anyone training for a marathon?

Inlet

First time or experienced marathoners? I am not new to running but this will be my first marathon. I'm building back up to training after an injury. Would love to know some other people who are training for a marathon this year also... :-)

dgage8

I am training for my second marathon. I ran my first in March (DC National Marathon) and fell in love with running in a whole new way. A marathon is an incredible experience-- the training, the starting line, the finish line, the wall.... It's like you become a reinvented you. My goal for the first marathon was not to die-- and I hoped to finish under 5 hours. I completed both with a time of 4:51. This next marathon have a goal to qualify for Boston. Speed work is not my favorite, and I wouldn't recommend worrying about your time on your first marathon. Enjoy every minute of it because you will never have it back happy training!

impersonally

I'm training for a marathon this year. I've flirted with it a couple of times before, but this time I signed up early for one in May so I'll hopefully actually do it this time I've done a couple of half-marathons in the past. I get knee problems when I run really frequently, so if this is my first and only marathon I'll be okay with that, haha.

My goal is to finish under 5:00 as well. Some days I think it's totally within reach, other days, not so much. I am not a natural runner, and speed is not something that comes easily to me.

flvsusandy

Hi there! I am training for my first marathon and am currently on week 3 of training. I am doing the Hal Higdon's training plan with a friend and our goal is to just finish it! I would prefer to do it in under 5 hours but as long as we cross that finish line we won't be disappointed! We are doing the Country music marathon at the end of April. Can't wait!

impersonally

I'm loosely following the Hal Higdon plan, too! I used it for my first half-marathon and thought it was really good. I also started it the last time I was training for a marathon, and made it up to the 17-mile long run before I quit. Looking back I really should've just finished ...

His plan has a bit too much running for me though, because I like doing other kinds of exercise and my knees don't love running so much. I'm going to be a little more flexible this time, though still trying to do the same long runs on the weekends. flvsusandy, sounds like your schedule is a week ahead of mine good luck!

dixiech1ck

I'm training for a half-marathon. It's not a full one, but I think the training is just as important. My sister and I are following Jeff Galloway's method. You can find his training instructions online, and also on the RunDisney website.

Good luck!! And Godspeed!

impersonally

I definitely think training for a half-marathon is just as important no question there. I just looked up Jeff Galloway's training plans, thanks for the info! His Magic Mile idea is really interesting and I might figure out some way to incorporate that.

I noticed that Galloway's plans have you running the full distance (marathon) or even further (half-marathon) as part of the training. Higdon's plan doesn't worry about that (you do a max of 10 miles for a half, and 20 miles for a full). I thought running 10 miles as training for the half was definitely enough, and was surprised at how the additional 3 didn't feel bad at all on actual race day. Anyone else have any opinions?

Inlet

Awesome! I'm recovering from ITBS so I'm on a couch to 5k/ PT/Strength/cross training routine for awhile. =P I was going to run the Houston marathon a few days ago, but had to defer to next year. So I have a full year to work back up. (It seems like forever from now). My plan is to run a half in fall, and the full in January.
I still consider myself to be training for the full though.

I'm curious about Hal's vs. Galloway's plan too. I'm leaning toward Galloway on account of having had ITBS, but it just seems like so. very. little. running during the week.

Can't wait to hear about ya'll's races!

Brady_

I am going to start training for a half as well. I love in Wisconsin and it was less than 5 degrees out today. I was gonna do my half in May...but I have a feeling I wont have enough time to switch from tredmile to land and train well enough. Our winters never end so only having a few weeks to train on land may not work well. Hoping to sign up for one in July-ish to give me more Land time. I just cant do the running outside..

Brady_

i LIVE* in Wisconsin/Minnesota

NightOwl1

I'll be happy just when I can reach a 5k. However, a marathon would be nice to some day. Right now what I'm training up for is to run Tough Mudder this December.

impersonally

Hey, any start to running is good in my book!

I agree, Galloway's plan seems like very little running during the week. Then again Higdon's plan seems like maybe too MUCH running (although, I guess it is for a marathon, so maybe that's not really a valid complaint!).

I used to hate indoor running, but recently I've found the monotony of zoning out on the treadmill kind of soothing. That being said, we are having a crazy mild winter here on the East coast (it's supposed to be 50 degrees today!) so I'm hoping I can do my long 8-mile this weekend outside.

Sorry to hear about your ITBS -- hope you recover well!

beverlywu

Bellingham Bay Marathon Sept 2011 was my first...on a truly windstormy day! 5:27...felt like I was standing still on some of those miles.

Doing the BMO Vancouver marathon in May 2012. Did the half in Vancouver last year. Should be fun, in my hometown. Hopefully will make it under the 5:00 mark this time.

I run so slowly that cardio's not an issue, but the wear and tear on my joints is what gets to me.

Good luck!

bjbixler

Hi! Im training for the Country Music Marathon with flvsusandy, and we are following Hal's Novice 2 plan. We used his intermediate plan for our HM which had us running 5 days a week, which we realized was too much. Novice 2 has us running 4 days a week, plus one set crosstraining day, and currently on week 5, seems to be working out ok.

heybales

First time or experienced marathoners? I am not new to running but this will be my first marathon. I'm building back up to training after an injury. Would love to know some other people who are training for a marathon this year also... :-)

Best suggestion I received that works wonders.

Get your body used to the foot time. This also confirms everything feels great.

So estimate how long you think the marathon will take you, realistically.

Design a training session that will take that long, starting with super long warmup and cooldown (45 min), a middle break of walking too (30 min), and 2 jogging sessions at whatever pace you currently are at.
You can add in another set of walk/jog if more time is needed and that would be too much jogging at once.

Don't worry about the distance, you just want to get your body used to being on the feet for this long.

This will show up socks that don't work, lace tightness, clothes rubbing wrong, hydration, what you can eat, ect.

As you increase your long runs or your pace, you can do this several times leading up, and change those middle parts.

Chagama

I'm training for the Twin Cities Marathon in October. I'll be following FIRST, www.furman.edu/first which I've used before with reasonably good success.

grinch031

I'm running one in May. Best is 3:55 and going for 3:30. Although last couple races I was 20 lbs overweight, and I'm already down 15 lbs for this race. We'll see how it goes.

thepetiterunner

I sure am!

I'm running my second full marathon at the end of July, the San Francisco Marathon and I'm hoping to get into the Nike Women's Marathon again this year (in October). I've run a few half marathons and a full one (last year's Nike Women's) and I'm totally looking forward to these races!!

I'm glad to hear you're training too! Feel free to friend if me if you want some support/company

wells0707

I am! I just signed up to do the 5k Rugged Maniac in May. EEEK! I hate running...lol

tisha_rae

I'm training for my first - a mini!!!!

Chagama

I am going to start training for a half as well. I love in Wisconsin and it was less than 5 degrees out today. I was gonna do my half in May...but I have a feeling I wont have enough time to switch from tredmile to land and train well enough. Our winters never end so only having a few weeks to train on land may not work well. Hoping to sign up for one in July-ish to give me more Land time. I just cant do the running outside..

I hear you! I'm in Minnesota, and I've got the same problem, it's hard to get outside consistently. I tried to do a spring marathon one year, and I was behind in training right from the start.

ebaymommy

I'm running my 5th marathon in June (Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN).

For my first marathon I followed Hal Higdon's beginner program and finished in 4:34. I've improved progressively to a PR last year of 4:04. Hoping to improve even further and run 3:40 this year and qualify for Boston. I'm also going to follow the Furman FIRST program this time around.

I lived in Iowa and now in WI. I either hit the treadmill or brave the great outdoors. One way or another I'll end up running in all sorts of interesting weather before June.

InTheInbetween

I'm training for my first full in June! I've completed 3 half marathons to date. I'm working on improving my half time but for the full I'm just aiming to finish!

impersonally

Awesome to hear from other runners

I have some joint issues too, mostly knee pain when I run a lot. That's why I'm going to try running 3-4 times per week instead of the 5 in the Higdon novice 1 plan. I'll have to take a look at the novice 2 plan (and the FIRST plan that was mentioned).

I have used a knee brace in the past for hiking, and maybe I'll have to try it for running if it gets bad this time ... but I'd prefer not to. It seems uncomfortable being in one for so long.

Samerah12

Training for my first but haven't registered yet. The one I'm shooting for has a time limit so I'm going to do late registration to make sure I get through some of the longest runs well under time. Add me if you like! Always nice to have runner friends.

impersonally

For those of you familiar with the Furman FIRST program -- I am looking at it now and wanted to make sure I'm understanding their acronyms. ST, MT and LT are short / mid / long tempo based on the tables they have for your 5k time, is that right? And what is PMP?

I like their idea of doing fewer running sessions but making them "count" for more. Maybe I'll switch over to that program.

nrjohnso

I'm on week 3 of training for the Cleveland Half Marathon in May! I am super nervous because this is my first race. I am following higdons novice training plan. I usually run more than what it says on the plan, is this bad? I don't want to burn out since I still have months before the actual race.

rybo

I'm on week 3 of training for the Cleveland Half Marathon in May! I am super nervous because this is my first race. I am following higdons novice training plan. I usually run more than what it says on the plan, is this bad? I don't want to burn out since I still have months before the actual race.

If you are used to running more than what the program has you starting at, I would continue with your current weekly mileage until you get to the part of the program where it matches up, then follow it the rest of the way.

grinch031

I'm on week 3 of training for the Cleveland Half Marathon in May! I am super nervous because this is my first race. I am following higdons novice training plan. I usually run more than what it says on the plan, is this bad? I don't want to burn out since I still have months before the actual race.

No, there is no de facto standard on marathon training. Trust your body more than anything. If you can do more than the training plan says and you feel good, go for more. If your running ability is above novice, there's no reason to hold yourself back just because the plan says so. You just gotta be careful when you stray that you understand what you're doing so that what you do isn't counterproductive. Running a few miles longer each time probably won't hurt you, but adding another 20 miler might be a bad idea if you get what I mean.

DontThinkJustRun

I'm training for LA in March, my first and loving it!

imitedlay7

I'm training for a marathon! I was training for the Nashville Rock and Roll, but I won't be able to go since the Navy has decided I'm going to Japan, so I'm going to continue on my training plan, then move into the 50 mil training plan and hopefully find a marathon in Japan in the fall I can run.