Training Advice for your First Marathon
As you may or may not know, I ran my first marathon on November 23, 2008 at the Philadelphia Marathon. I completed the marathon in 3:33:43. I had many goals that I set for myself that changed as November 23rd approached. My first goal that I set for myself was to finish the marathon. It did not matter if I was crawling across the finish line, my goal was to finish. As the date of the marathon grew closer, I realized that I put so much time and effort into this that I should probably set a more concrete goal, based on time. The next goal I set was to finish in under 4 hours, a very respectable marathon time.
The day before the marathon, I wondered what a Boston qualifying time for someone my age was. I had looked it up before, but I had forgotten the time because at the time I thought that it was completely out of my reach. I went onto the Boston Marathon website and found that females in the age group of 18-34 must have a time of 3:40 to qualify for the prestigious Boston Marathon. I knew that runners trained and ran in marathons over and over with the ultimate goal being to qualify for the Boston Marathon. In my mind, I thought it would not be feasible for me to complete the Philadelphia Marathon in under 3:40. However, I was going to try with everything I had to get as close to that time as possible. That is when I changed my goal for the last time. My new and final goal was to finish in 3:45, but always keeping in mind that to qualify for Boston I needed to finish in under 3:40. Depending on how I felt during the marathon, I planned to race to finish with a Boston qualifying time.
These goals were made after 18 weeks of following a Novice Training Plan. If you are training for your first marathon, I would definitely recommend following a training plan. After all, these plans are made for a reason! Following a plan will help you to avoid injury and complete your first marathon!
I chose to use Hal Higdon’s 18-week Novice Training Plan. I looked at several of the available plans and found that Hal Higdon’s plan fit my schedule and made the most sense to me. Every Monday and Friday was a rest day. There was one long run a week that was scheduled every Saturday and Sunday was a day for cross-training. I thought this was perfect. There was plenty of time for rest and cross-training. Of course, some weeks I would have to juggle the days I took a rest day or completed my long run. However, I never skipped a long run or a rest day.
It is really important to take off when you have a scheduled rest day. Even if you feel like you can or want to complete a run, you really should listen to the schedule and take a rest day. You need a chance to recover or you will just set yourself up for injury. Trust me, after 15 weeks of training you do not want to find yourself injured and not able to compete!
In the middle of my training, I injured my foot. It was so painful to walk on. Instead of pushing it and continuing to run, I took a day or two off from running. During those days, I took Alleve and iced my foot. It began to feel slightly better but it still was not completely healed. I cross-trained by swimming, biking, and using the elliptical. Later that week, I was able to run again, pain-free. Thankfully, it was not a serious injury and I was able to quickly recover from it. That brings me to another point, Listen to your body! If you feel that you need a rest day and you are scheduled for a 6 mile run that day, take the rest day! You can run 6 miles another day when you feel rested and motivated!
Another important aspect of marathon training is your diet. You MUST fuel your body in the correct way. If you do not fuel your body appropriately, you are risking injury. Please do not train for a marathon with a goal to cut calories and lose weight. You are just setting yourself up for injury. You need to supply your body with enough fuel and the right kind of fuel. You can find a lot of information regarding this topic in the books that I will recommend to you at the end.
Marathon training requires a lot of commitment and dedication. If you are overwhelmed by work, school, family, etc., this may not be the best time in your life to decide to run a marathon. Training for a marathon requires a lot of time, energy, and sacrifices. Make sure you look ahead at what you will be faced with in the upcoming months to see if it is actually feasible for you to do without stressing yourself out. This is a very important point to consider, so I advise you to evaluate your individual situation.
Before and during marathon training, I read all about marathons. If you want to run a marathon you need to be well versed in what you are getting yourself into. I purchased a couple of books. My favorite book was Hal Higdon’s Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide. A second favorite of mine was Bob Glover and Shelly-lynn Florence Glover’s The Competitive Runner’s Handbook. I would recommend purchasing both of these books. They are great investments and you will find yourself referencing them a lot. I am sure there are some topics that I forgot to cover. I would love to answer any questions that you may still have regarding training for your first marathon or your first race of any distance! Just leave a comment on this post and I will be sure to answer it! 🙂
Main Points
- Make sure you are in good health. If you have any doubt, have a medical exam.
- Before setting out to train for a marathon, you should have a solid base, at least 2 years of running.
- If you have never competed in a race, it would be a good idea to run in one so you can see what racing is all about.
- Do you have the time to commit?
- Follow a Marathon Training Plan
- Take 1-2 Rest Days a week
- Listen to your body
- Fuel yourself properly
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