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Help!!!!! London marathon 2015 and 21st
john byrne
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okay guys I really need you your wisdom on this
I am in the past quite a prolific marathon runner
best time being 3hr 4 mins
however the last Race I ran in was 6-7 years ago and a big middle age spread has since occurred
I havent excercised in quite some time and had pencilled in doing the London marathon running for hemi help and was due to start training in October but my son became unwell has been been for quite some time and had a massive seizure in January which pushed me to the point of pulling out as I had done no training at all however I cannot let them down and have started trying to train I have a slightly dodgy left knee can it be done? what training schedule should I try to adopt?
any help on this would be really appreciated
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Comments
If you are generally fit from other sports, you'd get round and hurt like hell afterwards.
If you haven't exercised at all in years, are overweight and middle aged then the first thing you need to do is consult your doctor to asses your general health.
To be honest I'd say it's walk it or try again next year. I'm not going to spell it out to you but at your age, epecially after what sounds like a period of stress, you really are risking more than a knee injury here.
Hi John. How's the training going ... and the weight loss.
Going ahead with the marathon is quite a big ask. You could practise the run/walk strategy, and get round. Your time then will be a lot more than your personal best.
But with determination, and luck, you will probably be able to do so. London is 77 days away, about 10 weeks. Is that enough time for you to be able to get into marathon shape?
Hi John. I think doing a half-marathon would be very good, like a trial for the big day. Your times don't seem too slow, you might not even be the last runner to finish
If you choose a 'big' half, then there will be runners a wide range of abilities. Look on their websites and check the times out.
I think the general advice when training for a marathon is to concentrate on running. If you do need to rest up your knees, then you will have to do some cross-training which eases the stress on them.
I think you should follow a training plan for a marathon;most have a half-marathon race factored in. You may need to change the plan slightly to personalise it. But there should be a minimal of three runs a week, including a 'long slow run'. Listen to your body, and reduce training or stop if you have more than the aches that come with doing marathon training.
An 8mile run as your 5th training session seems like over-doing it at this point!
My advice?- keep it down to 3 runs perweek, and do about 2 gym sessions of crosstrainig- spinning classes are my current favourite- they'll help with c-vasc fitness and weight loss without being so hard on the knees.
Pool running is also a good option.
Plan a walk- run approach for your long runs and the marathon itself- I've done a sub- 4:30 marathon using a 10:1 mintues run/ walk pattern from the start of my first marathon, and that one had a longest LSR before it of 16 miles due to knee pain.
My guess is that your leg speed will improve quickly, because of your history of being a fast runner- muscle memory definately counts for something...........just take it easy, or you'll damage yourself.
tricialitt if its 2 hours to do 8 miles then its going to take at least 8 hours to do the marathon.
with all the problems and stress i think the best thing you can do is to pull out.....you have a lot to risk.
if you dont want to then just do walking a few times a week and at best you will be in a hell of a lot of pain as you finish... at worse... anything
I expect that John will improve over the next ten weeks. He seems determined, rightly or wrongly, to run and therefore to prepare for it.
Tricialitt has given some excellent advice. Hopefully, John's history of being an experienced runner will make a difference, and avoid injury.
But looking at the results of last year's London Marathon, Seren, the last man to come in took 08:52:50. So I am sure John can do better.
The last woman took even longer! 09:09:07
He's only on his 5th session, so he'll hopefully speed up a bit anyway. It's a case of getting the miles in without damage, and to be honest, the slower the better at this stage- what is the cut- off for VLM finish? As far as I can find out it's 6pm finish- although obviously the slower runners will take a good while to get over the start line, but about 8hrs would do it!
Basically you'll be best walking it, John, any small running breaks between the walking are a bonus. Perhaps your training should concentrate on walking? 6kph is a brisk walking pace, and it will get you there in just over 7 hours. I know I couldn't keep that pace up for that length of time, but if you can even run for 1 min, walk for a few minutes, you'll probably finish.
It's not a sensible way to tackle a marathon, but if you're going to try it, then that seems the least risky.
Tricialitt I agree your advice seems sound to me I guess the reason why I did 8 miles was that looking at 16 week training programmes they seem to want you to pencil in a half marathons about now
i am determined my son nearly died of a seizure in January and this means the world to me and him I have no shame in walking and disabled kids benefit from my efforts I spoke with John penguin Bingham who advised me like you and Kathy walk and run his attitude was that my target should be to finish I feel that the marathon is a lot of mental toughness as well as physical
if thats the case I hope I will be alright as I have done many but am I the same person??
No training plan is perfect, and no-one sticks to them 100%, life and commitments get in the way sometimes. You have enough time to lose a significant amount of weight, which can only help with the knee. You also have enough time to get yourself much better prepared physically, and if you've run a lot in the past, you already have an advantage over most in terms of muscle memory and technique (your running economy must have been pretty good to get 3:04). As long as you can get yourself to the start line uninjured, it will become a test of mental strength and resolve at some point in the race, just like it is for everyone else (but you know this already) - but you sound determined and absolutely committed to finishing. I wouldn't like to stand between you and the finish line!
Good luck!
Good luck John. You sound determined.
On current rules you get a medal if you finish by 6pm. Mass start is at 10am so if it takes you half an hour to get over the start line, you have 7h30 to cover the course which means you need to do about 3.5MPH.
I like tricialitt's idea of some cycling/spinning to get fit and lose weight without trashing your knees. If you don't fancy riding outside or going to the gym, get hold of a turbo trainer (lets you use a regular bike as a stationary exercise bike). Or just go for some long walks. I don't think you can train for this only by running, because your weight makes it impossible to run enough miles without hurting yourself.
Get your friends & family on board to help you eat well and maybe try using myfitnesspal to count calories.
You must be pretty strong to cover 8 miles in under 2 hours at 21 stone - it will be fun to see what you can do once back down to healthy weight.
When I was somewhat heavier than I am now I found running a real chore. Shin splints any time I tried to do more than a couple of miles. But other cardio activities which involved less pounding were much less of a problem, and I lost several stone, gained fitness, and took up running again in a much better state. So I agree with the advice to concentrate on run/walk or just brisk walking as your core training, but supplemented with a healthy dose of cardio exercise of your choice: spinning, swimming, cross-trainer, aqua jogging, etc.
At the end of the day, to get round 26 miles you will need to get your legs used to a lot of pounding, but the more help you can get on aerobic fitness and some additional calorie burning along the way, the better.
Good luck!
Hi John,
Im not an experienced runner so can't offer advise about that but I'd just like to say that your an inspiration. I managed to lose 3 stone and keep it off by learning about nutrition. If you need any advise on diet especially whilst training i'd be more than happy to help.
thanks
Glenn
John... as you are 21st and unfit... did you actually go to the doctor beofre starting on marathon training.
as you only have so few weeks.....and I know you want to raise money for the charity.
but to go from nothing to marathon in 12 weeks...........when you are 21 st and unfit would not be sensible without an ok from the doctor...
no point in raising loads of money if you end up in hospital or the morgue...running 26 miles is hard work on the body.
If you have had the go ahead then great...and i can stop worrying about you
if you are doing it just to finish then GO FOR IT, train sensibly and the pounds will fly off, I will sponser you aswel, much respect fellow john, anything is possible for those that believe
guys what I wanted to know is a few people have asked about my just giving page is it permissible to put this on the forum or do I send a personal message?
you are welcome mate, send me a personal message mate with the link, I take my hat off to ya
Hi guys some very kind people have offered to donate to the charity I'm running for this is the link?
https://www.justgiving.com/john-byrne4/
Hi John. Your thread has worked.
You have advertised your fundraising (though I'm not sure that is within the rules of the forum).
But it is for a good cause and I have donated.
You definitely need to finish this marathon now!
If John had just come on and advertised his link then it wouldnt have been against the rules as its not really spam.... but it would have not been looked at favourably as it would seem just another one post wonder just wanting money.
But John has come on and interacted with people and so i think its fine to put his link up on this thread...Its up to individuals if they want to click on it as its obvious what it is..
If John then started up several other threads just to put his link up then it would again go back into the annoying category and go against him
that's my understanding of forum etiquette
