First Marathon Autumn 2013

Have just signed up to my first marathon in October 2013. I did my first half just before Christmas - does anyone have a training plan they would recommend ?

Hi Suse I ran my first mara last year in Manchester and followed the beginners plan from their website. It was easy to follow and I felt well-prepared. I am using it again for the marathon of the north in April. Which mara have you entered? I am running York in Oct as my home town good luck.

Hi there - thanks for the response Lily of the Valley - I have entered Dublin as thats my hometown  !  - is it the beginners plan from this website you followed or from the website of the Manchester Marathon ??   Do you have any top tips from your own experience on the preparation ??

It was from the Manchester mara website. Let me know if you have any trouble finding it and I can put up the link. I took lots of advice from other runners I know and through the forum. If you look up events and find Dublin it will link you to any threads. I recommend a book "run your first marathon" by waits and Averbuch that has great advice. To me following the plan , taking right nutrition and being mentally prepared meant the marathon mountain was achievable! Took me over 5 hours but I ran all the way and loved it. Someone said to me you will only ever run one first marathon so enjoy every minute! Sure you will

Dublin marathon have training schedules on their website which I found very useful , if you can work out roughly what time you want to finish in ,they have pacers which are a godsend , Dublin was my first marathon and I really enjoyed it , the craic was great the whole way round,enjoy Also Hal Higdons beginners and intermediate schedules are worth a look.