Congrats!

First and foremost regarding your training program never forget this: it is a guideline, not gospel. It is simply numbers on a page, it doesn't know if your hamstrings are sore, nor does it know if you are feeling magical one day. The world doesn't end if you have to shut down a 10 mile run at 8 miles. The world doesn't end if you are feeling great and you stretch your 13 miler to 14 or 15. Also, there is no need to back off on your training to fit a schedule. If your long run is already 11, then no need to bring it back down to 7 because that is what is listed on the schedule.

As far as the distance of your longest run, it is really an issue of the ability to recover (and continue with your training). I rarely run any longer than 21-22. I can run a 20 every weekend and not miss a beat in my training. That said, I've been known to use marathons as training runs as well. I think the bigger issue is the number of long runs you, the more long runs the better.

Pace is another issue. The marathon is the truth teller. If you go out too fast, you will pay heavily later in the race. It is important to be realistic about your pace based on your training. Something that seems harmless (say running 9:00 instead of 9:30) can really come back to bite you at mile 19.

I could go on forever, but I won't.

I agree with everything mentioned above! Especially the pace thing, and the strength thing, and the long run thing.

I just ran my first marathon and my longest run was 20. The last 6.2 are going to be hard no matter what. What will get you through it is, "Well, I've already come this far. It's just 6.2, 6.2 is easy. It's just five, I've done five a hundred times. Psh! 5k! Piece of cake!" All of this is true, but it will feel sorta like a lie when you are trying to tell your legs in the moment.

One thing that I noticed when I looked back over my training log, I never missed a long run. One way or another it got done. I think that was key. I had a short training season because of injuries and I was worried that I wouldn't make it through without doing the whole distance. Getting every long run in helped with my confidence and I believe it made all the difference. I do not believe I needed all 26.2.

The pace thing is SO important. I ran the first half, possibly 25-30 seconds too fast. I think if I had kept it a little slower I could have run the whole thing with each split really close. A little slower still and maybe I could have run a negative split.

I lost a lot of muscle definition once I really started bumping my mileage. I also slacked a little on my strength because I wasn't enjoying it as much as the running. I believe I could have maintained my muscle or at least lost less if I had pushed a little harder on the weights. Plus, you shouldn't be running every single day if you are getting back into it. You need something to do on non-running days.

Good luck!

Not too much else I can add, great advice already.
Really use those long runs to figure out your fueling. I think that may have been one area I lacked in for my first marathon. Also use them to figure out what to wear and if you have rubbing issues. I don't know how quickly your weather changes in the spring, but here it went from really cold to warm quickly and its tough figuring out what to wear.
Also, no matter how well your training is going or what kind of time you think you want to shoot for, there's a reason they say for the first one your goal is just finish. Listen to them.
And most of all have fun!

Awesome advice guys. I also start training for my first marathon the week of Christmas! My first marathon will be the Country Music mararhon in Nashville on 4/28. What training plan are you using?

I'm basing my training off Hal Higdon's novice program but I plan to tweak it a little bit to suit my needs better.

Good call. FWIW - I'd try to stick in a couple extra 20 milers if possible.

MissFit - What marathon are you running? I'm running my first one that day too. I'm doing to Colorado marathon.

One thing that helped me prepare mentally was going over my training log a few days before the race. You are going to be full of doubts, but when you look at the hard numbers in your log you won't be able to argue with them. You will have proof that you are ready. After that just trust yourself and try not to think to much. Just start running when everybody else does and keep going!

Firstly, thanks for all the great tips. I plan on my first on 3/3/12 in The Woodlands, TX. I do have one question, though.

I'm down with the fueling during long runs, body glide, Nip Guards, and everything else, but one thing I can't quite figure out is socks. I have never had a problem with blistering or any weird rubbing using the socks I normally use. The farthest I've run so far is a half marathon and I had absolutely no problem running that distance with my Thorlos. I hear, however, that people have issues with socks in some of the longer races.

Any thoughts or previous experience?

I have basically two types that I wear: Thorlos and a Drymax-esque Nike sock. I have about 20 pairs of each.

I've never had a bad experience with either type, but from a lot of the folks on MFP it seems that blisters and marathons go hand in hand. Does this have to be true, or is it that they didn't choose the "right sock for them" before the race?

Thanks!

I have this one spot on my pinky toe that always rubs when I run and I used to have a perma-blister there. I started putting body glide on it before I run, and had a lot of improvement and much less frequent blister formation. So, it seems like you're wearing the right socks, and if on your long runs you start forming blisters, maybe try body glide beforehand?