Running a Marathon ...

[remember arthur mann]

Not sure if having a mid-life crisis but I've signed up to do a Marathon - anyone done one on here ? Any tips and advice would be welcome.

 

[1961_vintage]

Decent running shoes matched with your running style. Most sports shops offer this service.

 

[Bluemoon dan]

My mate did the London one, stopped for a shit at the 20 mile mark, took him another 2 hours after to finish. Top tip, never stop. His muscles seized up.

There's plenty of good advice on this thread already but this is the one that through personal experience sticks with me. I did London in 2012 and had been struggling with a knee injury a bit beforehand but I was running well on the day and feeling pretty good. Apart from I desperately needed a piss from about 6 miles onwards. Eventually had to stop at about 15 mile distance and that was it. I couldn't get going again, my knee seized up and I hobbled home many hours later!

 

[langy[wales]]

Not sure if having a mid-life crisis but I've signed up to do a Marathon - anyone done one on here ? Any tips and advice would be welcome.

Hi pal iv got a work mate who runs marathons for fun he was 20 stone 10 years ago he now does London sub 3 hour's type Chris fulcher marathon in Google read his story

 

[117 M34]

Best advice I can give: Put the training miles in, and expect it to hurt. 26 miles is a long way. I was running up to 50 miles a week before I did mine in 2014.

Time on your feet is more important than miles when you start out. Once you get going, you will find that you put in more distance over the same amount of time; so maybe when you start, you will cover 5k over half an hour, but over time that 5k will become 6 and so on.

Good luck!

Good advice.
Also, if you aren't bothered about time, don't bother with speed sessions.
Miles in your legs beats speed sessions for getting quicker up til you are doing around 35 miles a week

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

It's the only thing I have ever done that dramatically improved my fitness.

My tip is to keep things simple, start by running 3 times a week and track your total mileage. Lots of shortish runs to start and slowly build. You should be aiming to be hitting over 40 miles a week at the end with long runs over 20 miles! Strava on your phone is great but don't get obsessed with stats, just build a base and slowly push the distance over time, speed comes naturally if you want it, running in your comfort zone is more important.

 

[BlueTG]

Jesus, I'd love to be able to do one but I detest long distance running. Playing sports for endurance and stamina like football I'm ok with. I've said to myself I'm going to run a minimum of a mile a day (I'm active anyway) next year to build a better stamina and fitness and build up. Signed up for a few 10ks around April time also.

 

[mrbelfry]

Did Manchester earlier this year and just started training last week for Manchester next year (just got in off a 10 mile run). I'm gonna echo much of the advice here about going slow and getting time on your feet. Biggest thing will be consistency and a training plan might help. Take a look at something like this http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51137/Marathon-Novice-1-Training-Program which builds up your mileage over the weeks. You need a decent pair of shoes but you don't need to spend hundreds - go to a running shop and have a fitting but whatever shoe they try and sell you make sure it's comfy. A proper running shop might try and oversell you so try decathlon or somewhere.

Don't be a hero. Try and do it too fast and you'll hurt yourself. Plenty of people do a 5 minute run 1 minute walk routine and run great marathons. Brighton is meant to be a decent marathon though so good luck

 

[cibaman]

It's a good idea to mix it up if you can, as treadmills are better for the knees.

I'll just echo what everyone else has said: 3-4 runs per week including one longer, slower one which should increase in distance by 5-10% per week. Allow rest days so your body can recover, otherwise the effort will he wasted.

You could also get used to whatever energy drinks and gels are provided in the race (usually Lucozade Sport in my experience).

I binned the rest days the nearer it got to the marathon. I found that very gentle 3-4 mile jogs either side of my weekly long run made me feel fresher and less prone to niggles. I tended to stiffen up if I didnt run the day after my long run. I even jogged a couple of miles the day before the marathon and felt better for it.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Did Manchester earlier this year and just started training last week for Manchester next year (just got in off a 10 mile run). I'm gonna echo much of the advice here about going slow and getting time on your feet. Biggest thing will be consistency and a training plan might help. Take a look at something like this http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51137/Marathon-Novice-1-Training-Program which builds up your mileage over the weeks. You need a decent pair of shoes but you don't need to spend hundreds - go to a running shop and have a fitting but whatever shoe they try and sell you make sure it's comfy. A proper running shop might try and oversell you so try decathlon or somewhere.

Don't be a hero. Try and do it too fast and you'll hurt yourself. Plenty of people do a 5 minute run 1 minute walk routine and run great marathons. Brighton is meant to be a decent marathon though so good luck

That's a great programme on that link which I may go with. Thankyou.