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Trail to Road runner transition query
Hello world! Newbie question, so my apologies if this gets asked all the time. I'm a trail runner, and my missus had too much wine last night and signed me up for a flat road marathon in about 12 weeks. Looking online at training programs for road marathons, can I jump-start the first couple of weeks and assume I might have a reasonable aerobic base? Do any of you wise folk know of any good drills and training sessions which might be good to get my feet/technique up to speed for a road race? Trail running is slower cadence and we have picnics and stuff along the way. I'm worried.
I'm totally aware 12 weeks isn't long to prep for a marathon!!
I'm totally aware 12 weeks isn't long to prep for a marathon!!
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I really don't think there is that much difference between trail and road running so you should be fine.
Have you done long offroad events? If you have you will certainly have enough endurance for a road marathon. You'll find the going easier but much faster, so you'll need to practise doing long runs at an even pace at about target marathon pace +45 seconds per mile. Yes, there'll be mile markers, marshals, water stations every three miles (??!), perhaps some energy drinks available, no mandatory kit to carry - in short very little to worry about.
Good luck with it.
I have some road shoes, fresh out of the box. Salomon Sonic Pro. Always found the Speedcross very comfortable for trails, but think the heel cup might be a bit high on the Sonics. Will persist for a few more runs and see what happens.
Thanks again!
Usual advice though, don't forget to do some long slow runs (LSRs), in training, make sure they're slower than your intended marathon pace by at least 1mpm and taper from about at least a fortnight.
And don't get carried away on the day thinking this road running lark is easy, going off too fast can really bite you at around the 20 mark!
But, if its your first I'd go for the 3.30, which is about 8mpm, and should seem easy for you.
Good Luck
I did a 47km mountain marathon on 29.07.17 (Swissalpine) and am currently training for the Frankfurt marathon on 29.10. I am aiming for a time between 3:30 and 3:45. It is my second road marathon (did Zurich in 2016 in 3:34).
I found the transition from long steady plods up and down hills on trails to fast road work quite tough in the first 3-4 weeks as it felt like I had lost most of my speed. For me, road running is a case of turning on the motor, selecting an appropriate gear and getting from A to B. It can get a bit boring over a long distance. Trail running on the other hand means continuous gear changes and concentration not to fall on your face.
With 6 and a half weeks to go to my road marathon I've got used to pounding the tarmac again. My endurance is good from the long trails but I need to build on the longer fast sessions. I'm using a plan off of MyAsics - pretty low mileage with a mixture of long not so slow runs and shorter sessions at race pace and higher. My last long run was 24 km and contained 9km at HM pace, the rest at marathon pace + 10 seconds / km. The two longest runs are 30 and 35km to be done at marathon pace + 10 seconds / km. Will probably take those slower however.
I use road shoes (e.g. Mizuno Sayonara) and trail shoes (e.g. La Sportiva Bushido) depending on the terrain. I might use a road shoe on a trail but rarely the other way around.
Being nosy - where do you live in the Alps? I'm based in Switzerland - not far from Berne. I'm from the UK originally.
Good luck with your training.
I was expecting something similar about the... not exactly boredom but... repetition involved in road running. I'll have a look at the MyAsics site and see what's what. Thanks for the tip. I suspect I'm similar to you in that the endurance shouldn't be as much of a problem as the speed. I'm hazarding a guess at 4.45min/km which is a bit slower than my flat trail half marathon time, but it's all guesswork for now! I think I'm going to have to start driving down to Evian to train. It's about the only road around here that isn't a 10% incline!
What brought you out to Berne? Lovely part of the world.
Very best of luck with Frankfurt!!
Hope you had a great race on Saturday if it took place. 57km sounds tough.
I can certainly recommend Davos.
I wandered my way through Southern Germany for several years (Munich, Stuttgart) then OH moved jobs to Berne and I followed. I would agree on the nice part of the world - better than Northampton (where I originate from) and Stuttgart and Munich. I am lucky that I can see the mountains from here (Bernese Alps - Eiger, Moench, Jungfrau etc.) but have some good flat stretches for training and some good hills as well if I want those. (Jura is closer than Alps for me).