Marathon training One Mile at a Time

Dragonfly1996

Hi

I have been lucky enough to secure a ballot place in London Marathon 2013.

This will be my second marathon. The first one took me forever @ 6:06 and I had knee / ITB pain issues pretty much once I got to 14mi in training & it just carried on (despite seeing a physio) & during the last 10mi or so of the race - though it only ever hurt whilst running & running more than 10mi. Never had any issues previous to that whilst training for half marathons etc. I have now replaced my trainers a few months ago as I over pronate which also contributed to my knee pain (according to the physio & running shop / gait machine). I started training in mid Jan for an April race due to having a cold / cough after Xmas. I had run a half marathon 2 months beforehand with no pain.

This time I would like to avoid the knee pain issues & improve on my time so have decided to start training earlier & ramp up the mileage slower. I am doing Great South Run (10mi) at the end of this month although it will be on a walk / run basis as I have not been able to do enough training (due to a cough in late Aug / too busy at home / felt flat after last marathon / worried about knee combination) which I am happy about.

My plan was to start from the beginning of November with the marathon training - long runs, starting from 2mi. Then to increase this by a mile a week right up to the marathon. I am registered for Silverstone Half Marathon in early March so I will have got beyond that mileage by then but at this point I will start going up & down a bit mileage wise & build up to do a max run of 22mi 3 weeks before the race.

I am going to incorporate 2 other running sessions in the week (an interval one & a half hour recovery run) plus three cross training sessions a week (like spinning, cycling, kettle bells & resistance / strength).

Just wondered if all you runners out there thought this was a more feasable way for me to avoid injury?

Cheers :flowerforyou:

timboom1

Hi

I have been lucky enough to secure a ballot place in London Marathon 2013.

This will be my second marathon. The first one took me forever @ 6:06 and I had knee / ITB pain issues pretty much once I got to 14mi in training & it just carried on (despite seeing a physio) & during the last 10mi or so of the race - though it only ever hurt whilst running & running more than 10mi. Never had any issues previous to that whilst training for half marathons etc. I have now replaced my trainers a few months ago as I over pronate which also contributed to my knee pain (according to the physio & running shop / gait machine). I started training in mid Jan for an April race due to having a cold / cough after Xmas. I had run a half marathon 2 months beforehand with no pain.

This time I would like to avoid the knee pain issues & improve on my time so have decided to start training earlier & ramp up the mileage slower. I am doing Great South Run (10mi) at the end of this month although it will be on a walk / run basis as I have not been able to do enough training (due to a cough in late Aug / too busy at home / felt flat after last marathon / worried about knee combination) which I am happy about.

My plan was to start from the beginning of November with the marathon training - long runs, starting from 2mi. Then to increase this by a mile a week right up to the marathon. I am registered for Silverstone Half Marathon in early March so I will have got beyond that mileage by then but at this point I will start going up & down a bit mileage wise & build up to do a max run of 22mi 3 weeks before the race.

I am going to incorporate 2 other running sessions in the week (an interval one & a half hour recovery run) plus three cross training sessions a week (like spinning, cycling, kettle bells & resistance / strength).

Just wondered if all you runners out there thought this was a more feasable way for me to avoid injury?

Cheers :flowerforyou:

I am jealous, I would love to run London but it is not easy to get a spot coming from the States. That said, building slowly makes a lot of sense. I would suggest though that you divide your training into two phases base building and race training. Between now and November build base mileage, 3x a week run an general aerobic run (easy but not too easy) 1x/week add a long run equal to 25-30% of your total weekly mileage, 1x/week (day before you long run) do the 30 minute recovery run. The other two days rest or cross train. Build the miles each week by adding a mile to 2 of the runs each week and the other 2 the next week (not counting the recovery run.) Every 4th week take a cutback to the runs from 3 weeks prior.

Starting in December, start to focus on race training, continue to mostly build base, but take one run per week and rotate intervals and tempo runs (1 per week.) Don't make this workout the day before your long run. As you get into March, if you feel it, add a second tempo run each week. Once you hit the first of April, start to reduce the overall mileage 50% each week up to the marathon (note cut mileage not intensity.)

Overall to improve your time, base building is the most important thing you can do and it will have the biggest impact on your ability to complete the distance at a faster pace. You are giving yourself plenty of time so use it to your advantage and, as you indicated, slowly build mileage for the next few months before you even worry about anything else. Quite honestly if you never to an interval workout between now and then and just build base miles, you will see big improvements.

Also, as you to December, it may be worth checking out a "canned" training plan, Hal Higdon plans are a good place to start and are free to use, just Google it.