Training to Run a Marathon -- Minimum Running?

[jcmatthews]

Several people have said that I should be running 20 miles at a stretch just before the marathon. To that I have to say that if I've already run 20 miles, where's the mystery in attempting 26?

I'm currently training for my ninth marathon, and the best advice I ever heard is that 20 miles just halfway. I always do at least one training run of 21 miles or more, mainly to prove to my brain that I can get past the dreaded "wall". The longest training run should be at least 3 weeks before the marathon, though, and should be a leisurely mix of running and walking.

Good luck!

[gcanyon]

--much interesting information--

So you only trained about two months before running the marathon? Now THAT I wouldn't try.

How far were you running to prepare, and how many times per week?

There's a running store near where I work. I'm definitely going to visit them for shoes, etc., a few months before the marathon.

I was planning to get my weekly run up to ten miles or so, so a half marathon somewhere along the way obviously wouldn't kill me.

My body doesn't gain or lose weight easily. I could try losing (I never have before) but I doubt I'd be successful. I'm not big to begin with, though, so although I'm sure there's 10-15 pounds I could lose, I think I'm going to have to lug it.

An interesting aside -- the only time I've lost significant weight was when I had a motorcycle accident ten years ago. I was in the hospital for a month, and lost about 35 pounds. I tell people I went on a crash diet.

But to give you an idea of how hard my body hangs on to weight, later I had complications and was in the hospital for another ten days -- no food, just an IV. I didn't lose a pound.

regards,

Geoff

[johnlvs2run]

If you're not running much, then doing just a long run is okay. Like if you run just once a week, then go out and walk and run for 3 hours. This will help you to finish a marathon. The same if your mileage is low.

On the other hand if you are training consistently, then you are much better off doing a couple of 2 hour runs each week and NOT doing a long run, as that would be way too tiring. Or do one 2 hour run and a second run for 1 hour 40 minutes. Even one 2 hour run is plenty as long as your mileage is up.

The second method will help you to recover more quickly, to finish more strongly and to get a faster time for the marathon than the first.

[ancho]

...
So you only trained about two months before running the marathon? Now THAT I wouldn't try.

As a matter aof fact, I trained "specifically" from beginning of september to end of november, that is 3 months (12 weeks)!
And I had been training regularly following our rowing schedule, so I was not really unfit, and I think that what it's all about.

This is the link to the thread on the old forum, where I explain my marathon preparation in detail, and here are the spreadsheets with the resume of my training during those 3 months.







Hope it will help.

[andyArvid]

Geoff,

My philosophy is a little different than most. I recently ran a marathon (4:03, first in 22 years) and hope to run another on June 4th (goal sub 3:20). I spent a little less than 3 months converting my rowing shape into running shape. I slowly increased my running and diminished my rowing. You can see my exercise log by clicking below. You can also see that I was able to recover fairly quickly.

I do not believe the long run is necessary maybe psychologically but I have never any doubt I could finish a marathon. I never run over 13 miles in a single training run. To me, the risk of injury or overtraining far outweighs the benefits. I believe in exercising everyday with smaller variations in time and effort. Rests days only exist for sickness or severe overtraining or those days where exercise is impossible.

You should have a CV base of 60-80 minutes/day within 2 months of the marathon and maintain it. It could be rowing, running, swimming or biking. As the marathon approaches more than 60% should be running. Typically I run 55-60 minutes a day and row 21-22 minutes. The rowing serves as a warm up and cool down from running. Saturdays I play soccer which usually hurts my desire to run/row longer on Sunday. Monday is usually an easy day where I only row.

I think it would be hard (though not impossible) to run a marathon running only 1 day a week but I think you could get a way with running only 3 days a week provided the other days included 60+ minutes of erging.

good luck,

andy

[gcanyon]

I ran 5 miles on Sunday. I didn't have a watch, so I don't know the pace other than that it was slow. I'm still nursing a sore calf from when I cramped it last week, and my right achilles tendon is tender. I probably finished the 5 miles in about 50 minutes.

By the end I had managed to not make my calf any worse. I toyed with cramping several times, but found good posture helped keep it happy. My achilles tendon was getting progressively sorer by the end.

I rowed around 7k Sunday night, and set a new personal best on the half hour tonight. So I'm feeling pretty happy. If the body parts are happy, this coming weekend I'll try 10k.

[The Vulcan]

This may come too late to do you any good, but I would recommend the marathon training plans on www.runnersworld.com. They have detailed workouts to take you from beginning to end, and for most of the major marathons, they have pace groups led by seasoned runners. The book "4 months to a four hour marathon" is also good. Even if you don't follow a formal training plan, there are no shortcuts to finishing a marathon. You've got to put the miles in the bank. The book "First Marathons" will give you some horror stories from people who ran a marathon unprepared.

Karen, runner since 1977

[ancho]

gcanyon, how's your running doing?

[combatfred]

Hi Goeff

I don't know if this helps but here's my story.

I did a bit of running and gym work for general fitness.
On 18th Sept 2001 I had a motorcycle accident. Injuries were 2 broken thumbs, broken wrist, broken collar bone, torn ligaments to one foot and an elbow plus some cuts and bruises. Pretty lucky to get away so lightly
as I left the road at around 80mph and hit a wall without having time to brake.

It was early January 2002 before I was out of plaster and able to excercise. I was immediately offered a guaranteed entry to the London Marathon through a friend at a local running club, which I stupidly accepted.

I had 13 weeks to train for it. I'm a heavy guy and not built for running, so my plan was to build up gently and not put any pressure on myself.

The first 4 weeks were spent building up the distance. Nothing major, just started with easy sessions of 2 x 10 mins twice a week with a slightly longer run at the weekend. After 4 weeks I did a 60 minute run at the weekend. From then to the marathon I ran twice mid-week with a long run at the weekend. The mid-week runs were no longer that 10k and the weekend runs were half marathon distance with the final 4 being 17 miles. The week before the marathon I did absolutely nothing.

My time was 3hrs 27 mins. Not bad for a 15 stone guy with 13 weeks training.

The level of training you do depends on what you want from the race. If you don't want to break any records, then just get out there and run. Be flexible with your training. I wanted to enjoy the training experience and give my body time to fully recover from each long run. I was fit enough to enjoy the race and take in the unique athmosphere that a major marathon has to offer.

Good luck

Fred

[gcanyon]

gcanyon, how's your running doing?

Non-existent for now, along with rowing.

In August I organized a decathlon for my office. I took off running to complete the events in the decathlon -- non-traditional events, so no, running a marathon wasn't one of them

I was doing fine until the leg press.

I did three sets of 15 at 330 lbs, nothing too much I thought. Easy on the legs anyway. But the lower back pains started the next day, and they haven't gone away yet.

Since I have no real interest in running and rowing is near-impossible at the moment, I've been doing very little of anything. In addition, I fell down my front steps last week -- my _brick_ front steps. I damaged my left knee and my right ankle, the knee especially badly. I'm walking, but not well.

In any case, I'm going to try rowing again tomorrow. My back feels reasonably okay -- not 100% by any means, but if I keep proper posture (always a challenge for me) and don't overdo it, I hope to be able to get back into it, and eventually running.

At this point, in the back of my head I'm thinking that I am certain I can _walk_ 26 miles, so as long as I don't quit out of boredom, I can still "complete" a marathon, even if it isn't what I had in mind.

[gcanyon]

Hi Goeff

I don't know if this helps but here's my story.

I did a bit of running and gym work for general fitness.
On 18th Sept 2001 I had a motorcycle accident. Injuries were 2 broken thumbs, broken wrist, broken collar bone, torn ligaments to one foot and an elbow plus some cuts and bruises. Pretty lucky to get away so lightly
as I left the road at around 80mph and hit a wall without having time to brake.

My time was 3hrs 27 mins. Not bad for a 15 stone guy with 13 weeks training.

Wow, that's quite a good time, especially considering the limited preparation. Given my current status (see the post above) I think I'd be happy with anything under 5 hours.

I also had a motorcycle accident. Mine was about 12 years ago, only going about 45mph, but I hit a pole. Fractured about eight ribs on the left, about five on the right. I punctured and collapsed both lungs, with bleeding in the chest cavity, ruptured my spleen, fractured my left hip (just the tip, no big thing), and beat the heck out of everything on the left side of my body.

Amazingly, I have no significant aftereffects, and haven't since about six months afterward. Too bad, since it would be nice to have a justification for doing poorly

In any case, be careful on the bike.

[ancho]

Gcanyon: have a nice recovery, and let us know how you do.

Impressive story, Fred!

[strez]

gcanyon, so much depends on how fast you run and how much pain you can tolerate during the marathon. You could probably get away with 15-mile long runs once a week or so, but it's gonna hurt during the race and you will probably lose pace over the last half of the course. But the greatest fear of not doing much weight-bearing training for a marathon is, of course, you're setting yourself up for injury. You just gotta be careful. Given that you erg hard and have a huge endurance base, your heart and lungs should be fine; it's the knees and ankles that will probably be your weak point. As someone with close to 100 marathons and ultras under his belt, I would say, to finish a marathon happily and injury-free, you should probably run at a minimum twice a week: one short and one long, with at least one long run training in the 18 to 20 mile range. Just for that little incremental effort, your payback will probably be huge. From my experience, many folks that run marathons undertrained (ie, long run about 12 to 15 miles) and push through the pain often end up with long-term problems afterwards. I wish you the best of luck in your run.

[TabbRows]

GC,

Go back and re read runr/rowr's post. Galloway's been refining his hard/easy week program since the early 80s. I used to follow it when I ran. Think of it as a WP type plan for running. It'll work just fine if you're only looking to finish and not keep up with your daughter. You'll have to get those long runs up to 20+ miles, but that's only once every other week ( and only a couple of time, you build into them). You can easily substitue erging for shorter days or easy days, but you still need to run to be able to run.
Add some hill training into your routine. I did the inaugral LA MArathon and the back side of that course was hilly.

Good luck.