sub or about 4h30 hopefully

9 miles for me yesterday in the mist of the morning......good to see you back out there Jim. Hows the DIY going?

still going!

now aiming to run 3 times a week to get back to form! at least the summer off seems to have fixed my hip pains!

Beachy Head for me tomorrow.  It's going to be muddy and slippery underfoot but the forecast is dry and cold which suits me fine 

Lovely cross country race at RAF Cranwell yesterday; just over 60 mins for 10k but I wasn't pushing too hard and it was rather grassy/muddy/wet/slippery etc and frankly I couldn't care what the time was going to be. Did "race" much of the second half though, but only to ensure I caught the bloe infront so I wouldn't be last! Caught him with 1/2 mile to go, so happy!

Might do another xc this weekend (it'll be on the sand dunes at Cleethorpes) then it's into pretend marathon training mode!

Had a fab time at Beachy as always.  Met lots of friends old and new and finished just 2 minutes outside my time from 5 years ago 

Nice running Jim!  I played at 'road kill' for the last 2 miles and passed 11 people with only 3 getting past me.

DIY IS DONE! well, sort of! carpets in, washing machine and fridge to install, but otherwise it's now just little jobs so I should be able to run properly from next wek ;-D

Set a drunken bet target for next year: 21 mins 45 seconds for a 5k. Euch!

Stupid boy!   bet you'll do it though 

applicated for the RW 26.2 Paris trip also sent

Hi Warbs and welcome to the thread!  Well done for plucking up the courage to go for a marathon.  Your 1/2 times are very good and should see you get below 4:30 with ease, possibly nearer to 4:15.  Having said that, for your first marathon it's always better to just enjoy the experience without too much pressure on your time as no matter how long it takes it will be a pb.  

I suspect that, at your age, you have plenty of scope for improvement on your 1/2 times which often comes as a by-product of marathon training.  So my advice would be to look at a training schedule for beginners with a target time of 4:15.  This will include plenty of variety in the sessions to keep you interested but without pushing you too far out of your comfort zone.  It should also ensure that you remain injury-free and enjoy your marathon experience. IMHO.

There are lots of good schedules on the RW site and I can recommend the Hal Higdon schedules which you can find on-line.

I expect IJ will come along soon and give you some advice as he's around your age and speed (I'm the old biddy of the thread!) and mcs is a very speedy boy too.

Do you have a specific marathon in mind yet?

Cheers for the advice Redhead. I certainly hope to enjoy the first experience over killing myself for a time in the process and sometimes need to remind myself of that!

I live in the North East so the obvious one would be Sunderland as a spring event but have to say I am also tempted by Manchester as I have family over there and also Edinburgh as I have run the half up there and know how flat it is!

I am now going to have a look at the schedules you have recommended and hopefully this shall lkeep pushing me in the right direction to actually just go ahead and take the plunge.

mmmm. Cake!

mmmm. Beer!

mmmm. Marathons!

Okay, so I'm supposed to provide advice. Well, welcome Warbs and Scandi P. Do it! Don't do it! Drink the beer!

Halves in 1:45 to 1:50, yeah, should get round in under 4:30, but it really does depend on how many miles a week you can put in. The year I ran 1:46 (as a young'un) I only ran 5:06 or so in London because I didn't train and hit the wall at halfway.

If you can get 30 miles a week before starting a proper training plan, then great; as far as plans are concerned, I don't use them any more... just try and do one efforts (week 1 flat, week 2 hills), one longish tempo run (6-8 miles at half marathon pace), and one v long LSR (build from 10 to 20 and try and keep regular 15+ runs for about 6-8 weeks). If you can run more days, keep them as 3-5 mile recovery or easy runs. I'd love to do 10 weeks at 50 miles per week leading up to the race!

For anecdotal advice, one of my clubmates has just spent 6 months running between 24 and 29 miles every Sunday, aiming for 250 per month (!!!!) and has just taken 10 minutes off his PB (set last October), with a 2:59. 2 years ago e bottled every race and couldn't beat 3:30...!

Warbs2000 wrote (see)

Hope this is the right place for a bit of advice. I have been burying my head in the sand about doing a marathon and just sticking to running to keep fit and completing a few half marathons. I think it is now time to take the plunge at the age of 37 to suck in the doubts and just get on with it. My problem now is what sort of goal to aim for so that I can start to plan a training schedule. Through people's experience could they advise on what sort of goal time I should be aiming for. I have run three halfs that have all been between 1.45 and 1.49 but had little left to offer at the end. My initial thought is that I should be aiming for around 4.30 and would appreciate the thoughts of anyone who has been in a similar position.

Half pb 1:49
full pb   3:41

If you do adequate training, 4:30 (for you) should feel like a walk in the park, literally.

Morning all,

Oooh, lots of newbies, fab!  I'm just pootling along during November ahead of my full training schedule which will start next month.

Scandi, welcome.  With a 1/2 time below 2 hours you should defo beat the 4:30 mark.  I thought I might manage it this year as my 1/2 pb in April was 2:00:59 but I still didn't crack it (which was blimming annoying I can tell you!).

I've tried the really high mileage schedules (going up to 65 miles in the latter stages), P&D, Hal Higdon, running 6 days a week and also the less-is-more approach where you cross-train as much as you run (that was a complete load of wotsit!!!!).  

I think basically I'm just a fat old biddy who's designed to plod around and be happy when I get under the 5 hour mark!  But, I still feel the need to better my pb of 4:50 before I get too ancient so I'll keep on trying 

Oh and we do like cake and beer/wine/whisky on this thread so you're in good company 

Thank you all for warm welcome...am encouraged to hear that occasional lapses in discipline may not set me apart entirely...don't want to sound like a cross between Keith Richards and Hansl, but...

Redhead, re schedules, I have looked around and have more faith in the more-is-more approach...am currently doing about 4/5 times a week so am hopeful can keep up with increase in mileage. What is the consensus on target distance for LSDs in the months before?

For half marathons I am used to get close to / exceed target in training, but most schedules on this site aim for 2x20miles even for lower target times. While 20miles seems an awful long way, am concerned this will leave too much 'unchartered territory'...what do others aim for?

Scandi, with regard to base training before you start your marathon schedule, I think that 10 - 13 miles is perfectly adequate as a LSR.  That way you get a good start on your schedule and are in good shape to up your mileage.  I run 5 times a week with 2 rest days from running.  I like to do 3 x 20 milers in the final stages of marathon prep.  

Some people like to go over the 20 miles but it isn't really necessary except for giving you a mental boost.  The experts reckon that training runs over 20 miles put too much stress on your system and thus you are more prone to injury.

I've run 2 ultras of 35 and 52.4 miles and I never ran over 20 miles in training.  I did, however, run 20 miles on both Saturday and Sunday 3 times which taught my body to keep going when tired.  For that I also increased my runs to 6 days a week.

I'm a newbie, just signed up for Vienna Marathon in April. Ambitions of aiming for 4h30 (or thereabouts) although with it being my first marathon I'll be happy to finish running with a smile on my face!

I've got four half marathons under my belt, PB 1:49. I've just stocked up on my winter running gear and I'm super keen to crack on with my training plan.

Reading over people's training aims and motivations is a big help!

Hi KatyLo and welcome to the thread.  What a fab marathon to choose as you first one - I am so jealous!  I ran the Salzburg marathon last year and would love to go back to Austria to do Vienna one day.

Your 1:49 pb for a half will stand you in very good stead for a sub 4:30 marathon.  Have you chosen a schedule yet?