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Training Tips For 1st Marathon!? |
Question:
I've never ran a marathon and don't
know the first thing about training
or even how to start training for
one! The only races I've ran are 5
and 10Ks and I want to raun a marathon,
hopefully in a year. I was wondering
how I get started and how far my weekly
mileage has to get up to. Also, do
I have to do any interval workouts?
Any marathon tips would be appreciated
and also, I would like the know about
the race itself, for instance, the
hard spots and where I really need
to push myself.
Answer:
I was exactly where you were about
a year ago, and plan on running my
first marathon on March 5. Get a good
book at the library, or there was
a good magazine article in Runner's
World a few months back. The particular
training schedule I am using is something
like:
Sunday--long run (The longest are
21 miles, you do 2 of these)
Monday--day off
Tuesday-Fartleks
Wednesday-Kind of long run (1:15 of
running at the peak)
Thursday--optional day (0-45 minutes)
Friday--Speed work, hills or intervals
Saturday--day off, if Sunday is longer
than you've run before, or short day
This schedule has a bit more fast
running than most. The peak week is
about 45 miles. You taper the last
3-4 weeks before the race, hardly
running at all the last week.
The long runs are tough. To be honest,
I've fallen about 2 miles short. I
was supposed to run 21 a few weeks
back, and only ran about 19. I have
another 21 miler on Sunday. I started
out with a goal of 4:00, but now believe
that 4:20 is more realistic. I'm always
a little sore these days, so maybe
the taper will give me a boost.
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