marathon with little training

i have been training for the athens marathon in november 2007 and got injured in september when i stopped training

i was given the all clear to start training again in january and i am now doing 3 days

resistance and 4days running: 2 easy 8k (tue&thu) a fast 4k on sat and a long run

on sunday which is now up to 14k increasing by 2k each week

i want to take part at the rome marathon on the 16th of march - not to run the whole thing but part run it part walk it and aim for the best, hopefully to finish!

i have never run a marathon before and i was up to 30k on my long runs before i got injured - i am not as fit now but i want ot use it as a

focal point to regain my fitness as my injury set me back really badly especially

phychologically (i lost drive to do any other kind of even permitted exercise)

so to the people out there that have run a marathon and are reading this, do you think

this is a good idea or am i aiming too high too soon? thank you

Marathons are not as hard as you might think and you can certainly get round, even if you need to walk a chunk of it.  Hydration and nutrition are very important.  Pace even more so.  Make sure that you are well fuelled before and during and drink BEFORE you think you need to.  Start at the pace you want to finish at.  Keep it nice and slow and steady and you will benefit in the later stages.  Don't get caught up in the excitement and go off too quickly.  Don't worry that everyone seems to be running faster and going past you.  Ignore them and just do your own thing.

The 'hard' phase of the race starts from about 20 miles, or thereabouts.   Respect the distance and you will be fine.  Listen to your body and stop completely if you need to. 

Go for it..  and enjoy it!

Just take care and listen to your body, as already said.  A big part of the marathon is the mental battle - if you've done the training then the day should be relatively "comfortable", but if the fitness is lacking then its gonna be tough - but achieveable.

It's dangerous for me to tell you to go for it - I'm no expert, I'm no doctor, I dont know you or your injuries etc - only you can decide if its sensible or not.  I have to say it does sound a bit ambitous, and I'd be tempted to postpone to a later date when you were better prepared - however, I did flm07 on a run/walk strategy, my longest training run/walk being 14 miles.  Took me 7hrs 8 min and was tough going, but it can be done.  Although I'm proud of completing it given my lack of fitness at the time, I don't think it was a sensible achievement as I hadn't put the work in and I was lucky to get away with no injuries.  Kinda hypocritical I know!

If you do it and finish, then it will be a huge boost mentally, but if things go wrong it may be more depressing, so think hard and good luck in what you decide.

I've run marathons with longest training runs of 13 - 14 miles, but I have been running for 9 years.  My advice would be (if you have the time) is to add a long walk on the days of your long runs, trying not to leave too much time between the run and the walk, to get you used to being on your feet for a long time.  Do at least another hour walking.

Practice run/walk.  In the race (keeping out of the way of other runners) walk for 1 minute at each mile marker (or 30 seconds if the markers are in Km) - practice this in training by running for 9 mins, walking for 1 (it's easier than running 10, walking 1, as you have to do mental arithmetic, which isn't easy when you get really tired!).  In the race, once you get to 15 miles, assess how you feel and if needed up the walk break to 2 mins, but do try to stick to your planned walk times, as it gets harder and harder to get going again if you make the wlak breaks longer.

Also, even with the walk breaks, run slow and easy - finishing is the goal.  And if your injury returns (or you get a new one) be prepared to stop (in training aswell as in the race).

Good luck!

thank you all for the encouragement and the advice,  all very appreciated and very important especially as i had a very casual approach to the walking part! i thought i would just walk whenever i would get tired which is very vague and disorganised

i will definately try to incorporate walking in my training so that it is going to become a familiar pace for the race 

it's reassuring to know that other people have done it - i will give it a try and hope for the best - i am going there with my focus at the finish line but at the same time prepared not to be too harsh or unforgiving on myself 

at the moment i am enjoying the gift of being able to run again - the rome marathon will be a celebration of that and if all goes well then venice marathon in autumn!

many thanks to all again!

I agree with Nessie that you should try and get some more distance in on the long days by including some walking.  I'd put distance before speed.  I did my first marathon on a longest distance of 15 miles mostly walking. (had planned a longer one but went and pulled a muscle the next week...)  On the day I walked/ran the whole way.  And I was very sore for weeks afterwards...

Also have you got any rest day?!?  If you are prone to injury you really need to give your body a break even more than other people.  It's during rest time that your body really rebuilds and improves.  I currently run 3 times a week, plus have a part time job that involves quite a bit of walking.  A lot less than you but I'm timetabling a day a week as my 'physical rest day' when I plan to do no more than short walks if that!

thank you for your post and suggestions rowan green. i do not have a rest day exactly but i consider my resistance training days as rest days because on those days i work serapate muscle groups that are not interfering with my running so much especially when i do arms back shoulders etc

out for my long run in a while and i will try the run walk pattern on 15-16k and see how it goes

Try this....

Run walk training

Some very wise words on why run walk can be a good idea when training.

Good luck. It may hurt but if you're sensible I'm sure you'll make it. 

bip bip

good luck friend

our or my marathon training now-a-days is not great.. but we get around

take care yes !

Bip bip

Some very wise words on this above, one thing would say if your doing the run/walk strategy is don't stop once your starting to get knackered because the chances are you won't start again. I've done marathons when fit and also when coming back from injury and it's surprising how much of your resolve disappears when your fed up and not doing to well.

Just remember not to try and keep up with the runners at the start, pace yourself as much as possible and if your not up to it by March don't do it because made that mistake and ended up having a very frustrating 2 years recovering from a hamstring injury which still hasn't gone away (I was a muppet).

You might find braking up your training with some swimming useful because your using the same muscles only without the impact. Also don't panic eat pasta the week before the marathon if you don't eat much normally because your body will just go on strike and want some chips. Only metion it because been there and done that

Good luck

I'm in a similar boat to Bip Bip, I'm doing the Paris Marathon on 6th April, training has been going well up until sat when I ran 19.5 miles (second run of this distance) and had to stop due to ITBS. I now need to rest my knee for at least 2 weeks, maybe longer.

Any advice on where to start again bearing in mind I'll be running a marathon in 8 weeks.

Sorry Mikey never had iliotibial band syndrome but seam to remember sticking it in ice helps. If you haven't seen a doctor or phiso get yourself down there. For the marathon the best person to know what's best is yourself because you know your fitness levels. Be if you try and train really hard straight away to get ready for it, there's a good chance your just going to injure something else and then be kicking your heels for ages.

As above if you really what to do the marathon you can just go very easy and then walk part of it (and maybe hurt your knee). There must be someone on this site who's had the same problem and can give you some spot on advise regarding the best way to train up without getting your knee in agony. Failing that google it and see what happen's?

 p.s. sorry about some of the spellings Dyslexia and beat the spell checker again hurrah!

Hi Cake

 Hi Mikey

hope all's well

thanks once again for all the posts,johnny blaze thanks for the link i will check it out,

mikeyb im sorry to hear about your accident i do not know exactly how serious it

is but be careful and patient

i had a torn tendon on my ankle and stayed out of it for months

maybe a little more than i needed to, but still more than a couple of weeks that i initially hoped...

micknphil thank you for your support and encouragement!

cake thanks for all the good advice i will try to pace myself and not get excited

by the whole atmosphere and the other runners, i have heard one too many

stories of people who did and burned out too quickly! i am hoping i will be ok, i feel very strong, like as if i was gathering energy all the weeks of inactivity, i did 18k last sunday instead of the planned 15-16k and it was a breeze! i cant wait to go for my 20k this sunday - i have to confess however that i run it -didnt walk any of it - this might be bad but i fear that if irun/walk i am not training at my full potential, i feel i should put in as much distance as i can .....my argument is why walk it when i can run it? am i totally wrong???

Bip bip

you'll dop it very gently

take good care ahh

 mick

Bip Bip,

I had similiar problems training for a marathon last year.  I tried to do all my long runs running and got up to 16 miles.  Race day was run/walk.  What prove to be my downfall was stopping for a pee at about 8 miles and by 10 miles a recent injury on my knee started playing up.  The following 16 miles took me about 4 hrs+ to do and my run/walk strategy went out the window completly it was more like a walk/run.

With me I was thinking that if I can do a slow run in training of 16 miles with a run/walk method I should be able to get round my marathon without as much stress.  So don't feel guility about doing a run/walk.  If I was going to do another marathon I would definately run/walk it.

Good luck.