VLM 2012 first timers???

Hi Bigeater.

Thanks a million for your reply on this thread.

I am literally heading out the door to hit the hills !! as part of my training.

A  bit later I'll be back on the thread. Which marathon are you aiming for. Is it London?

There is plenty there to get our teeth into and absolutely no cause for concern at all !!

I mean that.

Speak soon

Hi again bigeater.

Back from the hill session. Just beat the downpour !!

Going back to what you were saying. Are you in training for any particular marathon ? I assume it is London. If that is the case you have no need to worry at all. You have plenty of time.

You seem to have a good training base behind you anyway. I am just going by what you said. Probably telling you something you already know. But if you were under the weather you would feel a little rough anyway. I wouldn't mind betting you were already succumbing to something when you went for your run. You would lose no fitness over just 5 days and have plenty of time to hit the road again. Don't attepmt it until you are totally fit.  You will also find that if you do lose a little fitness, you will soon get it back. It is not as if you have had  two or three weeks off. Even then I still wouldn't be too concerned. You have nothing to worry about at all. Run again when ready.   

Good for you. To put it into perspective, some  london marathoners probably don't start any real traning until the new year. But you are already underway and that is great. Do you mind me asking you if you have already been training quite a bit, or are you a club runner who runs regularly anyway ? or have you really started from scratch.

In many ways being a first timer you are quite lucky. unless you do this already anyway, you don't need to hit the track, or worry about tempo runs, speed work or anything intensive. It is just a case of hitting the road and progressively increasing your mileage. Pip and the others on this thread have heard this already last year, but it is true. Unless you are a competitive club runner who races regularly to a fairly good standard you  only need to worry about getting round. It is as simple as that !!

That is a great attitude Bigeater. Just aim to increase mileage by about 10% per week and aim to do your only 20 miler a month out from the actual marathon. Kafeeg is totally correct have a step back week once every 2-4 weeks .

Hi Kaffeeg. Just as I thought. I had guessed one of your fears. That is the latter. The 2 main fears with many runners ( you really are not alone here by any stretch of the imagine) are fear of failure , and as you said fear of the overwhelming fatigue that sometimes comes with running.

Firstly. You said that you may lack the motivation that goes with the training. However, you have already ticked one positivity box ! Your last post said I really need to start training again. That is great. I know , it is motivation and what have you. But, ask yourself this Do you desperately want to improve , or are you happy to just get round again. If the latter, that is absolutely fine. You will still be completing your second ever marathon, one more than many other people have ever done. That is a fantastic notch to put in your belt. Tell yourself this. You only need to do one long run at the moment once every1-2 weeks or so and this shouldn't be that long. Can I also ask you why at this stage you feel you have to do 14 miles !!! I went out today for 8.5 and that was enough. I will probably do 10 next time, but don't have to. maybe you should think like this too. I should imagine you are putting too much pressure on yourself too early !! Unfortunately I am not a psychologist and can not get into peoples brains, but I can speak rationally and tell you exactly what works for me. We are all human after all even if we all run to different standards. We are all made of the same stuff.

Could you do me a favour ? Tell me what your typical training week is at the moment . We can have a look at it and perhaps you will find your weekly mileage is far higher than it perhaps needs to be !! at this stage  your longest run should only be 6-8 miles !! That's it !! During the week you can get away with a 2-3 runs of only 3-5 miles. Your weekly mileage should only be up to about 20-25 miles. No more. Not 14 in one go. That is over half your weekly mileage in just one run. !! Go easy on yourself. Go out and run very relaxed and steady. If you have motivation problems, can you join a club or find someone else to run with. They do not have to be doing the marathon at all, however if they were, even better. But it is company and it will force you to go out. Very important for you to not look too far ahead. One week at a time, or even one run at a time.  I am the same. It took me a while to get out the door today. But the thought really is worse than the action. Once you have finished there is a real  sense of achievement. Once I am out on the road I am fine.

You also said the last time it was a lifetimes ambition. Take some pressure off yourself by saying , I have done it once, so now there is nothing to prove to anyone. You may think this will take away some of the determination and go to get round. Why ?? It is still a marathon and your second. This is something to be doubly proud of, however as you have done it once,the pressure is actually off.  To me the real fear for first timers is the fear of failure, not getting round fear of the unknown, the list goes on and on. You do not need to worry. You have conquered it once . I hope this makes sense. You are cut out for it again. I don't think you would be having a go if you were not. I know, sometimes you just need some encouragement to keep going. We'll give you that. Do you really feel you have to do it faster !! Again you are putting pressure on yourself. You will probably find that you will anyway. Worry about that later on once your confidence has grown and you actually have miles under your belt. Again, don't look to

Sorry Kaffeeg. I  had written a lot more but got cut off somehow.. I was just going to say don't look too far ahead.

As for the overwhlming feelings of fatigue, take it much easier on your runs. You should be running at a steady conversational pace. It should not be hurting. Your runs ahould be at a minimum at the moment, so you should not be running outside your comfort zone. Don't worry about the marathon at the moment. That is a long way off yet. Just worry about what you are doing at the moment. We will discuss later nearer the time about how to try and tackle fears of the long slog and the discomfort etc. You are putting unecessary pressure on yourself at the moment and don't need to. The marathon does not have to be as scary and painful as you think it is going to be, or as it was last time. let's just get through one week at a time. We can all talk on this thread as we are all doing the same thing and we can certainly help each other. But at the moment put the marathon at the back of your mind and just think about what you are doing next week and no further. This should take some of the these fears away from you. Easy steady jogging and not outside the comfort zone. We can look at your weekly training as you progress if that will help.

I hope this helps. Or is a start anyway.  Keep me posted !!

Cheers Kaffeeg. Speak soon..

Hi Kaffeeg and Black and Tabby.

Have only just got back on here.

Firstly Black ad Tabby. Absolutely Right. Don't look too far ahead at the mo. One of the things I hear when I am taking both new runners and even those who are more used to hitting the road who after slogging round a 4 or 5 mile run say how on earth will I ever do a 20 mile run let alone 26.2. The answer is you will,the other thing is no one at the beginning would ever hope to go out and do a successful marathon after a handful of runs. Not trying to sound condescending here at all, but as you become  more experienced you just know that there is a progressional training regimen and you do get there. We go into our schedule just knowing that bar  any total disasters out if our control we will get there. It is just the way it goes. Progressional training is  tried and tested and has worked for over  100 years !! . It can not go backwards. It just doesn't happen ( unlesss you are ill or injured etc.) Once you get this into your head and accept it you can forget about that and.just concentrate on the task in hand. In the back of your mind you will never forget you are marathon training. It is just back somewhere logged out of the way and the thoughts of what you are doing at the moment to get there is at the forefront of your mind. I like your atttiiude, but don't be afraid to walk . I have in more than one marathon, it is allowed and even elites have done it. I stopped completely to shake off some cramp etc and still did 2.48 this year at London.Not what I wanted as my PB is much quicker, but !!! I was always going to finish.If you feel you want to walk, then walk !! Don't listen to anyone who says you have to run all the way . Total BS !! you still cover the distance and in marathons that is allowed.  I then walked on a bit stopped again and then picked t up , I stopped  because I had to, rather than  because I wanted to. Wrong way round. Again if your primary aim is still to finish , which it should be this is a very good way of minimsing any  risks of picking a DNF , which are hugely at the minimum anyway.

    You have your head in the right place now I think B and T. One week at a time. Just what I was trying to pass on to Kaffeeg. I know you wanted a quick answer but I can not make this any shorter to get over what I need to  you.

Hi Kaffeeg. You are practically ticking all the right boxes, that is encouraging. If you are finding your much shorter runs still taxing and at an uncomfortably hard pace , just ease off a bit and run slower. I totally understand your reasons for wanting a good traing and aerobic base to take into your training. For many first timers it is a good idea to have a good years running under you. You have, already, run and trained for a marathon !! Your mileage in your shorter runs is spot on at the moment. 

I think if you have been churning  out long runs at the moment of up to 14 miles you are putting pressure on yourself. You have plenty of time to get up to these sort of distances however now you most certainly will have a solid aerobic base so it has served a purpose, but you did not really need to do this as you progressional training will cover this for you anyway. There is a risk of injury and overtraining syndrome if you do too much, but by having rest days which you do you will combat this. . You are building your long runs every 2 weeks. Everything you are doing here is perfect and spot on, just ease off the very long stuff at the moment. Build up to half marathon distance over the next month. We will worry about your really long stuff later on. Your choice to decide whether you want to do two 20 milers or just the  one. Either is fine. Depends on whether you do want to improve your time. If that is what

Sorry sme thing has happened. I think my posts are too long. Apologies for that.

Just to say 2 twenty milers is fine. Your choice. If you do want to improve your time that will be a good move. But don't put pressure on yourself. This is personal. You don't have to.

Look at getting up to half marathon distance over the next month and we can move on from there .

Like wise as Mic'n'Phil said. Easy !!

Hi again Bigeater.

The step back  week is in your long runs at this stage. EG you could go, over 3 weeks, from 8 miles to 10 miles to 12 miles back down to 8. Then 13-14- 16 down to 9 or 10. Just an example, but this will give you and idea. You do not have to do exactly this, it is flexible, but as long as you  adhere to this type of formula and have that reduction in mileage you are doing the right thing.  This will obviously decrease your overall weekly volume of running at the same time as it is still mileage off your total weekly amount for that particular week.remember you get stronger and fitter when you rest and recuperate. After a workout you get fitter about 24 hours to 3 days later. In racing terms a really tough workout comes into its own about 10 days to 2 weeks after, but you don't need to worry about that. later on when you do very long runs it may pay to have a step back week every two weeks. But we will worry about that later. Not yet.

Kaffeeg, when you have decided what you want to do for London, that is just to get around again, or maybe have a go at improving your time please let me know. But DON'T put pressure on yourself. Either way we can help you and please believe me when I say there is no need to worry about this. Either is quite doable and with the least amount of pain and effort. I am not going to lie to you. It is not always a doddle as you know. That is the nature of the beast. But it  certainly does not have to be the awful slog which I think you expect. Forget your last experience ( I know, easier said than done) as we will try and make this as easy as we can for you. Remember you are not alone in doing this. We are doing the same with you.

If it is any consolation. I did my own fairly challenging hill  workout \saturday and went for 8.6  miles at a fairly comfortable pace yesterday. I am suffering with DOMS ( delayed onset muscle soreness ) and it IS quite sore today. Do you know what I am doing today running wise -Nothing !! A very short recovery run is fine, but not compulsory at all. This is why you need rest days !!

No problem Bigeater. We'll certainly keep in touch and take this on !! You'll be fine.

Happy new year all !!!!