Advice for Novice runner

MariaCoy

Hello,

I would love to get someone's opinion/advice.

Down through the years, I've been running periodically, never anything too serious and I would dip in and out of it for months at a time.

Now, it was always for enjoyment and I could never claim to be any great athlete. My times are very modest for a 5k and have never run further than 10k, with my PB 59 mins for the 10k. But I would love to set myself a goal of a marathon. Here's where I would love an opinion...

If I was to fully commit to training, is it realistic to go from where I am (60 min 10K runner) to a 4 hour marathon in one year? And I know that it would be hard to answer, all depending on circumstances and the effort I would input...but from anyone's experience, is it achievable? For a first marathon, to do, what I would consider this big leap?

Thanks.

Itziger

MariaCoy wrote: »

Hello,

I would love to get someone's opinion/advice.

Down through the years, I've been running periodically, never anything too serious and I would dip in and out of it for months at a time.

Now, it was always for enjoyment and I could never claim to be any great athlete. My times are very modest for a 5k and have never run further than 10k, with my PB 59 mins for the 10k. But I would love to set myself a goal of a marathon. Here's where I would love an opinion...

If I was to fully commit to training, is it realistic to go from where I am (60 min 10K runner) to a 4 hour marathon in one year? And I know that it would be hard to answer, all depending on circumstances and the effort I would input...but from anyone's experience, is it achievable? For a first marathon, to do, what I would consider this big leap?

Thanks.

Hmmmm, tough question.

1) A year is a decent period of time to improve your stamina/time.

2) Multiplying your 10k time, it doesn't look good.

Now, you take 1) and 2) and you decide. Are you willing to train consistently? You'd need two basics which apply to almost every marathon runner since the Spartan fella: Improve your speed and build your stamina.

One thing I would say personally is this. Why not take it slower? Some people see a new year coming and they think MARATHON. Sometimes you'd swear all 2018 marathons in the world were going to be cancelled and we'd never see the distance being run again. Depending on age, sentimental reasons and so on, I'd advise you to train consistently and with some variation and move up the distances. Do a couple of 10k races early in the year and 1, maybe 2 Half Marathons later. Then you'd be in a much better place.

And one last thing. Had we but world enough and time, this coyness lady were no crime.

RayCun

I think if you train properly, starting now, running regularly, joining a club and doing sessions with them, you might manage it. Or at least get pretty close.
Worth a try anyway

Singer

MariaCoy wrote: »

If I was to fully commit to training, is it realistic to go from where I am (60 min 10K runner) to a 4 hour marathon in one year? And I know that it would be hard to answer, all depending on circumstances and the effort I would input...but from anyone's experience, is it achievable? For a first marathon, to do, what I would consider this big leap?

I went from running my first ever 10k in 55 minutes at the Fingal 10k in July 2014 to a 3:32 Dublin marathon in 2015. Your goals are obviously achievable, with a good bit of work and luck, though there's loads of running and racing you need to do along the way before you should really commit to a marathon. As the previous posters said, get out running consistently and then make a call on committing to a marathon training plan.

rainbow kirby

No reason why you can't finish a marathon if you're consistent with training - sub 4 is a big leap though.

MariaCoy

Thanks so much Itziger for your advice.

"Improve your speed and build your stamina"
Definitely need to improve my times and, of course, distances. The pressure for one year training window was because of family commitments. I have 2 children and would like to try for a third Was hoping to get this one of the bucket list before that.

"Had we but world enough and time, this coyness lady were no crime."
LOL!!! Thats brilliant

MariaCoy

RayCun, that's probably my best route, to join a club. I definitely don't think I could do the distance alone. I certainly don't have the knowledge to get over the line and would welcome any advice.

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

MariaCoy

Singer, WOW! That's very inspiring...I love hearing stories like that. Find them so motivating and inspiring! Thank you!

MariaCoy

Yes, rainbow kirby, it is...I suppose the best thing to do is try improve my 10k times first and see where I am in a couple of months. Maybe sign up for a half in the summer.

I appreciate all the advice. Maybe an 18 months window is a more realistic plan, with plenty of racing and long distances thrown in for good measure.
Time to re-assess...

Thank you.

rainbow kirby

Definitely sign up for a half in the spring or summer - it's a nice progression from 10k, will give you a flavour of longer runs and the extra mileage should bring on your times in shorter distances.

nhunter100

MariaCoy wrote:

If I was to fully commit to training, is it realistic to go from where I am (60 min 10K runner) to a 4 hour marathon in one year? And I know that it would be hard to answer, all depending on circumstances and the effort I would input...but from anyone's experience, is it achievable? For a first marathon, to do, what I would consider this big leap?

I started running June 2013, first 10km was in July that year time of 56mins and I was chuffed. Did a half in September and signed up and did the Connemarathon in April 2014 time was 3.38. It is doable from your 10km time but you need to commit to a training plan and realise it ain't easy but the feeling of elation crossing the finish line is worth all the hard work.

walshb

MariaCoy wrote: »

Hello,

I would love to get someone's opinion/advice.

Down through the years, I've been running periodically, never anything too serious and I would dip in and out of it for months at a time.

Now, it was always for enjoyment and I could never claim to be any great athlete. My times are very modest for a 5k and have never run further than 10k, with my PB 59 mins for the 10k. But I would love to set myself a goal of a marathon. Here's where I would love an opinion...

If I was to fully commit to training, is it realistic to go from where I am (60 min 10K runner) to a 4 hour marathon in one year? And I know that it would be hard to answer, all depending on circumstances and the effort I would input...but from anyone's experience, is it achievable? For a first marathon, to do, what I would consider this big leap?

Thanks.

Very achievable with dedication. 4 hrs is "slow" as regards pace. Put the miles in and the quality and there's no reason why any able bodied and relatively young/healthy person could not get 4 hrs.

nhunter100

walshb wrote:

4 hrs is "slow" as regards pace.

Absolutely unnecessary comment to make.

walshb

nhunter100 wrote: »

Absolutely unnecessary comment to make.

When in inverted commas I don't think so. Read again, they are there. And don't be so bloody sensitive.

ultrapercy

nhunter100 wrote: »

Absolutely unnecessary comment to make.

He used " " so he covered himself. He's very "clever" that way.

nhunter100

walshb wrote:

When in inverted commas I don't think so. Read again, they are there. And don't be so bloody sensitive.

I'm not sensitive at all, I still feel there was no need to say 4 hr is a slow pace. It's a significant achievement for a huge cohort of people. I know this because I have Paced this time in multiple marathons.

nhunter100

ultrapercy wrote:

He used " " so he covered himself. He's very "clever" that way.

Inverted commas or not it was still a sh#tty comment.

walshb

nhunter100 wrote: »

I'm not sensitive at all, I still feel there was no need to say 4 hr is a slow pace. It's a significant achievement for a huge cohort of people. I know this because I have Paced this time in multiple marathons.

Fair point. Look, I don't want to engage in petty arguments, so I take your point on board. For me my post was encouraging that any person with dedication and a level of fitness can achieve 4 hrs. My use of the word 'slow' was actually to empower. That's exactly the effect I was aiming for.

benjamin d

Once you can run a 10k you can do a half within a couple/few weeks. Once you can do a half it's the same step to 30ish km. Once you can do that you're pretty much sorted for the marathon as regards distance.

For times, join a club with good structured training where you'll be guided through speed work, intervals, hill sessions etc. That's where your time will come down.

There's plenty of time. Your 10k time will come down to around 50 minutes pretty easily with decent training and then the 4 hour marathon is well achievable.

nhunter100

walshb wrote:

Fair point. Look, I don't want to engage in petty arguments, so I take your point on board. For me my post was encouraging that any person with dedication and a level of fitness can achieve 4 hrs. My use of the word 'slow' was actually to empower. That's exactly the effect I was aiming for.

No bother, but I will disagree with you on the use of the word 'slow' to empower someone. Telling someone who has busted their ass/ or will to get a sub 4 that it's a slow pace is far from empowering. Anyway that's just my opinion have a good one I'm done.

ultrapercy

walshb wrote: »

Fair point. Look, I don't want to engage in petty arguments, so I take your point on board. For me my post was encouraging that any person with dedication and a level of fitness can achieve 4 hrs. My use of the word 'slow' was actually to empower. That's exactly the effect I was aiming for.

Inverted commas are the most motivating of all the punctuation marks.

ncmc

Is your 10k time from a race or just the fastest you have run 10k in training? I would think going from that to a sub 4 marathon in a year is certainly doable, but it’s really impossible to say and you won’t know yourself until much further along in your training. First of all get in to a routine of running 3 times a week, you would need to increase that to 4 or 5 times a week when training for a marathon.

Read up on the basics of running, not all your runs should be done at race pace, the key to improving running is to learn how to slow down at times! It’s counter intuitive, but it does work. It’s one of the biggest mistakes new runners make, running each run like it’s a goal race!

You can read a lot online, but I personally found the Hal Higdon book very useful when I started running. As a rough guide, I would aim for 4 runs a week, to include one ‘long run’ a speed session of some sort and two easy runs. Your long run should get progressively longer as you aim towards a 10 mile, half marathon, marathon. You can get into a lot more scientific detail, but as a rough guide, you should see improvements by following that plan.

andrew1977

I went from being unable to complete a 5k in January 2014 to completing the Dublin city marathon this year in 4 hours 20 minutes.

I am nor never will be any superstar at running , only took it up 2 years ago to lose weight/a challenge somebody set me, havnt looked back since I joined my local athletics club fit for life gang.

You make the efforf,put the training in , you will do it.

Nobody in my family (including myself) a couple of years back would believe that I would ever complete a marathon.

One of my most prized possessions now is my Dublin city marathon medal, I achieved that for myself, nobody else.

Best of luck with it, you can do it, don't worry about anybody else and their running./finish time, your own personal achievement is whats important.

bucketybuck

nhunter100 wrote: »

I'm not sensitive at all, I still feel there was no need to say 4 hr is a slow pace. It's a significant achievement for a huge cohort of people. I know this because I have Paced this time in multiple marathons.

Its all part of his "game".

walshb

nhunter100 wrote: »

No bother, but I will disagree with you on the use of the word 'slow' to empower someone. Telling someone who has busted their ass/ or will to get a sub 4 that it's a slow pace is far from empowering. Anyway that's just my opinion have a good one I'm done.

I disagree here. Sub 3 hrs is busting your ass. Sub 4 hrs is not busting your ass. Maybe for someone who is old it is, but my point was specific to able bodied and relatively young runners who put in the effort. Nobody has to bust an ass to do this. Unless our definitions of busting an ass are different. To me it really is putting yourself out there. It's all relative to the person(s) we are discussing. For the average joe who is fairly fit and healthy then I would consider sub 3 to be quite an effort.

Edit: Regarding the OP. There isn't enough information for me to make a real call on her. 59 mins for 10 k is slow, but with real graft and effort that would drop a fair bit I'd imagine, hence marathon training specific then 4 hrs she can definitely do.

nhunter100

Baby01032012 wrote:

Does anyone want to hazard s guess as to when this will take effect?

walshb wrote:

I disagree here. Sub 3 hrs is busting your ass. Sub 4 hrs is not busting your ass. Maybe for someone who is old it is, but my point was specific to able bodied and relatively young runners who put in the effort. Nobody has to bust an ass to do this. Unless our definitions of busting an ass are different. To me it really is putting yourself out there.

You neither know the age or physical condition of the OP and busting one's ass is relative to the individual. As already stated I have no interest in a circular argument with you. I just don't feel the need to p*ss on the abilities of others by dressing it up as a motivational comment. I won't be responding further to you, take care.

walshb

nhunter100 wrote: »

You neither know the age or physical condition of the OP and busting one's ass is relative to the individual. As already stated I have no interest in a circular argument with you. I just don't feel the need to p*ss on the abilities of others by dressing it up as a motivational comment. I won't be responding further to you, take care.

Hence my edit to the post. The OP has not given me enough detail to make a decisive call. BTW, I too have no interest in arguing. I just disagreed with your take as regards 4 hrs being an ass busting effort. No biggy.

average_runner

RayCun wrote: »

I think if you train properly, starting now, running regularly, joining a club and doing sessions with them, you might manage it. Or at least get pretty close.
Worth a try anyway

I think what Ray said is spot on.

DubOnHoliday

Advice for novice runner.... pay no heed to any comments by walshb.

Itziger

benjamin d wrote: »

Once you can run a 10k you can do a half within a couple/few weeks. Once you can do a half it's the same step to 30ish km. Once you can do that you're pretty much sorted for the marathon as regards distance.

For times, join a club with good structured training where you'll be guided through speed work, intervals, hill sessions etc. That's where your time will come down.

There's plenty of time. Your 10k time will come down to around 50 minutes pretty easily with decent training and then the 4 hour marathon is well achievable.

Sorry, I think this is wrong. And counterproductive. People who do that are the runners who typically crawl, walk the last few kms of the Half and come in with any old time. Did they 'do' a Half? Yes. Did they train properly for a Half and do themselves justice? No. Are they going to do something similar when they step up to the 42.2k? Yes.

I know there are many ways to skin a cat but surely those who are relatively new to the sport should build up to a distance properly.

MariaCoy

I just want to thank everyone for taking the time to respond and offer advice. Thank you all so much.

I will take on board everything that everyone has said. I really am inspired, love reading about the progress of other people. Am gonna go for it. I know it will take a huge commitment and I think I'm at the stage in my life where I can commit.

Thank you all again...who knows, maybe one day I may be in the position to offer the encouragement to someone, that you have all given me.

Very excited! How long will that last