My first marathon

MissFit0101

I am still fairly new to running. I ran track and cross country in school, but after school I stopped running until this year, so I went 10 years with no running. I plan to do my first marathon May 6th 2012, and will begin training on Christmas day. I was hoping that any of you who have run marathons before could give me your tips and advice and share with me your experience. I also have a couple of questions. Is it okay to continue with strength training during marathon training, or should I be focused solely on running? Also, I wanted to ask about the training only up to 20 miles... how did you push through the last 6.2 miles during race day? Did you wish you had run a bit further at least once during training, or was the 20 miles plenty to prepare you?

Thanks,
Angela

arc918

Congrats!

First and foremost regarding your training program never forget this: it is a guideline, not gospel. It is simply numbers on a page, it doesn't know if your hamstrings are sore, nor does it know if you are feeling magical one day. The world doesn't end if you have to shut down a 10 mile run at 8 miles. The world doesn't end if you are feeling great and you stretch your 13 miler to 14 or 15. Also, there is no need to back off on your training to fit a schedule. If your long run is already 11, then no need to bring it back down to 7 because that is what is listed on the schedule.

As far as the distance of your longest run, it is really an issue of the ability to recover (and continue with your training). I rarely run any longer than 21-22. I can run a 20 every weekend and not miss a beat in my training. That said, I've been known to use marathons as training runs as well. I think the bigger issue is the number of long runs you, the more long runs the better.

Pace is another issue. The marathon is the truth teller. If you go out too fast, you will pay heavily later in the race. It is important to be realistic about your pace based on your training. Something that seems harmless (say running 9:00 instead of 9:30) can really come back to bite you at mile 19.

I could go on forever, but I won't.

arc918

Oops - forgot to mention the strength training. Stick with it as long as it isn't messing up your running. If it is messing up your running, then just to try to modify it accordingly.

CakeFit21

I agree with everything mentioned above! Especially the pace thing, and the strength thing, and the long run thing.

I just ran my first marathon and my longest run was 20. The last 6.2 are going to be hard no matter what. What will get you through it is, "Well, I've already come this far. It's just 6.2, 6.2 is easy. It's just five, I've done five a hundred times. Psh! 5k! Piece of cake!" All of this is true, but it will feel sorta like a lie when you are trying to tell your legs in the moment.

One thing that I noticed when I looked back over my training log, I never missed a long run. One way or another it got done. I think that was key. I had a short training season because of injuries and I was worried that I wouldn't make it through without doing the whole distance. Getting every long run in helped with my confidence and I believe it made all the difference. I do not believe I needed all 26.2.

The pace thing is SO important. I ran the first half, possibly 25-30 seconds too fast. I think if I had kept it a little slower I could have run the whole thing with each split really close. A little slower still and maybe I could have run a negative split.

I lost a lot of muscle definition once I really started bumping my mileage. I also slacked a little on my strength because I wasn't enjoying it as much as the running. I believe I could have maintained my muscle or at least lost less if I had pushed a little harder on the weights. Plus, you shouldn't be running every single day if you are getting back into it. You need something to do on non-running days.

Good luck!

arc918

Totally agree with Karincakes on keeping up with your long runs. You can mess with your training runs, but it will catch up with you if you start missing long runs.

rybo

Not too much else I can add, great advice already.
Really use those long runs to figure out your fueling. I think that may have been one area I lacked in for my first marathon. Also use them to figure out what to wear and if you have rubbing issues. I don't know how quickly your weather changes in the spring, but here it went from really cold to warm quickly and its tough figuring out what to wear.
Also, no matter how well your training is going or what kind of time you think you want to shoot for, there's a reason they say for the first one your goal is just finish. Listen to them.
And most of all have fun!

flvsusandy

Awesome advice guys. I also start training for my first marathon the week of Christmas! My first marathon will be the Country Music mararhon in Nashville on 4/28. What training plan are you using?

MissFit0101

Awesome advice guys. I also start training for my first marathon the week of Christmas! My first marathon will be the Country Music mararhon in Nashville on 4/28. What training plan are you using?

I'm basing my training off Hal Higdon's novice program but I plan to tweak it a little bit to suit my needs better.

cynfullcyn

I'm working on my first marathon as well except mine is sooner 2/5/12!

I'm taking note of all the advice you have all posted! My main goal is too finish although at times when I'm training I do have doubt's.

One question? How do you prepare mentally for it?

arc918

Awesome advice guys. I also start training for my first marathon the week of Christmas! My first marathon will be the Country Music mararhon in Nashville on 4/28. What training plan are you using?

I'm basing my training off Hal Higdon's novice program but I plan to tweak it a little bit to suit my needs better.

Good call. FWIW - I'd try to stick in a couple extra 20 milers if possible.

arc918

I'm working on my first marathon as well except mine is sooner 2/5/12!

I'm taking note of all the advice you have all posted! My main goal is too finish although at times when I'm training I do have doubt's.

One question? How do you prepare mentally for it?

To me your first marathon is totally exciting. Just like each week of training. You have to run further (farther?) than you ever have before, you have no clue how you are going to do and then you go out and do it. Then the next week you go and do it again. Then you start saying strange things like "I only have to run 16 miles this week."

So the answers is you prepare by training and then embracing the unknown.

Gilliamzoo

MissFit - What marathon are you running? I'm running my first one that day too. I'm doing to Colorado marathon.

MissFit0101

MissFit - What marathon are you running? I'm running my first one that day too. I'm doing to Colorado marathon.

I'm doing the OC Marathon! How cool that we will both be running our firsts on the same day!

CakeFit21

One thing that helped me prepare mentally was going over my training log a few days before the race. You are going to be full of doubts, but when you look at the hard numbers in your log you won't be able to argue with them. You will have proof that you are ready. After that just trust yourself and try not to think to much. Just start running when everybody else does and keep going!

cynfullcyn

thanks! i'm scared nervous and having doubts now. but i know i'm strong and will run until i cant anymore

JasonandMichelle

Firstly, thanks for all the great tips. I plan on my first on 3/3/12 in The Woodlands, TX. I do have one question, though.

I'm down with the fueling during long runs, body glide, Nip Guards, and everything else, but one thing I can't quite figure out is socks. I have never had a problem with blistering or any weird rubbing using the socks I normally use. The farthest I've run so far is a half marathon and I had absolutely no problem running that distance with my Thorlos. I hear, however, that people have issues with socks in some of the longer races.

Any thoughts or previous experience?

arc918

Hmm - socks are another trial and error item. Step one, ditch the cotton (which it sound like you already have).

After that try various socks on your long runs. Once you find something you like, buy a bunch of it (before they change it). Your Thorlos may work fine.

You may also find that a thinner sock might you happier in the summer (when your feet tend to swell in the heat) - or not.

FWIW - most of my runs are in some basic Asics tech socks. I bought tons and tons of them ages ago.

I've tried Balegas, but my talon like toes nail ripped through the nice soft fabric too easily. I have 4 or 5 pairs of Drymax socks that I like and race in sometimes as well.

JasonandMichelle

I have basically two types that I wear: Thorlos and a Drymax-esque Nike sock. I have about 20 pairs of each.

I've never had a bad experience with either type, but from a lot of the folks on MFP it seems that blisters and marathons go hand in hand. Does this have to be true, or is it that they didn't choose the "right sock for them" before the race?

Thanks!

arc918

I don't get any "blisterier" going 26.2 vs. 20.

I have one little spot on the toes next my big toe where I get a small blister. It is an after the fact sort of deal, an "oh look a blister" as opposed to an "I can't run anymore due to this blister."

bjbixler

I have this one spot on my pinky toe that always rubs when I run and I used to have a perma-blister there. I started putting body glide on it before I run, and had a lot of improvement and much less frequent blister formation. So, it seems like you're wearing the right socks, and if on your long runs you start forming blisters, maybe try body glide beforehand?

JasonandMichelle

So I picked up my pace for the 10k I ran yesterday and ended up with a raw spot on the top of my big toe. The seam got me! No blister, but a nasty raw spot. I'm going to start looking for seamless socks ASAP!

Nice races this week folks!

JasonandMichelle

I know there are a thousand threads about this, and I've read most to all, but I wanted the experiences of the marathon group to help me out.

I'm currently trying to lose weight (I've lost about 25 pounds and I need to shed another 25), but I'm also training for a marathon. I find that the days when I don't run (rest or X-Train) I tend to be extremely hungry, but I don't have as many calories to consume in my food budget. The days I run (or at least run long), I can't eat back all my calories.

At the end of the day, my question is this: at what point should I worry more about training and less about weight loss? At some point, fueling with 1320 calories on off days and loading on run days just won't cut it.

Thoughts?

asherama

I ran my first marathon 7 weeks ago. I lost 12kg (25lb) during the 6 months leading up. Would have liked another 10lb off... will get there for no 2 in May.

It's a real balancing act trying to get the nutrition and energy while at the same time losing weight. You really need to make sure that you get the necessary nutrients to build and repair your body. Don't be overly concerned with the numbers on a recovery day. The afterburn effect means that you will be burning calories throughout the next day following an intense workout. You may also have depleted your glycogen stores and some carbs will be used to restore them rather than being stored as fat. You also need to be aware that your weight will fluctuate - when your glycogen stores are high you'll retain more water. You'll use both in your next workout, which is more likely to be a good one. One thing that I didn't practise in the lead up and would recommend was carb loading. Gave myself an upset stomach on race morning.

finnishfemme

Hi MissFit and Gilliamzoo, I'm planning on running the OC Marathon and it will be my 1st as well. I'm so excited I joined this group!