1st Marathon
ParadisePat
Posts: 19 Member
Share your tips if you have marathon experience. This will be my first in December. And add me as a friend.
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Replies
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Hey! First marathon? Awesome. I ran Honolulu as my first. Coming from Canada it was hard to prepare for (from Winter to wonderful in 24 hours). I actually ran my fifth in September and promptly tore my Achilles a month later. Tips? I have a few.
1. Follow a plan. Find a training plan that works for you and stick to it. Whether that is Hal Higden, Jeff Galloway, Running Room, a Runners World plan etc... find and stick to it.
2. Trust your training and obey your Taper. Taper is the time to allow your body to rest and recover from the months of training you've been doing in the week or two prior to a race.
3. Train with what is provided on the course... if they server Gatorade and Gu... train with Gatorade and Gu... give your body a chance to get used to the stuff that is offered (or bring your own) and avoid surprises on race day.
4. Take some time and get to know the route before race day. I love knowing where I am on a course and allows me to adjust my pace according to my goals and visual landmarks. It also cuts down on any surprises (like a 3 mile incline near the end of the race).
5. Check out the Race Expo... but do not sample new products. Nothing like finding out the new product you tried yesterday, gave you the runners trots today.
6. Lay out your equipment the night before, double and triple check everything. My first marathon, I discovered I forgot to charge my iPod the night before. Threw me off big time not having music to run with.
7. Use the facilities 20 minutes before race time.
8. Use the facilities 10 minutes before race time... make sure you are really done this time.
9. Drink a small bottle of water before you race... it helps to top you up before race time. We're talking 300 ml bottle (what is that about 10 fl ounces?)
10. Most major marathons will have corrals in which to run. Line up accordingly. I prefer to line up behind my anticipated pack... The simple reason is that most people will waste a huge amount of energy weaving back and forth trying to get ahead early. I'd prefer to coast for the first while until the crowds have thinned out. I also try not to run before the start line... whats the point? the clock doesn't start until your chip crosses the start line.
11. Pace yourself... its your first marathon, anything you run will be a personal best. I know you'll be excited and nervous but if your don't pace yourself, you'll burn out in the first 10 miles or so... Don't forget that a marathon is 26 miles.
12. While I am sure I can think of several others.... this one is really important! On the marathons I have run, there is always someone who thinks the popsicle stick you are offered is some kind of food product\energy gel etc and they stick it in their mouth. Don't be that person. It is usually petroleum jelly. Yup good old Vaseline. And it is meant for chafing (for anything that rubs (thighs, nipples, armpits). While it is usually good for a laugh... don't go there.
13. Speaking of which... figure out your blister prevention during training. You are running 26 miles... the blisters will come. I ran a marathon with someone who wore the wrong shoes on race day and ended up dropping out at mile 15 because of blisters.
Anyways... Feel free to PM me if you have questions. I'd run 5 full and 30 halves prior to my injury. I can likely answer any questions you may have.
Cheers,
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You look really strong in your upper body. Carrying those muscles in a marathon is hard. I had a trainer once who was super strong, but then he got into mountain biking. I saw him after a year of so and he looked normal again. Have fun! Good luck!1
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If there is a pacer, stay with him/her. Only venture ahead of the pacer during the last 5-8 miles if you can. This will ensure you finish around your anticipated time.2
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RunnersLament pretty much gave you the blue print for what you need to complete this marathon.
The only thing I can think to add is be sure to check the weather for race day. It's a Dec race so it may be cold or raining or etc. Be sure to pack running gear for any weather.
Not new stuff, stuff you have trained in and know works for you.
And also dress for like it's about 10-15 degrees warmer for the race. You want to be a little chilly before the race starts because you will warm up as you begin to run.
If you do decide to wear something warmer for whatever reason, get something you don't mine throwing away.
Most races have a crew that will Police up all throw down garments and donate them to charity.
Most importantly have fun, enjoy it and pace yourself.1 -
Wow, awesome advice here. I'm running my first full in October.1
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ParadisePat wrote: »Share your tips if you have marathon experience. This will be my first in December. And add me as a friend.
I guess the first question is, what's your current experience and weekly mileage?
As your first marathon is your objective completion or do you have a time objective in mind1 -
I did a 10-mile race 3 weeks ago: 12:44 pace, which inspired me. My marathon goal is to finish under 6 hours and to see if the experience is something I would want to repeat. I have access to a company fitness center on weekdays and do longer runs on the weekend.0
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2014-15 was strength training; 2016 will be about losing weight/cardio/running0
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Definetly run with (or around) a pace group for your first. I've ran my best marathons when I varied up training during the week and had the long runs on the weekends. (Hills, sprints, etc).1
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Forgot to add it is the California International Marathon!0
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ParadisePat wrote: »Share your tips if you have marathon experience. This will be my first in December. And add me as a friend.
Awesome! Be sure to check out the running groups here at MFP. This one seems to be most active.ParadisePat wrote: »2014-15 was strength training; 2016 will be about losing weight/cardio/running
Focus on losing the weight before you start training for the marathon. Losing while training is very hard.1 -
ParadisePat wrote: »I did a 10-mile race 3 weeks ago: 12:44 pace, which inspired me. My marathon goal is to finish under 6 hours and to see if the experience is something I would want to repeat. I have access to a company fitness center on weekdays and do longer runs on the weekend.
Congrats! 16km is no small feat. I will suggest with your starting point you do nothing fancy, just slooowww build. Think of every mile you run as a dollar going into a bank account. You want as many dollars in that bank account before the race, WITHOUT getting hurt. That's the trick. When you're hurt, you're not adding dollars.
Gradually increase how far you run every 2-3 weeks then take a week where you do 20% less. Then back to more. You will be amazed how much faster you get even with never once doing a sprint.
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ParadisePat wrote: »I did a 10-mile race 3 weeks ago: 12:44 pace, which inspired me. My marathon goal is to finish under 6 hours and to see if the experience is something I would want to repeat. I have access to a company fitness center on weekdays and do longer runs on the weekend.
Well done.
I'd suggest getting hold of a plan to work up to the distance, with most being i the order of 16 weeks long identify a plan and then work out when you need to start it, and then prepare for that as described above.0 -
As @chaney3000 said @RunnersLament pretty much gave you the blue print for what you need to complete this marathon.
@ParadisePat So you have a 10mile / 16km in the bank. The only thing I can suggest is that you should try to work One or Two Half Marathon's into your schedule / plan to let you get a little more " Race Experience " and give you a better feel of what your Time/Pace would be for a full marathon.
This would also let you fine tune your Race Clothing, Shoes, Fluid and Fuelling strategies. I have some shoes and clothes which are great on 10km or less - above that distance the shirts start to chaf and in one of my shoe pairs one foot starts to feel funny at the base of the Big Toe/Ball of Foot especially if it is a Bush-Dirt Trail. The funny - weird part is that this started to happen at about the 100km mark ( now mid life @ 250km ) but two other pairs of the same brand/model/size with more km's on them are my go to shoes for my long training runs and HM's. Needless to stay the one pair is Red Tagged and only used on short run days ( to cheap to toss them as they are not worn out ). No obvious Body/Foot bed deformation in the one Shoe and to late to return since they spent 6 months in the closet before going into my 3 shoe rotation so I will just burn them up as Short Run shoes.
So you might do a Half Marathon Training Program, run a Half Marathon and then a cutback week(s) for Rest / Recovery before starting the Marathon Training Program. Based on your existing weekly running base you probably don't have to start at Week 1 of the HM program but week 5 - 7. Which means you could be starting the HM Training program right now depending on what HM you are able to get into.
Based on my limited experience I like to add an extra Floater week into the Training Plan that I think of/use as Training Injury Recovery week. If I never get injured I just duplicate one of the cutback weeks/pre taper to fill the schedule. Seems to work for me - might be a disaster for others.1 -
Running my first in November! Feel free to add me.1
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RunnersLament wrote: »12. While I am sure I can think of several others.... this one is really important! On the marathons I have run, there is always someone who thinks the popsicle stick you are offered is some kind of food product\energy gel etc and they stick it in their mouth. Don't be that person. It is usually petroleum jelly. Yup good old Vaseline. And it is meant for chafing (for anything that rubs (thighs, nipples, armpits). While it is usually good for a laugh... don't go there.
Thanks for the tip - that could easily have been me!
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