Agnes
Well done on deciding to enter. That's the easy bit!
Serious advice: we can all throw in random nuggets of wisdom, most of which I'm sure will be useful, but you do need a solid foundation to start from. It's pretty essential to follow a training schedule, particularly for your first one. There are quite a few of these about, some on this website if you hunt them down (click on the training tab at the top of the page). A lot of us have used the hal higdon training plans (www.halhigdon.com) successfully, and I'd recommend you taking a look and/or buying one of his marathon training books. It's a personal thing, but I prefer the hal higdon novice plan to most others I've seen because he keeps it simple. The increasing runs are based on mileage alone rather than too much faffing about with intervals, weight training, hills, fartlek, speed training etc. All of things are useful, particularly for a serious runer, but for a newbie, they can be confusing and off-putting, and frankly I wouldn't biother with them at first.
Following a plan ensures that your training progresses. Typically, you start with fairly low mileage and gradually build up to a peak about 3 weeks before the race. There are good reasons for doing things steadily, and you need a training plan to guide you.
The HH plans are all 18 weeks long. For the Dublin marathon, ususally the end of October, you'll be starting 'serious training' round mid-June, so you're timing is just right. As long as you can run 3 miles (and you can if you've done a 5K race) then you're ready to go. Before the 18 weeks starts, you need to be just keeping your fitness levels up, running steadily.
My own story is typical of a lot of runners - ran a marathon only about 6 months after starting to run. It's actually not that sensible(!) but it IS POSSIBLE, and many thousands of us have done it. It's tough, and often frustrating and depressing when things go wrong, BUT building up the miles, and running new longer distances each week, is absolutely exhilarating, and incredibly exciting. And the sense of achievement at the end is just one of the best feelings ever. It really is an investment. It virtually ruins your life for 4 months, but after it's over you feel incredibly enriched by the experience. You'll feel more self-confident, more motivated, and will probably have much higher self-esteem.
I'd really recommend it. I'm just an overweight, ageing plodder, never destined to be in the first 75% of finishers, but even I can enjoy these things, so I'm sure you can.
I'm also hoping to do Dublin, so I'll follow your progress. Come on Agnes, you can do it!
Andy
Posted: 20/05/2004 at 09:00
