VLM 2012 first timers???

sarnie wrote (see)

hi everyone

thanks i feel so much better knowing i'm not alone in the worry dept, aswell as the training and finding the time to train, i should have gone out this evening but my mojo is playing hide and seek at the moment but will be determined to do 5 tomorrow night, is eveyone doing running programmes from here

I am doing a programme for here but because of the pre-London races i've entered (Fleet and Dorny) I have had to jiggle the long run around, however I have found that Hal Higdon's long runs fit perfectly with my planned half marathons (when it says "half marathon" i'll actually be doing one) so i'm doing Hal's Sunday plan and a runners world one Mon-Sat as it doesn't compromise my mileage.

I have to say I followed a half marathon training programme from here for the Great South Run (even though it was only 10 miles) and it worked a treat so i'm very impressed.

Hi all,

 Got charity place for VLM 2012. My first London Marathon but I did do the marathon distance in April (Great Welsh Marathon in Llanelli). Done 2 Half Marathons over the last couple of months (Bristol / Cardiff) but would say I'm probably at a stage of being able to do 14-15 mile comfortably.

Just to give some idea to the newbies who might be worried about not having done longer distances - I just looked at what I was doing this time last year and my longest run in December 2010 was 10 miles so I was in a similar position thinking 26.2 in 4 months time seems crazy. Just try and add a mile to your LSR each time and before you know it you'll be doing half marathon distances and over pretty much weekly. I think I did eight half marathon distances or over in 10 weeks in Jan-March of this year which seems crazy to me now! My three longest training runs were 18, 19 and 21 miles.

My marathon time was 5:04:08. Hoping to get under 5 hours this time but getting round is kind of still the initial target.

hi everyone. Have been absent for a bit.

Had a good 10k threshold run before.A bit on the chilly side and blustery, but felt ok. Got in a 17.5 miler last Sunday so have upped the mileage over the last couple of Sundays.

How's everyones training going ??

hello everyone

after doing 13 miles last week and felt completly knackered, didn't have time in the week for a run so i decided to reduce my mileage and stay with a schedule from here,  have chosen sub 4.30 and started on week 2, sunday run of 7 miles easy, and really enjoyed just going for a short distance, and i managed to download the complete schedule to my garmin, so i feel chuffed that i didn't need help from sons, hope everyone is running ok

Hi Sarnie

You still have plenty of time to up the mileage for next years marathon so 7 miles is just about right for a sunday run. Is this your first ever marathon ?

Hello all, good thread Badoo! Have been lurking on this thread and would like to join the fun  (and could do with the morale boost tbh)

I'm new to this marathon lark too - won a charity place in a work ballot a couple of weeks ago then promptly got flu, so have only managed to start training this week  so am really feeling the panic right now! I figure it's better to start at square one than not to start at all... right???

Have done a few halves in a steady 2h10 so am sure it will all be fine when I get started... eeek...

Best of luck and hope you are all more organised than me...

Kx

Hi Badoo and Katy V.

Yep, BADOO. There is still plenty of time to get your mileage up. I  did 17.5 miles last Sunday week only because  I am  running the Gloucester marathon in January. But not competitvely. I am only running it to help one of my coaching colleagues to help him nail his marathon race pace. He is a good runner, but his pacing is all wrong.So when other people are saying that they are doing big mileage now, it will be because they have another marathon lined up, or they are just up to the stage where they are training regularly and there mileage is up anyway. If anyone has just started in the last month or so to train for there first marathon they should certainly not be doing anymore that 7-10 miles at the moment for their long Sunday run. So don't worry !!!  One of the big mistakes both first timers and even experienced runners make is panicking and cramming in loads of early mileage.  If you did 8 miles yesterday that is absolutely fine. If you ache a bit it may be that you upped the mileage a bit too quickly or that you may be went a little too quick. In your long runs it does not need to be at any pace. It will probably feel abnormally slow. This is fine. You only need to worry about picking up the pace a bit if you are running it competitively or going for a PB which you shouldn't be doing in your first !! ( did you say this will be your first one?). Try 7-8 miles again next week with a slow pace and see how you go. Do you get out much  during the week ??

Same for you KATY V. If you have just started now you still have plenty of time. Many marathon schedules are around 16 weeks or there abouts. You do not have to stick to any of the schedules you get in books or on the net. Use them more as templates for your training. Make sure you are completely over the flu first. Start off your Sunday runs now at about 5-6 miles and steadily add the mileage at the moment by about a mile every time you go out on a Sunday . Once you do get into the LSR's ( Long Slow Runs). That is over 10 miles. It pays to have step back weeks and cut the mileage every 2-3 weeks. But worry about that later on.

Hope I don't sound too bossy. Just want to help.

Hi KATY V

HI Kiwis ,

yeah it is my first marathon , I am running 4 times a week so 3 times in the week and long run on the weekend , running between 3-5 miles in the week . No aching today think I ran a bit faster than normal as it was slinging it down so wanted to get out the rain he he he !!!!

Sounds great, thank you for the support and pointers kiwis  makes perfect sense - ran 6 miles easy on Sunday and yes that's my plan too, to up by a mile a week. Going to the IOM over Christmas where there's a really pretty gentle 10mile track so planning on doing that as my weekend run between Xmas and NY.

Did a nice interval session last night with some colleagues - jogged 15 mins either side with some 2min/1m30s/45s splits running around lamposts in the misty London drizzle - was atmospheric to say the least... felt like Sherlock Holmes in Lycra.

Snap Badoo, 4 x runs a week, have decided one "fitness" session (intervals), 2 x steady runs and one long weekend run.

Happy Tuesday all...x

Just to clarify something Badoo and Katy V

I said you do not need to do any speedwork , hill reps, tempo runs etc. etc. for your first marathon. And that is still the case. However, !! If you already do reps on the track, or anything else and are quite used to it keep doing it. But it is certainly not a neccessity. So in your case Badoo, just keep doing what you are doing. 3 times a week of around 3-5 miles per run and your longer one over the weekend is perfect. Over the next 2-3 weeks you can up it gradually to be running about 20 miles weekly (or there abouts ). Many schedules are around 16-18 weeks. So you are ticking all the right boxes. Your weekly runs should also be at a slow steady pace. By the time you do your 20 miler 3-4 weeks before London you will be doing about 40 weeks in total for that week. It really is about building up mileage over the training period. you also only need to do the one 20 miler. No more. Also do not be afraid to walk !! That is totally allowed in marathon training, and in the marathon itself and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Hello all just found this thread and think I will join in for the fun and excitement 

So heres my story - had place for London 2011 did lots of training was going really well then on my 20 mile run 4 weeks before the big day I seriously injured my foot. Deferred my place as there was no way I could do the marathon. Went to GP eventually seen orthopedic surgeon and am currently at home with my leg in a cast after having surgery 4 weeks ago 

It turned out I had an extra bone in my foot and some other technical stuff that I wont bore you with, but apparently I had been born with it and my increase in running had aggrevated the foot.

So I have my place in 2012 and there is no way I am not doing it!! I am planning a walk run strategy as I know I could not run full 26.2 as I wont fit the training in. I will be out this cast early Jan will do some physio and hopefully first run will be mid to end of Jan.

As I write this I realise I am being extremely optimistic but am hoping that I have managed to retain some fitness and as my plan is to run/walk I think this is achieveable - fingers crossed

Keep up the training everyone and enjoy it I am jealous of you all!!!

Ahhh Andrea sorry about your injury, that all sounds rubbish  Well done you on getting back out there though and good luck for 2012 - got everything crossed for you!

And thanks again Kiwis - really helpful and encouraging. Just done lunchtime yoga and enjoyed it, itching to get out for a nice 3 miles loop tomorrow

Hi all. Bad luck Andrea. There is nothing wrong with a run/walk strategy.If you are not after any times or anything and find you can get in the long runs and all you want to do is finish, you could be ok anyway.

Did you know Katy_v that if you do yoga it can improve a marathoners time by up to 10 minutes. Good for you. It will help, although you are probably only wanting to get around anyway.

Spot the mistake, Badoo. I meant to say 40 miles in the previous  postvI submitted, not 40 weeks. 

Hi

My 18 wk training plan starts on Monday, very much looking forward to it ...... I think !  Very very glad it wasn't this week as I probably would have got blown away !!!!! 

Pip

Hi All

Badoo - sounds like you're at exactly the same place training wise as me!  I've been doing 4 runs a week for the last few weeks, slowly but surely building up to 3 x 3 miles and this weekend I'll be doing a 6 mile long run which will be the furthest I've run in a very long time!

On Monday 19th I'm starting my actual training plan too, I'm going to follow Hal Higdons novice as it looks right for me.

Signed up for Silverstone Half next March as it's fairly local, this will be my first half.

Can't believe I'm actually about to start training for a marathon!    It's been a long while coming so it's dead exciting too