giving up strength training for marathon prep

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  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    I pretty new to running, just started back in March.

    I haven't ran a marathon as of yet, but I've run five or six weekend back to back day halfs-marathons and I never gave up strength training. I also never took a rest day til a couple weeks ago.

    I do think its not an easy task to do both since I deal with a disease that attacks my joints and causes pain 24/7, but I think the strength training helped out considerably with my running.
  • Docmahi
    Docmahi Posts: 1,603 Member
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    while i support your goals and think you should pursue any fitness related 'bucket list' type challenges that you desire - the title of this post made me cringe
  • Reptileszz
    Reptileszz Posts: 47 Member
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    I've run 3 marathons and have never given up strength training. In my opinion you should do some strength training to keep your core strong.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    you can kiss most of your lean body mass good bye….

    and expect that when you return to lifting you will have regressed on all of your lifts..

    is there a reason you are giving up lifting to run a marathon?
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    maybe keep the weight training but dont be so aggressive with progressively overloading the muscle
  • czardastx
    czardastx Posts: 127 Member
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    I just ran 2 half marathons, a sprint duathlon and a 5 mile race all in the last month. I was pushing my running out to 17 miles before I went to tempo runs (10 miles) for my 1/2 marathon training. All this time I was strength training 4 days a week.

    So, I don't understand why you think you need to give it up. Having a good base of overall muscle tone will help you in your run training. Your strength of your arms, core, back, etc will all help you when you're pushing that marathon distance because you'll be able to have the muscle tone there to help you maintain form as you run those longer distances. Not only that but strength in your legs from gym work will help you on hills, or so I've been told.

    If you want to tone it down and feel that's the right thing to do, then by all means, do that. But I don't know that it's completely necessary.

    Oh, and I plan to train for at least 2 marathons next year, and have already signed up for one of them for next December. I also want to run a 50K run in the Big Bend National Park in January of 2015. I don't plan to give up my strength training for any of the marathon training I'll be doing.
  • RachelRuns9
    RachelRuns9 Posts: 585 Member
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    thanks everyone for the input! I have been ST while training for a half which has been easy to do, but I recognize that's nothing like prepping for a full. I hadn't SEEN any training schedules online which made room for 1-2 ST days/week, so I highly appreciate the suggestions! I'm still at a point where I believe things I read on the internet... and slowly starting to implement my own critical thinking into my fitness plans :)

    Anyone doing something similar in 2014, please feel free to friend me!
  • DR2501
    DR2501 Posts: 661 Member
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    you can kiss most of your lean body mass good bye….

    and expect that when you return to lifting you will have regressed on all of your lifts..

    is there a reason you are giving up lifting to run a marathon?

    This.
    A good quote to consider is "Train like the athlete you want to look like" - do you want to look like a skinny marathon runner? Lol
  • RachelRuns9
    RachelRuns9 Posts: 585 Member
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    The subject line was an inquiry rather than a statement, really; no need to cringe! :)

    Although I HAD seen articles and journals about strength training benefiting runners, on the contrary I had not seen that implemented into the actual several months of pre-race prep. For some reason I thought it would be too exhausting to do on CT days, but I think I can make it work based on some great ideas here.
  • scorpio516
    scorpio516 Posts: 955 Member
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    Although I HAD seen articles and journals about strength training benefiting runners, on the contrary I had not seen that implemented into the actual several months of pre-race prep.

    That's cause there is no proof ;) . Would make a good article or thesis.

    If your goal was to win, then yes, drop the lifting. Any time spent in the gym won't make you as fast as if you spent it running instead. i.e. if your options are 1 hour running and 1 hour lifting vs. 2 hours running, just running will make you faster.

    That's not your goal though. You don't want to break 3:00:00, or BQ. You want to finish a marathon while keeping most of your muscle mass. Gonna be hard, but doable. Every pound of unnecessary muscle will slow you down and you've got to carry it. So keep that in mind. Also, it's going to take quite a few calories to fuel running and lifting ;)

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