7 month plan?

Freiheit

Hi am planning to attempt a marathon in May,already fairly fit,could probably run 10 miles now easily enough,but have never done even a half marathon. Can any one direct me in composing a plan for Limerick in May? any 'halves' soon before that?. Any waterproof raingear? By the way a former olympian told me to stay well away from the Higdon plan,didn't say why though.

Thanks

Zowie

RayCun

Waterford half marathon is the beginning of December. If you train for that it will give you a good base to work on for the marathon.

The Higdon plans have the great advantage of being free on the internet. I don't know anyone who uses them beyond the novice level - maybe that was what your friend was talking about, thought they were too easy for you? - but there's nothing wrong with them either afaik. I used one of the half marathon plans from here this summer. It also contains marathon plans, or you could try one of these.

You don't need waterproof raingear. Your skin is waterproof. If you're running in Ireland you have to get used to getting wet every now and again.

IronmanJNR

RayCun wrote: »

Waterford half marathon is the beginning of December. If you train for that it will give you a good base to work on for the marathon.

The Higdon plans have the great advantage of being free on the internet. I don't know anyone who uses them beyond the novice level - maybe that was what your friend was talking about, thought they were too easy for you? - but there's nothing wrong with them either afaik. I used one of the half marathon plans from here this summer. It also contains marathon plans, or you could try one of these.

You don't need waterproof raingear. Your skin is waterproof. If you're running in Ireland you have to get used to getting wet every now and again.

Leave the waterproofs in the shop .. Remember is can rain on race day .. And usually does .

Also be sure to allocate two days possibly three days to cross training ( cycling or swimming ) it will build up aerobic fitness without the pounding..

Best of luck

RayCun

IronmanJNR wrote: »

cross training ( cycling or swimming )

:mad: trying to lure people over to the dark side with your gateway drugs. I know your game:mad:

IronmanJNR

RayCun wrote: »

:mad: trying to lure people over to the dark side with your gateway drugs. I know your game:mad:

You Got me

Freiheit

Thanks,ordered that book.....am choosing Limerick as it's home and there's advantages in that,for the first time anyway. 4-5 days a week running and 2-3 cycling ok?

RayCun

Freiheit wrote: »

4-5 days a week running and 2-3 cycling ok?

I'm not sure what you mean here...

When you start training today, you have to start from where you are now. If you run 3 days a week at the moment, you can't jump up to 4/5 days immediately. You need to get to the point where you are running those 3 days comfortably and recovering well after each one, and then you can add another day. (You will reach that point quicker if you take most of those runs fairly easy instead of working hard on each one)

If you do that, you'll get to the point where you're running 4-5 days a week. But there's no reason to stop there. If you want to improve, you can add a 6th day each week. Then a 7th. it depends on how much you want to get better.

As for cycling... sure, it's a non-impact aerobic exercise (as is swimming, or using a cross-trainer, or whatever) so some people like to do it on non-running days. But there's no real reason why you should have non-running days. Other exercise will improve your general fitness, which is always good, but nothing will improve your running as much as running.

Freiheit

Hi thanks,I do 5 or 6 days at the mo. but theyr'e shortish,as in 2-3 miles,the odd days I'd do this twice. That's not because I can't do more but I run to work,which is about 3 miles away,have a home exercise bike too. I need to try to insert 1 or 2 longer runs,a lot longer probably and then il be well on the way.

RayCun

Keep up those short runs then, but don't be afraid to take them very slowly if you've had a harder run the day before.

Freiheit

The Higdon plan involves only 4 days a week running...is this because it's designed only for absolute beginners?.

RayCun

The Novice plan? Yes.
The Intermediate plan has 5 days running, the Advanced and Boston plans have 6.