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Thread: First road marathon

  1. #1
    Master jodg's Avatar
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    First road marathon

    Hello!
    In a moment of weakness, I've entered a road marathon which takes place in October 2007. I'm quite at home on the fells but have never done a road race before, let alone one of this distance.
    If there are any fellow forumites out there who have trained for this sort of thing before and can give me any tips or pointers then I'd like to hear from you.
    Thanks!
    J

  2. #2
    Master Pudgy's Avatar
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    Re: First road marathon

    This was discussed before on forum mark II, and the consensus seemed to be, lots of long runs on the road. I was in the same boat last year, tried running on the road, but was getting injured (and didn't like it), so I did long fell races, with a few 10Ks and half marathons, and that seemed fine for me.

  3. #3
    Master jodg's Avatar
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    Re: First road marathon

    Ta for that. I seem to recall a thread or two about this last year - never thought it would apply to me!

    Similarly, I always "feel it" after a long road run but don't suffer anywhere near as much doing the same distance (or longer) on a fell. As I want to continue doing fell races I'll keep the training the same and maybe switch focus to more on roads some 6-8 weeks before the race at the end of October.

    Only plan to run one road marathon - hills are too good!

  4. #4
    alwaysinjured
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    Re: First road marathon

    Quote Originally Posted by jodg View Post
    Hello!
    In a moment of weakness, I've entered a road marathon which takes place in October 2007. I'm quite at home on the fells but have never done a road race before, let alone one of this distance.
    If there are any fellow forumites out there who have trained for this sort of thing before and can give me any tips or pointers then I'd like to hear from you.
    Thanks!
    J
    Trouble is, everyone is different!


    I tried all sorts, but this is the formula that actually worked to bring my marathon time down:


    Get a good base fitness of miles (build to 40+) till say 3 months to go then, go into specific training.

    Weekly

    (a) A long run, emphasis on a long time - a minute a mile+ over marathon pace!, and build these up to close to the marathon time, making the last very long, maybe 3 weeks to go.

    (b) A semi long run: start at 8- 10 miles, and build a couple a week to 16-17 , a few seconds a mile faster than goal marathon pace. That one workout makes the first half of the marathon so easy.

    (c) Long intervals - I used to build to around 8-9 *K at around 10 mile to 1/2m race pace, with 500 m jog recovery, generally done round a block of an estate near home ie a full lap, then half lap recovery.

    (d) A pace run of 6-10 miles or race.

    (e) Maybe some short hill sprints every now and then to keep short speed up.

    Replace long run with occasional half marathon

    Then dont be afraid to take a day off! 50 miles a week is OK to race a marathon - it is the slow easy runs on knackered legs that IMHO stop your recovery. I tested this. Running that regime above running 90milse a week
    with no days off, worked no better than running 50-60 with 2 days off - all it did was lead to injury

    And when you taper, start losing distance, but if anything increase the quality, till a week before , then not much at all in the last week, just a couple of reasonably brisk 6- 10 milers, stopping completely to leave a 2 day gap of no running to the day

  5. #5
    alwaysinjured
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    Re: First road marathon

    PS

    LDWA events make really good long slow runs, with food and drink provided.

  6. #6
    Senior Member ChrisU's Avatar
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    Re: First road marathon

    I've just run London Marathon a couple of weeks ago
    http://live.london-marathon.co.uk/20...4534000005EDDE
    My target was 2:50, but was happy enough with 2:53.

    It was the first time I'd bothered doing any training for a marathon.

    My training consisted of:
    a) Running every day in 2007 for at least 25 minutes.
    b) Averaging about 40 miles per week, increasing to 50 miles per week for the last 3 weeks before the marathon.
    c) Racing about five 10k's and four Half Marathons in the months leading up.

    The main thing is to think of a sensible target time, then run at constant pace to achieve that time.
    Don't be tempted to run any faster in the first half.

  7. #7
    Master jodg's Avatar
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    Re: First road marathon

    Fantastic advice - thanks to all!

    Task this afteroon: invest in a pair of roads shoes.....

  8. #8
    Senior Member ChrisU's Avatar
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    Re: First road marathon

    I wore these Nike Zoom Elite at London and found them light and comfy
    http://achillesheel.co.uk/road.php?q...zoom_elite_III

  9. #9
    Master jodg's Avatar
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    Re: First road marathon

    Ta for that Chris. I usually stick with Adidas for trail shoes etc since they fit my wide, (relatively) short feet! But I'm open to trying another brand so will put these on the list.

  10. #10

    Re: First road marathon

    Always Injured,

    I like the sound of your training plan - I think it could work for me.

    I ran London and missed my target by just over 2 mins so have entered Amsterdam in October looking for a sub 2:45.

    Could you tell me what sort of time your plan gave you?

    Thanks

    MH

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