Question:
I have been running inconsistently for about 18 months. Have decided
to buckle down and train for a marathon -- welcoming any suggestions
for a first-time marathon--
What is generally the recovery time for a first time / total beginner
marathon runner?
Answer:Lots of MTCers don't like big city marathons, with all the crowds and all
the trappings. But (having run it 9 times, including as my first marathon) I
feel the New York City Marathon (1st Sunday in November) is the ultimate
first marathon, especially if you can talk someone into going with you who
has run it before.
Another great marathon for first timers, and much easier logistically than
NYCM, is the Marine Corps Marathon (late Oct).
For a smaller field and closer to home, Richmond Marathon is run in
mid-November.
The only disadvantage to all of these is they are early enough in the fall
that you will be doing long runs in August.
Charlotte Thunder Road marathon (early December) is another good one that
has much smaller crowds and fewer runners, but enough hills to use all your
muscle groups. Very easy logistics, you can park a block from the finish
line for free.
I would do the half in September. It could give you some excellent feedback on
your training up to that point and will let you run at or slightly faster than
your marathon target pace in race conditions, without blowing yourself up
physically at that important phase of your marathon program. If you race the
half, technically it will take two weeks to fully recover (one day of
"recovery" per mile raced) but by late September you should be in condition to
bounce back and resume quality workouts within a few days after the half. If
you do the full marathon in September, in my mind there's too much risk you'll
get caught up in the excitement and run it too hard, leaving you worn out in
early October when your training should be peaking.
In your training schedule, what will have been your four or five longest runs
before the marathon in November? It's not essential that you run 26.2 miles at
once in training before your first marathon, but I'm assuming you will have
done quite a few runs over 15 miles and at least two runs of 20 to 22 miles
before marathon day. Good luck
