Marathon training with no race booked

Qrszx

Hi there,

Do anyone of you have tips for training for a marathon without knowing which one?

To go into more detail, I split my year pretty evenly between the UK and US. This year I might even emigrate to the US, but the timing depends on factors that aren't worth going into here. So, basically I want to do my first marathon in the period Autumn 2017 - Spring 2018. I have no idea which country I will be in. I guess the question really is "what fitness level should I be at in order to train for a marathon in under 3 months?" I sort of had the plan of getting to a certain weekly mileage and then getting into a holding pattern until I have something booked. My difficulty comes in knowing what to build up to.

Thanks in advance for any advice you have!

[Deleted User]

Sounds like a good plan. Steadily up the mileage to target weekly mileage, once you are comfortable at that mileage then when you start training you'll be in a good position. My only concern would possibly be time commitments and boredom of same old routine. You could do some half marathons to keep focused.

Little M.iss Happy

It never hurts to have a good base so I'd concentrate on running lots of easy miles so that you feel you'd be comfortable with a long run of at least fourteen miles when you start your twelve week marathon specific build. Of course a lot depends on how long you've been running, your current average mileage, time available etc so it's harder to be more specific.

Pete Holt

in terms of where you want to build up to depends on the time on your hands and current fitness. 30+ miles per week is a basic base to start from. then build the specific marathon training from there. Alternatively commit to running half marathons and 10ks in the meantime and your running load will take care of itself.

Qrszx

I really appreciate the replies! It sounds like I just need to keep building my base.

For a bit of background: I trained for and completed the Surrey Half, with a lot of time off for ITB issues. Managed 2:10, which is about what I had hoped with my limited training. I'll probably end up doing one of the Olympic Park 10ks in May, so I'm training for that right now. I dropped back down to 10-12 miles a week after the half and I'm just steadily building up again.

I only started running seriously in August (only really every few months before that), so my ambitions are not particularly high for a marathon. Just get the first one completed and worry about a time for the next one, really. Although, I definitely want to know I gave it my best. I'm currently doing 5-6 days a week of running (mixing in some cross-training days too). Trying to be good and taking recovery runs days off completely if I'm too sore. But I have to say, I think running every day is much better for me, being that I spend my work day sat at a desk.

Boredom is not much of a problem at the moment, I keep driving off to find new long run routes and I'm blessed with the Surrey Hills or the Patapsco State Park within driving distance, depending on which country I'm in.

I guess I need to find a few more races for the year! Anyone got ideas for Surrey/London or DC area stuff?

Pete Holt

here's a list of events. https://www.runnersworld.co.uk/event/search?type=exp_eevents_event_details&dates=2017-04-06,&class=4&within=20km&venue_county=173&event_type=1&sort=date

lou Diamonds

You'll probably increase mileage by about 30-50% during the 3 months build up.  So decide what your peak mileage will be reduce by 30-50% and maintain mileage around that level.

Qrszx

Really appreciate the replies. Especially the link to the event search page. For some reason, if you click 'Events' from inside the forum, it sends you to a different address.

What is 'normal' mileage per week before a marathon taper? 40-50 miles?

Pete Holt

miles pre taper - it depends on the plan that you are following which normally is dictated (to some degree) on the intended completion time. so will differ for each person. I have peaked at 55 and 65 pre taper during my last two outings. my advice is find a plan and stick to it.  use a half marathon race time as your predictor then work from that. loads of plans on the internet.

Edit: there are some plans on this site https://www.runnersworld.co.uk/training/rws-basic-marathon-schedules

Qrszx

Thanks, I'll give those a look.