How many marathons is TOO MANY in a year? (Read 924 times)

Not sure anyone can give you an answer. http://www.chuckengle.com/ http://moostronaut.blogspot.com/ I'm fairly certain that 4 is not too many.

1 is too many for me. 20 is just fine for some people. So the answer is somewhere between 0 and 52 depending on your fitness and ability to pound the pavement without damage to the body. Somebody who knows more than me can spy your log and say whether they think you should have 8 weeks between marathons or whatever.

Not sure anyone can give you answer. http://www.chuckengle.com/ http://moostronaut.blogspot.com/ I'm fairly certain that 4 is not too many.

From what I've seen after observing hundreds of runners is that it is way too many. For someone who wants to do well competitively it is definitely not a good thing. If you want to continue to run well on into your 50's, 60's, and beyond it is probably not a good idea either. Sure, you might do ok for a couple years but it will almost surely catch up with you. If seen hundreds of runners come and go during my 30 years of doing this, and the overwhelming majority who have overdone it with marathoning have not fared well. You can point to the Chuck Engles and other exceptions, but they are exceptions and even they would in all likelihood do much better if they ran fewer marathons. I'm quite involved in the running scene and know who most of the top masters runners are in Northern California. I can't think of a single one who does multiple marathons year after year. I also spent 14 years in Arizona before moving here and it was the same thing. This isn't something I'm making up. All we have to do is pay attention to what the great majority of the most successful runners do. One, or at most 2 marathons in a year, should be plenty and even that is pushing if done every year. As for the effect on one's health that's a whole other issue. I didn't used to think it was bad for us in this respect, but more and more I have seen evidence that it might be. Ok, now you can go ahead and pelt me with eggs and rotten tomatoes

Interesting question - I have 6 planned this year starting with one on Sunday but I only plan on racing two of them. My take is that if you build a consistent base, running multiple marathons at training paces should be ok (SR should chime in) if you have recovery built into the schedule and pick a "goal" race or two at opposite ends of the seasons (Spring/Fall - Summer/Winter). Racing all of them would be very difficult IMO and increase the probability of injury but since I've not done this I have no personal experience just what I've read/heard.

It depends on whether you are running them or racing them. Since I'm only competing against myself, I think too many is one more than I've done so far. I'm two weeks past my first marathon this year. I was significantly undertrained because of what else was going on in my life. Last week end, I considered whether I would have been ready to do another one and decided I wasn't. Today, I feel like I could do one tomorrow or Sunday and probably beat my time from the one two weeks ago. Based on past experience, I'd be comfortable doing a marathon every three to four weeks, but I'm not going to because life and budget gets in the way

OP did a 3:07 and a 3:30 so far in his list of races. Sounds like maybe the first was a race and the 2nd was a long run. Race the next one and then jog Frisco (I love calling San Francisco 'Frisco', cuz local Bay Area peeps absolutely HATE it!). I think you could do something like this year after year without too much problems. But if you want to get faster/better at the marathon it's too many.

My wife is concerned that my new hobby could be harmful to my health. Does anyone know the proper amount of marathons that can be done in a year without adverse effects on the body? .

Racing 4 in a year is pushing it. You won't be fully trained for all of them, especially with only 1.5 - 2 months apart. If you're treating some (most) as long runs done with a huge group of friends, then the sky's the limit... as long as you've built up to it gradually, over a period of years. But even there the limit is a pretty individual thing. You really have to listen to your body. The number I did per year, starting in 2004, is: 1 1 2 7 13 ? but I've only raced 1-2 per year. Most of those are training runs. A couple of years ago I decided I wanted to try to qualify for Marathon Maniacs, so I ran two marathons two weeks apart. It was hard, but not as hard as I thought. Then I got hooked... I moved up to two marathons one week apart, then a few weeks of one per weekend, then two marathons on successive days. Each time it gets a little easier; my body adapts. And my numbers are pretty wimpy as Maniacs go. Last year a Maniac set a world record and ran 105 marathons. Maybe Jim is right, but (1) if you build up slowly, and listen to your body, I think it's possible for your body to adapt, and get stronger, and (2) in my case, I actually believe running so many last year improved my performance on the ones I raced. That really shouldn't be too surprising. Specificity of training says that the best way to train for a marathon is to run 26 miles. The problem is, that takes a large toll on your body, so most training plans don't have you run that far. But if you can reach the point where it's just another long run, then you can use marathons with positive training effect. That's a win-win in my book!