Run The World With RW - 2004!
Our finest trips ever: run with us in Switzerland and at the ING New York City Marathon!
Enjoy running? Like overseas travel? Like the company of other runners? Think you might be able to tolerate the company of RW staff members on their best behaviour for a few days or more...?
Great! Runner's World has been enjoying your company on foreign training and racing trips for over 15 years - and we love it when you tell us that the feling is mutual.
This year we'd modestly suggest you should cancel all your other travel plans and come away with us - because we've created our most mouth-watering trio of events ever. Fights are already breaking out in our offices over who will go on which trip...
Here are what are undoubtedly our two finest travel packages, just for you in 2004. We run them in conjunction with Mike Gratton's 2:09 Events.
RW Swiss Trail Week and Alpine Marathon Events, Davos, July 23 - August 1
If ever there was a tour for superlatives, this is it. Magnificent scenery, fantastic trail running, superb walking, excellent races - Davos has the
lot - a truly superb holiday for runners and families alike.
The week of sociable running cumlinates in the multi-thousand-strong Swiss Alpine Marathon - a choice of 30K, 42K or 78K trail races along the beautiful Dischma Valley and - for the longer races - up to the the glacier-lined Kettshutte and Scaletta Pass at 2606m.
Find out more!
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RW New York City Marathon Experience, November 7, 3-6 nights
New York is a marathon not to be missed - it really is the most complete marathon experience: a classic course through the five New York Boroughs crossing the impressive Verazzano-Narrows Bridge at the start and the Queensboro Bridge at 15 miles, sensational views of the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building at halfway, then the incredible crowds when you enter Manhattan on First Avenue...
The RW package not only gives you a guaranteed entry (UK runners can only enter via a UK tour company or charity), a tip-top hotel and all the help you need from RW staff in marathon week itself - but you can also call on RW staff for training advice from the moment you sign up. That's something that until now, money just couldn't buy!
Find out more!
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Discuss this article
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
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