Marathon Training Panic

Pinkranger626

I am currently in training for my very first marathon (Disney in January). I'm coming up on the half marathon mileage in my training plan in about two weeks. I've run 5 half marathons so I'm very comfortable in the 13 mile range. In fact, even when training for my first half I don't remember being nervous about increasing my mileage. I would say i was more excited, proud, and amazed that my legs would bring me that far.

I ran 9 miles this past long run, everything felt good, I'm looking forward to running my half marathon in a few weeks (using it as a proof of time to get into a good wave). So After my run I like to log a few sentences about how my run went, how fast I ran, fueling etc. After i did that i flipped through the book and saw the progression of mileage. It's not surprising, it doesn't jump immensely, and I KNOW that a full marathon is in fact 26.2 miles. But every time i see the numbers 19 miles, 20 miles, 23 miles, etc I start to panic. The idea of every long run after 13.1 will be the longest i have ever run is overwhelming and scary to me. My cousin, who is a marathoner, told me to just take it one mile at a time. I know this is good advice, and i know I can do it, and I know that i will log the training to get there.

For my marathoners in the group, do/did you ever have this panic? What do you tell yourself/do to help ease your mind?

mwyvr

Trust your training, remain uninjured, and try to just enjoy it! You are building up over an appropriate period of time, already have a good base of volume in, plus you have experience running the half - you are going to be just fine.

Prediction: instead of panic you are going to be giggling with delight when you hit these big new milestones. Just get to the first all time longest milestone and let that feeling carry you through all the rest.

Trust your training!

chunkytfg

Firstly congrats on the Running so far.

Secondly your Cousin is right! At some point you will have to run them so just go for it one run at a time. Your plan wont have you jumping straight up to 20 mile runs so each run is only a little bit further each time.

Also trust the pace guides within the plan. The long runs should be done at 30-45sec/mile slower than your target marathon pace. The purpose of the long run is all about time on the feet and nothing to do with pace. It is supposed to be easy all except the last couple of miles which you should try to do at race pace.

Personally I I went into marathon training having trained for an ironman previously so knew what to expect but I was still nervous on the long runs when they started getting up to 20-22 miles. You just have to get on with it and try and ignore the nerves.

JoRocka

I'm not much of a runner these days- so my long runs are your short runs (i'm training for a half) but having done the bata'an death march before- there is a certain amount of just buckle up and go out there and settle in for the long haul.

One mile at a time.- you're in a good space- doing halfs you're already probably physically capable- it's all mental at this point- you can do it!!

cyndit1

I have a tattoo on my leg which I swear by and it it was mentioned in an earlier post here "trust the training". follow a solid plan and the plan will prepare you.

jhmomofmany

I trained for my first marathon last year, having never gone further than 10k. I felt the same panic when I first looked ahead in the training plan, too.

I think it's really common to have a mental block about going past a certain mileage. For me, that number was 14 miles. For whatever reason, I was ok with building up to the half marathon, but moving past that suddenly seemed impossible. I felt it was stupid for me to even think I should try.

After that initial panic, I stopped looking further than the next workout. I forced myself to gain trust in the plan, in the process, and in my body's ability to adapt. It was an awesome experience. I can't wait until I'm cleared to start training again!

Pinkranger626

Thanks everyone! I think part of the mental block for me is the idea that I will be taking 4+ hours out of a day just for running. I've done races that have taken 7 hours (Bone Frog), I've done trainings that were an entire weekend of 8+ hours. @JoRocka I'll have to embrace the suck I guess!!

WhatMeRunning

I can't add much more other than to encourage you to push ahead and plan your time for those long runs! I found the numbers looked more intimidating on paper than when I ran them.

_Waffle_

workoutgrl87 wrote: »

Thanks everyone! I think part of the mental block for me is the idea that I will be taking 4+ hours out of a day just for running. I've done races that have taken 7 hours (Bone Frog), I've done trainings that were an entire weekend of 8+ hours. @JoRocka I'll have to embrace the suck I guess!!

Only in the actual race. You shouldn't run for that much time during practice. Running for too much over 3 hours is going to take a considerable amount of time to recover from and ruin your next week's training routine.

As for the distance, hopefully each week's long run is just a mile longer than the week before. Just think of it that way. "I did this last week. Now I just have to add one more mile. Only one mile."

WakkoW

I would recommend you rethink how many of the 20+ mile runs you need to do in your training. Research suggests that runs of over 3 hours don't offer any benefit and increase chance of injury. I think at that point any benefit is more psychological than physical. Do some research on the benefits vs negatives of running for over 3 hours.

Pinkranger626

I'm following the Galloway plan for the Disney Marathon. I followed his plan for the Glass Slipper Challenge and had good luck with that. He has you do a long run (this week it was 9 miles), then the following week is a shorter long run (next week is only 5 miles), then it brings you back up to the farther distance (the following week is 11 miles). I'm thinking it'll take me 4+ hours because I'm not very fast. For my long runs I average 11:00-12:30 per mile depending on how humid it is. Every half that I've run that had my training stop at 10 miles made the last 3 miles absolutely miserable, so I know that I want to hit 20+ at least twice before the actual event. One of the things I really like about this training plan is it actually brings me up to 26 miles before the taper. a lot of the other training plans that i've seen stop at 18 miles.

_Waffle_

workoutgrl87 wrote: »

Every half that I've run that had my training stop at 10 miles made the last 3 miles absolutely miserable, so I know that I want to hit 20+ at least twice before the actual event. One of the things I really like about this training plan is it actually brings me up to 26 miles before the taper. a lot of the other training plans that i've seen stop at 18 miles.

I work up to 16 miles training for a half and yet I don't go past 20 on a full marathon schedule. A full marathon is not two half marathons back to back. Consider 20 miles the half-way point. Running much over 3 hours is an unnecessary risk. I take about 3:15:00 to do the 20 miles. More than that is a terrible idea.

If you choose to run 26 in training then be sure and tell us all about your injuries when they happen.

AllonsYtotheTardis

Waffle, you know I love you, but it takes me 2.5 hours to just go 13 miles, and that's at race pace. Are you suggesting I never hit more than 15 miles in training before doing a marathon? Because that's what it would mean for me to never go over 3 hours.

lporter229

workoutgrl87 wrote: »

I'm following the Galloway plan for the Disney Marathon. I followed his plan for the Glass Slipper Challenge and had good luck with that. He has you do a long run (this week it was 9 miles), then the following week is a shorter long run (next week is only 5 miles), then it brings you back up to the farther distance (the following week is 11 miles). I'm thinking it'll take me 4+ hours because I'm not very fast. For my long runs I average 11:00-12:30 per mile depending on how humid it is. Every half that I've run that had my training stop at 10 miles made the last 3 miles absolutely miserable, so I know that I want to hit 20+ at least twice before the actual event. One of the things I really like about this training plan is it actually brings me up to 26 miles before the taper. a lot of the other training plans that i've seen stop at 18 miles.

I strongly suggest that you reconsider doing anything more than 20 mile long runs during your training. This is particularly true for a first time marathoner. The recovery after a run of 2+ hours is pretty huge. You will beat your body down and not give it time to recover. You have to have faith that a good taper, proper race fueling, race day adrenaline and crowd support will be enough to get you through those last six miles. I am not going to lie...they WILL hurt. It's a marathon after all. But putting yourself through that in training is unnecessary and not recommended by most coaches.

ETA: I just noticed you are doing Galloway. Is this a run/walk plan? If so, that may not be as bad on you if you are doing run/walk intervals from the start. I have very little experience with this type of plan, so I guess I should not be offering advice on it.

_Waffle_

AllonsYtotheTardis wrote: »

Waffle, you know I love you, but it takes me 2.5 hours to just go 13 miles, and that's at race pace. Are you suggesting I never hit more than 15 miles in training before doing a marathon? Because that's what it would mean for me to never go over 3 hours.

The benefit/risk payoff starts growing much much faster on the risk side after 3 hours. You CAN do it and not get injured but it's more likely that you will the more runs you do over 3 hours.

Are You Overemphasizing The Marathon Long Run?
Research has shown that your body doesn’t see a significant increase in aerobic development, specifically mitochondrial development, when running over 90 minutes. The majority of the physiological stimulus of a long run occurs between the 60 and 90 minute mark. This means that after running for 3 hours, aerobic benefits (capillary building, mitochondrial development) aren’t markedly better than when you run for only 2 hours. Therefore, a long run of over 3 hours isn’t building much more aerobic fitness than one lasting 2 hours.

Read more at running.competitor.com

ETA: You can use accumulated fatigue to simulate the work on your muscles. Do a 5 - 8 mile EASY run the day before your long run so your legs are not fresh.

AllonsYtotheTardis

I don't think I'll ever be ready to run a marathon then. Because psychologically, I wouldn't be able to convince myself I can do 26 without ever having run even 20.

WhatMeRunning

I recently ran my first 20 miler in training (took me 5 hours, I am THAT slow), so I have been reading this thread with some interest.

I will say that the "mental hurdle" that you seemingly overcome by proving you can do 20 miles is, in hindsight, a little overrated in my personal opinion. Sure, I had no idea if I could do that 20, and it was the hardest run I have done to date. But it was not particularly any more difficult than a 16 miler other than the recovery required. I pretty much found I was just in that groove where I was sore, quite sore by that point, but I had already been putting one foot ahead of the other and just kept on going. So in the end I finished 20, knowing I had done that.

BUT...

I finished knowing that on race day I would still have another 10k to go. So in the end, I am no more confident really about 26.2 after the 20 mile run than before. I do know I can do 20, for whatever that is worth. I don't think it is worth that much though in the grand scheme of things.

I might not do any more 20 milers, like I had planned, based on this thread. Not sure I need to prove the endurance or test my willpower. Been there, done that, even before trying for 20 miles.

My experience may not equate to all others, however. It's just my personal experience.

_Waffle_

WhatMeRunning wrote: »

I recently ran my first 20 miler in training (took me 5 hours, I am THAT slow), so I have been reading this thread with some interest.

I will say that the "mental hurdle" that you seemingly overcome by proving you can do 20 miles is, in hindsight, a little overrated in my personal opinion. Sure, I had no idea if I could do that 20, and it was the hardest run I have done to date. But it was not particularly any more difficult than a 16 miler other than the recovery required. I pretty much found I was just in that groove where I was sore, quite sore by that point, but I had already been putting one foot ahead of the other and just kept on going. So in the end I finished 20, knowing I had done that.

BUT...

I finished knowing that on race day I would still have another 10k to go. So in the end, I am no more confident really about 26.2 after the 20 mile run than before. I do know I can do 20, for whatever that is worth. I don't think it is worth that much though in the grand scheme of things.

I might not do any more 20 milers, like I had planned, based on this thread. Not sure I need to prove the endurance or test my willpower. Been there, done that, even before trying for 20 miles.

My experience may not equate to all others, however. It's just my personal experience.

I felt the exact same way. "Phew! 20 miles done, but damn! I still have to do a full 10k after that? Holy Christ on a pogo stick!" :laugh: At my pace that's still another full hour of running. Still, on race day it worked out just fine and I didn't quit at mile 20. The race day atmosphere adds in more endurance and determination.

mbaker566

I could see running 23 but only running 20, that's nearly adding another 1/3rd of the distance, or 1/4. something. it's a lot

_Waffle_

moyer566 wrote: »

I could see running 23 but only running 20, that's nearly adding another 1/3rd of the distance, or 1/4. something. it's a lot

How can people climb Mt. Everest if they've never climbed Mt. Everest? They train on smaller mountains, and the skill that they obtain from all those climbs is enough to get them to the top. (and back down safely)

JoRocka

moyer566 wrote: »

I could see running 23 but only running 20, that's nearly adding another 1/3rd of the distance, or 1/4. something. it's a lot

it's only 0.23 of the total run.