That marathon sounds really fun. SD is a great city and I'm sure you'll enjoy the sights. There are a couple of people on this site thinking about that marathon, I think. I haven't run a full yet, but I am following a 12-week plan for a half, and I felt like I could have run it about a week ago. (This tapering is a REAL bummer and I could do without.) Before that, I hadn't ever really been running, and now I'm considering running a full in early March. So, in my completely inexperienced opinion, I think you got it. As long as you can stay healthy and listen to your body, I'm sure you could train in that time. Just take easy runs EASY. That was hard for me because no run was ever easy and as it started getting easier, I kept up the struggle. But then I figured out what easy run meant and it's made training that much more enjoyable. Good luck!

I don't want to discourage you but your plan is pretty ambitious. You can finish a marathon with a walk/run strategy with limited training but you need to be careful. You don't want to go too fast and end up with a over use injury like ITB problems or achillies tendonitis, this can sideline you for weeks. Most of the trainers will tell you that you need to be able to run for about 1 1/2 hours before you should jump into a full marathon training plan. You might want to consider a 1/2 marathon in June (I think the R&R in San diego has a 1/2) and a full marathon in the fall. Listen to your body. Don't get discouraged and you will get there. Good luck and enjoy the adventure.

Since I was just discussing this ... I'll repeat myself. My first was Chicago in 1997. I was in decent shape - I'd just gotten out of the Marine Corps 3 years earlier - but wasn't really running. I trained just for that summer. Maybe 12 weeks. Probably never ran more than 4 times in a week, never hit 30 miles in a week, and ran one - just one - long run of 13 miles. And then I ran every step of the marathon. And hated it. It was a horrible experience. I literally didn't run another step for several years. It was absolutely the wrong way to go about it. Are you catching my drift? The answer to your question is - yes, what you're talking about is possible. But possible doesn't mean smart, or fun, or healthy. You'd be far better off slowly building a base for the next year or two, running 4-5 times a week, getting up to 30-35 mpw, getting your longer run every other week up to 15-16 miles ... and THEN shooting for your first marathon. But since you won't listen, guaranteed, take some very good advice: at the very least, do NOT go into it with any finishing time goal in mind, and don't worry about the "running" versus "walking" distinction. My second marathon, the one that got me hooked, was one in which I accidentally did things right. No clue what I was doing, and again I wasn't trained - one 10-miler, one 13-miler - but I had the right attitude. I walked a little bit each mile, enjoyed the experience, met some people, had a blast ... ... and even though I was a decade older, my time was 10 minutes FASTER than that first marathon. And I was running again 3 days later, and I've run 2 more marathons and a couple thousand miles since. Good luck, whatever you do. San Diego is supposed to be one of the best out there.

Thanks for the response guys (and girls ). My goal is to run the marathon, not run/walk it. Like you were saying runchicrun, right now there is no such thing as an easy run,lol. They are all hard and my goal is just to finish them. I ran my first two 5 milers this weekend and this morning. The first was very very hard, the second was hard but not as bad. I look forward to the days when I can distinguish between a hard run and an easy one. Thus far my body feels good, but I havent hit any of the really long distances yet either. I will definately try and listen to my body, once I know what it sounds like

Since it sounds like you're where I was a couple of months ago, I'll pass on some advice, almost all of which was given to me on this site. -Time your first mile on all of your runs. Then force yourself to slow down and try to add a minute or so per mile. You should be able to talk to someone. Easy runs are really nice for me right now, but it took my first 10-mile run before I figured out what an easy run should feel like (because I had to to be able to run that far). My husband and I were talking during the run, we were running on a softer trail, and it was just wonderful. I wish I had been pushed (or slowed down!!!) to find this "mental place" earlier. -Take a day off before and after long runs for now. That means 5 miles for you right now. I've had some terrible little runs, and they were all like 2 or 3 mile recovery runs because I ran too soon after a long run. You will have better long runs if you do this. You will also be less likely to get injured. Also, it can really get you down to not be able to run a mile becuase you've not recovered from the run the day before. -About the walking. I was determined to run the whole damn thing for each of my training runs. I didn't do the couch to 5K program or anything and was not up for wasting my time walking. But today, I did a longer run and walked a couple of times and stopped at water fountains many times. It makes the run more fun and gives me some juice at the end. Plus, get some Gu or something to take on those longer runs. That helps. -Be careful with consecutive training days at the beginning of your training. What training plan are you following? My runnersworld.com plan didn't have me running consecutive days for hte first 10 weeks or something. And I'm trying to continue that to keep from getting injured. Sometimes listening to your body is anticipating what your body will do if you overtrain. Don't overtrain, don't do it! And Jake had some great points. But it's hard to listen sometimes. I didn't really ask advice about running a full because I didn't want someone to tell me it was a bad idea Ha ha, why does that make me laugh so much? Good luck with your training. And talk to your friend if you're able to run together. Or sing to each other.

TWTiger, I am fortunate enough to live in San Diego, and can tell you that aside from the cost, it is the greatest city! I too am signed up for RnR and it is my first Marathon. I have a co-worker who has ran it the last 6 years, as well as Honolulu 4 times and LA 4 times. He says all 3 have their ups and downs, but no major complaints about RnR, except for all the Team in Training people. Seems they tend to block the road a lot by running 5 and 6 abreast. I am also signed up for the La Jolla HM at the end of April as a training race for RnR. Also heard it is great. Good luck with your training.

S&S, I agree it is tough to complain about a group that is doing so much for a worthy cause, however, having spoken with quite a few marathoners who have ran into the purple wall, and having witnessed it first hand while rooting for a friend, i'd hope the word gets out to the trainers/coaches to remind them to share the road.

I think a lot of marathons do have some music, but the RnR is designed to give you that non-stop music motivation. Official training starts today. Rest day, phew!! 18 weeks to go!