Doing first half in March....

[Deleted User]

Ok so im not the worlds best runner,
i am hoping to finish my half in about 2 hours - 2 hours 30.

Am i stupid to enter a marathon in October ? im not to bothered about my time, even if i end up walking. Is it the wrong thing to do ?

Please be truthful.
Thanks

[Deleted User]

i cant see a problem with it


which one are you thinking of

[Deleted User]

well i have a passion for the irish and have been to dublin once and totally loved it. So thought that would be a nice one ?

What do you think.

[Deleted User]

I think that would be a great one for you to do




it even welcomes walkers!



There is a school of thought that says not to do a marathon unless youve been running a couple of years-----hm, i didnt follow that



also, marathon training is bloody hard work, an takes a lot out of your life

Mind you, here i go on my 6th------

[Deleted User]

Well i did not know it welcomed walkers , thats good.

I think i might do it then. I want to push myself to improve but dont want to get obsessive over it, so as long as i finish i will be happy. It will motivate me and incourage me. if i know i can walk some i will not be put off.

[Deleted User]

youll be fine
see you there!



goodnight

[Deleted User]

night thanks

TillyP

JacquieNeale go for it - i havent done a marathon before and Im doing my first half in about two weeks time - Im also doing the dublin Marathon in October!!

[Deleted User]

i'm not a quick runner (1/2 pb is 2.04) but i did my first half in september and am doing my first marathon in april (less than 6 weeks away now!)

dublin is lovely - i went to watch last year and the atmosphere was fab.

go for it. but as hippo says it takes big chunks out of your life so make sure its what you really want to do.

[Deleted User]

Tilly P

Wonder if you are doing the same half as me? i am doing the silverstone half. On the 7th March.

So i am starting to be inspired to do the Dublin one now.

M
Is it all the training and long runs that are talking the time? If you had to do it all again ( training) would you?

TillyP

JacquieNeale - looked at doing the Silverstone one but the one in Brentwood on March 14th is more local to me so at least I can hobble home.

[Deleted User]

Yeah i have a boyfriend that will be driving me home !! (thank god)

What time are you hoping for ? Im hoping for between 2h and 2h 30 and ill be well happy !

[Deleted User]

Jacquie

the training takes a long time - especially for slightly slower runners!

some of the faster lads can go out and do a 20 mile training run and be back in next to no time whereas for me it will take over 3 and 1/2 hours.

the 40 miles a week that i'm currently doing is a time commitment of 7 hours or so and thats without including time spent stretching etc.

but the thing i was least prepared for is how much it affects the rest of your time. particularly sundays. before i started marathon training i might have done 10 miles or so on a sunday and then gone on afterwards to do other stuff in the afternoon. no, for example, after this sundays 17 miles i was fit for absolutely nothing for the rest of the day!

would i do it again? of course i would. i've never felt so fit and strong before in my life. but perhaps you'd better ask me again after rotterdam to be on the safe side ;-)

TillyP

Jacquie

Not really sure but around the same as you, I would be ecstatic to get around without walking to be quite honest. I think I will get my boyfriend to collect me too!! He's my support anyway bless him.

[Deleted User]

So as long as i am aware of the dramatic change of lifestyle and prepared to dedicate the time to get the result i should go for it.

My only worry is not enjoying the marathon itself and being put of running altogether.

Did you fear this for feel like giving up (seriously) while training ?

[Deleted User]

When I crossed the finish line of my first FLM I said "never again!" (I'd set off too fast, and blown up big time). The woman next to me rounded on me and asked how could I say that, she'd never felt so fit in her life and wanted to stay that fit and couldn't wait to do another marathon.

So that's two points of view - I certainly wasn't put off running, but I knew if would be a while before I ran a marathon again.

Anyway... marathons do change your life, the trouble is that even if you have a completely s**te time, you'll always wonder what would happen if you trained smarter, did things differently during the race, not set off too fast etc.

And hey ho, here I am, training for my third marathon, aiming for a fast-ish time. So much for my 'never again'!!

Go for it, JN. Train smart, but do the first one for the fun and the sense of achievement and then, well, just see what happens next ...

[Deleted User]

Hi ya,

I've done a few of half marathons (around 2hrs 30)but have yet to pluck up the courage and enter a full one. I keep thinking that I need to improve my half time before moving up. It would probably take me around 5hours 30 - 6hours to run the marathon and I don't think I am up to it - of course I would have to train but doing 11 mile runs on my own feel hard at the moment - not sure about 20 miles!
I thought about doing Dublin as well after a women I met during a race said it was a great marathon.
Good luck!

[Deleted User]

Hi Jacquie, well 10 years ago I did my first half after starting running 6 months earlier and did a full marathon 3 months later. I really don't think you'll have any trouble if you're not after a fast time and if you make sure you do the right training.
I don't think you'll need to worry at all, have fun.