My only comment to your #4 is don't compare your experience in shorter races with marathons. Marathons are a whole different and gauging the pace is much harder. As I always recommend, if the first few miles of the marathon feel too easy, slow down more.
Okay, MY turn Lily.... 1. Don't run a marathon if you haven't averaged at least 40 miles per week over the past six months. For my first, I had a 36 mpw average over the last 12 months, but I could easily hit 40 miles for many consecutive weeks if I wanted to. I agree it greatly helped. Goal this summer, prior to the half in October, is to get up to that 35-40 mpw comfortably. Then I want to maintain at least that. Jumping right into marathon training after the half will help but I want several weeks prior to the marathon training to be up there. 2. Don't run a marathon if you haven't been running at least 18 months. Again, I agree it helps. But everyone is different, so there are exceptions. Also, everyone has different goals. If "Performance" with a capital P isn't what you're after, then it doesn't really matter how long you've been running, as long as you can run +/-35 mpw on average. By the time I get to January/February of 2014, I'll be just shy of 2 years. So I'm good there. 3. Don't expect that a few 20+ mile long runs will make up for a lack of overall mileage. True. But those LRs do help with building your confidence up. Especially for a first marathon. The more mileage overall you can do, the easier the LRs will seem. Little mileage will make the LRs very difficult to do... I get it......run some frickin miles and don't get slack about it. haha 4. Discipline yourself to run the first 20 miles of the race at the pace you are capable of running. True. If you run a series of miles faster than what you really are trained for, you're done at mile 20. If it's just a couple of miles, no big deal... Knowing exactly what kind of pace you have trained yourself for becomes very important, whether you consider yourself a slow or a fast runner. I'm okay with this on the shorter races. I've been getting much better at understanding my own pace. It will be something I'll continue to focus on. 5. Carb load and have a race day carb intake strategy but don't expect that to make up for a lack of mileage. True. And I only carb load the day before the race anyway, and I don't overdo it. I keep more gels on me than I use, just in case. I'd rather run lighter than too heavy due to excessive carb loading. Pit stops are not fun... Anything that involves eating, I'm all for. Someone might need to be there to tell me to stop though....
Okay, MY turn Lily....
1. Don't run a marathon if you haven't averaged at least 40 miles per week over the past six months.
For my first, I had a 36 mpw average over the last 12 months, but I could easily hit 40 miles for many consecutive weeks if I wanted to. I agree it greatly helped.
Goal this summer, prior to the half in October, is to get up to that 35-40 mpw comfortably. Then I want to maintain at least that. Jumping right into marathon training after the half will help but I want several weeks prior to the marathon training to be up there.
2. Don't run a marathon if you haven't been running at least 18 months.
Again, I agree it helps. But everyone is different, so there are exceptions. Also, everyone has different goals. If "Performance" with a capital P isn't what you're after, then it doesn't really matter how long you've been running, as long as you can run +/-35 mpw on average.
By the time I get to January/February of 2014, I'll be just shy of 2 years. So I'm good there.
3. Don't expect that a few 20+ mile long runs will make up for a lack of overall mileage.
True. But those LRs do help with building your confidence up. Especially for a first marathon. The more mileage overall you can do, the easier the LRs will seem. Little mileage will make the LRs very difficult to do...
I get it......run some frickin miles and don't get slack about it. haha
4. Discipline yourself to run the first 20 miles of the race at the pace you are capable of running.
True. If you run a series of miles faster than what you really are trained for, you're done at mile 20. If it's just a couple of miles, no big deal... Knowing exactly what kind of pace you have trained yourself for becomes very important, whether you consider yourself a slow or a fast runner.
I'm okay with this on the shorter races. I've been getting much better at understanding my own pace. It will be something I'll continue to focus on.
5. Carb load and have a race day carb intake strategy but don't expect that to make up for a lack of mileage.
True. And I only carb load the day before the race anyway, and I don't overdo it. I keep more gels on me than I use, just in case. I'd rather run lighter than too heavy due to excessive carb loading. Pit stops are not fun...
Anything that involves eating, I'm all for. Someone might need to be there to tell me to stop though....
Damaris
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Dr. Cornsitter
So after 4 pages, I've compiled the following list of books to take a look at:
Hal Higdon
Pfitz
Daniels
Hanson
2 different nutrition books
I have a feeling I'll be spending more money than I planned.....
Quote from BeachRunner3234 on 6/25/2013 at 8:20 PM:
So I'm currently sitting with a bag of frozen corn in my ass.
I have heard the Higdon book is worth reading, but you can find his plans on his website. He puts them out there at no cost. You can also see what they have at the library.
2013 goals: 800m: 2:20 | mile: 4:59 | 5k: 18:59 | 10k: 39:59 | HM: 1:32 | Marathon: 3:20
So after 4 pages, I've compiled the following list of books to take a look at: Hal Higdon Pfitz Daniels Hanson 2 different nutrition books I have a feeling I'll be spending more money than I planned.....
+ Hudson (Run Faster), which I've seen a couple mentions of.
Run Faster isn't so much a marathon-specific book, the idea behind the book is how to 'be your own best coach' to train well and race well, whatever distance you're aiming for. I recommend it and I recommend Hudson's overall approach, which is to increase race-specificity in workouts as the race gets closer (so for the marathon, you might start out with very fast hill sprints, move into 5K-paced intervals, and move into tempo runs before you start running increasingly longer distances at marathon pace) but I wouldn't make this your only book, as I would want one with more marathon-specific information.
The Hanson book is a little bit of a less conventional approach to marathon training-- lots of miles, shorter long runs. It's an approach that's worked well for quite a few people but I don't know if I'd recommend it to someone who hasn't had a a lot of longer-distance (HM and beyond) racing experience.
If you can make it to a library or bookstore rather than just going the amazon route, you can hopefully look at a couple of these, and get a better idea of what resonates with you. I have read all of these except Higdon (Yes,I should spend more time running, less time reading) and I think each has illuminated certain ideas in ways that others did not. That said, you don't need all of them, and I would say that by buying too many of them, you're more likely to be torn between a lot of different plans and approaches. Choose an approach that makes sense to you and fits with your life and your running habits, and be confident in the fact that your fitness will improve no matter which approach you take. For your second marathon you can analyze what you would like to have changed about your training, but you can cross that bridge when you come to it