Thames Meander Marathon

hi people this will be my first marathon any advice you can give me? I 've all ready started training im up to 17 miles already ive only been running for 7 weeks is this to much already? I've slowly increased my distance iv'e gone from 5 to 17. would be grateful for any advice or tips. ( if you see a nutter running along the thames from Twickenham to Putney in a red jacket that's me!!!!!!!)

I'm no expert but can't help but think that you are increasing the volume way too sharply and are in danger of getting injured.

wozer 83 - the usual advice is to increase by no more than 10% per week, in order to avoid injury and give your body the opportunity to adapt and repair.

when you say you are up to 17 miles already do you mean per week or for your long run?

Most marathod schedules are around 16-18 weeks and won't have you doing 17 miles until around weeks 6-8 so I would think with this in mind you might be advised to back off a bit and start a steady build up hopefully peaking on the day!

thanks guys for getting back to me 17 miles is my big run on the weekends but during the week I do between 15-20 miles so it sounds like I must cut down a bit!!! this is all very new to me I've never done any kind of running before so im very grateful for all the help and advice.

Respect at having gone from 5 miles to 17 miles in 7 weeks, but even if you are naturally gifted that still sounds a bit quick (not to say demoralising for us tortoises at the back) Slow up a bit and enjoy!

thanks for the respect!!! thing is because I run on my own I really don't know how to pace myself like I say its all very new to me i do enjoy it but maybe i need to enjoy it a bit more

I have just added a training schedule on to my profile on Garmin Connect, which seems like a neat feature. Apparently I will be doing an easy run this Sunday - my official starting point for my marathon training. Unfortunately, the rest of the schedule is not so "easy" - perhaps I should not have selected the "advanced" training...!

Really itching for a PB friendly marathon and tempted by this one. Checking the calendar with girlfriend...

C'mon Duke - join us!

Does anyone know how many competitors run this one, is there a cut off date for entry etc. We are based overseas in Qatar at the moment but will be back in UK for a holiday in august and would love to do this one as have done most of my previous  marathon training runs in richmond park. Prob will be around the 4 hour mark time wise. 

Contact Info is on the website here:

http://www.hermesrunning.com/pages_v4/about_us.shtml

Done! All signed up for the marathon! Girlfriend is signed up for the half

Duke Toblerone wrote (see)

Done! All signed up for the marathon! Girlfriend is signed up for the half

Well done to both of you! The hard work starts now!