Looking for advice for my first marathon!!!

amyers2891
amyers2891 Posts: 30 Member
edited November 28 in Motivation and Support
I went a little crazy and signed up for Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN in June 2016. My first race ever!! I'm looking for some advice!! Anything is appreciated :)

Replies

  • mariekeates777
    mariekeates777 Posts: 4 Member
    Are you running or walking?
  • amyers2891
    amyers2891 Posts: 30 Member
    mariekeates777 wrote: »
    Are you running or walking?

    I'm running!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    What's your weekly mileage like so far? Do you have a training plan?

    You might want to check out the long distance runners forum
  • mariekeates777
    mariekeates777 Posts: 4 Member
    amyers2891 wrote: »
    mariekeates777 wrote: »
    Are you running or walking?

    I'm running!

    My husband runs two marathons a year. He started in his late forties and he's fifty three now. The biggest thing that helped him was going to Parkruns and joining a running club. In Toronto in October he finally smashed the four hour barrier and has had a PB in every category of race this year. I walk marathons but that's a whole different game. He says having a plan with what time you need to finish each mile and sticking to it is key, also not going out too fast even if you feel you can because you will pay for it at the end. Have you got a finish time in mind or are you just wanting to finish?
  • ThickMcRunFast
    ThickMcRunFast Posts: 22,511 Member
    Hard to give advice without additional info..

    What is your weekly mileage like now? What pace do you currently run? Do you have a time goal or do you just want to finish?
  • amyers2891
    amyers2891 Posts: 30 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    What's your weekly mileage like so far? Do you have a training plan?

    You might want to check out the long distance runners forum
    Honestly I'm having troubles building my cardio up! I've been running a couple times a week but since it's 6 months away I feel like I should have some miles built up by now. Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely check that out!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    amyers2891 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    What's your weekly mileage like so far? Do you have a training plan?

    You might want to check out the long distance runners forum
    Honestly I'm having troubles building my cardio up! I've been running a couple times a week but since it's 6 months away I feel like I should have some miles built up by now. Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely check that out!

    How many miles in those couple of runs a week?
  • amyers2891
    amyers2891 Posts: 30 Member
    mariekeates777 wrote: »
    amyers2891 wrote: »
    mariekeates777 wrote: »
    Are you running or walking?

    I'm running!

    My husband runs two marathons a year. He started in his late forties and he's fifty three now. The biggest thing that helped him was going to Parkruns and joining a running club. In Toronto in October he finally smashed the four hour barrier and has had a PB in every category of race this year. I walk marathons but that's a whole different game. He says having a plan with what time you need to finish each mile and sticking to it is key, also not going out too fast even if you feel you can because you will pay for it at the end. Have you got a finish time in mind or are you just wanting to finish?

    I'm hoping to just finish! Im not too concerned with the time since this is my first one and I know it's going to tough! I've heard a slow and steady start is key!
  • amyers2891
    amyers2891 Posts: 30 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    amyers2891 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    What's your weekly mileage like so far? Do you have a training plan?

    You might want to check out the long distance runners forum
    Honestly I'm having troubles building my cardio up! I've been running a couple times a week but since it's 6 months away I feel like I should have some miles built up by now. Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely check that out!

    How many miles in those couple of runs a week?
    I think my longest run so far has been 4 miles
  • mariekeates777
    mariekeates777 Posts: 4 Member
    When I did my first walking marathon I built up one mile each week. Worked quite well but I used a plan on an iPhone app for the second and it was better. Basically it was one week a long walk the week after half that distance, the week after that a long walk two miles longer than the first long walk etc... It was easier to cope with because I had the short walk weeks in between. At the end a ten miler seemed like a very short walk!
  • amyers2891
    amyers2891 Posts: 30 Member
    ThickMcRunFast wrote: »
    Hard to give advice without additional info..

    What is your weekly mileage like now? What pace do you currently run? Do you have a time goal or do you just want to finish?

    I'm running at 5mph now and I'm running about 3-4 miles at a time now. I know I'm slacking it's just hard to stay motivated. I get discouraged easily.
  • mariekeates777
    mariekeates777 Posts: 4 Member
    Slow and steady certainly is key. Training more so but if you have six months you have loads of time. Whatever you do those last miles are tough but you can get through with a little determination and self belief.
  • ThickMcRunFast
    ThickMcRunFast Posts: 22,511 Member
    So ideally, you'd be comfortably running 25 miles a week for at least a month before embarking on an 18-week training schedule for a marathon. This doesn't mean you can't possibly do it, just that it maybe won't be the greatest experience. Training for a marathon is tough. It doesn't take up that much time, per say (maybe another 10 hours a week max), but the time spent thinking about it, planning, saying no to social occasions, etc, can feel like a real drain on your life. So if you really have problems keeping motivated, I would see if you can defer your registration and maybe start with a goal of a 10k or half.

    I think if you're set on doing this, your focus should be to get to the finish line without injury, and maybe a walk-run plan would be best. The general rule is to not increase your weekly mileage by more than 10%, and you should take a deload week every now and then to give your body a break. You want to work up to an 18-20 mile effort 2-3 weeks before the race, then allow yourself a taper so your legs are fresh. Don't try to pick a plan that is too ambitious. Running is a cumulative stress, and you don't want to peak too early and end up tired on race day. Or, even worse, you don't want to end up injured.

    As for your runs, make your long run the day of the week that you will be racing (this is normally sunday for road marathons). Make your long runs practice. Get up when you will for the race, go through your routine. Find what works for you with hydration and nutrition, and then stick to it. Note what you eat the day before and how it makes you feel.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    Congrats on signing up! A marathon is a great goal to look forward to. I just did my first in November.

    Training is going to be HARD. Just accept that right now - I wish I had realized sooner how much it would take out of me both physically and mentally. It's going to demand a lot of your time and basically will need to be your main priority for a little while. I had to turn down many social opportunities so I could get up at 6am to do a long run the next day.

    Train in race conditions. If your race is in the morning, run in the mornings. If your course has hills, run somewhere hilly. If you think you are going to use energy gels (which I totally recommend) during the race, use them in all your long runs. You want race day to feel like just another long run to you.

    Use a good training program! Don't try to make a training schedule on your own. I used a Runkeeper marathon training plan, which was nice because the app would just tell me how much to run each day. I also really like the Hal Higdon plans, here's his novice plan for a marathon: http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51137/Marathon-Novice-1-Training-Program

    Research. Know what common first-time mistakes are and how to avoid them. Know what to pack on race day. Know as much as you can, so there are no surprises. I got a lot of great information from this website: http://www.marathontraining.com/marathon/marathon.html

    Good luck! This may be one of the most challenging experiences of your life, but it can also be one of the most rewarding.
  • madelyn_lize
    madelyn_lize Posts: 1 Member
    I love Hansons Marathon Method for my training! You have to do longer runs during the week, so it can be difficult at times to find the motivation to wake up extra early, or strap on running shoes after a long day of work. But, I have found that doing long runs on tired legs has helped tremendously at the end of the marathon. I used Hal Higdon for my first marathon, and my legs were dead by mile 23. Since starting Hansons, I've been able to sprint to the finish each marathon!

    Both are good training plans to follow though, so you just have to decide which plan is more practical with your schedule. Stick to it, and you'll do great!

    Hansons: http://www.amazon.com/Hansons-Marathon-Method-Renegade-Fastest/dp/1934030856
    Hal Higdon: http://www.halhigdon.com/
  • amyers2891
    amyers2891 Posts: 30 Member
    ThickMcRunFast wrote: »
    So ideally, you'd be comfortably running 25 miles a week for at least a month before embarking on an 18-week training schedule for a marathon. This doesn't mean you can't possibly do it, just that it maybe won't be the greatest experience. Training for a marathon is tough. It doesn't take up that much time, per say (maybe another 10 hours a week max), but the time spent thinking about it, planning, saying no to social occasions, etc, can feel like a real drain on your life. So if you really have problems keeping motivated, I would see if you can defer your registration and maybe start with a goal of a 10k or half.

    I think if you're set on doing this, your focus should be to get to the finish line without injury, and maybe a walk-run plan would be best. The general rule is to not increase your weekly mileage by more than 10%, and you should take a deload week every now and then to give your body a break. You want to work up to an 18-20 mile effort 2-3 weeks before the race, then allow yourself a taper so your legs are fresh. Don't try to pick a plan that is too ambitious. Running is a cumulative stress, and you don't want to peak too early and end up tired on race day. Or, even worse, you don't want to end up injured.

    As for your runs, make your long run the day of the week that you will be racing (this is normally sunday for road marathons). Make your long runs practice. Get up when you will for the race, go through your routine. Find what works for you with hydration and nutrition, and then stick to it. Note what you eat the day before and how it makes you feel.

    Thank you so much for the advice! I seriously appreciate it!
  • ThickMcRunFast
    ThickMcRunFast Posts: 22,511 Member
    Oh- another thing, I would avoid any sort of speedwork for a while.

    As a new runner, you will get the most improvement from increasing your miles. Adding speed work too early will dramatically increase your chance of injury, since you won't have the musculature built up to support it. Also, this early on, you won't actually see much gain from it anyway.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    ThickMcRunFast wrote: »
    Oh- another thing, I would avoid any sort of speedwork for a while.

    As a new runner, you will get the most improvement from increasing your miles. Adding speed work too early will dramatically increase your chance of injury, since you won't have the musculature built up to support it. Also, this early on, you won't actually see much gain from it anyway.

    I second this! I did hardly any speedwork and was surprised by how much my speed improved just from increasing mileage.
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
    madelyn_lize wrote: »
    I love Hansons Marathon Method for my training! You have to do longer runs during the week, so it can be difficult at times to find the motivation to wake up extra early, or strap on running shoes after a long day of work. But, I have found that doing long runs on tired legs has helped tremendously at the end of the marathon. I used Hal Higdon for my first marathon, and my legs were dead by mile 23. Since starting Hansons, I've been able to sprint to the finish each marathon!

    Both are good training plans to follow though, so you just have to decide which plan is more practical with your schedule. Stick to it, and you'll do great!

    Hansons: http://www.amazon.com/Hansons-Marathon-Method-Renegade-Fastest/dp/1934030856
    Hal Higdon: http://www.halhigdon.com/

    Ive used both the hansons half and hal higdons halfs, and like them both as well, but prefer the hansons.

    Good luck!
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