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Whats the one thing you wish you'd known before your first marathon...
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Tinky - very few people manage to get the hang of negative splits, I wouldn't worry too much about that!
Simon - that's a really great idea. Despite talking to loads of other runners before it, I still felt quite clueless before my first marathon last year and a thread like this would have been really useful. There are quite a few opinions which vary from person to person though - such as fuelling strategies as one off the top of my head, so would be helpful to separate those from the more hard and fast rules (such as 'don't try anything new on race day' - a rule I broke well and proper this year at FLM by somehow got away with - eek!)
I too did Paris Simon, and London too! Have to say despite the tired legs I had a much better time at London overall, the atmosphere and organisation in London beat Paris a thousand times over. Paris course was stunning but felt very frustrated at the water stations and the bottlenecking / complete standstill at one corner, and the havoc at the finish line etc! Could think of lots of Paris-specific tips as I'm sure you could too! Hope you enjoyed it anyway.
Roll on FLM 2009!
Just to add to this (plus boing it up cause there was so much good advice on here!)
How long does it take for the memories of the aches and pains, and the terrible walking style for a week afterwards, to fade? To the extent that you decide to run another one?
In my case - about 2 years
This thread is great, I will be doing my first marathon in April. I have waited 5 years to get a place so very excited but as the days tick down I'm also starting to get very nervous.
The tips on this thread are so helpful, where better to get advice then from people who have learnt by their mistakes and now passing their wisdom on!
The distance is obviously a huge concern but also not knowing to expect at the start line and round the course is also playing on my mind.
"How to get to the start without getting injured or breaking anything" PLEASE any suggestions.......
I am feeling fit this year despite my 48 years, sad had a birthday at the weekend. Training going well but I just cant get to the start of the London having tried several times, all advice gratefully recieved.
don't train so hard.
get their fit and under trained and just hope your long runs will kick in (they will if you are confident you have put the effort in in the past) but if you are getting injured because you are training too hard!!!
Better to do it, break whatever pyschological barrier you mght have going on and enjoy the experience. Then try again and if you want to make improvements make some gradual training intensity increases. I firmly do belive that too many people are trying too hard to run too fast leading to injuries, when maybe some of us - who are not the greatest athletes in the world should be happy at being able to complete this achievement in a reasonable time!
Good luck.
Thanks GTC
I am using the RW sub 4hour 30 schedule based on my time of just under two hours for a half but mid week this schedule is intense but I have been missing out the Saturday easy run andresting up. So I will try to not go barmy this year and stay fit.
Mark
I can do a sub 2hrs half but i have yet to do a sub four marathon, and i've done 8! I just fade a bit from 22 onwards.
and i also eat and drink too much but that is another story. but for the first marathon in training I was injured and worked through it with a good chiropractor.
It's a long game if it is part of your life.
Hi Mark,
following a schedule is a good way of avoiding doing too much too soon. That said, we should not be slaves to the schedule. If you are hurting then take a day off don't worry about the schedule. Try and prioritise what runs you can do - long runs are the most important so if you have to drop one then try to make sure you fit this one in somewhere.
A lot of people also have difficulty following the pace recommendations on the schedule - they usually run there long runs way too fast. Do them way too slow if anything. Then you build up the strength and it allows you to still have something for your training session the next day or so. Run them too quick and you are more likely to get injured and your other sessions suffer.
One thing I also found was if you have a niggling injury then marathon training will find it and make it a big injury. See a physio early, get it treated (at least nurse it along) and get regular massage if you can.
Owl
If you are staying in a hotel or B & B or flat (as we were) make sure you book your restaurant/place for dinner for the night before the race, in plenty of time.
We were staying in a flat near Blackheath and so were hundreds of other runners and we had real trouble getting in somewhere for our pasta dinner the night before and nearly ended up with a Mcdonalds.
One thing i wish i had done before my first attempt at the London Marathon was to have completed several long endurance runs of atleast 22-23 miles so that htting the wall wouldnot be such a problem whilst maintaining my goal pace.
Back in 1998 i was comfortably looking at a sub 3 time until i reached 22 miles when what endurance i had gained in training left me.
I finished in 3.05 completely shattered.
Those long endurance runs of up to 23miles are oh so important for a race like London.
PJL - that's quite a strange statement coming from such a speedy runner? doing several 22-23 milers won't stop you hitting the wall or even make it easier to deal with - only correct nutrition can do that?
and surely most schedules limit the lsr to 20-21 miles?
but what do i know - i'm a 4h30 girl
My advise... dont wear anything new but dont wear anything too old either.
I wore my 'trusty' tri shorts at Berlin last year as it was hot so 3/4s were not a good idea. Anyway, these shorts ripped down the inner thigh at mile 4 and chaffed the hell out of me. Being tri shorts, i didn't have anything underneath them and i was worried that the shorts would rip completely. Not what you need!
This thread is excellent - any more tips?
I just cannot understand the urgency by most first time runners of wanting to do their first marathon..
I had been running for nearly 8 years before i attempted my first because i knew what was involved with the training to run 26.2miles to the best of your ability.
The majority of first time runners i am sure do not take part in 10K or 5K events believing the only race distance there is is the marathon.
Once they have done or survived their first marathon and are still interested in running then they may do a few shorter distance races BUT THIS IS A MISTAKE.
The whole point of running a marathon (which most first timers will not do because to run a marathon you have to break the 4hr barrier otherwise you will have walked some part of the race is) is to do it to the best of your ability and however talented at running you are you will not do this in your first year of running.
This is why i waited for many years until i ran my first marathon because i knew i was not ready to do it justice until i had been running for several years at the shorter distances.
If you are a fun runner then by all means attempt the marathon in your first year but you will not do it to your full capability and who knows it may actually put you off running alltogether which will be a shme because running should be a way of life and become an enjoyable pastime.
What a load of complete garbage!! The 4 hour bit.
I would say PJL is quite correct, why do you think its a strange statement?
You're trying to train your body to burn fat preferentially as a fuel source. To do that that you have to stimulate adaptation through training with very low glycogen reserves.
22-23 milers, or a couple of 26+ milers even, after not eating for the previous 12 hours are the ideal way to do this.
Correct nutrition is a given surely, but the best nutrition in the world is not going to make a scrap of difference if the training hasnt been done.
The reason most schedules limit to 20-21 miles is because most people following them are building up the distance of their LSRs from low levels and expecting them to do any more than 20-21 would be asking for injuries.
However, it comes back to PJL's second point about people rushing into marathons too early. In any reasonable marathon schedule you would go into the final 18 weeks with several 20+ milers already in the bag and use the final few weeks to get some marathon specific very long runs in.
That show what little knowledge you posess about running 26.2 miles.
Ive now completed 23 marathons and some of those i have done just for the fun of it.
The four hour barrier is considered by many running coaches as the barrier that separates the runner from the competitor who does not run the total distance but usually ends up walking the last three or four miles.
Its those that break the 3-15 barrier that are considered marathon racers and their pace of just under 7-15 per mile certainly separates them from the average runner who only just manages to break four hours.
Just look at the good for age group qualifying times for London to see what is considered racing the distance.
In all my attempts at the distance i have never failed to break four hours and if i did then i know i would not have trained well enough.
So before you make any comments on what is considered running or so called running the marathon please check your facts.
You will find they make no sense whatsoever.
I'm intending to run the whole thing and not walk a step. I will however be running at about 10.45 minute miles, all being well, so will finish in about 4:42
Your arrogant attitude makes me very angry.
Even pace, even pace, even pace, even pace - for as long as you can manage it, whatever time you're aiming for.
Make sure that your even pace is based on a reasonable marathon time prediction - from shorter race PBs or your long run training runs.