Do you enjoy marathon training?

Spirogyra

Hi, coming to that time of year again when I'm wondering whether to go for a summer marathon.....Is it something that others here enjoy? or is it all slog and the enjoyment is the day itself? and 18 weeks is the standard preparation time for someone already running? that's a long time mentally to keep it going, Frankly I'm enjoying shorter distances more, more social, less slog, the idea of training runs lasting 4 hours is not exactly exciting, but, not ruling it out if I could try to make it a bit more enjoyable, any thoughts on how to enjoy it more?

Thanks

Sarah

TFBubendorfer

We all have our preferences. Personally I love marathon training and I like planning for the long term and getting better season after season.

If you prefer training for shorter stuff then I suggest you should be doing just that.

Btw, I don't do 4-hour training runs for marathons and I would not particularly recommend them for anyone else either.

Murph_D

I enjoy it too. The progress you make over the course of the programme is very motivating. You can keep things fresh by running a race every so often. Many plans have these built into the schedule. If you're thinking of Dublin, the race series events throughout the summer are ideal for sharpening your racing skills and general preparation.

RubyK

Like the others, I too really enjoy mara training. Ok there are times it's not easy, but for the most part I enjoy it. I'm a creature of habit, so a plan, and having to stick to it suits me.

If you think running the longer miles is going to be tough mentally, you should find out if there are running groups in your area that you could join up with for LSR's, a bit of company can make a big difference

pot p

I tink u cud rename the thread "do u enjoy sticking needles in ur eyes" haha. For me, no I didn't enjoy training for it, all be it I've only done 2. Never really followed a plan too closely as I was still playing other sports but I appear to be prone to injury and it was a long hard slog. Now retirement looms from gaa I wudnt mind giving it another go and try follow a plan to a t

Ruu

I like the pain afterwards, something very satisfying about it from a long run.

ger664

I enjoy it.

As in life if you are not enjoying something whats the point in doing it.

Spirogyra

It's just that when the time comes, I might feel as though I'm not being all I can be if I don't, as happened this year. It's normal for me to run 10 miles on a sunday anyway. So might not take that much extra really....

kerrylad1

Spirogyra wrote: »

Hi, coming to that time of year again when I'm wondering whether to go for a summer marathon.....Is it something that others here enjoy? or is it all slog and the enjoyment is the day itself? and 18 weeks is the standard preparation time for someone already running? that's a long time mentally to keep it going, Frankly I'm enjoying shorter distances more, more social, less slog, the idea of training runs lasting 4 hours is not exactly exciting, but, not ruling it out if I could try to make it a bit more enjoyable, any thoughts on how to enjoy it more?

Thanks

Sarah [/QUOT
When training for my first (Dublin 12),I did a 18 week programme and I said never again,but somehow I got hooked,I love the training now,I think that if your running up to 50 miles a week,a 12 week programme is more than enough.That's why so many people get put off,18 weeks is a real slog,so get up to 50 miles,write out a good 12week marathon plan,and I think you will enjoy it a lot more.

SamforMayo

Spirogyra wrote: »

It's just that when the time comes, I might feel as though I'm not being all I can be if I don't, as happened this year. It's normal for me to run 10 miles on a sunday anyway. So might not take that much extra really....

Have you done an Half Marathons? What's your mileage per week like at the moment?

jebuz

On the whole I look back at a marathon cycle and say I enjoy it. Of course it's always easier to say you enjoyed it when you ran a good marathon but even if you ran a bad one there are always positives to take from the training.

If the training is done and done well, there's no reason why you shouldn't see progress during a cycle and that for me is the enjoyable aspect of it, "seeing" progress. We all know that every individual workout during a cycle isn't going to be enjoyable. There are going to be evenings where you're battling wind and rain feeling miserable and tired. There are the Sunday morning 20 milers where you just feel like rolling over in bed. There are the blisters, the niggles, the paranoia and doubt.

But eclipsing all of that are the sessions that just click, the session where you go "yes, that was the one" and you can actually feel the improvement. There's the tune-up race where you unexpectedly smash a PB, there are the 20 milers where you feel you could keep going, the camaraderie of training in a group with one passionate and common goal. That feeling of accomplishment and the manifestation of progress is where I get the most enjoyment during marathon training.

Also:
- you can eat like a beast and get away with it
- you get to constantly remind your colleagues you're training for a marathon
- golden ticket out of social events you didn't even want to go to

PaulieC

I should be smack bang in the middle of training for Donadea, but I have run feck all since DCM due to a foot injury that seems to be getting worse rather than better. It's seriously frustrating, I'd love to be in training, especially with a couple of weeks off at Christmas.

inigo

I run my first marathon at the end of September this year. It was a trail marathon along the Causeway Coast. I mostly enjoyed my training, particularly the tough long runs in the mountains on weekends. I did feel tired at times, mostly mentally, during training. Those times I cut a run here or a few miles there and was back running happily in no time.

I was thinking this morning as I was commuting to work that the whole thing felt like a soccer season. You're in good form, doing well in several competitions. Completing the marathon felt like winning the cup after getting through all those ties, playing well for the most part but with the odd bad game here and there. Now I hope I can win the league when I hit the 1000 mile mark on the 31st of December! (no kidding!)

Chivito550

It's perfectly normal for somebody not to enjoy marathon training (or any other particular form of training for that matter). Simple solution: don't do it, and find something else.

I hated marathon training, long runs by myself etc, so I took up sprinting instead and love it. If you like something, you will be much more motivated to improve also. Not saying to take up sprinting, but if you say shorter distances are more enjoyable to you, then train for those distances, and ditch the marathon. It's just one event out of dozens in T&F, no matter how much Joe Public Coach Potato glorifies it.