I have gotten my running advice here for almost 3 years. Inside this bubble, it has been drilled into my head that marathon training requires 50 miles per week with long runs of no more than 40% of weekly mileage. That's what I always thought it required. But, as I am meeting more and more runners and spending time in other running related facebook groups and such, I am discovering that many, many, many runners outside of here claim that running 50 miles per week during marathon training is ludicrous and begging for injury and that more isn't always better. I know many people who run marathons off peaks of no more than 35 miles per week.

Also, seems everyone disagrees about the long run. Do you only need 16 miles? 18? 20? 22? Obviously there are a million different plans out there and everyone is different, but how do you know what is right for you?

I am about to start training for my first marathon. Attempting to follow the advice I have been absorbing on here for the past 3 years, I am planning an 18 week plan, based on Hal Higdon Intermediate 2 with slightly increased weekly mileage in the first few weeks, will probably only do two 20 milers, looking to peak around 50 miles per week. But I know marathon runners not on this board that say it is way too aggressive in mileage for my first. I trust the people here though....so what do you all think?

My history:Running for almost 3 years. Completed 14 half marathons and many more 5Ks and 10Ks thanI feel like trying to count right now. History of injuries. When I am healthy and not tapering or recovering for a goal race, I have been able to maintain mileage in the mid-20s fairly comfortably. Had some injury issues this winter/early spring in which I ran reduced mileage with a ton of cross training, but had a really strong April of just over 100 miles, and while most of May was spent tapering for and recovering from my goal half, I managed 90 miles. Ran 26.5 miles last week and feel really good.

I don't *think* this plan is too crazy for my first marathon, especially considering I had a similar week last week to the first week of the plan and felt great, but I am new at the marathon distance so I really don't know. Thanks!

I have gotten my running advice here for almost 3 years. Inside this bubble, it has been drilled into my head that marathon training requires 50 miles per week with long runs of no more than 40% of weekly mileage.

That is totally inaccurate. What is said here is that most would not run a marathon on less than 50 miles a week, not that you need to average 50 miles a week to run one.

In fact, many of us have run marathons on much less. My first marathon for instance came on mileage in the 30's.

As far as the long run, the general rule is that it should be no more than 25% of your weekly mileage, not 40%.

As far as what you should run, that's a personal decision and is usually based on the time you have available and the days you want to devote to training. But there is no set minimum number of miles that is required for marathon training, only what each individual would run based on where they are in there running life.

The $200 NYRR customized plan suggested this for me:

This plan begins with 22 miles (40.2 km) in your first week of training and will max out at 30 miles (54.7 km) per week. On average, you will run 22 miles (41.8 km) per week. Your peak long run in this plan is 22 miles (35.4 km).

That just seems.....like nothing I have ever read on here.

I have no advice on marathon training, but it doesn't inspire confidence that NYRR seems very confused about how many kilometers are in 22 miles.  But maybe that's just me, haha.

AHHH I didn't even notice that oh boy

That's the same plan I used for my first.  I also increased the mileage slightly, I think my peak was 50 miles.

 

My main goal was to run the whole thing, and I did and felt pretty good the whole way. Even ran a tiny negative split on a cold and rainy day.

 

How do you know what's right for you? You just have to try it and see.  For a lower mileage runner, I would recommend doing at least two 20 milers.  And as a first time marathoner, I think it helps to have that confidence.  But I have run decent marathons with and without 20 milers

 

Good luck!

 

More mileage does make a difference but mostly in terms of running closer to your potential.

 

My first was a 4:20 on 40mpw and around 1500 for the year

My PR was 3:51 on 60mpw and around 2300 for the year.

This. With changes in bold.

I agree that for a first-timer, the 20 milers are as much about the psychology as the physiology.

The difference in more miles is, as some have said, running closer to your potential and in how you recover after the race.

The $200 NYRR customized plan suggested this for me:

This plan begins with 22 miles (40.2 km) in your first week of training and will max out at 30 miles (54.7 km) per week. On average, you will run 22 miles (41.8 km) per week. Your peak long run in this plan is 22 miles (35.4 km).

 

That just seems.....like nothing I have ever read on here.

A max long run of 22 miles in a max week of 30 miles sounds like a recipe for injury unless you are doing a lot of very focused cross-training. What would that even look like? Two 4-milers and a 22-mile long run? No. Just, no.

 

Also, how do you want to feel afterwards?  Full of blisters and lacking all toenails?  Unable to use stairs?  While those things may happen anyway,  how likely do you want that to be?

 

It's a tough one.  I'd bet that most of us could go out and finish a marathon right now, maybe in 10 hours, but we'd finish.  So, that's sort of the "minimum" mileage, right?  At the other extreme, very few of us train to the level that allows us to really race it and finish at or close to our McMillan predictor time.  Most of us would need much more than the mileage you mentioned to pull that off.

 

Everything in the middle is just a matter of what you want out of your marathon, and what you're able to put into it at this point in your life.  If you can get those two things to line up reasonably closely, then you're ready to train.  If not, then No matter what you do, something is going to start hurting somewhere along the line.

FYP.

 

 If your only goal is to complete the distance, I am sure the NYRR plan is just fine.  

Maybe, but for that kind of money, I don't know that it would be better for you than any of the Higdon plans available for free online. I would pick one of these, that does not get too crazy vs your historical mileage, and stick to it. Focus on consistency. You seem to have a lot of life stuff that gets in the way of your running, and you do a fair bit of cross-training. Do what you need to do, but keep in mind the best training for running is running.

Managing expectations is of course also key. Take your most recent HM time, plug it into the McMillan calculator, then throw it out the window. Not sure how much to tell you to add, but be more conservative than you think you need to be. I remember seeing a calculator somewhere that factors in weekly mileage; I would probably throw that out the window too, but it'd be closer. There's the added factor, for the pace you will be at, of just a lot of time on your feet, in who knows what weather conditions.

Good luck!