Forums >General Running>I've entered Paris 2014... now where do I start!?
Hello folks
I've decided to enter Paris 2014 (April) and would love the 'simple man's' training guide. I can run 10 miles at a pace of 8:51 per mile and that's about the total of my knowledge. Oh, and I have a pair of running shoes...
I am not looking to run the entire thing in two hours, and something less than four hours would be great. Do I just continue to run once or twice a week? Better to do short or long? Fast or slow? As you can see, I have NO idea what I'm doing.
Many thanks
Ed
PS I'm too lazy to run four times a week, just in case you were wondering!
Gang Name "Pound Cake"
If you are not a troll, then perhaps you should ask for your money back or switch your bib to a shorter race. Trying to run a marathon (between 2 and 4 hours), running "once or twice" a week, is foolhardy. Trying for a half would be much more prudent. As a beginner, running all your runs at 10 miles at a pace of 8:51 is also foolhardy. Read a book on distance running. Run at least 5 times a week: one long and slow, one at a shorter but harder effort, the other three or four at an easy "conversational" pace. Come back and ask more specific questions.
Hello folks I've decided to enter Paris 2014 (April) and would love the 'simple man's' training guide. I can run 10 miles at a pace of 8:51 per mile and that's about the total of my knowledge. Oh, and I have a pair of running shoes... I am not looking to run the entire thing in two hours, and something less than four hours would be great. Do I just continue to run once or twice a week? Better to do short or long? Fast or slow? As you can see, I have NO idea what I'm doing. Many thanks Ed PS I'm too lazy to run four times a week, just in case you were wondering!
- Scott
2014 Goals: First Marathon - BQ2016 <3:40 (3:25:18) - 1/2M <1:45 - 5K <22:00
2014 Marathons: 05/04 Flying Pig (3:49:02) - 09/20 Air Force (BQ 3:25:18) - 11/01 Indianapolis Monumental
not bad for mile 25
What's a lazy person doing trying to run a marathon? Get off your butt and train! What Stripling said, and there is plenty of other good advice on these forums. You should latch on to a training plan, too, such as Running Wizard, or Hanson's. Doing this will make the difference between an awesome experience at Paris and, well, the opposite.
Feeling the growl again
Then don't sign up for a marathon.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
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Run at least 5 times a week: one long and slow, one at a shorter but harder effort, the other three or four at an easy "conversational" pace.
Oh okay, I'll take the shot across the bows. It appears my 'marathon lite' training suggestion was not a very good one!
Thanks!
running metalhead
Hi mate,
4 hours is what a normal person fit and trained person would do. I recommend to consider just finishing and not set any time goal for now.
AS for running you will need to put at least 30-35 miles per week into it. For now slow, just relax, speed comes from itself.Note that to some people it takes years of training just to run a 26.2 miler from start to finish. You may be able to finish it with very little training, but hten forgeta about sub-4 hours...
- Egmond ( 14 januari ) : 1:41:40 (21K)- Vondelparkloop ( 20 januari ) : 0:58.1 (10K but did 13.44!!!)- Twiskemolenloop ( 4 maart ) : 1:35:19 (3th M45!)
- Ekiden Zwolle (10K) ( 25 maart )- Rotterdam Marathon ( 8 april )- Leiden Marathon Halve ( 27 mei )- Marathon Amersfoort ( 10 juni)
Well... a very few people can get off the couch and go do a marathon with little training. However, that's a recipe for a very painful experience (and the high potential of injury) for most people. If you really want to attempt this on very little training, then pickup a copy of Galloway's marathon book (not sure of the exact title). He has a plan where you run something like 8 or 9 minutes out of every 10 minutes (walking the 1-2 minutes) or some other similar split to allow your body to recover some with each mile. This is similar what many/most Ultra marathon runners do in order to survive a 100 mile race. With that approach to the race, you likely can finish on 30 miles a week or so of running. But forget about time and just run it slow. And plan on hurting plenty at the end which will likely be around 5 hours.
You should be aware that 26.2 miles isn't 2.62 times the effort of 10 miles for the untrained. It's more like four times the effort.
Good luck!
Oh okay, I'll take the shot across the bows. It appears my 'marathon lite' training suggestion was not a very good one! Thanks!
Have a friend that on a bet started doing a marathon on "no training". He still does one each year. He will occasionally do some workouts but really doesn't run longer that 5k other than his 26.2 each year. Just to give the OP some perspective, his time is usually in the 6-7 hour range on no training.
So if you are setting time goals remember to scale them to you what level training you are willing to put in. If you are only running minimally each week then adjust accodingly, if you are diong other cross training it should help improve your goal time some but running is still the best training.
Have a friend that on a bet started doing a marathon on "no training". He still does one each year. He will occasionally do some workouts but really doesn't run longer that 5k other than his 26.2 each year. Just to give the OP some perspective, his time is usually in the 6-7 hour range on no training. So if you are setting time goals remember to scale them to you what level training you are willing to put in. If you are only running minimally each week then adjust accodingly, if you are diong other cross training it should help improve your goal time some but running is still the best training.
I know a lady who runs a marathon every year on no training. She finishes in under 5 hours. She has 4 young kids, so my theory is that her time during the marathon may actually be a relaxing break from her normal day-to-day chasing after them.
Kalsarikännit
If you want to fit in in Paris I'd take up smoking and espresso sipping, ASAP.
I want to do it because I want to do it. -Amelia Earhart
Good Bad & The Monkey
I've entered Paris 2014... now where do I start!?
Hey, I just looked this up online for you. According to the online map, it appears that you will start on the Champs Elysees, up near the Arc d'Triomphe. Good luck. I think there are some metro stops up near there. It appears that Georges V is the best stop.
I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.
Poor baby
All I can say is good luck. And I am a little envious. That looks like an awesome "Bucket List" kind of race to do.
Also, on the running, some long runs (building up to doing a 18 to 20 miler by late Feb'14) will do more for you than a bunch of short runs. Have fun at the race!
The Plan '15 → /// "Run Hard, Live Easy." ∞
I've decided to enter Paris 2014 (April) and would love the 'simple man's' training guide. I can run 10 miles at a pace of 8:51 per mile and that's about the total of my knowledge. Oh, and I have a pair of running shoes... I am not looking to run the entire thing in two hours, and something less than four hours would be great. Do I just continue to run once or twice a week? Better to do short or long? Fast or slow? As you can see, I have NO idea what I'm doing. Many thanks Ed PS I'm too lazy to run four times a week, just in case you were wondering!
Okay, for starters, everyone who says that you should not run a marathon on 1-2 runs per week is right. But if you're like me you're going to run anyway.
In 2012, I ran Napoli, Italy in 3:48:32 off of 36 miles of training in the previous 2 months. I don't think this will be your experience; prior to those two months I had >3000 miles of lifetime running (mostly over the 3 years before the race...not much by the standards of this site but a lot more than running 10 miles once in a while).
I think that Paris for you will be more like my first marathon which was 4:57:39. I was running 8-10 miles at ~8:00-8:30 min/mile pace about 3 days per week for a few months before the race.
Here are my suggestions: expect the race to take a LONG time. Do not have a time goal, make your goal surviving and getting to a cafe for a bunch of wine after the race. If you're too lazy to run 4x times per week, please commit to 3x. Do 2x 6 miles during the week and 10 on the weekend to start. Add a little mileage each week. Hope that you start looking forward to running so that you can get up to 5-6 days per week with a long run in the ballpark of 20 miles and a up-tempo run once in a while.
As for racing in Europe: get to Paris early! Take 3 days or so to adjust to the time zone before the race. My race at Rotterdam '09 was ruined as much by getting to the Netherlands 20 hours before the race as by a stress fracture that I tried to run through.
Don't worry about it taking you 4-5 hours (or even more); these huge races will have many of runners as poorly trained as you.