First Marathon - The training continues...

marathonic

Hi,

Just a brief background here. I started training for a half marathon last year. I was never fit before in my life and was never into any sports. I mentioned doing a marathon to a friend as a means to cut down on the drinking. I started the gym last April and could barely run for 1k. Towards the end of May I participated in my first 5K.

Unfortunately, during the whole endeavour, I never did give up the drink, although I did cut down a little bit - one fortnightly bender of a weekend as opposed to a weekly bender of a weekend with the odd 2 week break (I used to go on a session every Friday night, all day Saturday and some Sundays).

Anyway, despite the drinking every couple of weeks (which you DO notice a huge affect on your performance after), I did manage to complete a half marathon in September - the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach in America. It took longer than expected at 2hrs 12mins - although the heat can take most of the blame for that.

After the half marathon, I continued with the runs at home until the end of September when the dull weather de-motivated me (I had intended to run the Dublin marathon). At my peak I was running 15 miles in 2hrs 5mins.

Now, after three and a half months of lazing about and doing absolutely no excercise, I've decided to get back into it. I rejoined the gym at the start of this month. I've read that you can build up much quicker after a 3-6 month break than when you were starting from scratch.


So far, I've been to the gym 3 times (threadmill):

10th Jan .. 30 mins @ 10km per hour
12th Jan .. 28 mins @ 11km per hour
16th Jan .. 25 mins @ 12km per hour


As far as I'm aware, the main reason for slowly building up your distances when you start running is to avoid leg injuries. During the above 3 runs, my legs were in no pain whatsoever - I was just a bit short-breathed after them. Therefore, I plan to build my distance up relatively quickly (until such times that I notice my legs being a bit sore after my run). Then I'll start the slow buildup.

Depending on how I get on, I plan to do one of the following 2 combinations of races:

24th March .. Larne 1/2 Marathon
7th May ...... Belfast Marathon

1st April .. Connemara 1/2 Marathon
June '07 .. Cork Marathon

Odysseus

Hi there, I don't want to block up your journal with stuff, so just to say it's nice to have another runner here and if I can be of any help just ask. You only get one first marathon so enjoy it. The journey your training should be as enjoyable as your destination the marathon.

marathonic

Thanks Odysseus. It'll be a while before I get to your level but we all have to start somewhere.

18th Jan .. 6k - 16.5 mins @ 12 KPH and 16.5 mins @ 10 KPH

I was slightly dissappointed as I wanted to do the 6k in 30 mins but I suppose it could still be considered an improvement over the 5k in 25 mins as I have increased my distance which is what marathon training is all about. I also done 20 mins on the excercise bike and 20 on the cross trainer.

Also, I'll have to get the weight down a bit. I wouldn't consider myself to be too much overweight - just at the upper limits of my ideal range which ain't good for running 26.2 miles. My current weight is 12st 7lbs and my target weight is about 11st. That leaves 21lbs to lose in 15 weeks which should be achievable.

I've read that 3500 calories equates to 1lb of bodyweight. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to diet but I reckon that I can achieve my target weight simply by making a few slight adjustments to my diet combined with the fact that I intend to reduce going out from 2 nights per weekend (average of 10-12 drinks per night) to 1 night per fortnight initially and then cut it out completely a few weeks before the half-marathon. Even if I don't achieve the weight goal, it doesn't matter as the marathon is the main goal.

marathonic

Unfortunately, my training has been sidetracked a bit. I was sick for a bit over a week and found it hard to gather the motivation to go back to the gym. I finally got back to it yesterday and did 6k @ 10KPH.

The 6K was alot tougher than I remember the last one being and I wanted to stop after only 3 but let stubborness take me the rest of the way. It would be unsensible for me to aim for the Larne half marathon now and maybe even the Connemara one (although I think this is sold out anyway).

I don't know what I'll aim for now. Maybe 'The Michael Sonny Murphy Memorial (Kilnaboy) 10 Mile' on 8th April or the Omagh Half-Marathon on 31st April (although that would be pushing it).

Fuzzballs

I completed my 1st marathon in 2006, the Dublin marathon.
Just thought i would share a few nuggets of info with you.
I am 31yrs male,although i have trained most of my life, football, martial arts, weights, swimming etc i still decided to start my program 10 months in advance.
I was fit in a lot of ways but not fit to run long miles. Running is a different beast. And you will need to take it easy at the start and ease your way into the miles, otherwise, knees, back or shins will go on you. Especially when you get onto the road. And you should do that sooner rather than later the treadmill will just not do the biz, you need to hit the beach, park, road, whatever.
My plan was 4 days a week, dropped all other training (in hindsight should have keep training on my abs, supports your back apparently).
Running routine is simple, do a short run, medium run, short run, long run
Short and medium should stay the same, the long one should increase 10% each week. I just increased by 1 mile to make it easier. Clock the miles in your car, do not guess your miles. So when i started i did 2 mile, 4 mile, 2 mile, 5 mile. The 5 mile goes to 6 next week etc, until you get to 8, hold that for a few weeks, or when you feel capable push on. This was my routine all the way,(my long run eventually went to 20 miles). Obviously the 2 miles and 4 miles increased, but that was after a good few months. Did the Bupa, and the adidas road race series and that was my preperation.I finished the marathon in Oct at 3hrs 50 mins. And i did not miss a days training. I honestly cant see you doing the Belfast now your mileage is to low. Focus on the Dublin. Concentrate on adding small mileage each week, be consistent. After a while the small and med runs will seem useless, but keep doing them thats your warm up for the big one every weekend. Just need to keep adding the miles. That is what i would suggest to you, training during the summer is great fun, you will enjoy that a lot more.