My first marathon

spartan1

Right folks,

Im sure this post pops up here every few days but here it goes.

I would like to run a marathon ! Here is my story

The most ive done is a 10k, ive only trained a little but did the Achill one in 54 mins, most I trained to was 5k and but that was a way better time than my previous year. When I finish a 10k I am totally pumped to get out there the next day and run some more...........but I dont seem to follow through. I need to have an event to aim for it seems.

So......im looking at loadsa different plans and they all say you need to be able to run for 30 mins.....I can do that .....but then I see people here aiming for a marathon in a year and a half.

Am I crazy thinking I can train for a marathon in 5 months ?

Am I crazy thinking I could get a 4h time ?

Should I me looking at flat courses to achieve this time ?

I looked at the connemarathon and it seems like a toughie, should I seek a flatter course ? Tralee fits my schedule but its again, kinda hilly.

Clearly im a novice so go easy .

31 M 14.5 st

Body responds well to exercise

I appreciate anyone who would like to share your experience or knowledge

Thanks

Itziger

You'll basically get two types of response here. First one is "Why the obsession with marathon? Why not try at least one Half and work your way up to the full distance in time?" The other response is, "No bother, lad, just go for it. 4 months proper training and 4hr target are doable"

Both are right of course. Each poster remembers back to his or her beginning and (unless it was a nightmare) goes with that. Me, I did the 'build her up' approach. It's not as if they're going to cancel all marathons from next spring on and you'll never get a chance to do one again. What's the rush? I did 3 or 4 half marathons before my first full.

Btw, I'm 47 male, 68 to 70 kilos and have 23 hours 42 minutes and a couple of seconds to marathon number 3!

Enjoy your running. That's the real answer.

ultrapercy

spartan1 wrote: »

Right folks,

Im sure this post pops up here every few days but here it goes.

I would like to run a marathon ! Here is my story

The most ive done is a 10k, ive only trained a little but did the Achill one in 54 mins, most I trained to was 5k and but that was a way better time than my previous year. When I finish a 10k I am totally pumped to get out there the next day and run some more...........but I dont seem to follow through. I need to have an event to aim for it seems.

So......im looking at loadsa different plans and they all say you need to be able to run for 30 mins.....I can do that .....but then I see people here aiming for a marathon in a year and a half.

Am I crazy thinking I can train for a marathon in 5 months ?

Am I crazy thinking I could get a 4h time ?

Should I me looking at flat courses to achieve this time ?

I looked at the connemarathon and it seems like a toughie, should I seek a flatter course ? Tralee fits my schedule but its again, kinda hilly.

Clearly im a novice so go easy .

31 M 14.5 st

Body responds well to exercise

I appreciate anyone who would like to share your experience or knowledge

Thanks

If you have trouble committing to a 10k training schedual why do you think youl be able to put in the work to run a sub 4 marathon? Its certainly possible but not without the groundwork. Your current 10k pb dosent indicate a sub4 is realistic at the moment but that will change with proper,structured training.

kencoo

Training for a marathon in 4 months is doable. Getting it done under 4 hrs will be tough but doable. Really depends on where your fitness is now, your weight, how your body responds to increased mileage. There has been books written about marathon running but ultimately to get there successfully you need to take your time and build strength over a good period of time. Most people i know who started marathon running had lots of injuries in the first year as they rushed into it.

tc78

I'm in a similar both. have done a few half marathons over past year and had started a 6 month plan to run Kerry until i heard the first 15miles are tough. This was to be my first marathon so even though it will be tough to finish a marathon, extra toughness like 15 hard miles i could do without. i love winter training thats why i picked march to run when it would be cooler. so any suggestions of locations as a first marathon, flat would be a bonus?!?

TFBubendorfer

tc78 wrote: »

I'm in a similar both. have done a few half marathons over past year and had started a 6 month plan to run Kerry until i heard the first 15miles are tough. This was to be my first marathon so even though it will be tough to finish a marathon, extra toughness like 15 hard miles i could do without. i love winter training thats why i picked march to run when it would be cooler. so any suggestions of locations as a first marathon, flat would be a bonus?!?

Kerry? Do you mean Tralee?
If so, then the marathon is not particularly tough. Don't let that stop you (and definitely don't use it as an excuse)

tc78

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

Kerry? Do you mean Tralee?
If so, then the marathon is not particularly tough. Don't let that stop you (and definitely don't use it as an excuse)

Yes Tralee. I read on boards that it is tough so I'm bothered by that. as a first timer elements like that could just kill me!!

TFBubendorfer

tc78 wrote: »

Yes Tralee. I read on boards that it is tough so I'm bothered by that. as a first timer elements like that could just kill me!!

What, the stuff people said in this thread? http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056774853

I compared the elevation profile for Tralee and Dublin. They are in the same league as far as difficulty is concerned (ok, maybe Tralee is a tad harder). There is not a single big climb in Tralee. There are lots of little hills that can break your rhythm if you're going for a fast time, but the average first time marathon runner isn't exactly concerned about setting blistering times (at least they shouldn't be).

There is no easy marathon. That's pretty much the point of marathons. There are some that are a little bit tougher than others, in Ireland that would mean the likes of Connemara, Dingle or Clonakilty. They add, say, 10 minutes to your time because of a big climb or two. The rest are all pretty much in the same league.

If you let those little hills stop you from running Tralee, you never meant to do it in the first place. Just continue with your training and sign up.

NoGutsNoGlory

tc78 wrote: »

I'm in a similar both. have done a few half marathons over past year and had started a 6 month plan to run Kerry until i heard the first 15miles are tough. This was to be my first marathon so even though it will be tough to finish a marathon, extra toughness like 15 hard miles i could do without. i love winter training thats why i picked march to run when it would be cooler. so any suggestions of locations as a first marathon, flat would be a bonus?!?

the Waterford marathon is on in june.. great buzz at it last year. i'd rec it. maybe to late in the year for you though..:D

NoGutsNoGlory

If you let those little hills stop you from running Tralee, you never meant to do it in the first place. Just continue with your training and sign up.[/QUOTE]

doing the hard sell on Tralee are we thomas!!:D:D
ya never know we might travel:D