Marathon Training

[Red Shell]

I've entered the London marathon next year and have somehow managed to end up with about $4000 in bets which require me to run it in less the 4 hours, all of which go to the charity i'm running for.

I'm looking for somesort of workout program to make this possible. I'm 26, 14 stone and do a 20 minute run once a week at 13km an hour.

I have plenty of time to train, (i trade the equity markets) but my program has to be flexible to allow for a few days of non training due to market movement. Theres a treadmill at work, which is what i'll be using during the week.

My workout plan is based on a three run program.

1 - 5k, as quick as i can, hopefully building up to 14/15km an hour.

2 - 15k, looking to get through it, running at around 10km an hour.

3 - 10k, looking to run at the around 13km an hour.

Hopefully by christmas i'd have worked up to this and be looking to progress up to running 30k weeks for a month or two before the main event.

How does this sound, anything you'd change, would it be better to have a more rigid five month plan?

[GamblorZ]

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I've entered the London marathon next year and have somehow managed to end up with about $4000 in bets which require me to run it in less the 4 hours, all of which go to the charity i'm running for.

I'm looking for somesort of workout program to make this possible. I'm 26, 14 stone and do a 20 minute run once a week at 13km an hour.

I have plenty of time to train, (i trade the equity markets) but my program has to be flexible to allow for a few days of non training due to market movement. Theres a treadmill at work, which is what i'll be using during the week.

My workout plan is based on a three run program.

1 - 5k, as quick as i can, hopefully building up to 14/15km an hour.

2 - 15k, looking to get through it, running at around 10km an hour.

3 - 10k, looking to run at the around 13km an hour.

Hopefully by christmas i'd have worked up to this and be looking to progress up to running 30k weeks for a month or two before the main event.

How does this sound, anything you'd change, would it be better to have a more rigid five month plan?

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your best bet is to train specifically for this event, since you only need to complete the marathon, a time target shouldn't realy be considered for your training (unless you want too)

first off how long is the london marathon?

I can help you formulate a good training program with that information and the amount of time you can train per week

[Snafu'd]

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first off how long is the london marathon?

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Umm, isn't this sort of defined by the fact that it is a marathon?

[Red Shell]

26.5 miles.

I can make as much time as would be needed to complete it in less than 4 hours. Given my fitness levels aren't great the amount of time i can train each week will be limited.

[POKEROMGLOL]

you have time........

just do something like this:

http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/inter1.html

They say if you just stick to the long runs and can do them, you will be fine.

As for speed, this is just my opinion, but if you can do some HIIT and sprint work, it will will really get your mile pace down (im american and refuse to convert my thinking to metric b/c it makes me has a confusion)

[Inso0]

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(im american and refuse to convert my thinking to metric b/c it makes me has a confusion)

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Just remember 1.6 and .6.

1 mile = ~1.6km
1 km = about ~.6 miles

No need to be exact. But that simple conversion is a good one to have locked away in the cranium.

[lacticacid]

To run a marathon in under 4 hours you actually have to be running for the majority of it. You are going to want to run a couple of 30k runs or at least a couple of runs in the 2.5 to 3.0 hour duration.

http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/Mar00novice.htm is a decent enough plan on relatively low milage.

[shemp]

There are a couple of real runners who post here, and they will hopefully chime in. My first marathon, my longest training runs were a couple of 18 milers. On race day, it is hard to explain how unpleasant mile 21-25 were. And my recovery was also unpleasant. You need to see mile 22 or 23 in your training, I think.

[GamblorZ]

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first off how long is the london marathon?

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Umm, isn't this sort of defined by the fact that it is a marathon?

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uh...non-competitive marathons can vary in length. Thanks for your obviosly helpful post but

[GamblorZ]

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26.5 miles.

I can make as much time as would be needed to complete it in less than 4 hours. Given my fitness levels aren't great the amount of time i can train each week will be limited.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well I've never trained specifically for a marathon since I normally do a lot of cardio, but theoretically the best way to train for this event would be...

1) OK you have 5 months until this event. this gives you 20 weeks to prepare - thats not a lot of time though if you keep strict with your training and incorporate some dieting advice (basically eat a lot :P) you'll be fine.
2) Before you do start make sure you have some proper running shoes - maybe visit a podiatrist if you can be bothered? They usually have reccomendations of how to improve your running posture and can tell you which shows would fit you best or even where to get custom running shoes.
3)You should train 3-4x a week. Now obviously you can't be doing full marathons every day (nor shouldnt) but every 5th week you should attempt to do the length of the marathon - too see how your progress is. You might just want to go for runs for 1-1.5 hours and try increase distance each time. Start off gradually though - maybe start off at 3x a week for 1 hour and try gradually increase time and then distance.
4) You also want to be able to "peak" for the event. The best way to peak for the event is to spend some time leading up to the event training at less intensity then what you're used too - so for a week before the marathon you may only want to run twice a week and extrapolate the time/distance as to how you'll go in the marathon. Also at week 8 and 14 you may also want to take a rest week where you train only 2x a week so to keep you from over training.

That my IMO, somebody more experienced might have a better idea.