hoping to do a marathon

Sniipe

Boards is as good a place as any to write up a log for myself so here I go:
I started last week. I'm trying my best to follow this guide:
http://www.marathontraining.com/marathon/metric1.html (19 weeks buildup)

So I'm 170cm (5'7") and weigh 70Kg
Age: 30
Male

(TM) stands for Treadmill

Day Distance Time Speed Note
Sun 3km TM Blisters with runners
Mon rest
Tue 2km TM Blisters with runners
Wed rest
Thu 6.5km TM @ 9.5kph blister free with new runners
Fri rest
Sat 5km TM @ 10kph
Sun 6.5km local loop

After one week I feel great. I know its early days, but I'm hopeful I enjoy the treadmill as I can run comfortably, hydrate and watch a series at the same time. Its also handier.
On Sunday I went outside for a run as the weather was good.

RayCun

hoping to do which marathon?

BrokenMan

Best of luck with the training.

One piece of advice is to try and get more of your runs outdoors. There is no substitute for race specific training i.e. if you are going to race on the road you should do a good percentage of your training on the road.
Running on a treadmill does not properly simulate outdoor running.

Sniipe

Hey folks,
I've no specific marathon in mind so I was hoping to do any marathon. The guide I'm following leads up to 9 months!!
I will try and get out doors more often, but my routes aren't very stimulating. We'll see how it goes.

RayCun

I ask because the guide you're following builds up the kilometres to peak at week 18. The idea is that the programme ends in week 19*, and then you go out and run your marathon, because then you're at your peak fitness. so you should identify the maraton you're going to run, and time your training plan to finish with the marathon.

* which seems to be very soon after your peak week, but that's another conversation

Sniipe

There are 2 plans really - 1 is a build up for 19 weeks then the other is a similar one but more distance. It will end up that I will be peaking in 8 months time. I have no goal really, but if there is a marathon in or around 8 months time then I'll probably do it.

Question: is it better to do the miles or to do shorter distances slower when starting off? Currently I can only do 9.5kph which as someone rightly told me is what an old fat man would do I thought it was funny, but its probably true. I'm 30 and not fat...

BrokenMan

If you are lookign for one in 8 months then Cork on the June Bank Holiday would be a good one.

I may have a go at it myself next year if Dublin doesn't kill me.

http://www.corkcitymarathon.ie/

My opinion woudl be to ignore your pace totally at the start and just build up your miles for the first couple of months. Recommended wisdom is not to increase distance by more than 10% any week and not to increase the distance of your longest run by more than 10% each week eiter. Maybe every 3 weeks dont increase distance at all or even step back slightly to give your bosy time to adjust.
The last thing you want to do is to try to run too fast or too far before your body is ready.

9.5 kph is around 6 mins per K. That would be similar speeds to what I started running/jogging at.

Edit : One last thing I would recommend is to set yourself some shorter term goals in terms of races. Start with a few 5K's then maybe a 10K, then 10 mile or half marathon. It will help you stay focused and give you something sooner to aim for.

RayCun

I don't think its a good idea to do a marathon training programme if there isn't a marathon at the end of it. Ten weeks from now the runs will be getting very hard and you'll be asking yourself what you're doing - and if you don't have a concrete goal in mind it'll be easy to get discouraged.

Why not train for shorter distances over the next few months? Pick out some goal races, get faster, get your legs stronger - and then start a marathon plan in June?

Or as BrokenMan says, do Cork in June. But start your marathon-specific training 19 weeks out, and in the meantime follow a plan for a shorter distance.

Bez Bing

RayCun wrote: »

I don't think its a good idea to do a marathon training programme if there isn't a marathon at the end of it. Ten weeks from now the runs will be getting very hard and you'll be asking yourself what you're doing - and if you don't have a concrete goal in mind it'll be easy to get discouraged.

Why not train for shorter distances over the next few months? Pick out some goal races, get faster, get your legs stronger - and then start a marathon plan in June?

Or as BrokenMan says, do Cork in June. But start your marathon-specific training 19 weeks out, and in the meantime follow a plan for a shorter distance.

I think that's some solid advice. I had the same issues some time back, eager to do a marathon but less eager to commit. So when the going got tough I wussed out quite easily because I had not got a solid goal.

So instead I trained for some 10K's then 1/2 marathons and then decided to give the DCM this year a good crack and signed up early and dived into the training.
I think having a solid base made the marathon training easier and less daunting and also I had the confidence from doing the shorter races and seeing my times improve over time.

Best of luck with your training whatever you decide.

paky

Sniipe wrote: »

Boards is as good a place as any to write up a log for myself so here I go:
I started last week. I'm trying my best to follow this guide:
http://www.marathontraining.com/marathon/metric1.html (19 weeks buildup)

So I'm 170cm (5'7") and weigh 70Kg
Age: 30
Male

(TM) stands for Treadmill

Day Distance Time Speed Note
Sun 3km TM Blisters with runners
Mon rest
Tue 2km TM Blisters with runners
Wed rest
Thu 6.5km TM @ 9.5kph blister free with new runners
Fri rest
Sat 5km TM @ 10kph
Sun 6.5km local loop

After one week I feel great. I know its early days, but I'm hopeful I enjoy the treadmill as I can run comfortably, hydrate and watch a series at the same time. Its also handier.
On Sunday I went outside for a run as the weather was good.

i wouldnt advise any running on a treadmill.

Bez Bing

paky wrote: »

i wouldnt advise any running on a treadmill.

Why? I find treadmills very good for my interval runs as you have complete control over your pace and time. Also with winter coming up, the gym is a lot safer place to run than on ice roads paths on dark cold evenings. (And of course I can challenge the unassuming person next to me )

I'm not saying don't run outdoors at all (I wouldn't consider doing a long run on a treadmill) but treadmills def have their place. Also starting out some people don't feel confident running outdoors so the gym is a good place to build up that confidence.

RayCun

But you're going to be racing on the roads, so you may as well get used to them!

Bez Bing

RayCun wrote: »

But you're going to be racing on the roads, so you may as well get used to them!

True, but that doesn't mean you have to run all your runs on roads. Roads can be quite tough on the joints also, so mixing it up between grass, a track, a treadmill or whatever doesn't do you any harm IMO.
I'll be doing my last pre-DCM 5K on Friday from the warmth of a gym followed by a nice swim to relax the muscles.

Sniipe

Thanks for all the advice. Wow, this forum is a hive of activity, literally!

The treadmill is in the house, its just handy to use time wise. It can't be THAT bad to use. I was planning on using it during the week and weekend runs outside - weather permitting.

Best of luck to ye guys doing the DCM this weekend. My uncle did it years ago and has convinced me he was the same age as me when he did it years ago.

I understand what ye are saying about goals. I'll look into the runireland webby and see what 10k's or 1/2 marathon's are on during the training period.

Thanks for the advice on distance over speed to begin with.

liamo123

Sniipe wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice. Wow, this forum is a hive of activity, literally!

The treadmill is in the house, its just handy to use time wise. It can't be THAT bad to use. I was planning on using it during the week and weekend runs outside - weather permitting.

Best of luck to ye guys doing the DCM this weekend. My uncle did it years ago and has convinced me he was the same age as me when he did it years ago.

I understand what ye are saying about goals. I'll look into the runireland webby and see what 10k's or 1/2 marathon's are on during the training period.

Thanks for the advice on distance over speed to begin with.

Sniipe...Best of luck with ur training....However "Handy" and "Weather Permitting" are phrases not allowed when training for a marathon

Sniipe

^^LOL