then I started hating life. By mile 22 I was thinking I might die. By 23 I was sure I was going to die. By 24 I was really hoping I would die so the pain would stop. At 25 I had forgotten my own name. Finally at 26 I perked back up and crossed the finish line.0 -
I LOLed so hard at this!!uconnwinsnc1 wrote: »Are you religious? If not, you will be when you're 90% through the race.
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Another way I have put it is this: A half marathon is not "half of a marathon". The first half of the marathon is 20 miles long. The second half is 10k long.
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As someone who "winged" it in 2011 for my first 26.2 (I trained in 28 days)...all I can say is amateur mistake. You should definitely give it more time. I only say this because it's almost 2015 and my body is STILL NOT the same it was back then. I have perma injuries even after PT and lots of time to recover. I minimize the flare ups of joint pain by cross training and doing a lot of walking, but seriously take it easy. If you miss a training run, then so be it.0
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If you are running 40 miles per week, and can do a 20 miler three weeks before the race, then you probably are in the physical shape to run 26.2. I worked a program where I built up to that kind of mileage, and ran a marathon two weeks ago. I finished (running the whole race) in 04:32. Just remember to start slow and avoid the temptation to run fast at the beginning, or even for the first 20 miles. When you start the last 6.2, you will need your legs to be in good condition.
On thing to keep in mind, is that 26.2 miles is a totally different distance than 20 miles, not from a purely physical standpoint (the ability of your legs and feet to handle the pounding, and your muscles to keep working. A marathon is more than just a run that happens to be 6.2 miles longer than a 20 miler. This is because of a natural human limitation of the ability to store enough energy to keep moving much farther than the 20 mile mark. When people "hit the wall" or "bonk" it is because they have depleted their glycogen stores (carbohydrate energy stores) and simply cannot power their muscles any longer. Their muscles may be capable of moving, and their legs and feet ok, but there is no sugar in the bloodstream to fuel the firing of the muscle cells.
Avoiding glycogen depletion entails (1) long training runs (2) carb loading before the race to top off the glycogen, and (3) carb consumption during the race to provide an incremental sugar supply to the bloodstream. This allows your body to burn the sugar you are consuming, and not burn all of the glycogen prior to the 20 mile mark.
Suggestions:
(1) You are already handling this by building up to the mileage you are at, and the training runs you plan to do.
(2) I would advise eating a VERY high carb diet for several days before the race. I ate about 5000-6000 calories per day in the days leading up to mine. Tons of orange juice, Gatorade, pasta, rice, cookies, graham crackers. Yummy. Some people advise only pasta, but your body doesn't care from a biological standpoint. It turns any sugar into glycogen.
(3) I would suggest taking nine or more ~100 calorie glucose gel packs with you, and start eating one every two miles at about mile 6. I would also consume sports drink at every single hydration point in the race.
If you can keep your glycogen stores from being totally wiped out at the end, then you have a good chance of finishing.
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Or you know, she takes a chance and just goes for it, realizes she can do it and inspires herself to do it again and to train more next time. She'll never know if she doesn't try.0 -
Or you know, she takes a chance and just goes for it, realizes she can do it and inspires herself to do it again and to train more next time. She'll never know if she doesn't try.
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The 18 mile run yesterday went well. I almost have the training to do half a marathon.0
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Seems like you got this done and will do fine.
If you can get a 40K in a couple of weeks before the marathon, do it.
I ran in an organized open (you run whatever distance you want) fun run race last Saturday and wanted to do a 40K because my long run up to then was 21 miles. I lined up with the marathoners and conversing during the race, the #1 question I got was that since 40K is so close to marathon distance, why not just finish the marathon. My answer was that 40K was the next step in my training for my first marathon on Black Friday. And why deprive myself of 2 achievements and just skipping to straight to the marathon distance.
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