Marathon Anyone?

[Timr]

Anyone ever done one?

Some people here at the office are going to train for one, and I'm the leader of the training group.  The furthest that I've ever done is a Half Marathon.

So starts months of training and running.  We've put a number of shorter races, 5K, 10K, and a half marathon, on our training schedule.  Our Marathon will be in April of next year. 

I did my first training run last night.  I hadn't run since Feb.  It was an OK run, 3 miles at a 9:15 pace.

We'll see how it works out. :scream:

 

[dirt bike dave]

Tim,

I admire your determination.  But I question your sanity!  ;)

 

[ALarsh]

My dad ran one... It took him a year and a half to train.

 

[tx246]

there are training schedules for just an effort. a lady that the wife knows ran one of those benefit marathons. they gave her a workout schedule 6 nonths before and she followed it and was able to complete it.

now imagine what an ironman triathalon must be like!

 

[Timr]

Originally posted by tx246


now imagine what an ironman triathalon must be like!

I've done 3 3-mile training runs since my last post.  I seem to stay in about 9:15-9:20 a mile.  Although, last night, I ran the third mile in 8:45.  Marathon is still 9 months away, so all I'm doing now is building a base of miles. 6 months out, I will get on a regimented training schedule with a build up of long runs leading to both the half and full marathon that I'm going to run.

My brother and his wife completed their first Ironman Triathlon last year.  My bro finished in just under 11 hours and his wife about an hour behind him.  They are NUTS!  Now, they can run a marathon pretty much whenever they want.  They train and race like maniacs!  I know that they hope to qualify for the IM world championships in Hawaii. 

 

[lawman]

ewww, i used to do some of that stuff--bicycle races, tris, 5 & 10ks, finally did the atlanta 1/2 marathon. finally burned out on all of the training & injuries. went back to dirt bikes. i miss the fitness, but not the rest of it. good luck!

 

[CaptainObvious]

I've run marathons. The trick to the training is to do a different run every day of the week. Here is an example of my schedule...

Monday - Tempo Run
Tuesday - Recover Run
Wednesday - Distance Run
Thursday - Recover Run
Friday - Sprints
Saturday - Tempo Run
Sunday - Rest

The tempo run is something just a little faster than your intended race pace. This should be a mid-distance run, say 5 to 10 miles. Recover runs are short and slow 5 mile runs. I used the distance run to really train for marathons.

Lets say that you can run 10 miles right now. That being the case, for the next distance run you'd run 11 miles. The next week you'd run only 6 because you HAVE to recover. The following week however you'd run 12 miles followed by a 7 mile run the next Wednesday. Once again, the next week you'd double the short-distance run and put in 14 miles. Using this schedule you can easily get up to 20 or more miles.

The sprints are the second most important run. If you don't improve your speed you'll never improve your distance. Also, if you are running 9 min/mile at 10 miles, you'll be at 12 m/m's at 26 if you don't improve your speed. If your goal is a 9 m/m pace (4 hour marathon) you'll need to get the tempo runs down to 7 or 8 m/m. Do a few full out 400's, 800's and 1600's to get use to a faster pace. I always like to end the sprint day with 3 or 4 100's as well. Emmm good!

Good luck and enjoy the training. If you have a good base you shouldn't need more than 3 months to train.

 

[Timr]

Thanks Gary.  I look forward to meeting you at DW.  My goal is definately a sub 4-hour marathon.  Not by too much though.  3:55 would be good. 

 

[Farmer John]

Originally posted by Timr
I'm the leader of the training group.  The furthest that I've ever done is a Half Marathon.

Sicko.

I watched one on TV once.

 

[Bill Hibbs]

That's pretty cool Tim. I'm not much of a runner but it is cool to have a goal and train to achieve it. I like that part the best. Plus you get in better shape and can ride the Dirtbike better and longer. It's a win, win situation. Every person's body is a little different. I'd get a heart rate monitor and start "listening" to how you're body's reacting and adjust your training accordingly. It helped me a lot and I think it made more efficient use of the time I was training.. Have fun!

 

[CaptainObvious]

Hey Tim,

Look forward to riding AND running at DW03! BTW, I agree with Bill 100%. I had a trainer who always said "during a race you only have so many heart beats to spend, the faster you use 'em up the faster your race is over".

My race pace puts me between 140 to 160 bpm. I know when I start to get into the upper 150's that I need to slow down untill I get back into the 140's. From there I can pick the pace back up. Once I get above 170 to 180 bpm I know that I only have about 20 minutes left and I'm done.

 

[WaltCMoto]

Timr,
Good luck on your training. :thumb: Im doing the Chicago marathon on Oct 12. This puts a big emphasis on not getting broken up at DW.

Check this out http://www.halhigdon.com/

This site has several training sceduales to choose from based on your abilities. It also covers almost every distance you might want to race. Tons of good info here.


I started last October and built up to running 5 miles, 4 times a week. I was running at a race type pace, always pushing to get a better time. TOTALLY WRONG. In December I started a thread here about running and someone gave me this site. Then on the 1st of this year, I started on the spring training schedule. On feb 1st, I jumped into the 1/2 marathon schedule and did my 1st 1/2 mid march. I enjoyed it and now Im fully engulfed- training for the Chicago race in October. 9 weeks, 5 days to go. 2 months ago, I separated my shoulder and it put me on the sidelines for a month. Lets keep injury free this summer for sure.

Walt

 

[KelvinKDX]

Originally posted by Timr
Thanks Gary.  I look forward to meeting you at DW.  My goal is definately a sub 4-hour marathon.  Not by too much though.  3:55 would be good. 

My first marathon (Columbus, Ohio) was 4:00:00.  It was also my last marathon but at the time i was running triathalons almost every other week-end.

 

[Timr]

Originally posted by KelvinKDX


It was also my last marathon but at the time i was running triathalons almost every other week-end.

IronMan distance?  I want to get a road bike.  I have a bad case of the "I wants" and not enough $$$.

 

[Flying Scot]

Em ! excuse me. You are all nuts ! Who the heck want's to waste approx. 8 hrs weekly training after or before work. If it's after work that's approx. 16 beers that you could drink ( at a casual / social pace ).

I'm glad your body can stand that punishment. Mine can't. :worship:

 

[markthomps]

Tim: Well I've done 10 marathons. Enjoyed some, while a few just plain sucked. Most of the training advice you need is out there. The main thing to remember about FIRST marathons is "don't worry about your finish time!" You run the first one just to finish it. If you focus on the time you want to achieve, and then problems come up (which nearly always happens), and you fall off your pace, that can end up being a good enuf reason to quit instead of finishing. So just tell yourself you're going to finish it, screw the time, whether it's 4 hours or 6 hours. If there are any good training groups for newbie marathoners in your area, by all means find them and join up. In Minnesota, we had one of these groups and the finish rate for them was close to 100%.

 

[Racer#213]

i never understand why people run, do you ever see someone running with a smile on there face? i never have.

 

[markthomps]

Racer: Yeah, most of us are smiling and enjoying ourselves, but it's mostly internal. You feel better for doing your run, showering, having more energy for other stuff, whether bikes or something else. I'm just back from my usual lunchtime run. Been doing this for lotsa years. Some days suck, but mostly it's me having a good time out there on the roads, listening to some music, having some private time to think about biz and problems, and so on. So when you're riding your KX, you've always got a stupid giant grin on your face, correct? Of course you don't and neither do runners, but it doesn't mean we're not having fun.

 

[CaptainObvious]

Originally posted by Racer#213
i never understand why people run, do you ever see someone running with a smile on there face? i never have.

When you are riding at 90 to 100% of your ability do you smile? No. Are you having a good time? Yes.

 

[WaltCMoto]

Timr,
Hows the traning going?