So, you have made that decision to run 26.2 miles, or 42km if you wish, you will no doubt be aware of the standard 16 week marathon training block that is looked upon as the time frame to train for such an undertaking.
There are is common warning I say to all runners that I coach for a Marathon…
“Be under no illusion, Marathon running is very tough, but training for one is much tougher”
16 weeks and 450+ miles to be covered, along with strength and conditioning training, eating healthily and let’s not gloss over the time it takes and the sacrifices you will have to make.
Just waking up one morning with 16 weeks to go and thinking, here we go, day 1, is a recipe for disaster. I can tell you that a vast majority of people who don’t make the start line of a Marathon (let alone the finish line) are the ones who find out that they simply weren’t fit enough or prepared enough for the gruelling 16 weeks ahead.
It often baffles me why runners leave it until 16 weeks prior to the race day, when, in most cases, they have known 6 months or even more that they were going to do the event?
So, what is Marathon base training. Essentially it is a training plan, for the 16 week plan, and as a crazy as that sounds, your body and mind will thank you for the slower paced build up to the 16 week undertaking.
Over training for a Marathon is actually more common that not training enough. Mentally runners think that they need to prove to themselves they can run at least a half marathon as quickly as possible into their training. This isn’t so. Putting a training load, that you are not used to, through your body to quickly will result in injury or fatigue, or most likely both. The only outcome when you feel constantly tired or keep getting niggling injuries, is you will give up.
I like to offer all runners I coach a 12 week base building plan. This plan will be unique to each runner, because every runner is unique. I take into consideration the goals, time pressures, currently fitness, ability and their age. Age is huge factor when it comes to what you need to do to recover. A runner in their 20’s or 30’s, recovers much quicker and easier than someone in their 40’s and upwards.
We will intentionally build slowly for 8 weeks and then have 4 weeks where we let the body recover, whilst training enough to maintain the progress you made in the initial 8 weeks.
You will then be in the best possible place to start the 16 weeks of training that gets you to the start line, feeling healthy, happy, confident and ready to take on the 26.2 miles / 42km.
99.5% of runners who run a Marathon are not elite runners, or full time athletes. Elite generally means sub 2hrs 20 mins for men and sub 2hrs 30mins for women. This means you don’t have to do this, you have decided to challenge yourself, for whatever reason that might be, so from a coaching perspective I always pay particular focus on enjoying the process.
If you build slowly, stay injury free, don’t feel pressured into doing more than you are capable of, and feel like you are making progress each week, the enjoyment of the whole thing goes up x 10. Remember, what distance and pace someone on social media is doing, who you have never met and know nothing about, is totally irrelevant to what you should be doing.
Give yourself time, and make sure that time is spent wisely with a plan that is right for you, and only you, because you are unique.