Have found a race I want to do (along Loch Ness) but wondering how long people had been running before they did their first marathon. And how was it?
I’d like to enjoy the race and not break myself with the training. (For reference, it’s not until next October so I’m just looking for some information before I commit. And yes, it is indeed very hilly).
Any advice gratefully received. Thanks all.
Hi Vespina , I'll start with a disclaimer: I'm not into training, running on roads, in flat areas, with others, or in races, and I realise that my answers will make most runners throw up their hands in horror.
I've only done one marathon event, the 46.45km, 1835m elevation Trail du Gévaudan. Completed it sixteen and a half months after starting C25K. Not what one's supposed to do.
When I started training I'd done a couple of HM and one metric marathon distances, all run solo. I was working at the time so I spread a 16-week training plan over five months. Hated training, loved almost all of the actual event, as related in assorted posts on here. All I wanted to do was get round and have fun, which I did.
As for the Loch Ness Marathon being "very hilly" I'm not sure where you got that information? The race site itself says "It’s a common misconception that the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon is hilly, the route is actually predominantly downhill and many people get a ‘PB’ here." The course profile is here (it's worth clicking to enlarge the image!): lochnessmarathon.com/event/...
For me, living where I do, very hilly normally means that a route comes in at a minimum of 3.5% mean gradient overall, i.e. 1477m over marathon distance. So to me the Loch Ness marathon sounds inviting, but not what I'd call hilly. Cowladyrunning is doing this year's event, so should be able to tell you more.
Personally, if you like the sound of the event, I'd go for it in 2024.
Thanks so much for the information and your thoughts. Like you, I’m more a fan of lumpy trails and nice scenery which was part of the reason for choosing this - quieter race, less people, nice scenery but not technical. Seemed like a good one.
I’ll definitely check out your Trail du Gévaudan posts.
As for hills, I thought it didn’t look hilly when I downloaded the GPX but then their website says there was no shortage of hills (lochnessmarathon.com/traini.... Maybe it depends what you’re used to. As an occasional fell runner, it looked pretty flat to me but I was deferring to their article 🤷♀️. Good to get a second perspective to show that my gut instinct looked right.
That's the same profile as in my link, and in my terms it's still nowhere near very hilly! You're absolutely right that it depends on what you're used to. When talking about hills I deliberately give percentages and numbers whenever I can, as to me it makes no sense to attach subjective adjectives to them.
If you're interested, my Trail du Gévaudan race report is here: healthunlocked.com/marathon... Over the preceding months there were rather too many whiny posts about how much I loathed training!
Yes that's correct thanks Cmoi I'm running Loch Ness this year. Vespina I have been running regularly for about 4 years and this one just spoke to me so I felt it was right to do it! I'm training at the moment - on holiday now so managing heat training, but will post again soon how my training is going. I'm expecting hills although like Cmoi said it does seem quite an even route online! Who knows! Good luck deciding - I'm equally terrified and excited if that helps 😂
That’s so exciting that you’ve signed up. Good luck with the training. I’m looking forward to hearing about the adventures both in the training and the event. So cool to have people who will have done it before me.
I’m sure you’ll have an amazing time. I spoke to my coach this evening about it and he said all his runners who’d done it loved it.
Thank you that's good to know too!
Do you mean Oct 2024? I'm sure that would give you plenty of time. I bet that's a really pretty route too...How odd, I'd heard it was hilly too...
Most of us here really rate the Nike Run Club training plans, why not have a look at those?
Yes, October 2024. Current mileage would definitely not cut it for this year 😂.
NRC is definitely good, although I’ve never actually followed one of their plans. Will see what they’ve got. I’ve got a coach too so could ask him for a plan.
It does look absolutely beautiful and no wonder you want to do this one.
I’ve been running for over ten years and have never done a marathon. I had never felt the urge although I did prepare a plan for last year thinking I’d give it a go and then got injured and couldn’t even start it 🙄
Generally, if you’ve run a few HM’s and are prepared to invest the time for training then why not? Those who have actually done it will give you advice but I see that you have a coach so that will make a big difference to your training I’m sure.
If you decide to do it, then good luck and it would be great if you could keep us updated here please as we love to read what others are up to with their running 🍀
Thanks. I’ll try to drop in and share my training if I go ahead. Just been doing steady 5-10k runs over the last few months as things have been a bit mad with work. Not been much to share but will probably get more interesting if I do sign up for a big race.
If we say I started running at 9 (school sports day) that makes it 63 years so far and still counting …
Always good not to rush these things 🤣. It’s definitely not for everyone
wow, that takes some beating!!!💪💪🙌🙌
Three years for me from starting running with C25k. Did my first marathon aged 60.
I trained for four months. I Jeffed the actual event which took me just under 6 hours. I was glad I did the run/walk thing as I finished in one piece and was ok afterwards
I’m running my 7th marathon at the end of November 🙂
If you throw in plenty of hilly trails into your training and stick roughly to the plan, you should be ok. I do the 20 miler in training just once, about a month before big day ,just to know I can do it 🙂
I wish you all the best if you decide it’s game on! 😀
wow didnt realise you had done so many marathons. Im in awe, can't see me ever doing a marathon, having said that I didnt ever think I would be able to do a HM and did my first one in April and enjoyed! 🙌🙌
Once I’d done one I had to just one more 😀
7 marathons! That’s fantastic. You clearly enjoy them.
It would be 2.5 years between starting C25K for me, so sounds like that’s doable if I do the training right. And I love hill training (I’m weird like that) so that’s the thing I look forward to most.
My second marathon was simply to prove the first one wasn’t a fluke. After that I wanted to do one to mark my birthday. It keeps me going and reason to keep lacing up my shoes 😀💪🏃♀️
I’m really after an ultra 😎
Oh wow, that would be amazing!!💪💪
Hi Vespina Your adventure sounds awesome ⭐
I'm not an expert by any means but love distance running. I ran my first Marathon within a year of starting C25K. I have completed five so far, four solo and one in an event (Manchester Marathon). I ran two Marathons in three weeks once so know that it can be done if you prepare as well as you can.
My advice is that running a Marathon really finds you out. If it was easy then everyone would do it. It's the mental and physical challenge that is what makes Marathon and Marathon training special. Nobody really sees the weekly miles you put in over several months but if you do the training and get the miles in, then you know at the start line that you've done all you can.
As you prepare you can experiment with pacing, fuelling on the go and what gear to wear so that come race day it is what you're used to. I always liked to run some practice runs at the time the official race itself begins. The day and run is a whole other entity though; you just never know how you'll feel on that particular day, what the weather will be like and lots of other things. This is where training really helps. Do the long and slow miles in all weathers and keep going because when you complete it, it's such an incredible achievement.
So many on the forum will help guide you or offer tips that may be useful to you. Practice what fuelling works for you (Tailwind/gels/food etc) and follow any plan that suits you if you need. I've always done my own really with a Sunday long run building up to peak at 20 miles (with the odd cutback week).
Best wishes and don't give up because it's an incredible feat and anyone who completes one certainly deserves it 😃
Thanks for all the advice. That all sounds awesome in both senses of the word (amazing and inspiring awe about the undertaking).
I’m working on trying to base build at the moment with long, slow miles and loving how easy that is compared to my need to blitz through runs and break myself (and yes, everyone told me to slow down to conversational pace since I started C25K but I'm only just starting to understand how very slow that really is).
I’ve done one half marathon before and remember being horrified that that might be the halfway point. But it seems that marathons get under my skin after a while. Sounds like that’s true for you too. Can’t imagine doing two in three weeks!
Definitely going to need to experiment with fuelling. Great advice on options. On fell runs, I’m normally on cubes of cheese and baby potatoes but I’m not sure if I can do that on the road so an alternative might be good. I have some Tailwind so I’ll see how that goes on the next long run.
Fell running is awesome! 💪😀🏃♀️
I’ve done a few local, short ones and really enjoyed them.
My break-glass fuel on marathon day is two small bags of Hoola Hoops. One scoffed at 32km and the other if required to make it to the end. I don’t eat them at any other time 😁 I tote my homemade power bars and Tailwind. I detest gels but keep one for emergencies since getting pins and needles in my feet near the end of a particular event when a fellow runner handed me one 🙂
I’m starting a new marathon plan today!
I love hola hoops!! Never thought take them, will now!!😆👍
I picked up the tip from the Wonder Woman of distance running Nikki Spinks 😋🏃♀️
Good luck misswobble ⭐
Thanks 😀👍
Looking forward to the new season ⚽️ Oh, and getting stuck into marathon training 🙂
Good luck with the marathon plan. Keep us posted on how you’re getting on.
I steal all the best fuelling ideas from fell runners. Miracle pieces of cheese, the importance of tea… Haven’t tried Damian Hall’s custard recommendations yet - that’s much harder to manage when you’re self-supporting 🫨
I got some yummy bics from Lidl from their Eridanous range. wholewheat oatmeal thyme orange cookies. More like a nugget shape and easy to tote and eat They also do bags of individually wrapped nut honey mini bars
Fwiw, I've used precisely one gel, to try it, and I didn't like it. I nibble on Decathlon energy bars, (almond paste, date) or take dried fruit, chocolate, nuts, saucisson etc with me. I'd rather slow down or stop and eat something I enjoy than glug down some revolting concoction just to shave off a few seconds. There again that's accepted practice on trail runs!
Fantastic advice, almost makes me consider a marathon!!!🤔
You would rock it.. with your planning and your determination !
Not sure about that, it still seems such a long way!!!😵💫
Yeah but you train for it a bit at a time. Four months approx of training.
Once I’d entered an event and committed to training for it, I told myself not to be intimidated by the distance.
It’s not for everyone though I appreciate that. You really have to want to do it 🙂
I really believe people can do it and I always like to be real with my thoughts. You could definitely go for it Hedgehogs123 one year that you feel you could commit to the training for it. We'll support you all the way 😃😃😃
Come and join in, Hedgehogs123 . We can cheer one another on through the training.
Not an excuse but 12 of us running club after comply the Yorkshire 3 Peaks in may have just signed up for the national 3Peaks which is s 24hr challenge I understand! 😵💫 We're doing this next May!! So maybe I'll think about a marathon after that,!!
Ooh, that sounds like a fun one. Great scenery. A tad hilly I hear 😉🤭
Haha just a bit. It's the thought of walking up and Snowdon in the pitch black!!😵💫😵💫
This one? threepeakschallenge.uk/nati... You'll need some proper hill training and experience, including night trekking/climbing (and going without sleep) for that. It's twice the elevation of the Yorkshire Three Peaks over a similar distance. Bon courage !
Edited to add: I've been wondering why this sort of thing doesn't fill me with enthusiasm, apart from knowing I couldn't cope with the hours of travel between each mountain. Realised it's because I just don't like the idea of such beautiful scenery not being viewed and appreciated, but ending up as a mere backdrop to a challenge. To me it feels completely contrary to the ethos of National Parks.
That the one, and yes we will have a proper training plan with months of training , infact the conversations have started already about kit we need, so that's my Christmas and birthday lists sorted!! I'd also like to think we will get chance to take in all the views of the other 2 mountains and it might not actually be Snowdon that we do in the dark. We did take loads of pictures when we did the Yorkshire 3 peaks and our training in the peak district, and yes the views were just absolutely stunning.
I had to carry a whistle for the Trail du Gévaudan. One came as standard in my hydration pack, attached inside a pocket. I'd been using the pack for months before I realised, about two days before the event!
While I wish you loads of luck and happy training, I just can't get my head round the idea of that challenge. I'd want to savour my time on those peaks, and spend time in the area, not be rushing through in the dark. Plus all the driving from place to place - I had another look at the website and they say around ten hours total in good traffic. Just not for me (like most of the events that people on here enjoy!)
I had been running two years when I had planned to do my first marathon. Unfortunately then lockdown and all that stuff happened, so it ended up being 4 years until I actually ran it. Although I did a 16 mile run on the day that should have been the marathon, can still remember it now, one of the best runs I've ever done.
My first marathon was Loch Ness, it's absolutely lovely. I would really recommend and if you've any questions about that specifically then let me know and I will help all I can.
I looked at quite a few training plans, found one that suited me that was on runners world, failed miserably to follow it, nearly gave up and then ended up doing the marathon with a friend who was doing it for charity, much slower than I had hoped. Then the next April I did Manchester, followed the training plan a lot better (I'm never going to follow one exactly) and cut an hour and a half off my time. I put my plans into excel, as that what suits me. I move things about in the week a bit, as I know when I'm going to run and if I miss one run I don't worry too much as long as I get the long runs in, that seems to work for me. But we are all different and you have enough time to do some research and see what plan suits you.
I really hope you go for it, you'll have a great time!
Thanks R4inbow . That’s amazing. Glad you were able to finally do your marathon after everything happened in 2020. And wow for knocking so much time off in Manchester. Great job.
Thanks for the advice on the training. I’ll definitely need to come up with a method for that that works for me. At the moment, I just pop them in my diary and then they’re tracked on Tempo.
How hilly did you find Loch Ness? I hear different opinions. Miles 17-18 look like they get a bit steep but the rest looks fine.
Yes there’s a good long hill around 18-20. It’s not steep, but does go on a while. You’ll find quite a few people walk some/all of it and once you’re at the top it leaves you in a good place to run to the end!
Excellent. Thanks so much for the insight. I’m comfortable with power hikes as I do that on the fells. I know some people worry about not running it all but sometimes walking is faster or the same pace for less energy expenditure.
There’s a couple of hills in the Great North Run. The one everyone warned me about was fine. The three mile long one that no one mentioned slowly sapped me. I’d always rather have shorter and steeper 😆. So I’ll factor the long hill into training and get some similar runs in on tired legs.
I have long hill run songs to help with the climb 🎶🎵😀🏃♀️💪
Thank you all so much for the wise words and the encouragement. I’m seeing my coach this afternoon so I think I’m brave enough to broach the topic with him and start making it a reality.
Just signed up for my first marathon attempt -- age 72. 
Marathons.. how do you do it.
What do you eat the night before a marathon?
Long Trots Marathon Build up Plan.
Signed up for first half marathon!!!