2012 Marathon thread - Page 4 - Training

rachael leach

15/11/2011 at 10:34

Hi, I have just entered the Brahay Windermere marathon. It will be my first ever one and apparantly its very undulating so could be a toughy! Im planning on using the 4.30 marathon plan from runners world, though I'll just see how I come on with it at first may be that I need to go slower than the plan asks.

Joe Grundy

15/11/2011 at 15:07

Im going to do either chester or liverpool, did my first in 3.41 but that included nearly 55 minutes for the last 5 miles so I'm aiming for sub 3.25 if I do choose to do a marathon

luca_79

15/11/2011 at 15:29

Brighton - 1st Marathon - want to get as close to 3:30 as poss - really looking forward to the challenge.

A bit confused on marathon training programmes - so far have I read about:

- high mileage programs running 6 out of 7 days
- the FIRST program (3 days a week - tempo / sprints / long run)
- Run / Walk / Run school of thought

What do you guys reckon?!!! Thanks

Minni

15/11/2011 at 17:38

If you're looking for sub 3.30 then I'd choose the first option so long as you have a good base.

Fiona C

15/11/2011 at 21:52

LC, I agree with Minni. Could also be 5 out of 7 days but 3 days does not seem enough for 3:30.

luca_79

15/11/2011 at 22:17

Cheers Minni / Fiona - it would make sense to me that a higher mileage program is better preparation, but according to this article there are veteran marathon runners who have knocked minutes off their PB after switching to the FIRST/'less is more' program:

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-255-8257-0,00.html

interesting reading!

Minni

15/11/2011 at 22:33

What is your running background Luke?

luca_79

15/11/2011 at 22:44

Started running last summer for a couple of months working up to a 10k, then stopped for the winter. Started up again this Spring and have been running regularly since - have been doing 1-2 10ks a week, and 2-3 10k's a week more recently.

Recently did a couple of half marathons, both at 1hr45. Plan to keep on with 2 to 3 runs a week (10k's with a longer run on a Sunday) until I start a marathon program in earnest in January. (Im 31 years old)

Minni

16/11/2011 at 06:46

Luke it might be an idea to start increasing your weekly mileage a bit more now to help build a good base.

The three day a week schedule does look tempting but it doesn't work for most. Every run is hard and unless you're used to this you run the risk of injury. In my opinion you also need to be doing some pretty intensive cross training.

I tried followed it roughly a few years ago and couldn't hit the required paces and even though I was cycling along side this just wasn't enough.

Spoons.

16/11/2011 at 08:23

Hi Luke,

Minni & Fiona are right (they're women so they would be). 3 days a week very rarely works. I would say minimum of 4, preferably 5. 6 might be a bit much if you are not used to it though. Spend the next couple of months gradually increasing your mileage. Make sure you are running nice and slowly. 3:30 marathon is 8 minute miles. You should be running the rest of this year at 9-9:30 pace.

rachael leach

16/11/2011 at 08:42

Might sound daft but I'm only up to six miles at most because I cant run "slowly" not that Im super fast but I always seem to do the same speed, and can't slow down because then I feel I need to walk! How can I make myself slow down?

Minni

16/11/2011 at 09:34

So what pace are you running those 6 miles at Rachael?

luca_79

16/11/2011 at 09:35

Minni / Spoon - thought it sounded too good to be true! In what scenarios would it work effectively though? If you already have an excellent level of fitness??

Would you advise pushing mileage and dropping pace for all of my runs or just my long Sunday run?

Minni

16/11/2011 at 09:45

Luke I'm not sure because I don't personally know anyone who has achieved it. However, there is a thread over on the Spring Marathon page where people have followed the plan and its worked. I don't know who started the thread.....

What pace are you running at the moment for your training runs? Just now you want to be building a base and not worrying about any speed.

luca_79

16/11/2011 at 09:56

I'm generally doing 10k training runs at 8:15 or thereabouts - this includes elevation gain of about 300ft spread over a 3k section of the course

Spoons.

16/11/2011 at 12:35

Luke - I think it has worked for a few people. I guess they are naturally strong at endurance, do a lot of cycling or similar and are happy not fulfilling their actual potential.

At the minute I would concentrate on base training, so slowing down all the runs. This will also reduce fatigue so you can start upping the mileage / number of runs per week with less chance of injury. Once you are comfortably running 40 miles a week then you can worry about speed.

luca_79

16/11/2011 at 18:10

cheers for advice - will start to push weekly mileage up bit by bit once im done with upcoming races!

rachael leach

16/11/2011 at 19:13

Minni not sure how to calculate in to miles per minute but it takes me about 55minutes to cover just over six miles

Spoons.

17/11/2011 at 09:09

9 minute miles x 6 = 54 minutes

Minni

18/11/2011 at 09:18

Rachael if you'd said you were running 15 m/m I might have agreed it would be hard to slow down but you can slow down from 9 m/m! Its hard though and does take some practice. You need to run much further than 6 miles in marathon training so take the chance now to master running closer to 10 m/m in preparation for that.