First Ever Marathon ... any helpful ideas?

Options
hmomomo
hmomomo Posts: 15 Member
Hello UK Runners! I'm looking for a bit of help and advice. I'm running my first ever marathon in July of this year. It's a daunting enough prospect on its own, but I'm going to be running this marathon solo. Ugh! I'm doing this as part of a fundraising event, where seven of us are running a marathon each, on a separate day - like some sort of weird relay race. There will be a support vehicle there, and water stops along the route, but sadly no crowds of people along the way and no one else running the race with me for moral support.

I'm, quite frankly, terrified. I'm trying to train just now - I live in the back of beyond, very hilly, lots of quiet country roads - and am running around 3 times per week. My longest training run is 7km so far, and I don't know how soon I'm supposed to run further, or how fast I'm meant to be running (I'm working it out as 9 - 10 minute mile pace I'm doing at the moment).

Overall, I'm totally flummoxed, and would really appreciate any advice you more experienced runners can offer. It's horrible doing this solo - not just the training, but the prospect of running it solo as well, so any solidarity and support is also welcome!! Thanks guys xx

Replies

  • Baz_Man
    Baz_Man Posts: 23 Member
    Options
    Hello,

    Having never run a marathon I don't have any personal advice unfortunately. I joined up to Runkeeper (http://runkeeper.com) last year and they've recently changed their training plans so they're free (I think for all members). The training section has a lot of training plans ranging from 5k to marathon training for beginners.

    Might be worth taking a look at if you have no set schedule at the moment.
  • hmomomo
    hmomomo Posts: 15 Member
    Options
    thanks Baz-Man! I've just signed up :)