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I'm there with ya... planning on running my first marathon in May. I'm following Higdon's novice plan... seems to be going ok so far. Good luck with everything!
posted 4 months ago
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just follow his program and all is well.
posted 4 months ago
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If you've done 5 halfs, then I'd say you probably have enough aerobic base to just follow along with the program as prescribed.
The only suggestion I can offer is that you may find you'll need to figure out a nutrition strategy for the long runs and the event itself. For a half marathon, you can get by with the glycogen stored in your muscles and liver - but for doing a full 26.2, you'll need to figure out something to avoid or minimize the wall at 20 miles. So I'd say that for the long runs, that would be a major focus.posted 4 months ago
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I agree with Ryan. Figuring out what to eat and drink on long runs and the marathon takes some time.
posted 4 months ago
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Hi John, I am new to DM. I ran 4 half marathons but unlike you I'm not ready to step up to the big one. I followed Hal Higdon's plans as well. Good luck to you.
posted 4 months ago
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Nothing wrong with Higdon. Here's the deal. Your logs aren't filled out, so we dont' know about your base. Spend a few months slowly working up to a 25mpw base. Don't worry about speed. Just get out there day after day (OK- 5 days a week) and run. After you get to 25mpw without injury- then you can start on a 16w marathon training program. It doesn't much matter which one, but the idea is to slowly work your way up to 40-50mpw (minimum, more is always better). You need to do very little speed work. No more than 15% of your mileage should be done fast/hard. Your long runs... you can't do them slow enough. If you do this- you won't be thinking "can I make 26.2 miles", you'll only be thinking "how fast". I suggest throwing in a half mary as a 'tune up' race 2 months prior to your marathon. It will give you a sense of how fast to pace yourself come race day.
It's not about running 26.2 miles. It's about running 600 miles in the preceding 4 months. Getting up day after day and lacing your running shoes. Consistency beats hard fast runs in this game.
posted 4 months ago
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If your goal is to finish a marathon, I don't think it requires 40-50 mpw. I've finished two marathons in the last 4 months training 80-100 miles per month. The key is completing the long runs. I run four days per week, and run/walk my long runs. Over time I've figured out a schedule that works for me.
If you want to run a marathon fast, e.g. Boston Marathon qualifying time then I agree that 40-50 mpw is probably needed. However, I personally don't have time to run that much, and don't know how my 48 yo body would hold up.
posted 4 months ago | edited 4 months ago
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True. If your goal is 'just to finish' you can run a lot less. Some people run/walk a marathon on relatively little training and finish it in 6-7hrs. If that's your goal, then my advice wouldn't apply. i'm guilty of thinking of what my goals are when I run a marathon- which is to run the whole dang thing as fast as I can.
If your long runs (typically 20mi) are more than half of your total weekly miles. you're risking injury.
posted 4 months ago
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Thanks for the advice, my PR for a half is 1:59, so my goal to finish the full is 4:30. I'll just stick to HH's plan and adjust as needed. I'll keep you all posted.
posted 4 months ago
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Last May I ran a half in 1:56, and in October I ran (run/walk) a full in 4:28.
posted 4 months ago | edited 4 months ago
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I'm right there with you, ran 3 and now training for my first full in April. I joined a running club and I'm training with their 4:00 pace group. The theme there is to run at a slower pace than your 'race' pace during training, but to try to get in runs more frequently during the week. You never want to train at 'race pace'. It didn't make sense to me at first, but essentially what is happening is that you aren't necessarily training yourself to run fast, you are training yourself to be able to stay on your feet for 4+ hours. The speed will take care of itself. If you want to see the training plan, I'll gladly email it to you. Thanks!
posted 4 months ago
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Im right there too! My first Marathon later this year! FR sent!
posted 4 months ago
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I ran my first marathon this last year. My best half time is 2:09 and I ran my full in 4:49. I was pretty conservative with my pacing because my goal was just to run the whole thing and finish. Time goals will come with subsequent races. That being said, if you've already run a sub-2 hour half, a full in 4:30 is very doable. My mileage peeked at 40 miles per week and I think it was sufficient. That being said, going into the race it's hard to feel like you did enough. Just have faith in the plan, put in the work and you'll be set! Friend request sent...
posted 4 months ago
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I also followed Higdon's plan for my first marathon and it was fine. I agree with the people who say figure out fueling. I thought I had a good plan for that but then ended up not following it during the race and hit a major wall right around mile 20. Good luck with all the training! FR sent!
posted 4 months ago
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\Hi John... same as you - first marathon this year. I too, am looking for as much help and tips as I can absorb! FR sent! sarah
posted 4 months ago
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All good info, thanks a lot!
posted 4 months ago
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hi John - all good advice here. I've added a few things I wish I'd known and that you might already be aware of but I wish I'd known when I moved up to the marathon. Build your base and be in tune with your body and how it reacts to that. The long runs, in particular, build the cardio base and help teach your body and you really how to run above 15-18 miles. Your halves are a great starting point.
I've been running almost 5 years and done 5 marathons. Had a multitude of hamstring, periformis, knees, etc. issues - if you don't know about either check out Runner's World, etc. Along the way I've also become very good friends with a chiropractor!
from my school of hard knocks:
1) get to know a good massage therapist for monthly or more frequently (if you can afford it) hour long massages for your legs, hammies, quads, shins, etc. as you hit higher mileage;
2) buy a foam roller for those areas--particularly your hammies to avoid ITB syndrome and roll all those areas 1-2x a day;
3) make sure to really rest on rest days
4) add cardio (bike or elliptical) 1-2x per week to rest the knees, legs and joints
5) add a speed workout (fartlek, tempo, negative split, etc.) into your training at least once a week.Did any of this make my 43 year old body with flat feet a 3:30 marathoner--ha! no way!! 4:19 is my best so far but I'm continuing to train and will hopefully get to my 4 hour goal!
Good luck in your training!! will friend you.
posted 4 months ago
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Sending a friend request - by late spring will have run 4 half marathons - aiming to train for a fall full. Good luck!
posted 4 months ago
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Hi John. I just ran my first marathon in October following the Hal Novice 2 plan. It looks like my highest milage week was 40 miles. I finished the race, which is all Hal promises for his Novice plans, but it took me 5:45. I totally hit a wall around mile 20 and had to walk a significant portion of the last 6. After a 1/2 PR of 2:06, I had higher hopes for my first marathon (thought I would run under 5hrs). When I asked a friend who finished strong about his training plan, he showed me a plan with significantly higher milage. He did 3 runs over 20 miles. I can be happy about a finish on my first, but I plan to use a different plan with higher weekly milage next time around. Good luck!
posted 4 months ago
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I do my 3rd half on Saturday. I started a full marathon training program a couple months ago for an April race and am taking a "see if my joints will hold up to the training" approach. If not, I'll scale back and do the half in April. FR coming your way as we both are on a similar paths and it would be good to compare experiences and encourage along the way.
posted 4 months ago
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Im using Hal Higdon's Novice Supreme for the Chicago Marathon in October. As I look at the weeks leading up to the big day I am a little concerned about adding 6 additional miles after only completing 20 miles once. This was helpful and I will adjust the schedule. Thank you.
posted 4 months ago
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I have my 5th half coming up in March, PR of 1:59, and I'm following HH for my first full this Fall. Hoping to run the whole thing and run a 4:10-4:15. FR sent.
posted 4 months ago
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in reply to what Joelle said:I'm there with ya... planning on running my first marathon in May. I'm following Higdon's novice plan... seems to be going ok so far. Good luck with everything!
I am training for my first full too. I am following Hal Higdon novice 2 plan. What marathon are you doing?
posted 4 months ago
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in reply to what Deena S. said:Im using Hal Higdon's Novice Supreme for the Chicago Marathon in October. As I look at the weeks leading up to the big day I am a little concerned about adding 6 additional miles after only completing 20 miles once. This was helpful and I will adj... read more
I am doing Chicago as well. This will be my first. I am using HH novice 2. So exciting!!!
posted 4 months ago
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I am in the same boat. FR sent.
posted 4 months ago | edited 4 months ago
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How long do you have? If it's more than 18 weeks, start buillding a base. Run as many easy miles as you can between now and the start of your actual plan. Use an online calculator to find out what your easy pace is, but based on a 2hr HM it's probably no faster than 10:00 per mile.
You can finish a marathon on low mileage. You have a time goal, though. If you can get in the miles ahead of time and can comfortably get to 50 easy mpw before you start tempo runs, speedwork, and pace runs, you're going to crush your goal and not have much injury risk.
posted 4 months ago
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Also training for my first marathon, which will be a carryover from trainig for my first half in April.
FR sent!
posted 4 months ago
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I'm running the Cox Rhode Runner marathon in Providence, RI in May. When is yours?
posted 4 months ago
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I'm running the Cox Rhode Runner marathon in Providence, RI in May. When is yours?
posted 4 months ago
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Joelle--I am running Cox too (but just the half). It was my first ever half last year, and I loved it!
posted 2 months ago
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