Newbie accepted for VLM

So .. I entered the VLM ballot upon the openign day.. I have always wanted to run it and admire people who do..

Having not done much runnign other than football I cant run too well.. But i see this as a great inspiration to prove to myself that I can achieve this. Its a little under 7 months until the marathon day.

Does anyone have any tips for me as a beginner.

Comments

  • I am also doing VLM and it's the first time for me,but not my first Marathon.

    The main advice I would give is find a training plan you can easily stick to.They are generally 16 -18 weeks so you would need to start one in December.

    Before that just start some light work ( a couple of miles twice a week) or go to park run (sorry cannot post link as doing this on my phone, just google it)

    Even better if you fancy it join a Running Club plenty of advice and structured training

    Good luck
  • Michael - you need to build a base between now and starting your Shades Training plan.  A couple of miles a week isn't going to help.  3-4 times a week, plenty of rest and recovery, not too fast or hard, but get the fitness going, get used to running 3-4 times a week, start thinking about nutrition, tell any significant others what you are doing and explain that you will be going out for 3 to 4 hour runs once you get into the training properly.  

    There is only 1 way to get good at something and that is to work at it.

  • Thanks for the replies fellas! yeah other half is very supportive and knows what this will entail.. really looking forward to getting stuck in and start getting fitter..  be good to see some excess fat fall off to lol! 

  • +1 for what PSC said. When I did Paris in 2009 as my first I spent the weeks before Xmas just getting used to running 3 times a week and making sure that by the start of my plan(jan) I could run about 8 miles at an easy pace.
  • Start off by running VERY slowly- if you have a HRM, so a max HR test- don't just calculaate it based on  stupid formula- they are no good. Then for the weeks until your 16- 18 trainig programme starts, buid up the mileage by runnig at about 70% Max HR, no higher, until you can do 1x 7-10 miler, and 2-3 x shorter runs per week. At that point, look and see what weekly mileage you're managing, and pick a schedule based on that stating point. Don't try to run fast until you've got a decent base of distancee. Don't increase thedistances too fast either.

    Good Luck!

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