First Marathon....

Maryjaneshoes

I completed the Rock and Roll half Labor Day weekend, was high on post race endorphins and consequently signed up for Shamrock.
A full marathon.
In March.
Any other first timers out there training? Or any veteran runners who can offer a little encouragement/advice? There are two women running the race with me, but we live in different counties and I'm having to do the long runs by myself, which gets very discouraging.
So any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated!
Mary :-)

speakz82

I completed the Rock and Roll half Labor Day weekend, was high on post race endorphins and consequently signed up for Shamrock.
A full marathon.
In March.
Any other first timers out there training? Or any veteran runners who can offer a little encouragement/advice? There are two women running the race with me, but we live in different counties and I'm having to do the long runs by myself, which gets very discouraging.
So any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated!
Mary :-)

Ran my marathon first this time last week.

Biggest piece of advice I did NOT take but should have: start out slow. you'll only damage your finish time in the end. It was my biggest mistake. Take water from all the water stops. I didn't take any from the first 5 and should have...I was heavily dehydrated before I even got to 13.1.

Enjoy your long runs though. I actually HATE running with anyone so it was a time of peace for me to get out there alone. Oh, and as for the taper. Don't do anything else. I was doing P90X during my taper and I believe that too slowed me down. Enjoy your taper!

gremlet

I'm running my very first marathon in two weeks time. I only started running seriously in April and the furthest I've ever raced is 10K!

Get a good training plan, eat well (make sure you're not eating too little!) trust in your training and you'll get there. I did my last super-long run of 20 miles last week. Six months ago I couldn't even conceive of running that far.

Good luck. You'll do great!

RodgerBuckley

Oh, and as for the taper. Don't do anything else. I was doing P90X during my taper and I believe that too slowed me down. Enjoy your taper!

If I knew what a P90X is or a Taper, I'd probably understand what you were talking about but it's all alien to me.

I read this thread because at the grand old age of 55 I'm seriously considering getting into training so I can do at least a half marathon in 2012, but if I need to take a course in gobbledygook first I don't think I'll bother!

sjtreely

I would encourage you to use your long runs to figure out what you'll drink and/or eat during the marathon. Practice new nutrition ideas closer to home in the event you need to find a bathroom quickly. I also think you should take water/Powerade or Gatorade from every stop. I'd even encourage you to walk through all water stops. If you run the even with your iPod, I would also encourage you to take it off for the last couple of mile and and just soak up the sights, sounds, and smells of your marathon. It's an incredible experience. Good luck!

atsteele

Long runs are very much mental. If you've done 14 miles, think of your 16 mile run as 14 + 2, and so on. Dont let the big numbers intimidate you. The hardest part sometimes is just getting out the door!! Good luck!!

Here's an article I found that supports some of things that I do: http://www.zentactics.com/how-to-motivate-yourself.html

When Im out on a long run and some body part starts "talking to me" or I just feel worn out, I tell myself: "Im not that tired." "I can do this." "I do NOT want to write another number in my log other than the goal that I set for today." and one of my favorites now: "I LOVE hills!" (My running buddy hates when I say this!! LOL)

tigerbluefly

I'm 3 weeks away from my first marathon. I've been following an 18 week training plan. Trust in your training plan that you use. Run the pace it says, don't take it too fast in training. Your speed is designated to certain days and your long run should be very slow. Get your legs used to the distance. Your speed will increase as you go through the training plan.

I've had friends who went off the plans, and ran too fast for most of their runs, and then come race day, they were overtrained.

I'm looking forward to the challenge in a few weeks. For now..... I taper....

Best of luck in your training! Feel free to add me if you like. I love meeting runners.

jsg8tor

Awesome!! Congratulations!!
Find a good training program at least 12 wks out and stick as much as possible but also listen to your body and don't over-do it. My goal of my first marathon was just to finish it. I've done 3 fulls and numerous halfs since. Now my motto is 13.1 is "half the distance & twice the fun".
Good luck with your training :bigsmile:

dawnemjh

Definately what others have said, DO NOT GO OUT TO FAST!!! I did the walt disney world marathon in January and wanted to beat my last marathon time and went out faster than I should have and old injuries flared up after 9 miles!!! That made for a very sore race!!!!
I also did my training alone, and the long runs can get lonesome, but its a great time to get some thinking done, and of course I had my itunes with me!
I trained in the winter which was hard because of the snow,ice etc. It is helpful to train in the same conditions that you are going to be running in. Make sure your shoes feel good and remeber that shoes only last 300-500 miles, so if you are starting now with older shoes, they may get too worn out by the time March gets here. If you get new ones, you should runin them for a couple months before the marathon.
Make sure you try out different running apparel and see what will feel best on race day. Especially sports bra!!
Also practice with what you will eat during the race. I use the gu gels and cliff shots, but you should practice with these on your long runs. You dont want to have to deal with cramping.
Same with fluids when you run. I used to train with a bottle of water and during races I would usually only have water and rarely just a sip of gatoraid because it didnt sit well with me.
Plan out your routes ahead of time.
Check out runners world online they have training plans that you can follow that can be really helpful!!

GOOD LUCK!!!