Running a Marathon ...

[Wrighty Wrexham]

Always found the first half an hour running the toughest! Probably stress etc but once over it I could and would plod on for hours. Found listening to my favourite music on a loop helped a lot too!

 

[salfordblue-tony2]

Cheers mate. It starts in April. I stay relatively fit playing football once a week and going gym - but I've never run long distance before properly. So a little nervous. Looking forward to getting Xmas out the way so can take it seriously with the training.

Alright mate? You've got me going now, I'm gonna enter the Manchester one. It's in April too !
You done anymore runs, just done a steady 4mile after game tonight
mad for it!

 

[Manchester_lalala]

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.

Light exercise on rest days is better than doing nothing at all. Gets your blood flow going which helps your aching muscles.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Alright mate? You've got me going now, I'm gonna enter the Manchester one. It's in April too !
You done anymore runs, just done a steady 4mile after game tonight
mad for it!

Well done mate!

So far I'm doing 4-5 mile runs a few times in the week - with some cardio workouts aswell, bike and treadmill. Today will have a light gym session. Tommorow 4 mile run ...Saturday rest day. Then Sunday going to go for 7-8 miles. Going to stick with this until Jan where I'll increase the distance - more so the weekend run. I've definitely got the bug but trying to remain grounded to avoid injury. I'm not really focusing on time at the moment. Just getting some miles in the legs. We can do this!

 

[crystal_mais]

I did London in 2015 at the rip old age of 42 - never done anything like that before. Not even ran more than 10K before that

Plan accordingly - slowly build your mileage up and listen to your legs
Get the right running shoes - go get yourself analysed in somewhere like Sweatshop
3/4 months training -

I still run but the most I've done this year is 13 miles.

 

[crizack]

1. Getting the right running shoes is the main thing. Dont even think of doing anything else before you start training. You don't want to mess your legs up as you wont make the 100m mark.
2. Your diet is crucial whilst you train and the days before a race. http://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition/the-right-way-to-carbo-load-before-a-race
3. Always warm up and down.
4. Make sure you rest a week before hand.
5. Get lots of sleep the night before.
6. If its a Saturday, book Monday off work. If it's a Sunday, book Monday Tuesday off.

I think from now until April is a huuuuge ask as your muscles need to build gradually to be able to last running that long which can take many moths (hence why people book it a year in advance). However, with the right shoes, diet and training program, (Depending on how fit you are now) it should be possible.

The Up and Running shop on Deansgate have free leaflets such as 'from 0 to 5k', '5 to 10k' 10k to half marathon' and '1/2 marathon to marathon'. Each have diary in which will be of great help.

Remember. It's not a race.

 

[salfordblue-tony2]

Well done mate!

So far I'm doing 4-5 mile runs a few times in the week - with some cardio workouts aswell, bike and treadmill. Today will have a light gym session. Tommorow 4 mile run ...Saturday rest day. Then Sunday going to go for 7-8 miles. Going to stick with this until Jan where I'll increase the distance - more so the weekend run. I've definitely got the bug but trying to remain grounded to avoid injury. I'm not really focusing on time at the moment. Just getting some miles in the legs. We can do this!

YES WE WILL MATE ! YES WE WILL.
I think 7/8 long run might be bit much if you normally run 4/5 , they say only increase by 10%. Don't overdo it , thats what always used to happen to me. Used to try and run further or faster every run and then ended with bad knees usually with in the month.

 

[BlueHammer85]

YES WE WILL MATE ! YES WE WILL.
I think 7/8 long run might be bit much if you normally run 4/5 , they say only increase by 10%. Don't overdo it , thats what always used to happen to me. Used to try and run further or faster every run and then ended with bad knees usually with in the month.

Thanks Crizack. Much appreciated.

- I'm doing 4-5 mile midweek most nights at present pretty comfortably to be honest. Just did 4 miles on treadmill. Going to have rest day tommorow or very light gym session on the bike and then do 7-8 mile Sunday morning, take it very slowly and easy.

 

[Emms]

I did London this year having never done any race before. I'd been running for about a year before doing around 20 miles a week then used Hal Highdon novice 2 from Jan to build the miles up. I used a TomTom runner cardio watch to log miles on TomTom mysports and Strava and found these useful sites to keep motivated and reach targets. Parkrun too was useful and running to the start line and home after can make the short 5k a part of training. In general I'd say try to run loads of different routes and include hills: they pay back double come race day on a flat course! Another good tip I was given was have a 3 point target for your race: 1) first target should be to finish whatever the time 2) finish in a realistic time which only you can set yourself on experience 3) finish in your optimum time if all goes well and you have a perfect race. This way you should achieve at least one but hopefully all of your aims. Main thing is enjoy running for its own sake and anything else is a bonus. Nothing else is as pure, natural and simple to do and the benefits can be mental as well as physical. Good luck!

 

[salfordblue-tony2]

Thanks Crizack. Much appreciated.

- I'm doing 4-5 mile midweek most nights at present pretty comfortably to be honest. Just did 4 miles on treadmill. Going to have rest day tommorow or very light gym session on the bike and then do 7-8 mile Sunday morning, take it very slowly and easy.

Alright mate how did ur long run go ?

I did a dead slow 7 miles on saturday morning. But the did a spinning class on sunday and today my thighs are really sore.
Good win yesterday.