While in the middle of the throws of a temperature of over 100 due to Covid I put in for a ballot place in the London Marathon, as I have done every year for the last eight years.
Yesterday I found out that I have a place.
I did my first post Covid recovery run today of 3km. So I have made a start. 😀.
I’m in the process of doing my favourite bit which is writing up my training plan.
I need it to be personal to accommodate getting over Covid and my run/ walk abilities.
I cross train already which is something I want to keep up with.
I have a couple of questions which I'm hoping you could help me out with.
I want to train three days a week but I notice some of the plans are four days a week, I was wondering which was the preferred number of days.
Do you work only towards a target of a long run each week or do you work towards an overall weekly mileage as well?
I must admit after all my years of running and HM’s I am feeling like a total newbie.
Silly excited and nervous all at the same time.
Happy running everyone
Rfc x
Written by
Realfoodieclub
Marathon
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I cannot help you at all with any of the things you want help with... still creeping back uo to where I was in 2019......but how absolutely WONDERFUL to see you here!
What a wonderful surprise!!!
If you got over that awful brush with COVID!!! You can achieve anything... and my only useful? advice.... you know it !
Hiya. I've promised MrRfc I will take it very steady and abide by all the running rules with some extra caution as well. I'm going to make a very personal plan just for me, hopefully with a little help I can cover all the bases.
Where else would I go for help. Heatlthunlocked is the best place with the best people. ❤️.
I can't offer anyadvice but really look forward to reading the responses to your post and your future posts about the training -and the event itself !!
How lovely to see you back Rfc, and I’m so glad you’re over the dreaded covid. 🙏🏻
You have a LM place! 👏👏👏 You lucky duck. Enjoy your training plan. I can’t offer any useful advice, only that I tended to run 4 days each week when training for my HMs, and I’d probably do the same for a FM if I ever got a London place. Just my preference though.
Please keep us updated with how you’re getting on. I’m so excited for you. 😍
For my HM I've only ever trained two days a week and I've been fine with that but a marathon seems a different sort of beast.
I can fit in three sessions but I think it would be a real push to do four but then I don't want to skimp if it is necessary. I have always said you should give these events the respect they deserve.
Hi Realfoodieclub, nice to hear from you, sorry about your Covid but nice to know that you are recovering and ran 3K today, well done on getting to run at next year's London Marathon, 8th time lucky, training 3 times a week, against 4 times a week doesn't really make all that much of a difference to your overall training for a long run like a marathon, I wish you good luck for next year.
Hi Realfoodieclub , congratulations on your LM place. Several people on here recently took part in the 2022 LM, and a couple more have replied to the "Not this time" post just previous to yours to say they have places in the 2023 events. Hopefully these lovely people will be along soon to share tips.
I've only done a trail marathon, which turned out to be about 10% over distance and had a fair amount of vertical. You're right that a full marathon is a different beast to a HM: I'd got to metric marathon distance without any structured training, but got myself a plan for the FM.
It was supposed to be five runs a week over 16 weeks, but I spread it over five months and mostly did four runs a week, sometimes just two or three. I'd say that varying your run types is important, as is decent mileage, and getting in the long runs is a must.
Thanks for the reply. I aware I have 26 weeks to fit in a 16 week training plan so I have a bit of wiggle room for elongating the plan if needed. I'm thinking of keeping the long runs from wk 4 to the end as definite and not messing with them at all.
I know I need to work on my variety as well. Do you cross train as well. That's the bit that worries me with four days a week.
I'm a lazy cow and have never done any formal cross-training. I walk the dog and very occasionally do yoga, but hate the "do x reps of this, then y of that" variety of exercise. I was still working while marathon training so used to kid myself that being on my feet teaching and lugging about quantities of materials was strength training! However I do run a lot of hills (a "normal" 10k would be 200m+ vertical) which probably helps.
As for variety, the main benefit I got from having to do tempo and speed runs during my marathon plan was learning that I could keep doing stuff I hated for longer than I thought possible.
Final thing - you'll be on your feet for a long time. I'd say it's absolutely essential to build that, and dealing with fuelling and hydration over several hours, into your plan. Have fun!
that made me laugh, you say lazy cow but......... You run 10km uphill 😂. I have a perfect hill at the bottom of my road but in 9 years of running I've never used it for training. That's lazy 😀. Something I might think about.
I am beginning to realise as I read on here I need a personal plan for me that covers the bases I think that is going to do me so much more good than an generic one. I'm going to take a couple of weeks to work it out I think.
Well, I don't normally run 10K all uphill, I run downhill too! 😉 🤣
I had to deal with inclines from the start of C25K, as I live at 680m in a tiny hamlet in a very rural part of France. If I go out of my front door and turn left, the road runs out after about 50 metres and becomes a forest footpath which goes, yes you've guessed it, uphill! Things start to flatten out at around 1024m, about 8km away.
Turning right out of my front door takes me along the road up a slight incline for about 100m, then it drops down to the village, which is a little over 1km away and about 50 metres lower. So the way home is inevitably uphill!
There are lots of possible route variations. Need I say that they also involve uppy-downy bits? 🙃
I think you're absolutely right about tailoring your training plan to your needs. I chose a trail-specific marathon plan, because road-based plans were largely irrelevant. For me the concept of a race pace, when my only aim was to survive the fairly technical terrain and complete the distance in one piece, was absurd.
Ohh, a big hearty wave from me too! Helloooo again, so good to hear from you 🥰🥰🥰Congratulations on your place.
My own humble and chaotic experience for what it's worth ...
In 2020, when the London Marathon was only virtual because of Covid, I decided to run it with just five weeks notice🙈 In those five weeks I found a way to get from HM distance to full distance by adopting a run/walk approach. I completed the virtual run in 5h23m - not great, but not too, too shabby either!
I only ever run one day in three (three runs a week, only my weeks have 9 days - Abi kindly wrote a half marathon training plan that fitted me perfectly 😍) - any more and I end up injured! This is especially true as I increase distance.
For HM training, in each 9 day 'week' I incorporate one long slow run, one short speed run and one medium length 'goal pace run'. I try to ensure there are three weeks of increasing weekly mileage, with a fourth week with a lower 'cut back' total.
I recently ran a Metric marathon and increased the distances, keeping to the same principles. If I ever decide to run a marathon again I will extrapolate a bit further; this 'template' seems to work for me.
So I am absolutely sure that you can run a marathon with just two to three training runs a week (rather than four) if that is your preference, especially as you have so many weeks ahead of you. I firmly believe 'you know yourself best' and you are best placed to write the plan that will work for you.
But most of all! How exciting!!! Make sure you enjoy the process as well as the final day. Please do let us know how it goes - there are definitely other HU VRBs lining up for the start 🥰
Thank you for such a detailed reply. I've always been a run walker and a slow runner so all my plans have been adapted for me. I really like the idea of extending the week to cover the elongated plan, that makes a lot of sense. I've got a couple of weeks to wiggle stuff around as I get over covid.
I could only dream of your time, I'm probably going for 7-7:30 hours. So fuel is going to be important, my last HM was 3:30 but I know I've done better.
I keep going from full blown excitement to “ what on earth have you done “ 😂😂😂.
I'll definitely keep coming back. I know how good it is not to feel alone in your training.
My apologies, I should have put that time in some context! My HM time was around 2h15m when I started my (hopelessly inadequate) 5 weeks training for the full marathon. Based on that HM time, I was really happy with the full time. The HM time was pretty much all running, whereas my FM had a large proportion of walking and that is what made it possible in my silly training time frame 😍
Roseabi's '9 day week plan' is always my start point. I often end up working backwards and juggling distances to make things fit when I first write up the plan, but the general principle is the same each time. It works far better for me than any plan I have ever found online (although I do also dip in and out of the NRC guided runs - choosing something that fits my planned distance/type of run, to help keep things interesting).
Ive started working backwards and made sure I've got the 20 miler in in the right place. It all looks a lot more manageable and less frightening now with all the lovely help I've had from here.
OMG! RFC, coming back with a bang! Fabulous to see you 👋…..I tried for the ballot too, no luck here…..☹️……(again)…..
Anyway , OH and me did the first virtual in 2020…..with only 6 weeks from notification to THE day…..we were sort of not far off HM distance at the time…..
We ran 3 times a week, 2 x 5-10k ish……and one long slow run gradually increasing……we made it up to 20 miles and managed that twice….the last one a couple of weeks before THE day…..personally I think I should have tapered longer….you know what the gremlins are like……I went out for a 5k a couple of days before……I had a calf issue some 4 miles in, and it stayed there until about 22 miles when it just twanged and I had to shuffle/hobble the rest.
Mind you my goal was to hit the magic 20 miles…..that gave me the confidence boost I needed to know I had the stamina to do the full distance…..it was, as you can imagine slow and steady…..regular breaks etc.,
We did some strength training and walking in between to build time on our feet..…..although now I have discovered something magic! A class called Legs,Bums and Tums…..(LBT) it’s a lot of squats, balance, core work - some Pilates…..and its certainly made a difference to my running now…….I’m much stronger, not a lot quicker…..but have far less niggles in my legs…..it’s not easy, sometimes I’m sure the teacher is evil! 😈…..but I love it
I've been trying the ballot for 8 years and Nada, I was so shocked when it came up, your in.
I've had some health issues last year so I'm basically coming from 5km running but before covid MrRfc and I were walking 10 x14 km round London streets at the weekends Something I want to keep up with. So I really like the idea of using our walks together as slow training walks,
I'm a run/walker so walking will have to be part of my training too as I have adopted a race walk/run style over the years. I will need to be on my feet realistically for 7-7.5 hours for the event.
Well done on the LBT’s. I need to up my class work. I use fiton at home, I find being able to do a class whenever I need works best for me but I know I shy away from the lower body stuff which will have to change if I want to be leg strong.
I'm so glad I came back on here, I forgot how good it feels 😀.
I remember some very wise person saying to me…..you need to build time on your feet…..and that’s how I ‘built’ it - I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve tried now, I think I’ve got at least 3 ‘sorry’ tops - when you had to pay up front and opted to donate the fee to charity….
It’d definitely be a run/walk for me IF I ever got in….all that sightseeing, 📸 the crowds, what an experience - I’d class it as a great day out!
I agree about a great day out, it is all about the atmosphere and soaking it all in. MrRfc said to me the other day, you know you don't have to finish, training and taking part is epic in itself and I understand what he's saying, it is a big one and I know I'll put the work in. So it's about the whole process.
How lovely to see you again RFC! And what exciting news you have 🤗
I’m sure you have lots of great advice here. We’ve had a couple of runners who’ve just run London and it was great fun following their training and then the actual big day!!! I’m looking forward to doing the same with you.
It was a good to be back. I've been a bit lost with my running lately. Covid made me nervous of events but now I've had it I feel a bit more adventurous. It feels a bit like fate, everything came together at just the right time, just what I needed.
wow!! How exciting for you, congratulations for getting a place. I will be watching your progress with interest (not that I will ever run a marathon 😆). Wishing you all the best luck with your training 👍😊
Welcome back RFC! How exciting to get the call! I can share a little of my experience if it helps. I’ve done a marathon road race once and trained hard 4 days a week for it. I think I may have overtrained. I’ve also run two 50k races, where 40k runs were part of the training. I moved down to 3day week training for these, but because of their elevation I had one day of serious hill work. Then one easy 10k and my long run on the weekend. Each long run increased weekly. I started with a standard plan and personalized it from there. I suspect if you are doing a run/walk strategy then your training would maybe need to focus on how long you can be moving on your feet vs pace
I have an overall km pace in mind and am working my training around that. I am thinking that the advice here about time on feet is very relevant, I hadn't thought about it that way before. With that in mind I'm going to keep a weekly tot up and increase that as time goes on.
The other thing I need to actively think about is rest days, at the moment I do something nearly every day even if it's just a 5km walk. It's something I've always been bad at.
Hey RFC!! Long time no see! And amazing congratulations on getting a place.
My plan was only 3 runs a week, plus parkrun if I felt like it and two strength & conditioning sessions.
I did one interval speed session on a Tuesday, a progression run on a Thursday and a gradually increasing long run on a Sunday. The S& C sessions were guided by the Runners World Marathon S&C plan.
This plan wasn’t particularly for speed (I think it has to be more intensive for that) but it definitely built the endurance up.
Hope that helps and hope the Covid has calmed down.
Thank you. I'm finally starting to feel more normal after covid, not a bad session as it's only been four weeks. So hopefully not lost too much muscle strength in that time.
I am going to have to add in some run training and another strength session, my VR boxing might have to be sidelined for a bit to fit it all in. But I might add in a monthly swim as that helps to stretch the muscles back in place gently.
I do a lot of adapting plans, as I've never found one that fits in with my life. I do find adapting the plans half the fun and they change as I go along.
These days I tend to take the weekly long run from a 'proper' plan and think about how I can fit the other runs in. This is what my week is made up of on the plan:
My long run (slow)
A recovery run (slow) - 3 miles ish
A long ish easy run (slow) - less than half the length of my actual long run
One hard run - this may be running a bit faster, doing some hills, doing some intervals. Whatever I feel like.
While my plan has 4 runs a week, I often only do 3 and sometimes 2. I try hard to never miss the long run, but if I miss one of the others that's all fine. If I miss 2 of the others that's fine too, but I try not to miss 2 in consecutive weeks (try).
I also change my plan. Does a friend want to go out for a run after work? Is there enough light for me to run through the woods instead in the evenings? Have I had a long day and the thought of a hard run make me want to hide under a duvet so I just want to do a steady 5k? That's all fine, I find if it stays fun and varies a bit then I keep going with it a lot more.
I looked at my actual runs for my last marathon training. I averaged 3 runs a week, my most was 5 and my least was 1.
This is all for me, I have no proper knowledge at all and have just learnt what works for me through trial and error. I thought I'd share in case you find it interesting, rather than suggesting you do the same!
Whatever you do, I hope you really enjoy it. There's a real achievement in doing the training, not just the race at the end. Have a great time and I look forward to hearing how you get on.
Thank you for the info. It really does help as I get a bit stressy when I can't tick things off my plan but this time I think it is so much more important to listen to what my body is telling me on any given day. You seem to of got that side sorted and it worked. I need to mentally work on letting a run go if it's the right thing to do. I think marathon training is so much more personalized and focused on not overdoing it while doing enough.
congratulations on your place. I've recently completed my first marathon (a 50k ultra). When I was looking for a suitable training plan I came across a recommendation for an app called Run With Hal. You can select your running days and it will work out your training schedule. It is free unless you want to change your plan (I ended up paying for 6 months). Enjoy the journey, hope you are over covid soon.
I fee like I turned a corner with Covid this weekend but I will build up slowly, I don’t feel like I’ve got the time to get it wrong.
Thank for app suggestion It looks very interesting. It does look like the sort of thing I like. I used to love the old ASICS one which looked very similar. There is something about it being done by a third party for accountability for my brain.
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