Couch potato to marathon in one year?

pug_

I've no idea if I'm thinking crazy thoughts or not but I've somehow managed to set a goal for myself to run a marathon. Unfortunately I've absolutely zero experience of any kind of running (or any other form of exercise) what so ever so I'm looking for a bit of advice as to what's actually achievable and what's not.

Just to give folks a bit of background. I've never done any kind of exercise at any stage in my life. I've never played any sports, I've never been involved in anything even remotely athletic. About 4 months ago I decided to join a gym and get in some way fit. The motivation for this is that I've got two kids and I just didn't have enough energy to do the things I wanted to do with them and figured this wasn't fair on them.

Initially this was pretty damned hard to say the least I was pumping sweat after a couple of minutes and knackered for the entire day afterwards but it got easier. 3 weeks ago I started running on the treadmill and I was surprised to find that it was pretty easy for me. At the moment after 3 weeks I'm running at speed 11 on the treadmill for 22 minutes so roughly 5 miles I think and I'm not even remotely out of breath afterwards and my legs have never felt tired or sore after either.

So this is kind of what got me thinking about a marathon. I've no idea what my current limit is with how far I can run or anything, and the treadmill is probably a lot different to running in the open air, so my plan is to start running in the mornings outdoors over the Christmas and hopefully eventually progress to a fitness level where I can run a marathon

So finally to my big question. Am I crazy to think about trying to do this for next years Dublin marathon, or would it be more realistic to set the goal for two years time? I've decided I'm going to do it regardless, I'm pretty determined like that, but it would give my confidence a huge boost if I had it in my head that it was achievable within a year.

Racing Flat

1 year is fine. Just start off nice and easy and gradually build up. If I was you, I'd do nothing other than easy jogging, 20-30mins 3 days a week for a month, then building up to 30-40mins 4 days a week for about 3 months. From 4-6months I'd run 5 days a week, 3 for 30-40mins and 2 for 50-60mins, always just gradually progressing. At this stage you'll be ready to start a 20 week marathon programme, which should involve 5 runs a week. 4 of these can be up to an hour, and you might go a little faster for parts of 2 of those runs (but plenty time to learn about that closer the time) and the 5th run would be a long run, so starting with an hour, adding a mile or so every week until you get up to around 20.

Enjoy. I did very similar about 5 years ago - set myself a target of a marathon a year later. Lost 3 stone in the process and got addicted to running:cool:.

By the way, if you are running 5 miles in 22mins you should get on to Athletics Ireland and they might ask you to run in the European Cahmpionships on Sunday:pac:. You might want to check the calculations, the speed on the TM is probably 11 kilometers per hour.

nortal

Go for it, - plenty of advice from posters here, and there are loads of on line training programs around.

Good Luck

pug_

Cheers for that, you've just made me a very happy man indeed

As for my calculations they were pretty much zero, the treadmill could be 11 meters per hour for all I know I was just guessing and trying to convince myself that I'm great

shels4ever

pug_ wrote: »

Cheers for that, you've just made me a very happy man indeed

As for my calculations they were pretty much zero, the treadmill could be 11 meters per hour for all I know I was just guessing and trying to convince myself that I'm great

Best of luck,

Peckham

As others have said, lots of people on this forum have done exactly what you are hoping to do.

Would second RF's advice above. It's important to get out on the roads/grass and clocking up small doses of mileage on regular intervals. Half the battle in running is developing the habit of going out (after that it becomes an addiction for most of us!).

Setting yourself a target of a marathon that is 11 months away means that it can be difficult to maintain motivation, so set yourself some interim targets. There are plenty of 5k-10k races during the spring/early-summer, so try to enter some of these. During next summer you can work on longer targets such as a half-marathon. The adidas series in the Phoenix Park during the summer has three races (5 mile, 10 mile and half-marathon) and is ideal preparation for the Dublin marathon.

I'm always refering people to Hal Higdon for training advice, so take a look at one or two of his training plans to help you along the way. There's a 5 mile race in Raheny at the end of January...if you start this plan now, you'd be in good shape for that.

Enjoy it!

pgibbo

Fair play to you and the best of luck with it. It is achievable! A mate of mine did the same thing a few years back. Gave up the cigs and decided to start exercising and run marathons too. From zero to 26.2 in less than a year. Very impressive.

MCOS

Educate yourself
Discipline yourself
Work hard

And you will cross that line with a sense of accomplishment you won't forget easily

Very best of luck on your journey!

Highway_To_Hell

Did this myself, Last January I was an unfit 16st, 20 a day smoker. now I am a fitter 13st non smoker. (still another stone to go). I finished the DCM in 3 hrs 54mins I also completed a few Triathlons.

Goal setting will help you, sign up for a 10K race in the spring and then the Adidas race series during the summer.

For me the biggest reward has been able to actively play with my kids, from Rugby and GAA training, trampolining and just getting out on our bikes.

Enjoy the trip.

gerard65

I'd recommend you read 'The Runner's Handbook' by Bob Glover. Its a great 'all you need to know' book.

shels4ever

+ for what Peckham said.
I started back in Feb this year and have been running for 10 months now. I took it very easy to start with and mid summer I decided not to run the dublin marathon, (I think i could have if i wanted to ).

My advise is start off with 3 days a week and build slowly from there, use your first 4-5 months to get you fitness up and by then you should be able to get around 7-10 miles . Then start you marathon training.. There are a few nice race next year from 5 miles to half marathon..

but the main advise would be enjoy your training, no point hating what your doing.. get out run feel good and run with a smile:)

all the best.

Funkyzeit

Best of luck. As the lads/lassies said don't over do it will end up getting injured and putting yourself back to square 1. A good rule of thumb is don't increase your time/distance by more than 10% each week.

Most important thing often overlooked is ENJOY it. Always the key success...

asimonov

Hey pug, good on ya for taking the plunge. I've gone from not running at all to training for a spring marathon - and to be honest - i just can't get enough of it...after a while, you'll wonder what you did for all those couch potato years!

My tuppence worth would be if you run on your own get a nike+ or better still a garmin, so you can keep an accurate training diary - its rewarding to see the incremental improvements as you keep training. And get to a 10K event, its great to know there's a real community of runners out there.

best of luck with it - its a no regrets decision.

pug_

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I have to admit that when I posted I was half expecting to be told that only people who've been training for years should even consider a marathon, but now that I know that not only is it possible but lots of people have done it makes it feel even more achievable.

I've a feeling I'll be back here for advice plenty of times over the next year or so, I've already got a few things I'm wondering about but I'll see how I get on myself before bombarding the forum with noob questions

Odysseus

Welcome aboard Pug of course it is possible. Best of luck with it and don't be afaird to come back here with your questions, myself excluded;) there are plently of knowledgeable people here

911sc

Go for it.
Have a look at the Hal Higdon Training Programs. A lot of runners swear by these.

For your info, there are 3 races, Adidas race series, organised in July/Aug & September as a build up to Dublin marathon.

Mark the 26th October 2009 on your calendar, and stick to it.

Good luck.

Running Bing

pug_ wrote: »

So finally to my big question. Am I crazy to think about trying to do this for next years Dublin marathon, or would it be more realistic to set the goal for two years time? I've decided I'm going to do it regardless, I'm pretty determined like that, but it would give my confidence a huge boost if I had it in my head that it was achievable within a year.

I went from pretty much your situation to the marathon in 5 months and by the sounds of it I had far less running ability than yourself. Now I would'nt advise that and if I was doing it again I would do things differently but Im just trying to point out it is by no means an unrealistic goal.


As others have said start slowly and really pay attention to your body. If you feel a persistent niggle somewhere dont just brush it aside and carry on as normal with your training. Pay attention, its better to take a few rest days off than be out for weeks with an injury. At the same time dont go crazy, its natural that you will have some soreness and niggles.


Finally, your 5 mile time puts you at about a 2 hour 9 minute marathon time so if you train hard enough you might even break Haile's record;)

pug_

Hee hee, that 5 mile time is just a bit wrong It was a pure guess and I should have copped that people here would be more interested in times etc than your average joe.

I just took out my calculator, and assuming the treadmill shows speed in mph then the distance is really approximately 4.0333333333333333 miles in 22 minutes. Otherwise it's probably about 4.0333333333333333km in 22 minutes . I must find out for sure though I'm interested to know myself now.

hunnymonster

pug_ wrote: »

...assuming the treadmill shows speed in mph....

The treddies in my gym show KPH

Running Bing

pug_ wrote: »

Hee hee, that 5 mile time is just a bit wrong It was a pure guess and I should have copped that people here would be more interested in times etc than your average joe.

I just took out my calculator, and assuming the treadmill shows speed in mph then the distance is really approximately 4.0333333333333333 miles in 22 minutes. Otherwise it's probably about 4.0333333333333333km in 22 minutes . I must find out for sure though I'm interested to know myself now.

4 miles in 22 minutes is still pretty remarkable (in my view) for a complete beginner.


Its always more difficult running outside than on a treadmill but its still great running imo (especially if your not out of breath after it).

You can use this calculator here: http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm to get an idea of how your times translate to other distances. Its not 100% accurate, especially not for beginners, but it gives a ball park figure. That 4 mile time would put you at a 2 hour 43 min marathon time.

Get outside though and give it a go outdoors and see how it goes.

pug_

Hmm I've a feeling it's probably kph so, cos I don't think I'm that great a runner and a lot of folk running beside me go a lot faster for the same length of time. I'm back there tomorrow in any case so I'll ask then.

--amadeus--

22 mins for 4kms is a little over 9 min miling which is probably about average for a beginer I would have thought, it's certainly around my speed when I first began.

You can probably expect to slow down a bit when you begin running outside though - the road doesn't pull your feet back, you have different surfaces and inclines and wind resistance (not to mention weather) as well as dodging traffic. At this point though I would concentrate more on building your fitness and distance rather than thinking about time.

hunnymonster

Am I the only person who runs faster outdoors?

Bally8

hunnymonster wrote: »

Am I the only person who runs faster outdoors?

I could never call the kind of running I do 'fast' honeymonster but I do run faster when Im outside in comparison to the treadmill

--amadeus--

hunnymonster wrote: »

Am I the only person who runs faster outdoors?

I've never managed to stay on a treadmill long enough to find out

MCOS

If you beat your 5m road pb on a treadmill would you consider it a pb?

Racing Flat

MCOS wrote: »

If you beat your 5m road pb on a treadmill would you consider it a pb?

No. I'd consider it a treadmill PB, but that's all.

hunnymonster

me neither but given I'm about 1.5 km/hr slower on the treadmill, it's never going to happen.

Racing Flat

hunnymonster wrote: »

me neither but given I'm about 1.5 km/hr slower on the treadmill, it's never going to happen.

It's not going to happen for me because if I wanted to try and run a 5 mile PB I'd enter a race. Treadmill is for when I can't get out for a run, e.g. travelling and get somewhere in the middle of the night or something.

shels4ever

MCOS wrote: »

If you beat your 5m road pb on a treadmill would you consider it a pb?

Nope I wouldnt count that, wouldnt even count it outside.. if its not a race for me it doesnt count.

zorkmundsson

go for it, pug. finished the dublin marathon this year (took me a dog's age, mind!) after following Hal Higdon's 18-week novice programme fairly strictly, despite never having run before. if you start pounding the pavement now in preparation, you'll be grand come halloween.

aburke

hunnymonster wrote: »

Am I the only person who runs faster outdoors?

Certainly not.
8 min miles on the treadmill feels like hard work to me. I'd normally do easy runs outside at 7:30s.

rainbow kirby

hunnymonster wrote: »

Am I the only person who runs faster outdoors?

I run faster outdoors too, I find it difficult to go below 11min/mile on a treadmill but I do my shorter runs at about 10.30/min mile pace at the moment.

MrJones

pug_ wrote: »

I've no idea if I'm thinking crazy thoughts or not but I've somehow managed to set a goal for myself to run a marathon. Unfortunately I've absolutely zero experience of any kind of running (or any other form of exercise) what so ever so I'm looking for a bit of advice as to what's actually achievable and what's not.

Just to give folks a bit of background. I've never done any kind of exercise at any stage in my life. I've never played any sports, I've never been involved in anything even remotely athletic.

I think you can def do the marathon...a year should be plenty of time.
Im no expert but my two pence worth is that you should also consider doing some cycling as part of your training - for cross-training. This should help build up your base fitness as well and keep you injury free..I think this would be essential.Good lcuk :pac:

Racing Flat

MrJones wrote: »

I think you can def do the marathon...a year should be plenty of time.
Im no expert but my two pence worth is that you should also consider doing some cycling as part of your training - for cross-training. This should help build up your base fitness as well and keep you injury free..I think this would be essential.Good lcuk :pac:

I don't think cycling would be essential. Most people probably do marathons without cycling.

MrJones

Racing Flat wrote: »

I don't think cycling would be essential. Most people probably do marathons without cycling.

of course ,its by no means essential.
i think that someone who goes from zero to doing marathons would benefit from doing cross-training like cycling as well from injury prevention point of view.

pug_

Well I managed to get out for my first run last night, and lets just say it didn't go well

It's my own fault because I'm basically an idiot when it comes to common sense. My two main problems were judging pace and distance. I decided on my route with absolutely no idea how long it was I only knew that when I go out walking with my wife it takes about an hour and that sounded about right to me.

As soon as I got out the door I started off at a pace that felt comfortable cos I told myself I didn't want to push it, but I figured out pretty quickly that it was way too fast so I slowed down. About a third of the way in I had to slow down again because I was starting to breathe a bit too hard for my liking. I managed to get my breath back but at about the half way mark I was starting to feel a bit tired in my legs.

That's when the stupid bit came in. Instead of stopping for a rest, or maybe walking for a while like a normal person I decided to keep running, and running, and running. By the time I was two thirds of the way around I was in bits, I had a stitch in my side, I was breathing a lot heavier than I should have been, and I was going at a pace that was barely above my normal walking pace. But did I stop? God no, because I'm a bloody idiot.

I eventually made it back to my estate with a stitch in both sides, pumping sweat, and my legs begging me to stop, I was feeling a bit sick and dizzy, but unfortunately I made up my mind not to stop so I didn't.

Then it got a bit weird. I wasn't quite myself when I got back home so I wound up wandering into my neighbours house by mistake. They were busy putting up their Christmas decorations and I've no idea of what they made of this vision of a man with a thick beard, a high vis vest, a big black hat pulled down nearly to his eyes, pumping sweat and breathing hard wandering into their living room. Even at that it took me a few seconds to realise something was wrong but when I did I just mumbled an apology and wandered out again. They didn't say anything, just kind of looked at me a bit weird. There really must be something wrong with me though cos I fsck1ng ran back to the footpath and into my own house.

When my wife saw me she gave me a bit of a bollocking cos it's not the first time I've overdone the exercise, and all I could manage for the rest of the night was to sit with a thumping headache and wait to stop sweating before going to bed.

Next time a shorter run, and a slower pace from the outset... Yes that's it...

Peckham

:eek: That's the most bizarre running story I've ever read! :eek:

At least it served the purpose of teaching you a valuable lesson....all aerobic running is done at a pace where you could comfortably hold a conversation with another person. Slow down the pace to that level and you'll be fine.

More importantly - have you come face-to-face with your neighbours since?

RICHIE-RICH

Ha ha excellent story.
Have a read of the Couch to 5k program on the coolrunning website, and start off doing walk/run, until you can run for 30 mins steady (its a 6 week program I think
Speed at this stage does not matter, so just plod away, and you will get there.

Keep this post bookmarked, and in 6 months time you can look back and be amazed at that run nearly killing you. At that stage you will be doing 6-10 miles without issue.

Keep it up anyway.

pug_

I wandered over about 10 minutes later after I got my breath back and apologised properly. They were holding the door open just a crack and saying "it's grand" over and over again so I think I kind of freaked them out a bit I tried to explain but I think I was kind of rambling a bit.

HuntingDrog

that a gas story Pug. brilliant.

I'd vouch for what Richie-rich says-the couch to 5k plan is really good and it really gets u to running for 30 mins with a PLAN. And plans are really important when coming from an unfit state.
I'm near the end of this plan and i found it excellent

BTW-i think ur single-mindedness to not give up is brill. That attitude is what top sportsmen all have. so fair play to ya