Tips to run a marathon

[asim2020l]

What are some tips to prepare for a Marathon? I run about 5 miles everyday and have done so for last few years. Should I do extra miles to prepare or I'll be ok for one of marathon?

[AlMorr Half Marathon]

There are plenty of websites that advise runners regarding marathon training, I am not sure if the London Marathon will take place in October.

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

Hi! Welcome to Health Unlocked, and to the Marathon community!!

To prepare for a marathon you do need to increase your mileage quite considerably. This is done by increasing one of your runs regularly (usually weekly, but with reduced mileage every few weeks for recovery purposes) until you reach your longest run of around 18-20 miles. After that you decrease your weekly mileage by half per week over a period of a few weeks (the "taper" period). Generally a newer runner and first-time marathoner will only run one 18-20 miler, but more experienced runners will do more.

You should also have at least one rest day a week when training for a marathon.

To train for a marathon you need to practice what you eat before, during, and after a long run - this is very important because you are likely to be running for many hours during a marathon and your body will run down its essential glycogen reserves if you don't keep them topped up.

You are also well advised to practice shorter, faster runs, hilly runs, and introduce a good strength-training regimen to help prepare yourself fully for the marathon ordeal.

As AlMorr suggests, there are plenty of free marathon training plans available online - check out Hal Higdon for an idea of a decent basic one. There are also apps available, e.g. Nike Run Club.

Good luck! There aren't likely to be many official marathons running this year in the UK due to the pandemic, but do you have a dream marathon event in mind for when things have settled down?

[misswobble Marathon]

5 miles is way short of the 26.2 miles required for a marathon so you need to gradually increase distance 🙂

A structured plan would be a good idea. There are lots of free ones about 🙂

If you give yourself four months minimum training time that would be good

Longer if you want to take your time 🙂. Why not ?👍😃

Jeff Galloway is a great guy to read about. He has a wonderful method for marathoners. The Run/Walk Method. It works! Well worth a read 👍

Good luck. Keep us posted 🙂

[Tasha99 Marathon]

Running a marathon isn’t something you can just go and do! It’s bloody hard. You need to follow a plan and incorporate rest days. You’ll need at least 4 months to train. You’re going to have to learn how to pace yourself and how to fuel. Believe me, it’s a very, very steep learning curve.

Have you done 10k yet? Maybe you should try a couple of half marathons first! And a full marathon is a completely different kettle of fish to a half!

[asim2020l in reply to Tasha99]

I ran half marathon last year and I took me only a week's practice. I am a regular runner but hasn't ran marathon yet, so I thought it may be easy.

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to asim2020l]

Many regular runners don't run marathons simply because they are different and harder than any other popular distances, including half marathon which is much simpler and easier. There are good reasons why training for marathon is a good idea rather than just going out and running one unprepared.

However, if you think that you can do it and enjoy it without long and structured training by all means go ahead. But at least check out why people train for it and how to prepare yourself in terms of food and hydration to avoid any bad surprises.

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to asim2020l]

It’s not easy! For anyone! The marathon is a beast!

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to Tasha99]

And on that note, I'm training for my first ultra and l have a marathon in the program simply as a 'training run', lol. Oh boy.... The training is 26 weeks long and is littered with gems like 80k spread over 5 days per week. So far it's going well. We'll see how it ends, 😜.

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to mrrun]

But you’re training for it and know it’s a beast! Good luck!

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to Tasha99]

Yep, a walk in the park it is not. Far from it.