Marathon this Fall

[scissorbill]

I'm up to 15 miles on my long run. I'll do 16, 16, 18 and then 20, then down to 16, 17 then another 20 before I taper. I'm all ears if you've ever run a marathon and have any advice for me!

[Kim1013]

Wow, that's amazing that you can run that far. I'm obviously not a runner but I have been wanting to take up running. How do you work yourself up to running that far? When you first started out (if you can remember), did you start by running as far as you could, do run/walk intervals, start with a mile and slowly work your way up? I ran a little bit on Sunday (probably could have ran farther but my dog kept tripping me ;) but the next two days my shins were killing me. How do you deal with that?

[scissorbill]

I used Couch to 5K:
Cool Running | The Couch-to-5K ® Running Plan

Shin pain generally means you tried to do too much too soon, take extra time off go slow, back off to doing what you are comfortable with. Ice helps them too. It's totally fine to repeat a week if you need to.

Your debt payoff is amazing, if you can do that you can do anything!

[scissorbill]

Get Rid of Shin Pain With Help from Runner's World.com

Here's a runner's world article on shin pain.

[Kim1013]

Thanks for the articles! I know I could definitely do this. I think I'll start tonight since it's finally nice outside (in the 80s instead of 100+). I've been doing kickboxing and Wii boxing but I want to do something outside when the weather is nice, plus running is free...can't beat that. Thanks again.

[434Teresa]

I wish I could run...all my best to you and all the others that will run with you. My 17 year old is a runner and he really enjoys it.

[abond0017]

I haven't ran one yet, but I have read some good training books.

I don't know how often you are doing these longer runs, but are you doing shorter runs too? It kind of looks like you are running A LOT if these are multiple time per week runs. Also, when is the marathon, and is this your first one? The below info from the book I favored most is for training in the few months before the run, and is mainly geared for first time runners not running for time (and that already have a base of 20 miles/week). So I guess if that isn't you then just ignore it

The book suggested to not have all longer runs...and only about 30-40 miles total (with varying amounts each week) per week in the few months or before you taper. It suggests that you should still be getting in mostly shorter runs (4-6 milers, 3-4Xs a week) and one weekly long run to decrease your chance of injury, and allow for better recovery from the long runs.

Apparently a good schedule is about 4-5 long runs (18-20 milers) alternated with 4-5 half-marathon runs (12-15 milers) every other week ...everything else in between should be considerably less. The book says any more long runs than that gives you a higher chance of injury without any additional benefit to your ability to run the race, and you also risk running yourself out before your marathon.

I guess you aren't really supposed to do a weekly literal gradual progression like 15 miles, then 16, then 17 and so on until you build up to 20. You just sort of push yourself to do one long run every other week before your taper.

Long run example: wk1 - 12 mi, wk2 - 18mi, wk3 - 14 mi, wk4 - 18 mi, wk5 - 12mi, wk6 - 20mi, wk7 - 13mi, wk8 - 20mi, wk9 - 15 mi...then wk10 & 11 taper.

Like I said I haven't used this advice...in fact I'm just now preparing for a 5 miler ...but the book seems to be very highly regarded among runners from the reviews I have seen. And it makes sense not to waste your body and risk injury on so many gradual build up runs (15, 16, 17, etc) when if you can run 12-13 miles straight, jumping to 18 every other weekend shouldn't be that big of a challenge (well maybe the first time).

The book is called "The Competitive Runner's Handbook".

Also, I'm not sure the speed you are training at, but have you looked into info on training with slower paced long runs to help your body learn to use fat/carbs better...and info on carb loading before the race? These things can help you with hitting the wall during the race.

HTH! And good luck!

[scissorbill]

I'll have to check out that book, thanks.

I finished my big 20 miler which was awesome. I now know that I can do it. My week looks like this:

Mon: off
Tues: 5-8 miles
Wed: 3-4 miles
Thurs: 5-8 miles
Fri: off
Sat: long run 9-20 miles
Sun: recovery run 3-4 miles

This is over 16 weeks, there is a progression of the long runs but it doesn't make much sense to me: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 10, 18, 20, 12, 18, 20, 12, 8, race. I do what my coaches tell me to do since it's my first time.

Carb loading sounds like a lot of fun, haha!

[abond0017]

I'll have to check out that book, thanks.

I finished my big 20 miler which was awesome. I now know that I can do it. My week looks like this:

Mon: off
Tues: 5-8 miles
Wed: 3-4 miles
Thurs: 5-8 miles
Fri: off
Sat: long run 9-20 miles
Sun: recovery run 3-4 miles

This is over 16 weeks, there is a progression of the long runs but it doesn't make much sense to me: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 10, 18, 20, 12, 18, 20, 12, 8, race. I do what my coaches tell me to do since it's my first time.

Carb loading sounds like a lot of fun, haha!

It's good you have a coach and I'm sure they know what they are doing. Even though, I will say that I agree that literal of a progression does seem a little redundant. You can check out that book and you'll probably know after the marathon if you think you should change your training for the next one. Just be sure that if you feel too worn or out of sorts with your last 4 or 5 long runs before your 2 week taper, since most are pretty long, that you sub a shorter one somewhere in there if you need to. Don't risk injury just to do runs someone else thinks are best...listen to your body.

Great job completing the 20 miler....good luck on the marathon!

[scissorbill]

I finished! 5:15:06 I never said I was fast, lol. I ran the first half at 12:01 pace and finished with an overall pace of 12:02. Thanks for following my journey!