Marathons?

I was thinking about trying one this year, with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

Has anybody run a marathon? What program did you use? Did you have to get up really early in the morning to train? Did you use a treadmill when it was really hot or cold?

Just curious about the experience and how realistic you think it is.

 

Find a local running club. They'll have training programs laid out for you and group runs.

(Not that I've run one, but I'd also like to one day and have had several close friends/relatives run them.)

 

Good advice. There's also some programs that have sprung up in the last couple years called "marathon makeover" or somesuch. You pay a fee, similar to your gym membership, and they'll walk you through the process. The program takes a few months to complete, and the ultimate goal is to run a marathon somewhere in your state or region.
You can find these things through your local running club or gym, most likely.

 

I ran three in the 90s while working for my dad at Merrill Lynch, before I started covering sports. Under that regimented 8-6 schedule every day, it was easy to train.

Now, with my schedule all over the place, it would be much, much harder. My goal this year is to do a half-marathon or two since training for 13 is much less time consuming than 26.

 

If you just want to survive one and aren't worried about time, it's not the training that will get you. Most people can commit themselves to the training it would take. It's the risk of injury during the training process.

 

Considering the first guy that ever ran a marathon dropped dead at the end, I've studiously avoided them

That, and I smoke half a pack a day

 

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has a wonderful program called Team in Training that welcomes first-timers. They provide the coaching and pay your way to the marathon. In exchange, you raise money for them (and they help you with that, too).

http://www.teamintraining.org/firsttimehere/sportprograms/marathonshalfmarathons

 

It's apparently quite effective, too ... I know two girls who have done it and neither is what you would think of as athletic. (The following are not value judgments, but simply observations of two friends and their fitness levels) One is reasonably in shape, but she's about 6-feet tall, all arms and legs and had never participated in a sport of any kind. The other is actually still fairly overweight, but she's done two (D.C. and New Orleans, I think).

 

I've done four in the past four years, will do 2 more in 2011. I can say I'm very glad I lost that bet on Fourth of July weekend 2006 and started.

As far as training, there are so many ways to do it. For the last one, I took the one straight out of Runner's World magazine, made some small changes based on my schedule and other activities and did the best I could.

Some running clubs have programs, others just organize group runs -- and this is the one thing I would encourage more than anything else. I ran essentially by myself for 3 1/2 years, but started with the local running club (to do an interview, of all things) and enjoyed it thoroughly. I still do plenty of runs by myself, but I always look forward to a group run now. Granted, we all get strung out during the run because we're all at different paces, but that's OK. Good to talk, say hello to new acquaintances, grab dinner afterward.

The one thing I can't stress enough, though -- listen to your body. If something feels funny, slow down, take a small break. If it still feels funny, shut it down. While I am far from the fastest person out there, I've had zero injuries and enjoy going out to run every time. That's been the whole point of all this. I'm not fast enough to be a BQ (and probably won't be until I'm 60, god-willing I can still run then), and I'm OK with that. But I just broke four hours for the first time, and now I want to get down to 3:50.

 

Team in Training is a fantastic group. That said, they are very adamant about the fundraising portion of their project (I want to say it's a $1,500 minimum of funds you have to raise). Friends that have run for TinT have said the money part is more difficult than the running part.

 

Ragu, if you can stretch it out to 15 miles, you can probably do it.

Again, I haven't done this, but, my understanding is that it's mostly miles per week plus one long run that matters. But, even people who are training for a marathon don't do much more than 15 miles for their long run.

You can't train for a marathon by running 26 miles because it would take too much out of you and the recovery time would be too much.

The New York Road Runners is terrific. They have tons of competitive runs as well as training programs and group runs designed for people looking to run a marathon.