Comments on: Training for a Marathon: Part 1 http://www.athleta.net/chi/2010/06/15/training-for-a-marathon-part-1/ Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:37:23 -0800 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Sage http://www.athleta.net/chi/2010/06/15/training-for-a-marathon-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-48609 Sage Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:30:49 +0000 http://www.athleta.net/chi/?p=5921#comment-48609 Good questions, Kathleen. Running over 3 hours in marathon training, especially for first-timers, isn't worth the extra time it takes to recover from such runs. Really, the three hours will be enough! I know it's a huge leap of faith, but talk to your friends who've run marathons, and they can assure you that you'll be able to cover the extra distance on race day. Otherwise, with your doctor's permission, you should be good--do check that you are getting enough protein and calcium, and enough sleep! Good luck! Good questions, Kathleen. Running over 3 hours in marathon training, especially for first-timers, isn’t worth the extra time it takes to recover from such runs. Really, the three hours will be enough! I know it’s a huge leap of faith, but talk to your friends who’ve run marathons, and they can assure you that you’ll be able to cover the extra distance on race day. Otherwise, with your doctor’s permission, you should be good–do check that you are getting enough protein and calcium, and enough sleep! Good luck!

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]]> By: Kathleen http://www.athleta.net/chi/2010/06/15/training-for-a-marathon-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-48599 Kathleen Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:09:49 +0000 http://www.athleta.net/chi/?p=5921#comment-48599 As I prepare for my first marathon, I worry about the length of the longest training runs. I see that your plan has the longest runs at 3 hours. In my best case scenario, I am targeting a 4 hour marathon and staying open to the fact that it might take me up to 4 1/2. I've run 6 half marathons over the last year, so I feel that I am well prepared to begin this training but I worry that a 46 year old body won't appreciate an extra hour of running on race day. Will the 3 hour training run really be long enough? In your opinion, are there any special considerations the "middle age" woman should consider? My doctor gave me the good ahead and practically pushed me out the door to begin training! As I prepare for my first marathon, I worry about the length of the longest training runs. I see that your plan has the longest runs at 3 hours. In my best case scenario, I am targeting a 4 hour marathon and staying open to the fact that it might take me up to 4 1/2. I’ve run 6 half marathons over the last year, so I feel that I am well prepared to begin this training but I worry that a 46 year old body won’t appreciate an extra hour of running on race day. Will the 3 hour training run really be long enough? In your opinion, are there any special considerations the “middle age” woman should consider? My doctor gave me the good ahead and practically pushed me out the door to begin training!

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]]> By: Sage http://www.athleta.net/chi/2010/06/15/training-for-a-marathon-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-29671 Sage Tue, 17 May 2011 19:32:54 +0000 http://www.athleta.net/chi/?p=5921#comment-29671 Hooray for you, Gillie As a yoga teacher, I suggest you let go of miles and go on time. As a coach, I'd say to do a mile for every 10 minutes. Vis-à-vis triathlon training, you'll have to do two-a-days. I usually do swim and run one day, bike the others. You can get by with three runs a week, putting your longer bike ride on Sundays (in the schema outlined above). Ideally, you'd sneak in a fourth run by running 10 min. off that ride. You need to keep the long run long enough without letting it overshadow the other running of the week, if that makes sense--wouldn't want your run week to be too lopsided toward the weekend. That's like binge running! Happy training! YOU are inspiring. Hooray for you, Gillie

As a yoga teacher, I suggest you let go of miles and go on time. As a coach, I’d say to do a mile for every 10 minutes.

Vis-à-vis triathlon training, you’ll have to do two-a-days. I usually do swim and run one day, bike the others. You can get by with three runs a week, putting your longer bike ride on Sundays (in the schema outlined above). Ideally, you’d sneak in a fourth run by running 10 min. off that ride. You need to keep the long run long enough without letting it overshadow the other running of the week, if that makes sense–wouldn’t want your run week to be too lopsided toward the weekend. That’s like binge running!

Happy training! YOU are inspiring.

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]]> By: Gillie http://www.athleta.net/chi/2010/06/15/training-for-a-marathon-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-29667 Gillie Tue, 17 May 2011 18:46:47 +0000 http://www.athleta.net/chi/?p=5921#comment-29667 Sage, I completed Philly last year and it was AWESOME! It was my first marathon and I was slightly under 4 hours (3:54 to be precise). I am now looking to do another one in the fall, probably Wineglass in Corning on October 2. To follow this training plan I will have to start around mid-June. However, I am also signed for an intermediate-distance triathlon in early August and have a couple sprint triathlons in June and July (wow, this sounds so athletic, when really I am not an athlete). I will switch to full marathon-mode after August 1. I have two questions: 1. How to fit the marathon training plan with triathlon training (i.e., 2 bike rides and 2 swim workouts a week)? I also work full time and am a full-time mom... so will only be able to run 3 times a week while also training for the triathlons (one of the runs is a brick workout so it can't be a too hard or long). Do you have any suggestions? 2. The above training plan is in hours/minutes and not in miles - how to translate it to mileage? My comfortable pace is 9-min/mile. Thanks so much! You are inspiring! Sage,

I completed Philly last year and it was AWESOME! It was my first marathon and I was slightly under 4 hours (3:54 to be precise). I am now looking to do another one in the fall, probably Wineglass in Corning on October 2. To follow this training plan I will have to start around mid-June. However, I am also signed for an intermediate-distance triathlon in early August and have a couple sprint triathlons in June and July (wow, this sounds so athletic, when really I am not an athlete). I will switch to full marathon-mode after August 1. I have two questions:

1. How to fit the marathon training plan with triathlon training (i.e., 2 bike rides and 2 swim workouts a week)? I also work full time and am a full-time mom… so will only be able to run 3 times a week while also training for the triathlons (one of the runs is a brick workout so it can’t be a too hard or long). Do you have any suggestions?

2. The above training plan is in hours/minutes and not in miles – how to translate it to mileage? My comfortable pace is 9-min/mile.

Thanks so much! You are inspiring!

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]]> By: Sage http://www.athleta.net/chi/2010/06/15/training-for-a-marathon-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-25282 Sage Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:15:56 +0000 http://www.athleta.net/chi/?p=5921#comment-25282 Hi, Carrie! You got married! First off, coach's obligation: why the marathon so soon? You would do well to revise that goal to a half this summer/fall and then a marathon in the spring. That said, if your heart is set on the marathon, your goals are (1) consistent running between now and the start of the plan and (2) building to a two-hour long run by adding 5-10 min. per week to your longest run. Once a month, pull that back by 15 min., then continue adding. E.g., 40-45-50-35-55-60-65-50, etc. Hope that helps—let me know how it goes! Hi, Carrie! You got married!

First off, coach’s obligation: why the marathon so soon? You would do well to revise that goal to a half this summer/fall and then a marathon in the spring. That said, if your heart is set on the marathon, your goals are (1) consistent running between now and the start of the plan and (2) building to a two-hour long run by adding 5-10 min. per week to your longest run. Once a month, pull that back by 15 min., then continue adding. E.g., 40-45-50-35-55-60-65-50, etc.

Hope that helps—let me know how it goes!

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]]> By: Carrie Turunen - Monaco http://www.athleta.net/chi/2010/06/15/training-for-a-marathon-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-25277 Carrie Turunen - Monaco Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:29:58 +0000 http://www.athleta.net/chi/?p=5921#comment-25277 Hi! I want to run a marathon in late August and am just moving from regular 40 min runs to doing more serious training. I know i cannot do the 2hrs suggested here for long runs so where should i start and how much should i build over the next couple of months? Hi!

I want to run a marathon in late August and am just moving from regular 40 min runs to doing more serious training. I know i cannot do the 2hrs suggested here for long runs so where should i start and how much should i build over the next couple of months?

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]]> By: Jen http://www.athleta.net/chi/2010/06/15/training-for-a-marathon-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-24779 Jen Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:40:42 +0000 http://www.athleta.net/chi/?p=5921#comment-24779 I start training for the Steamboat Marathon in two weeks and am definitely looking forward to using your plan. I haven't run a full marathon since before my children were born and in both of those my goal was just to finish. I was doing the beginner Hal Higdon plan which is just basic mileage increases. Since having children (they are now 8 and 6) I realized that I needed a goal to work towards (besides simply finishing the race). So I added hills and speedwork to my training and - hey it worked - finally ran my first half marathon in under two hours. This year, my goal it to return to the full marathon with a 4 hour goal. So I like that you have already incorporated hills and speed into this plan. But what I totally love is all of the free Yoga classes ready at my convenience after every workout, and specific to that workout. What a treat that will be. Thank you thank you! I start training for the Steamboat Marathon in two weeks and am definitely looking forward to using your plan. I haven’t run a full marathon since before my children were born and in both of those my goal was just to finish. I was doing the beginner Hal Higdon plan which is just basic mileage increases. Since having children (they are now 8 and 6) I realized that I needed a goal to work towards (besides simply finishing the race). So I added hills and speedwork to my training and – hey it worked – finally ran my first half marathon in under two hours. This year, my goal it to return to the full marathon with a 4 hour goal. So I like that you have already incorporated hills and speed into this plan. But what I totally love is all of the free Yoga classes ready at my convenience after every workout, and specific to that workout. What a treat that will be. Thank you thank you!

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]]> By: Sage http://www.athleta.net/chi/2010/06/15/training-for-a-marathon-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-18497 Sage Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:27:28 +0000 http://www.athleta.net/chi/?p=5921#comment-18497 Gillie, your intuition is right. You could switch Saturday/Sunday, though yes, the idea is to run your pace on tired legs. One approach would be to shift the whole plan by a day. The other would be to make your shorter pace runs on Saturday a lesson in not starting off too fast. That's almost as important as being able to maintain pace on tired legs. Congrats on the tri, and best wishes for Philly! Gillie, your intuition is right. You could switch Saturday/Sunday, though yes, the idea is to run your pace on tired legs. One approach would be to shift the whole plan by a day. The other would be to make your shorter pace runs on Saturday a lesson in not starting off too fast. That’s almost as important as being able to maintain pace on tired legs.

Congrats on the tri, and best wishes for Philly!

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]]> By: Gillie http://www.athleta.net/chi/2010/06/15/training-for-a-marathon-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-18491 Gillie Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:32:20 +0000 http://www.athleta.net/chi/?p=5921#comment-18491 Hi Sage! This looks like an awesome training plan! I have started it yesterday, 16 weeks before Philly, my first marathon! I am planning a few modification, please let me know if you think they might work: 1. It being my first marathon, and since I just completed my first intermediate-distance triathlon this past Sunday, at this point I am not worrying about the hard/easy intervals on Tuesdays or the hills on Thursdays. Instead I will simply run those days the mileage/time recommended in the plan. I don't want to injure myself. Perhaps in week 3 I will start adding the intervals and hills, listening to my body. 2. I have a group to run long with on Sundays. Would it be okay to switch between the Sunday/Saturday options in this plan, i.e., run short on Saturday and then long on Sunday? I know it might not serve the same purpose, trying to maintain MP when I am tired from the long run. Thanks! Hi Sage! This looks like an awesome training plan! I have started it yesterday, 16 weeks before Philly, my first marathon! I am planning a few modification, please let me know if you think they might work:

1. It being my first marathon, and since I just completed my first intermediate-distance triathlon this past Sunday, at this point I am not worrying about the hard/easy intervals on Tuesdays or the hills on Thursdays. Instead I will simply run those days the mileage/time recommended in the plan. I don’t want to injure myself. Perhaps in week 3 I will start adding the intervals and hills, listening to my body.

2. I have a group to run long with on Sundays. Would it be okay to switch between the Sunday/Saturday options in this plan, i.e., run short on Saturday and then long on Sunday? I know it might not serve the same purpose, trying to maintain MP when I am tired from the long run.

Thanks!

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]]> By: Sage http://www.athleta.net/chi/2010/06/15/training-for-a-marathon-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-18249 Sage Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:53:03 +0000 http://www.athleta.net/chi/?p=5921#comment-18249 Oh, golly, no, Michelle. MP is marathon pace. Much slower than maximum! You can use the McMillan Running Calculator to figure out what your marathon pace might be--there's a link above. So glad the plan is working well for you! Keep it up! Oh, golly, no, Michelle. MP is marathon pace. Much slower than maximum! You can use the McMillan Running Calculator to figure out what your marathon pace might be–there’s a link above.

So glad the plan is working well for you! Keep it up!

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