My first Marathon...

[shelf]

So in 3 days I'm going to sign up for my first Marathon...the Austin Marathon in February. I feel extremely strong with my running and am quite confident that as long as I stay consistent that I'll be able to run a good one (3:45 is my goal).

The question I have is with over 9 months to train, what do you recommend that I do right now? The internet is full of 6 month/3 month training plans, just not 9 month plans.

I know two things I'm going to do...NOT over run and incorporate some cross training like weights, swim, bike and rock climb.

Thanks in advance for your sparkling advice!

[rollingrock]

sorry, no advice from this non marathoner on training programs, but i will say that cycling has really helped endurance and given me quads of steel when it comes to running. okay, maybe not steel but they're mighty! well. almost. you get the picture.

stay well and enjoy this experience

[shelf]

sorry, no advice from this non marathoner on training programs, but i will say that cycling has really helped endurance and given me quads of steel when it comes to running. okay, maybe not steel but they're mighty! well. almost. you get the picture.

stay well and enjoy this experience

Thanks! I'll also be incorporating some Orange soda swimming...

[coachmarkos]

Joel,

just build mileage.

Use one of those "14 week" plans...those seem to be most common.

What I'd do, is just continue to build miles until you get that far out.
Increase about 5 total miles every 3 weeks or so.

Keep doing this until you get 14 weeks out. You've got more than enough time....just build that base, man.

[shelf]

Joel,

just build mileage.

Use one of those "14 week" plans...those seem to be most common.

What I'd do, is just continue to build miles until you get that far out.
Increase about 5 total miles every 3 weeks or so.

Keep doing this until you get 14 weeks out. You've got more than enough time....just build that base, man.

Good advise and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'd like to run 4 times a week and cross train 2 times a week. Right now I'm doing about 20 miles a week so next month I'll kick it up into the 24-25 area.

Also, I'll stop smoking and wearing my ACME beer helmet on my runs...

[MM]

First, don't forget the fanny pack.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read. ... 666&page=0

The best advice is just to build mileage in the next several months. Gradually increase miles each week, and don't be afraid to run slowly to do it. The bigger the base, the higher the summit. Then get on one of those 14 or 16 week plans and follow it.

[last2know]

I agree with coach, build consistently. Making it routing. I'd spend the next couple of months on my own increasing mileage on one run a week without anyone's plan and about 20 weeks out start researching the "experts'" plans out there and figure out what you believe will work best for you time-wise and type of running wise. Pick one. stick to it.

[FoothillBrewer]

I'm looking at doing my first marathon in Feb. That gives me 24 weeks. I've been toying around with my plan, but it's been based on my tri training experiences. My philosophy is to spend about 10 weeks building a solid base where I'm used to running 5 days a week, albeit only about 3-4 miles each time out. Then I'll start adding mileage to one of those days to make it my long run day. 2 of those running days are easy days - I'm hoping to incorporate some cross training on those days. I'd like to keep 2 days as total rest days.

Anyone see any obvious flaws?

[coachmarkos]

Holy Smokes...you wrote that in August and no one replied?

How is it going? are you still pursuing this?

I think the plan sounds good, to me.