Entering a Marathon..am I ready?

bluefox9er

Hi guys...I am posting this to get some perspective on weather I should enter my first 26.2mile Marathon in May, 2013 ( Toronto ).

I am 45 years old Male ( 46 in December ), and 'started' running when I took up the c25k program in April this year, from no experience of running.

Since then, I have moved from running 5k runs to 10k runs, 10 mile 'long ' runs and in August this year, a 13.1 mile half-marathon 'long run'.

Then I got injured (IT Band) in August, but have recovered, and only this saturday ran my second ever 13.1 mile half marathon ' long run'.

I am logging between 20 - 30 miles every week, and cycle at least once a week as I cannot swim. I am a non smoker, and 'healthy' weight now according to my BMI ( THANK YOU MFP).

The Toronto marathon is on May 5th, approx 5 months away. Would aiming for this event be feasible for someone like me?

I am not concerned with running the race at a lightening pace ( my kenyan brothers and sisters will do that voraciously on my behalf) but more concerned about completing the distance.

After running 13.1 miles on saturday,I felt great, but I did ask myself how it could be humanly possible to run 26.2 !!

any feedback/comments gratefully received.

timboom1

You can certainly finish a Marathon 7 months from now, if you train smart, focus on building endurance, but not try to build too fast. Your progress has been pretty good so far, but also may be a little too much too soon (ITB). If it were me, I would spend another year building a base, doing some more races including a some half marathons and then go for a marathon really prepared for it. That is me...you can certainly finish (and maybe finish well) but be very careful to pick a beginner training plan and keep your expectations set on just finishing, you will likely be ok.

arc918

Cut & paste of my answer from the other board:

What is your ultimate goal with the marathon? Just survive, race well and perhaps run a certain time? Are you looking to be one & done or run more marathons in the future? All that said, May 5 seems pretty reasonable to me.

Just ramp up smart and in the event you end up injured, be prepared to bump down to the half marathon (if need be) and try for 26.2 another day. I see some people too hell bent on running a certain race even though they are injured.

Keep your weekly long run up at least 10 - 12 miles.

I like Hal Higdon's training program for newbies.

Good luck!

fittertanme

from day 1 you have been doing well and improving each time even after your injury to still amaze me when you do your half marathon trainning and what every goal you set you eill match and beat it so go have fun and do your best we know you can do it

marikevr

You can do it! And as Arc said, the weekly long runs are crucial, those are the ones that you do no want to skip.

paruls86

Before i answer your question let me tell you somehing. I started C25K in October and am running/walking my first 10k this weekend. Many would say i am not well trained or stuff. maybe i am not. My goal is to finish below 1:30 and i did a 5 mile run/walk (mostly walk) yesterday in 1:20 minutes without feeling that i am going to die.
That being said i believe you can certainly do a marathon in May thts 7 months but what you want to reach as a goal is what matters. I want to finish the race to keep me going and am training to run a half in feb (3 months)
Go for it

bonjour24

i ran my 1st half in october 2011, and ran my first full april 2012. just don't stop training. you can do it!

ETA- and i started in Jan 2011 doing c25k.

raiderzara

First up, I'm no expert...but I HAVE completed 7 marathons.

I think that 5 months is plenty of time since you already have a good base. Figure out a reasonable goal (just to finish, sub 5:00, or whatever) based on your 1/2 times, and then get yourself a marathon training program. There are lots of them online or in running books. I like the Galloway method personally because he has you slow down your pace for long runs and add walk breaks. I was able to shave over an hour off my Marathon PR using his training program, so don't think that walking a minute here and there is going to slow you down.

Make sure that you don't increase your distance too much too soon. Don't overtrain.

Make sure you have the right shoes and get new shoes every 300-500 miles (this is super easy if you use Nike+....it lets you track shoe mileage!) Run on soft surfaces as much as possible to reduce the likelihood of re-injuring your IT band, and look into stretches for it and/or ART, foam rolling, or Myofascial release if your doctor thinks that is okay for you.

Good luck!

DontThinkJustRun

I ran my second half in August of 2011 and my first full in March 2012, you'll be fine. Just find yourself a good training program, they are all over the internet and I agree Higdon is great, and have FUN!

Just be carefull you don't get bit by the bug, once you go full you never go back:)