Marathon Running

I've decided to run a marathon, probably next May.
Haven't done much long distance running before, but for the last 3-4 weeks I've been doing regular runs. The aim is just to do it in under 4 hours.
This week:

Tuesday: 6.2km in 33 mins
Friday: 8.2km in 42 mins
Sunday: 10.4km in 63 mins (some hills on this run)

Not that fast, but at the moment just trying to get the base mileage up.
Anyone else done one?

My brother-in-law is nuts for them. Runs all the time, does marathons on occasion. He'll be doing NYC this year (or is it next year?). He's 58, so I fully expect his heart to explode at any second.

I have only done a 1/2 and a couple of mini triathalons.
I liked training with people better than alone, but training is good! Too many people try to just go do it-WTF?!

More like any decade - he'll probably live to 90+.

That would figure - he's an annoying self-righteous liberal twit. I'll have to listen to his holier-than-though lectures till I die.

I've run four (over ten years ago) and one 50km trail race (last spring).

Which marathon are you running?

Tagging @Aenea

I bet you have.

Now we're talking! I got hooked on running three years ago, and now (read: once I get my ass back in gear after the summer vacation) I run a half marathon every month, and 35-40KM a week. My original aim was to run a marathon when I get my bachelor's degree - which was supposed to be next June, but I put that off till january '16. Of course, no reason to postpone the marathon, really. I was planning on april/may, but I'll see how it goes. @RickDeckard: the Rotterdam Marathon is in April...
New York is on my list of things I want to do, though, I may opt for NY in november 2015. The trouble with big marathons is that youre not likely to get in on your own merits... these are the qualifying times for NYC Marathon 2014. Not something I can even get close to.. my best training time for the half marathon is something like 1:52:30, best official time is 1:58:43 in Dublin. My longest run so far was 30KM in 3:02. My aim for a marathon would be under four hours. (read: 3:59:59. For NYC I'd have to be 70 to qualify with that time)

Not sure, probably either Belfast or Newry, which are the local ones. They don't have any entry requirements and minimal entry fees.
I'll probably do some fundraising for cancer research as well.

@Zenow, are there any requirements to enter the Rotterdam one?

Nope, no requirements, but they prefer you not to die either after or before finishing. Some guy dropped dead this weekend after finishing the 'Dam tot Damloop' (only 10 miles) in Amsterdam, 24 years old. RIP...
http://www.marathonrotterdam.org/runners/marathon/

If you start hills to much to quick there's a good chance of hurting your knees. (happened to me ) I was supposed to do the Bombing Marathon here in OKC last April, but after my 25K in March I started bumping up the training and the hills to quick, strained my damn knee. I'm still bitter.

Great goal to set for yourself. There's a lot of good info on how to prepare out there, but mostly, it's taking a slow but steady approach to increasing your distance. Don't push too far too quickly, and try to only run long once a week. I haven't run one, but people I know who have done so typically start with a schedule for 3, 4, and 5 mile runs on alternating days. After a few weeks, when your body is comfortable with that, change it up to 3, 5, 7, etc.

Aenea is right about watching yourself on the hills, but ultimately, they are going to give you the endurance. You can start by doing some aggressive hikes, then transition to running. Trail running is a fairly different thing from road running, so expect it to be slow if you try that as part of your training, but it will do wonders for your ankles and core, which has dividends for the road running you'll do in a marathon.

I just did a 15 mile trail race over the weekend, and I have to say, the thought of 26 miles is pretty overwhelming. But if you set your self to doing it, you can definitely be ready within the time frame you've set.

Is there a marathon from Marathon to Athens? 'cause that would be cool.

I occasionally hike as well, so that will probably be part of my program as well. Good advice on the core conditioning, I might try some yoga again.

@Forbin : http://www.athensmarathon.com/

@Aenea : I hear what you say! I was increasing my mileage as well and did very well last year, without a single injury, until last january... that longest run of 30km I mentioned, was the last real long run I've done this entire year. My normal max. distance was 21-25km, which would make me tired, but which I could do without extra training or preparation. But in january, I had just bought new shoes as after 1250km my old ones were so far gone I started to get some mild aches.. but instead of using the new ones, which I still had to break in, I ran the 30km on the old shoes.. at first between 5:30 and 6:00 per km, but after 24 km that slowed to around 6:30 and the last 2km were a disaster (@7:30 and even 8 min/km), but for some stupid reason (the magical 30km!) I kept going... I couldn't run for at least 3 months after that day And yes, after those 30km, I realised I had no idea how ever to pull of 42.2KM.

I agree with everyone, build it up slowly, make sure you replace your shoes after 800-1000km or whenever you start to get complaints, take a day off between runs and mix your runs: short distance for power and speed, interval, and slow (and I mean crazy slow, really) long distance runs. If you consistently do that 3 times a week, you'll get there fast. Still, going from a 10km long run now to a marathon in april is pushing it, imho, especially if you're aiming for sub 4. I'd suggest you forget that time goal, and aim on finishing. Come march, you'll be able to properly predict your time and decide on a pace.
That said, I might just be a pussy. I've been runnning for 3 years now and should be able to do a full marathon, with proper preparation. A friend of a friend started running and did a marathon within the year. He was a 6 foot 10 ex marine, but still. It took him 4.5 hours, by the way but I honestly didn't think he would be able to pull it off.

My rule of thumb for building up my running schedule is: FDS: frequency, distance, speed. Meaning that before anything else, just think about running on a regular basis. If you have that down, think about increasing distance, and if you're working on that, only then start thinking about speeding up. Although with a mixed schedule, you're already working on all three.

I'm considering building my treadmill!

Just to play a different perspective...

Is running your thing (does running daily help you mentally, is it fun, etc.)? Or is running the marathon the real goal? With the right training you can probably cut out at least half of your training time and still run the marathon just as well. If you're like me and enjoy running for the sake of running, you don't need to do this, but just keep in mind that the "slow and steady" approach isn't the only way to go.

Saying this after years of trying to up my mileage and finally realizing that my body just doesn't deal well with more than 25-30 miles per week, yet if you follow some marathon training plans they will have you running a lot more than that.

A bit of both. I do enjoy it and get a buzz from it. But my sport has always been Gaelic Football, which I think I'm about finished with (at 32 and with some injuries behind me I'm getting too old) so I've never really done the running for its own sake before.

I'm intrigued at what the "right training" might be though...

Judging by my quick Google of Gaelic Football, you might already know: if you train your body to go hard, you can go hard. Sprinting up and down a field trying to avoid getting your teeth kicked in is a great way to physically train; the rest of it is the mental exercise of continuing to push your body past what you think you can do. Do that enough and you get used to it, then running a marathon is no big deal (except for the boredom, perhaps).

It sounds like hokey mind games the way I explain it here, but this is what I'm talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training The key is that your hard intervals need to be gut-bustingly hard.

I don't train like this because I'm pretty okay with my finish place in the fun races I do at the moment. A buddy of mine trains about an hour a week and wins adventure races, but he (and his twin brother) might have a genetic advantage as well.

I've tried running a "marathon" a couple times. Unfortunately people hardly ever bite.

HIIT is pretty much how we train for Gaelic Football, so I'm very familiar with it. I do have the problem (already alluded to) that I tend to pick up injuries doing that kind of thing though. I'll do a bit of it for speedwork but I'm not sure that it's that suited for building long distance stamina, which is what I lack right now.

HIIT helps, but the real thing for long distance stamina IMO is cross training. You can't run long too quickly, but if you push yourself in other areas like swimming and cycling, there will be dividends. Where the HIIT comes to play is for times when you need the extra burst to get over that hill, or keep yourself going when you are feeling like you've hit a brick wall. Running long distances means an ability to establish a rhythm that your body can hold. But if you can't occasionally pop up the effort level, you will likely get stuck at some point.

Since my wife walks, with the dog, a half hour each morning and a half hour each evening, our marathon-running brother-in-law keeps trying to convince her she would enjoy running marathons. She keeps pointing out that she enjoys the walks with the dog because she likes the time with the dog, and it doesn't fucking involve running!

I've never seen a happy runner.

Uta Pippig disagrees!

Rick, I spaced completely on your injury reference.

You don't necessarily need to run long, though, if you can get through it mentally. HIIT helps more with the mental aspect. People who don't even enjoy running but want to run marathons go out and suffer for hours on long runs, when they might be better served by shorter, much more intense workouts.

Are you sure/ I mean, you've run several and I've run none so far, so who am I to talk, but I do know that people tend to forget how hard things are the first time around... it's far easier to get back into running long distance, than it is to strengthen your body so that it can at least take the beating it gets.. I can't imagine doing my first ever marathon without a lot of long distance running, I'm sure I will injure myself if I don't...