Can I train for a marathon in a year?

ElizaKat001
ElizaKat001 Posts: 28 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So. I want to run a marathon. This has been a goal of mine for many years, but I always thought it was out of my reach. However, after being inspired by watching the Madison Marathon this past weekend, and hearing all the stories of just your average people finishing it...I've decided to go for it!

The 2014 Madison Half-Marathon takes place at the end of May, and the full is in November, almost exactly a year from today. While I do love cardio in general and am in good physical condition, I have never been a strong distance runner. Is it crazy to think that I can train for these events? How would I even start? I'm nervous just thinking about it! :P

Any advice would be much appreciated…my food/exercise diaries are open, if that would help you to point me in the right direction. Thanks so much in advance!

Replies

  • NinjaMaid
    NinjaMaid Posts: 48 Member
    You can get ready for a marathon in a year. Have you done half marathons before? I would try a half marathon before a full marathon.
    Here are some training suggestions. 16 week programs are fairly common.
    http://www.marathonrookie.com/marathon-training.html
  • ToughMudderAddict
    ToughMudderAddict Posts: 290 Member
    I'm certainly not an expert.. but I've done a lot of research on different training plans for 1/2 and full marathons.. if you have a decent running base (can run 10-12 miles a week already) you can easily find a good training plan to get you to a full marathon in less than a year. www.runnersworld.com has a smart coach that is free to use to get a personalized plan (I'm currently using this site) or you can look up Hal Higdon's plans.
  • ElizaKat001
    ElizaKat001 Posts: 28 Member
    I'm certainly not an expert.. but I've done a lot of research on different training plans for 1/2 and full marathons.. if you have a decent running base (can run 10-12 miles a week already) you can easily find a good training plan to get you to a full marathon in less than a year. www.runnersworld.com has a smart coach that is free to use to get a personalized plan (I'm currently using this site) or you can look up Hal Higdon's plans.

    Ohh, that runnersworld site sounds like it might be exactly what I need. Thanks! :)
  • RubyLou25
    RubyLou25 Posts: 212 Member
    Its a goal of mine to run that marathon after this years half. Doing to half again in the spring Nd depending on how that goes im either signing up for the half or full in the fall again.
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
    hey! I have not run a full or half marathon but I've looked into the training. I know this is a popular 18 week training program. It assumes you can run 3 miles, and 6 for your "long run". I was thinking about doing a 10K training program since I can run 3 miles but I haven't tried 6, and then do the marathon training after I have a few 10Ks under my belt.

    Novice Marathon Training (18wks):
    http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51137/Marathon-Novice-1-Training-Program

    Novice 10K Training (8wks):
    http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51122/10K-Novice-Training-Program
  • ElizaKat001
    ElizaKat001 Posts: 28 Member
    hey! I have not run a full or half marathon but I've looked into the training. I know this is a popular 18 week training program. It assumes you can run 3 miles, and 6 for your "long run". I was thinking about doing a 10K training program since I can run 3 miles but I haven't tried 6, and then do the marathon training after I have a few 10Ks under my belt.

    Novice Marathon Training (18wks):
    http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51137/Marathon-Novice-1-Training-Program

    Novice 10K Training (8wks):
    http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51122/10K-Novice-Training-Program

    Thanks! I came across this program and it seems like it's gotten pretty positive reviews. I will definitely look into it more :)
  • rassha01
    rassha01 Posts: 534 Member
    Endomondo has some integrated training plans in their mobile apps if you pay the premium fee of something like $3 a month or $30 a year. Takes the guessing game out of it and it can be customized to fit your schedule. Also keeps detailed records so you can see your progress.
  • emAZn
    emAZn Posts: 413 Member
    I really like my marathon training plan and be happy to share with you. It's 20 weeks with 4 runs and 1 recovery day. I'm also pretty happy with the milage increase and decreases.

    I definitley reccomend doing a half first and then decide if you want to do the full. I've done 6 halfs and enjoy the training but the full is soooo time consuming. My easy runs are taking at least an hour to two hours 3 times a week and my long runs are getting in the 3 hour range. Even though I can do it, I'm just getting burned out on whether I want to do it!

    I probably won't do another full unless I can get my bf to let me quit my job so I can train for marathons and still have some free time at the end of the day. Buuttt that probably won't happen :(
  • CarmineDeMarco
    CarmineDeMarco Posts: 39 Member
    There are lots of people who comfortably complete marathons without increasingly high weekly mileage and the resultant increase in time spent. The essence of such a plan is to gradually increase the length of your weekly long run, without necessarily getting crazy with your daily runs. Check out some of Jeff Galloway's writings in this regard; Hal Higdon also has a great "to finish" plan. If you don't have a time goal and are looking just to finish, others before you have done it with daily runs of as little as 3 miles combined with an increasing-long weekly long run. A number of authorities suggest a year of base running as a foundational prerequisite to marathon training. Have you considered shorter distances as stepping stones - 5K, 10K, half-marathons?

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