How demanding is marathon training??

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paruls86
paruls86 Posts: 188 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Let me clarify I am not training for a marathon atleast not for another two months or so. I have just started c25k and i realize that it is a long road ahead....
I live with my in laws, work full time six days a week. I would like to know how demanding Marathon training can be not just in terms of the time spent in runs but also in terms of me being useful around the house.
These days i workout in the morning and after i come back from work before dinner and barely contribute for chores. we have help for cleaning but not for cooking and other house related activities.... after my workouts i barely have energy left and usually all work is done i just want to know if it will take away more time in general not just for the runs
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Replies

  • ededar
    ededar Posts: 36
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    I want to know about this one too, except I'm only going for a Half Marathon in April. My dad used to run Marathons when he was younger and he told me to jog a slow mile both in the morning and afternoon/night. Only 10-15 minutes each jog, been pretty good so far and have made progress in only a week. Then up the distance when it gets easier.
  • jsj024519
    jsj024519 Posts: 400 Member
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    It depends. Do you want to finish or reach a certain goal time? Why don't you google some marathon training guides and see if you can complete the training.

    Start there....

    Happy Running!

    I also want to add. It is pretty demanding from a mental and physical standpoint. The pounding your body takes from training is pretty tolling.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    I'm not a marathon runner myself, and probably never will be, because of the amount of training it takes :)

    Couch-to-marathon is a process that will probably take years rather than months. I am friends with many marathon runners, they are all people who log many (30+) miles each week. C25k is 90 minutes a week - Yes if you want to run a marathon, I'd expect to devote a lot more time to running, if just to get that amount of mileage under your belt.
  • Mama_Jag
    Mama_Jag Posts: 474 Member
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    I found it very demanding, physically and mentally. I trained once for completion, and once for time. I did a pretty "simple" training plan, but by the time the long run mileage got up there, that was pretty much my whole day. Get up, eat right, wait a bit, run for a few hours, get home, cool down, shower, rest. My energy was pretty much gone the rest of that day, and I would have soreness for the following two.

    I slept my best then, though!

    And it's not all bad, I am starting to train for my 3rd!
  • runningfromzombies
    runningfromzombies Posts: 386 Member
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    Let me clarify I am not training for a marathon atleast not for another two months or so. I have just started c25k and i realize that it is a long road ahead....
    I live with my in laws, work full time six days a week. I would like to know how demanding Marathon training can be not just in terms of the time spent in runs but also in terms of me being useful around the house.
    These days i workout in the morning and after i come back from work before dinner and barely contribute for chores. we have help for cleaning but not for cooking and other house related activities.... after my workouts i barely have energy left and usually all work is done i just want to know if it will take away more time in general not just for the runs

    Pretty freakin' demanding. I'm in the midst of training for my second half-marathon, and that's already fairly time-consuming. I personally am still useful after my weekday workouts, but after the long run on Sundays, I won't move for the rest of the day (except to stretch excessively, haha). Here's a novice training plan that's super popular for marathons: http://halhigdon.com/training/51137/Marathon-Novice-1-Training-Program.

    Mentally, training for a distance race is quite demanding. Devoting eighteen weeks to rigorous workouts is tough. But totally worth it, in my opinion. (:
  • paruls86
    paruls86 Posts: 188 Member
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    I have looked at plans and am aiming for Hal Higdon's novice which is spread over 30 weeks but my worry is more about how Tired will i be or would I be in a physical condition to help around the house along with around 50 hours of work each week
  • Ezada
    Ezada Posts: 207 Member
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    I found these training guides here.

    http://www.digitalrunning.com/training-plans/

    I am starting the Half Marathon Training today for a race in March of next year. Hope this helps you out!
  • Mama_Jag
    Mama_Jag Posts: 474 Member
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    I'm not a marathon runner myself, and probably never will be, because of the amount of training it takes :)

    Couch-to-marathon is a process that will probably take years rather than months. I am friends with many marathon runners, they are all people who log many (30+) miles each week. C25k is 90 minutes a week - Yes if you want to run a marathon, I'd expect to devote a lot more time to running, if just to get that amount of mileage under your belt.

    Or, if you are crazy like myself, I ran my first 5K on 10/31/09 and my first marathon on 5/16/2010. I don't recommend that. It hurt a lot.
  • paruls86
    paruls86 Posts: 188 Member
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    I found it very demanding, physically and mentally. I trained once for completion, and once for time. I did a pretty "simple" training plan, but by the time the long run mileage got up there, that was pretty much my whole day. Get up, eat right, wait a bit, run for a few hours, get home, cool down, shower, rest. My energy was pretty much gone the rest of that day, and I would have soreness for the following two.

    I slept my best then, though!

    And it's not all bad, I am starting to train for my 3rd!

    You give me hope. I am definitely scheduling my long runs for sundays what i guess i am more afraind of is getting up early enough to make the run without melting in the Indian summer and still have the sunday with my family
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,843 Member
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    Pretty demanding. You need to make sure you can dedicate the time to it. You're going to have to run on certain days, a certain amount of miles, intervals, tempo etc and it really gets nauseating. If you skip one of your runs you have to make it up on a different day. When I was training for my first half marathon a few years ago I began to loath running because of the schedule and if I missed my long run on Sunday I was forced to do it on a treadmill. Let me tell you, running 10 miles on a treadmill is NOT fun!!

    You really shouldn't be that tired. It doesn't take a ton out of you physically it's just the schedule and being forced to run. I was so happy when training was over! After the half I didn't run for over a month because I was just so tired of it. I prefer to run when I want, how long I want, and how I want. Hence the reason I only did one half.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    Let me tell you, running 10 miles on a treadmill is NOT fun!!

    I would rather run 10 miles on a machine that automatically punched me in the face every five minutes
  • mrpurdy
    mrpurdy Posts: 262 Member
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    Why not start with a half and go from there? You get "half" the idea for the amount of time it will take and the toll it will take on your body.

    I just completed my first half 2 weeks ago, and I am running another half in 2 weeks. Already contemplating the full...
  • Mama_Jag
    Mama_Jag Posts: 474 Member
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    I found it very demanding, physically and mentally. I trained once for completion, and once for time. I did a pretty "simple" training plan, but by the time the long run mileage got up there, that was pretty much my whole day. Get up, eat right, wait a bit, run for a few hours, get home, cool down, shower, rest. My energy was pretty much gone the rest of that day, and I would have soreness for the following two.

    I slept my best then, though!

    And it's not all bad, I am starting to train for my 3rd!

    You give me hope. I am definitely scheduling my long runs for sundays what i guess i am more afraind of is getting up early enough to make the run without melting in the Indian summer and still have the sunday with my family

    Do not count on quality time with the family after those long runs. You will be exhausted. My regret is that my time with my kids suffered during training, but they are older and were super supportive. (And gone every other weekend with their dad, so I was alone and could rest).

    Start with a 15K or a half, is my advice.
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,843 Member
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    Let me tell you, running 10 miles on a treadmill is NOT fun!!

    I would rather run 10 miles on a machine that automatically punched me in the face every five minutes

    I know but I had no choice. It was either do that or skip the long run completely. There was no way for me to do it outside if I missed my scheduled day.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    I know but I had no choice. It was either do that or skip the long run completely. There was no way for me to do it outside if I missed my scheduled day.

    I admire your dedication :) Dedication is really what it takes to perform that kind of feat!!
  • cubizzle
    cubizzle Posts: 900 Member
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    Training to competently perform at running a marathon (not limping across the finish line, and then not walking right for a month). Takes a lot of hard work and intense dedication. I don't really know how else to put it without giving details of the two years I ran half marathons, and ran 4-6 days a week every week leading up to TRAINING for my first marathon. If you do it properly, and over time, then you will step to the line, or immerse yourself in the sea of huminity if it's a large marathon, with confidence.

    I don't want to sound like it's something you shouldn't do, but be realistic. If running a 5k is the next step in front of you then concentrate on that and just move forward from there.
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
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    just remember, the guy who ran the first one dropped dead upon completion...that's all I need to know...
  • cubizzle
    cubizzle Posts: 900 Member
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    I found it very demanding, physically and mentally. I trained once for completion, and once for time. I did a pretty "simple" training plan, but by the time the long run mileage got up there, that was pretty much my whole day. Get up, eat right, wait a bit, run for a few hours, get home, cool down, shower, rest. My energy was pretty much gone the rest of that day, and I would have soreness for the following two.

    I slept my best then, though!

    And it's not all bad, I am starting to train for my 3rd!

    You give me hope. I am definitely scheduling my long runs for sundays what i guess i am more afraind of is getting up early enough to make the run without melting in the Indian summer and still have the sunday with my family

    when you're training and start running 40-50+ miles a week, family time is going to be compromised, it's just part of the sacrifice it takes.
  • timboom1
    timboom1 Posts: 762 Member
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    It is as demanding as you make it.

    Given you are just starting C25K and will are thinking of starting marathon training after that then you are really limited to what you can safely, you will need to run a lot more and you will need to slowly build that mileage or you will likely find the challenge is an injury that keeps you from training at all. Even with a conservative programs like Higdon or Galloway Novice, that will get you to the finish line, you will need you to devote many hours every week, and that is the key, it has to be a priority and you have to give it the time and yes, you will be a little sore and tired.

    FWIW, I would actually focus more on building a base and then consider marathon training after 25+ mpw is normal and you have been running for a year or more.
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    If you want to be minimally prepared it will take about an hour two days a week and up to around five hours on some weekends.

    If you want to really train then it will take around two hours a day with one day off or minimal. Some weekends longer than two hours.

    There are many combinations in between.

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