marathon training (aka 'never say never'

I started as a beginner last summer, and ran a marathon in mid-october last year. I followed a 16 week plan from runners world that peaked with a 20 mile long run three weeks prior to the marathon.  Here's the link - if it doesn't work, go to runnersworld.com and look for it under the "marathoning" section. This is just one plan, but it may give you an idea. Good luck!

-Rob

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-51-56-0-633,00.html

Typical week, run only:

• Monday: rest/recovery (pretty easy so far, eh?)
• Tuesday: 1 mile warm-up, 4 mile at LT pace (8:20 est), 1 mile cool down
• Wednesday: 45 minutes eliptical trainer
• Thursday: eight-mile run, marathon goal pace (MP)
• Friday: 45 minutes eliptical trainer in am, speed work in afternoon (Yasso 800s)
• Saturday: No run
• Sunday: Long Slow distance, first 75% about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes slower than MP, last 25% at MP. I like to increase my mileage every other week, scaling back to 14 on the weeks in between, typically last ten weeks goes 18, 14, 20, 14, 22, 14, 20, 14, 8, marathon.

Tri-training

Remember I've been doing 5-6 centuries during the season, and added tris mid-summer last year:

I would also ride my bike M, W,  and Th, various lengths and intensities (can provide details if you like), long ride (typically 70-80 miles_ on Saturday.

I would swim  on  MWF, typically less than an hour before my  ET workout. Late in the tri-season I was doing a swim/bike workout on Saturday as well.

Sounds like a lot, it is a commitment, I wouldn't try to run a marathon on much less than 40 MPW. Add tri training to that and you may not have much room for a life.

First congratulations on makign that leap.  When i frist started running, I told my wife I only wanted to do a few 5k's, and now 10 marathons later...lol.

Second, what Bear said, hit it right on the head.  One long run a week, one to two speed sessions (just make sure you put an easy day between them), adn the rest should be just aerobic running. 

One of the best books i found was Advance Marathoning.  But don't let the title fool you.  It really can be used for beginners.  Best, and easiest explanations I have found regarding the science behind marathoning.  There are programs in the back of the book.  I think the shortest was 55 miles per week, but you can cut that back proportionally to what you want to do.

Good Luck

Chris 

I just got through with my first marathon. I used the Higdon beginner program, and treated it as the run portion of my tri training.. I got through the race, but only just. My personal thoughts are that

1. I should have done more 3-plus hour runs, and definately more runs of over 15-16 miles.

2. Tri training for over a year (8-9 hours per week including riding, running, swimming, and weights) definately gave me the heart/lung capacity to do the race, but my legs were not as ready as I thought.

Thus my recommendations of a minimum peak of 40 MPW, and at least three long runs over 18 miles.

So Bear, what do you say to the argument that no one should run more than 3 hours (I think that was the number)? If one runs 11 min miles, they can't do 18 miles in less than 3 hrs...

I still don't know what to think of that argument... just gathering opinions.

I was just thinking about that. I've said before, I'm not so sure that rule of thumb works very well with slower runners.

Take autumn, if she doesn't mind. Her 1/2 marathon time indicates a potential marathon time of right at five hours (11:32 pace). Take a prevalent recommendation that she run her LSDs at a pace 1 to 1 1/2 minutes slower than goal pace, which gives her an LSD pace of, say, 12:30. This means in 3 hours she can cover about 14.4 miles.

Now who out here would attempt to run, or send someone out to run a marathon with a long run of only 14.4 miles?

Exactly... I would totally be in the same boat, but I'd never attempt something so long if I'd only covered half the distance. You might finish a 5k that way, but a marathon is an entirely different matter. Seems silly.

At the same time, the injury concern seems legitimate....