The decision to take on the iconic 26.2 miles is not one that should be taken lightly. It’s physically, aerobically and mentally tough, and the training can be incredibly time consuming. Is it worth it? Oh 100% yes it is!
Training
This can take anywhere from 16 -30 weeks depending on your starting point. It means 3 or 4 days a week of running and 1 or 2 days of strength training. You will be adapting your diet and drinking more water than you thought possible! Sleep and rest has to become a priority.
You will run somewhere between 450 and 600 miles (725km / 950km) in training, depending how many weeks you train for, your ability and your race day goals. But you can be sure it will be 450 miles / 725km as a minimum over a 16 week training block.
Depending on your family, social and work circumstances, you diary will have to be adapted to fit it all in. You will be hungry most of the time and almost certainly more tired than you’ve ever been before, physically and mentally.
The marathon will become your primary focus and you will need your family and friends to buy into it from the off. You can do the running alone, the logistics around it, you can’t. Help will be needed from your nearest and dearest on a very regular basis.
The Distance
26.2 miles or 42km, depending on your age one of those numbers will mean something, is how far you need to run on the day, but here is the kicker, that distance is not and never will be the challenge for you. Yes you read that right….
The distance is NOT the challenge!
Imagine you had to cover 26.2 / 42km tomorrow because your life depends on it. It can take you as long as you want, you can run or walk and stop as often as you like, but you must cover the whole distance. Would you do it to save your life? Of course you would. So covering 26.2 miles / 42k you can actually already do (if you really had to).
So, if the distance isn’t really the challenge, what is? The time and effort you want to employ over the distance, this is a huge challenge! If that same life saving scenario played out again, but now the target is 26.2 in say under 4hrs, could you now be confident of a successful outcome? Maybe a different answer?
Having a goal time for a marathon is key even if your initial goal is simply, “I just want to finish it”, because if you don’t understand how to manage your pace and effort, then you could find yourself not finishing it at all. So we need to understand and test your achievable and sustainable pace to get you to the finish line.
There is so much more to think about and learn, but these are the basic things to understand TODAY.
There are a couple of quotes I really like that maybe sum this up nicely….
“Running a marathon is hard, training for a marathon is way way harder”
“A marathon is going to hurt. The hurt is unavoidable. But you don’t train to avoid the hurt, your train to be able tolerate the hurt”
Still keen? Then why not give me a call (it’s free) and find out more before you commit to it. It will be the hardest and greatest thing you’ve ever done all rolled into one!