Marathon Training Thread

[Pheidippides]

Just signed up for Houston. A revisit of my first marathon for my tenth.

[FN Phat]

How long has it taken most to train for your first marathon? Moreso those that have had to lose weight along the way? For the first time I am starting to enjoy running and a marathon is on my bucket list. I have my mind set on a half that is ran locally. That is one year from now. I am still about 40 pounds away from a weight that I think I could run with for that duration. I am thinking that if I keep the course, I will see that weight by late October or so. I think that is more than reasonable. I say all that because am I crazy to think that I could run my first marathon next fall? I only average 2-3 miles per run right now.

[Pheidippides]

How long has it taken most to train for your first marathon? Moreso those that have had to lose weight along the way? For the first time I am starting to enjoy running and a marathon is on my bucket list. I have my mind set on a half that is ran locally. That is one year from now. I am still about 40 pounds away from a weight that I think I could run with for that duration. I am thinking that if I keep the course, I will see that weight by late October or so. I think that is more than reasonable. I say all that because am I crazy to think that I could run my first marathon next fall? I only average 2-3 miles per run right now.

On January 18, 2009, I weighed 250 pounds and hadn't run hardly at all since high school. On January 18, 2010 I ran my first marathon at 188 pounds.

A lot of medical professionals will recommend longer and I can't say that they are wrong, but it was about a year for me. Just make sure to work with a doctor to be sure you don't have anything crazy going on with your heart or something.

[Eddie]

How long has it taken most to train for your first marathon? Moreso those that have had to lose weight along the way? For the first time I am starting to enjoy running and a marathon is on my bucket list. I have my mind set on a half that is ran locally. That is one year from now. I am still about 40 pounds away from a weight that I think I could run with for that duration. I am thinking that if I keep the course, I will see that weight by late October or so. I think that is more than reasonable. I say all that because am I crazy to think that I could run my first marathon next fall? I only average 2-3 miles per run right now.

I don't think it's crazy to say you could run and finish a marathon by next fall. I would say that losing weight and doing more running would relate more to how you finish and feel afterwards versus being able to finish. I say this as I have a friend who is overweight (he's no more than 5'9" and has to be pushing 3 bills) has finished 2 marathons on what I would consider minimal training - at least I know he hasn't regularly run even 3X a week and missed his long run about half of the time during training for one of those.

Now - his best time is around 5:15. And I would HATE to be running a marathon for that long. I'm just saying if you wanted to finish a marathon I have no doubt you could do it. If you wanted to finish in under 4 hours, it might take a little more work.

[Sea Chicken]

How long has it taken most to train for your first marathon? Moreso those that have had to lose weight along the way? For the first time I am starting to enjoy running and a marathon is on my bucket list. I have my mind set on a half that is ran locally. That is one year from now. I am still about 40 pounds away from a weight that I think I could run with for that duration. I am thinking that if I keep the course, I will see that weight by late October or so. I think that is more than reasonable. I say all that because am I crazy to think that I could run my first marathon next fall? I only average 2-3 miles per run right now.

I would start by setting a goal for a 5k sometime later this year. Then work your way up to a 10k and half. When you get to the point where you can run 10 miles without feeling like you are going to die, I'd say it's time to sign up for a marathon and start a training program.

[Sea Chicken]

So - I've pretty much resigned myself to pulling out of Ogden.

I might be pulling out too. The crash put a big bruise on my right thigh, so I haven't been able to run since Thursday. The race is 10 days away, so I'm just going to have to sit around and hope it heals by then.

[ERCougar]

I would start by setting a goal for a 5k sometime later this year. Then work your way up to a 10k and half. When you get to the point where you can run 10 miles without feeling like you are going to die, I'd say it's time to sign up for a marathon and start a training program.

Yes.
This is definitely the smartest approach, but human nature seems to drive people to make large goals, that seem to be more motivating. It worked for niku, and really, if you do the walk-run approach and don't care at all about the time, you'll probably get through injury-free. But the wisest, if maybe not the most motivating, approach is step by step.

[FN Phat]

I would start by setting a goal for a 5k sometime later this year. Then work your way up to a 10k and half. When you get to the point where you can run 10 miles without feeling like you are going to die, I'd say it's time to sign up for a marathon and start a training program.

Yes.
This is definitely the smartest approach, but human nature seems to drive people to make large goals, that seem to be more motivating. It worked for niku, and really, if you do the walk-run approach and don't care at all about the time, you'll probably get through injury-free. But the wisest, if maybe not the most motivating, approach is step by step.

this was/is my initial plan. I am starting to feel empowered by the transformation that I am making and in doing so I'm starting to push myself already. I started at 288. I am down to 254 as of this morning. My goal weight before I start any "training" is 220ish. I would love to be at 200. After 3 miles, with carrying the weight that I am, my knees let me know that they are there. Nothing that is crippling but definitely uncomfortable. Thank you all for the info and the motivation.

[Pheidippides]

this was/is my initial plan. I am starting to feel empowered by the transformation that I am making and in doing so I'm starting to push myself already. I started at 288. I am down to 254 as of this morning. My goal weight before I start any "training" is 220ish. I would love to be at 200. After 3 miles, with carrying the weight that I am, my knees let me know that they are there. Nothing that is crippling but definitely uncomfortable. Thank you all for the info and the motivation.

Good choice. As ER pointed out, going whole hog worked for me but (a) I'm crazy, (b) I needed it to deal with some traumatic issues in my life back then and (c) I got lucky and even then had to deal with an injury that almost cost me my race. When you hit 10 miles and think you could do it again in a week, choose your race and start training.

[MarkGrace]

+30 pounds? Dude, you are kicking ass.

[Joe Public]

+30 pounds? Dude, you are kicking ass.

Yep, that's great, FN.

I hadn't done any regular running for years and years when I signed up for the Ogden marathon, although I did stay active (basketball, racquetball, etc.) during that time. I think I signed up at the end of December that year. Come January, I ran three miles for three days per week for two weeks, then I jumped into the Higdon novice plan. I finished the marathon in May.

Same as you, it was on my list. It sounds like you're already on your way.

[lambdacoug]

How long has it taken most to train for your first marathon? Moreso those that have had to lose weight along the way? For the first time I am starting to enjoy running and a marathon is on my bucket list. I have my mind set on a half that is ran locally. That is one year from now. I am still about 40 pounds away from a weight that I think I could run with for that duration. I am thinking that if I keep the course, I will see that weight by late October or so. I think that is more than reasonable. I say all that because am I crazy to think that I could run my first marathon next fall? I only average 2-3 miles per run right now.

I started running last year. I set goals for a 5k in 2012, a 10k and half-marathon in 2013, and a full marathon in 2014. I have no idea how others have done it, but this seemed about right for me. When I told other runners about my plan/goals they all seemed to think it was a good plan. I managed both a 5k and 10k last year, and I'm 3 weeks away from my half now, I haven't made it to a full yet so the jury is still out on how good it actually ends up being.

Oh, and great job on losing the weight. I started out at 271, and I weighed in at 182 yesterday. I did find that the shoes that worked well when I was heavier did not work so well as I lost weight. You may want to go back to the running store as you close in on your goal weight as carrying fewer pounds can change your gait. It did mine.

[Joe Public]

I'm posting this link for my own reference later. It has to do with building one's aerobic base:

http://www.angio.net/personal/run/hadd.pdf

[BigPiney]

I'm posting this link for my own reference later. It has to do with building one's aerobic base:

http://www.angio.net/personal/run/hadd.pdf

A little over 1/2 way through, but that is really interesting. I have never understood the whole run slow on the long days, but I really want to try out that lactate test that he details on page 12.

[FN Phat]

Thank you for the words of encouragement fellas.