Question:Are you OK with the possibility of feeling very, very bad during the late
miles of a marathon, and then for a couple of weeks or so after?
Answer:
...coming off a 20 mile per week base? I'd hoped to be outdoors for most of
April and up to 25 or more by now, but the weather gods had other ideas. There
is one in late July (11 weeks) and one in late August (16 weeks).
What's your running (or general athletic) background, if any?
20 mile/week base,...for how long?
How's your height/weight/eating habits?
Are you aiming for a particular time while pushing yourself to an absolute
limit, or just to finish in whatever time it happens to be?
Are you OK with the possibility of feeling very, very bad during the late
miles of a marathon, and then for a couple of weeks or so after?
Minimum time to train for a marathon is ZERO, but it's just not a good idea
at all. Generally recommended as bare minimum for many people is closer to
about 6 months with average weekly mileage in the mid-30's, low 40's, give
or take depending on 100's of factors.
Generally recommended as 'preferred' seems to be closer to 1-2 years of
continual running, participating in some shorter races, and THEN starting up
a 18-24+ week marathon training program.
I looked back at your posts over the past couple of months. Considering that you
are relatively new to distance running and that it appears you've had some
problems getting in many long runs in your training program so far, I'd be
inclined to go for the August marathon. I think that must be the city marathon you
mentioned. 14 weeks is enough time if you are able to stick to the program from
now on. Since this is your first marathon, much depends on your long run
experience, total training volume, plus talent and athleticism factors that only
you can evaluate.
Especially since you set an ambitious first marathon time goal, I'd be wary of
trying to accomplish enough before the early July to taper and be ready to run
fast for 26.2 miles in that July race. In fact, at this point you at least need to
ask yourself whether it's time to put your time goal on hold, set a new goal of
just finishing the August marathon and enjoying the experience, and then you'll
have enough knowledge to know what you can shoot for--and train hard for--later in
the year.
Yeah, July would have to be just a finisher for sure. Do you think 14 weeks is
long engough to do strength and speed phases in my programme, or should I just
be trying to build mileage?
I was pretty athletic into my early thirties - lots of martial arts. 5 years
off with knee surgeries. I've been doing about 20 mpw for over a year now - as
high as 30 for about a month last summer. I did one long run of 15 mi. in
Sept. I have done 13 miles this year (last week). I'm fairly lean at 6'2" and
175lbs. I think I could ramp up to 30 mpw and 15 mi long in just a couple of
weeks with no ill effects, so really it would be like 10 weeks to the earlier
or 15 weeks to the later starting at 30 mpw. I guess the one thing that might
really slow me down is the need to take "easy" weeks as the long runs start to
get really long. Is this fairly critical?
I am not an expert in program phases, but I followed an even shorter 12-week
Pfitzinger/Douglas program between my last two marathons and my recollection is that
they just shorten each of their "meta-cycles" or whatever they call them, so you get
a variety of emphases, all the while building mileage. Without knowing anything
other than your long run history, which you've outlined, I'm inclined to say
increasing the long run has to be your No. 1 priority whatever modified plan you
pursue. There's no substitute of any kind for experiencing the physical and mental
challenges at 20+ miles BEFORE you experience them in a marathon. You've got time to
stay within sensible limits and still get in a couple of 20 mile runs before your
taper, if your body tolerates the harder training and you have no further
interruptions
One of the joys of running to me is that everything slips by....Seriously
though, I'm kind of a perfectionist, so I have to have pretty good goals to
keep myself motivated. Posting here has always been great, lots of good
feedback, inspirational postings, cautionary tales, good natured ribbing. Some
of us can't enjoy things unless we're pushing our limits (even if we're not
worldbeaters).
