I started running about 5 months ago and am hoping to take part in the 2003 London Marathon. In last month's Runner's World there was an article about running doing 4 sessions a week. I have started doing this, it breaks down into a long (80 mins so far) run on a Sunday, easy (30 min) run on Tuesday, Tempo on Wednesday and Speed Session on a Friday. I also swim on a Saturday morning and get a sports massage once a week. Will this schedule be enough to get me through the Marathon? I would aim to build up the long run to 2.5 to 3 hours plus in time - any advice gratefully received!
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OK, a 4 day week will never see you get to your ultimate potential, but this is your first marathon. Anyway, my experience of following marathon training schedules, usually including only 1 rest day a week, is that often they leave far too little time to recover from the exertions, and I risk ending up exhausted, de-motivated, or ill or injured. The body needs time to recover and build strength. This is the major threat to novice marathon runners, so many are forced to drop out because they over do the training, build up mileage too quickly, or don't build in enough rest days. The intense training schedules are aimed at experienced runners who are more likely to have the sense to back off when they are over-doing it.
I have in the past usually tried to trim the suggested schedules down to the core days, as advocated in last month's RW, and so run only 4 or 5 days rather than 6 per week. I have found this works much better - it has delivered times which while nothing special have left me very pleased, as I consider them to be a fair reflection of my (limited) abilities.
Maybe I am a wimp who needs more rest than most. But, the 4-session schedule sounds sensible as despite neing a novice you clearly are starting from a reasonable base of running fitness (the mix of tempo and speed sessions would be a strain for someone without an established base). The usual rules everyone says apply - build up the long runs and overall mileage very gradually, have an occasional easy week, mix in some variety (different surfaces, hill work, different routes and times etc) and make sure you get some race experience - there are several good half marathons towards end of Jan/start of Feb?
Best of luck.
His longest run is 22 miles done 4 weeks before the marathon.
Four days a week is what I always AIM for when training for marathons. One long run, one short and a couple of 50-70 minuters.
Doing this I've run 3:05 and 3:10.
Indeed the only period I have run more than 4 days in a week I ended up on the physios couch. Rest is as important in training as learning to keep going when tired.
We've all got are own tolerances and I have learned that running for 2 consecutive days regularly inevitably leads to injury.
You are on the right path.
Although - I may have changed my mind, reading this! The main thing that has put me off the idea of a marathon so far is the 6-days-a-week training schedule so may advocate as being essential for such an undertaking. I would find it very difficult to run virtually every day, taking into account other commitments and the need to fit in a life as well!
I'm interested to know that people have run some very good times on a 4-day a week training schedule. I may even consider a marathon now, once I have a few shorter-distance races under my belt.
Lesson take note of the advise on overtraining. also of structured training. 4 nights is fine but learn also from my mistakes. This year if I'm in I'm after 3.30 which I know I can achieve by 4 days and learning from last years mistakes (due to lack of knowledge)
I haven't seen a 4-day week schedule. I wondered if there would be support for a 4-day week forum discussion through the FLM training period, discussing the best way to modify the RW schedules (or others) to this approach.
It should be possible to modify the existing schedules - take out the 'junk' days, but recognising that the harder days must be made to really count. For example, the mileage on the longer runs would probably need to be built up earlier.
I see people here have completed marathons with only 4 sessions a week but surely they must be the exception. I'm doing my first next year and I wouldnt dream of trying without running 5-6 days per week, as per the intermediate marathon schedule in rW for instance.
http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/Mar00novice.htm
Sunday am - Long Run (at least 12)
Monday pm - Hills
Wednesday pm - Track
Friday - Tempo or Easy (this is the ".5" as I missed it quite often)
Monthly - Sports Massage
I'm going to try and work out my schedule in a spreadsheet at some point & will post it when I do.
Why wouldnt you dream of doing less than 5 times a week for your marathon training...is it becasue you really want your first marathon to be on a specific target time rather than just getting round? Not a criticism at all just interested in your thinking?
so I want to do it as many times a week as my body (and my family, oh and my work, shucks!) will allow me.
what are the rest of you doing it for?
Exactly. I would run more often if I could, as running is relaxing (!) and the full proper schedules would allow me to improve my performance. These would be the ideal.
But (1) excessive fatigue when following a marathon schedule, (2) fear of injury, and (3) lack of time due to domestic commitments (a young baby) mean a 4-day week is a very attractive second best. And to get back to the original question, adequate to do a decent marathon performance.
I really want to get around in sub 4-30 which is why I'm following the RW intermediate schedule. I've done a couple of sub 2 hour halves but my thinking (rightly or wrongly) is that I probably need to peak at about 60 miles per week and I cant imagine doing that on less than 5 runs a week.
I agree with Johnny J, for many people, 4 training days a week for a marathon is plenty.
For this year's FLM I trained 15 weeks, 5 times a week, with a longest run of 22 miles. Ultimately, I picked up an injury in the last few weeks, had a bad and painful race. I couldn't run again until over 10 weeks after the event and spent quite a bit of cash on physios.
I ran this year's New York on the back of 14 weeks of training, running 4 days a week. My average weekly total was 30 miles, maximum weekly total 42 (at 5 weeks out). The longest runs were 2x18 miles and 2x20 miles with shorter weeks in between.
My week consisted of a speed/fartlek session, a hill/tempo session, a mid-long run at moderate pace (often broken up with walking) and a long run on Sundays. I also did a weekly yoga class until the last 5 weeks, when that became a rest day. I never ran more than 2 days in succession and never did hard days back-to-back.
What about the times? London: 4.16.50. New York: 4.11.59. And after just a week of I've already started light running again. To improve I know that eventually I'll have to add a few more miles, but I've learned through painful experience that the key is to do it very carefully and gradually.
Good luck from me too.
If you have already run a couple of halfs in under 2 hours you should be well on your way to sub four by April. If you are a new runner (I started in Jan 2001 but once a week until August when I increased to 2 and then in January with 4 runs. Check out my schedule on www.smithfamily.me.uk and you will see the amount of time lost in injuries by trting to build up to many miles too fast. I have read that the maximum peak milage is 1.5 time race distance for a beginner. A serious club runner will be doing 50 miles for a marathon but 36-40 for a beginer is fine and will certainly get you through in under 4.
I did a 20 mile race at the beginning of March in Thanet which was excelant practive from the psychological side. I remember thinking at 15 miles that I had been going for just over 2 hours and had at least another hour to complete the course, then realising that I had 2 hours to go for the marathon in five weeks time.
The distance is also very hard to come to terms with first time. Everyone kept telling me it was a long way and it wasn't until I was at Tower Bridge one lunch time looking toward Docklands thinking that looks a long way away before I realsised that I was at the half way point, and looking in the opposite direction towards the London Eye which seemed even further and is about 2 miles from the finish that I realised what a fantastic achievement completing the course would be in whatever time it took.
Lesson - DO NOT OVER DO IT in your training, Like Tea & Toast I spent a lot of time with a physio ( I can recomend a very reasonable one if you are in South LondonNorth Kent who speacialise in Marathon runners) and you wont want to injure yourselve and have to pull out at the last minute