60 days for the marathon?

4

Hey there, I'm a reasonably fit person but not really a runner. I'm thinking of doing the Dublin marathon in 2 months and I'm wondering is this enough time to get my body used to running that distance? I have a decent base fitness from other sports so its mainly just getting my legs used to the abuse.Went for an 8 and half mile run in 70mins the other day which was easy enough. Is it do-able in 2 months or would I end up getting a string of injuries as I prepare for it/do it?
Thanks

Peckham

As the adidas slogan says, "Nothing is impossible".

There have been plenty of discussions along these lines already in this forum if you dig around, and there are posters here who have previously done a marathon on less training.

It can be done, but it may not be a pleasant experience (i.e. you may not be able to walk properly for a week afterwards). Most of us here doing Dublin now have 8-10 weeks of specific training behind us. Assuming that your fitness to date is off the back of little/no running (what other sports do you do?), then as you correctly point out the biggest challenge is getting used to staying on your feet for the 4+ hours it's likely to take you to complete the marathon.

Your objective should be to finish it, rather than attempting to achieve a particular time. To do so, you should be slowly building up to running 4 or 5 times a week - midweek runs of 4/6/8 miles, and slowly building up your weekend long run to peak at least 18 miles, but preferably 20 miles (2-3 weeks before the marathon) - this could be a particular challenge if your longest run to date is 8 miles.

Good luck with it

hunnymonster

Define reasonably fit for me? I'm usually the first person to tell everyone they can do a marathon but even for me, 60 days is pushing it. Not that I doubt with enough determination and a bit of common sense to avoid bonking, you'll get around but I would be worried about doing serious damage. Does it have to be Dublin or would you consider one later in the year e.g. Luton or even Seville in February. Most people follow a 16-18 week marathon specific training plan but non-runners often spens 6 months getting used to running before embarking on the increased mileage of a marathon plan.

4

Thanks for the replies,
Not sure how to define 'reasonably fit' but I cycle/row a lot so the main problem would be getting my legs used to running large distances. I guess I'll see how my body responds over the next few weeks training as I build up the miles. I don't have the money/time to get away to do another marathon unfortunately.
cheers

earlyevening

I think you should go out and do a few 5s and 8s midweek and build up weekend long runs 8,10,13 half marathon, 16. If you complete an 18 the following week then register at that point for the full. Thats how I played it the first year I ran it. Went out and did a 21 after that, tapered a few weeks then went around in 4hrs.
If you train hard from here it is certainly possible. See how it develops over the next 4 weeks.