I have signed myself up for the Manchester Marathon at the end of April after doing the Liverpool half and Race the Train last year. I'm reasonably fit anyway through playing a lot of football and some squash and am intrigued/anxious to know what the transition to full marathon is like? For both of these races I did some training in the form of about three 10-mile runs but didn't have a plan with regular miles like I have this time and I'll be cutting down on my alcohol consumption with this too! I did my first half in 1:38 so was thinking I could aim for 3:30 but I don't know how realistic that is. Any thoughts/advice/guidance?
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Fit young friend of mine ran a half early December in 1:37. Followed your plan almost exactly and limped home at his marathon 8 weeks later just under 5 hours. And it still hurt .
Tired at halfway
Twice as tired at 20 miles
Four times as tired at 24 miles
Wish you'd never started until you finish.
Then
🙂
Its nice to see people are optimistic or is it just being realistic! I've been roped into running the Edinburgh marathon in May and I've never run any form of long distance in my life. I'm now out at least 3 times a week either in the gym where 5k is least I'll run also incorperating some road running. I've noticed that road running is a lot harder than being in the gym and It does take some time to adjust. I've pushed the barriers recently and increased my distance from 5k to 10k and so far Its taking my about an hour and my legs are like jelly and bring on the blisters!.. for a beginner runner I'm not overly sure if this is a good time or not or if the pace is suitable to complete a marathon.
I'm from the Teddington area so If anyone is local please let me know as I'd like to have a buddy runner so its not just me who is suffering from pounding the pavement.
I'm an inexperienced runner so if anyone has any guidance or tips feel to let me know
PSC thanks. Hopefully my trainers are ok as I purchased them from the sweat shop after they do their assesment on the treadmill. I'm running in a pair of New Balance 1080 and there a size bigger than what I'd normally wear. I've read this morning about the 1000 mile socks so I'll give them a go and update how I get on...
I suspect that the other posters may have missed this. If you have a reasonable plan then 3:30 is eminently achievable. If you have a good plan, are totally committed and several weeks into your plan already you could be looking at a lot faster.
A bit more background on the training to date and plan mentioned might help to guess on sub 3.30 or grinding to a halt potential
Ben needs to clarify is he going to start a plan soon or has he been folowing one for a few weeks or a few months..........
If he is starting one soon and the marathon is n April then its not a lot of time to build up the mileage needed for the marathon....
If he has already been following a good plan and is managing the runs well and is already built his long run up then the target could be achieved with all things going well......
so really on the information already given.......the question might as well be how long is a piece of string.....
so for anyone to answer I think we need to know what your training for the last few weeks has consisted of
Hey Ben, coming to this thread late.. How is your hamstring? I'm doing this event too and it's also my first marathon. A few things:
Check out the RW race time predictor. As the webpage outlines, this supposes that you have trained for the distance. http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/rws-race-time-predictor/1681.html
If you're following the basic 16-week plan your shorter runs should be increasing in distance each week (I'm doing the RW Garmin ready sub 4:30 and my Thurs run was 8 miles...) Are you following it?
Focus on those long runs - slow and steady - and then when you get home it's rest and recovery, focusing on the next run.
Just wondered how you reached 3:30 as a target and how attached to it you are?
Also, have you tried parkrun's 5k timed runs? You'll meet lots of seasoned runners who can provide info and direction - not directions Bushey might be your closest event.
Good luck and see you in Manc!