Marathon Training 2023 - Who's in?

Hello - running Manchester on 16th April. Not feeling particularly fit and have had a bad sleeping toddler + tummy bug in the past few weeks which has knocked me off course.
I ran London in 2015 just under 5hrs (but knee went at mile 18) so if I can beat that, I’ll be happy.
I did a slow plod 14 miles this week. I’m really struggling for motivation atm.

*top form

@Fizbosshoes hope you feel better soon and get to run at the weekend, although not the end of the world if you can't or if you are not in too form.

@Forestcantrun , sorry for your loss.

@EveryLittleWish , I realised when I looked back that you have completed lots of marathons. You know what's best for you and I understand being torn. Although I say that I have a certain goal time , I usually have a slightly faster one in my head that I'm really aiming for and I have a tendency to start too quickly.
My long run was 13 miles this weekend, which I did yesterday . It was the first time I had a reduction for a while so it was a nice change. Back up to 20 again next week.
Lots of races coming up over the next few weeks too, including a XC on Sunday, so it's going to be tricky fitting everything in.
Hope everyone has good runs at the weekend

@Fizbosshoes 👏 Nice !!!!!

@Teawaster Thanks for that . It’s not my first marathon but my first in a long time. I want to run the 10k as some reassurance more than anything . I have a pace in mind ( aiming for a 4:13) but I think I’m capable of a 3:59 and I have been running my runs around that just incase . Im torn at the moment . Today I’m running 32kms and running the last 5 kms at a 5:40 pace( in-line with a 4 hour marathon ) and I’m hoping that will give me a better idea. I’ll try and get more of those marathon pace runs in over the next few weeks too. It just feels a tad too fast at the moment . Years ago I ran with a similar goal in kind ( smashed it ) and I had done a 10k in 51 minutes during peak training ( I’m sure if it was during the taper I would have pulled off a sub 50). Im hoping to match that for extra reassurance .

@EveryLittleWish
I have often ran races during taper. I did a Half 2 weeks before my last marathon and got a PB. I did a 10k a week before the marathon.
A 13 miler long run was in my plan anyway for the Sunday that I did the Half so running it faster than marathon pace 2 weeks out was fine in my view, as long as I reduced my mileage and didn't push at my speed and tempo sessions.
I had 10 miles in my plan for the final week, ran the 10k on Saturday and ran 10 miles on Sunday. That maybe shouldn't have been the best idea but I did a marathon PB so it worked out ok.

Not sure about trying to work out marathon pace within a 10k though at that stage . That wouldn't work for me as I need to have an idea before then and base it on my previous marathon pace.
If it was my first marathon I would be basing my pace somewhere between what my tempo pace for 13 miles was and my pace for my long run of 20 miles

@Forestcantrun v sorry to hear. Be gentle to yourself. Grief takes so much emotional energy and its very normal to be tired. X x

@EveryLittleWish I did 2 10k races on the 2 Sundays before I did a marathon several years ago. I got a pb at the first one, a course pb (it was a mixed terrain route) at the 2nd one and a pb at the marathon. My best month of running!😂

I have felt unwell this week and not run since Sunday, hoping I feel OK for my long run at the weekend.

Does anyone have experience racing during your marathon taper ? I’m thinking of racing a 10k to help me decide on my marathon pace . I thought about doing a half but I worry that will need more recovery .

My 3 week taper has me reducing my mileage by 20% the first week , and then a further 30% after that before my final week . It would likely be during my second week of taper as I think my body would be rested enough after peak training to have a decent result .

bad idea ?

@Forestcantrun Sorry for your loss 😞

Sadly a bereavement has knocked me off course so I’m going to take a break for a few days then hopefully get back on track and settle my head

Long run for me yesterday felt better than the week before, and ran a bit faster . Undulating 17 miles, @londonmummy1966 I used my hydration vest. I've used it before but yesterday was first time I've taken both water bottles (although I'm not sure it was worth taking 2, as I didn't fill right up, and I only just started the 2nd one)
Legs feel fine today but it's a rest day

@RandomUsernameHere - hello - me too - my first so I'm pretty nervous....

Had a really good week and got 2 midweek runs in plus an elliptical session to replace the third. Yesterdays long run was "just" 15 miles and was really comfortable so I increased my Jeffing interval for the last couple and "practised" running the last 400 metres non stop with a smile on my face in the hope I might manage the Mall on 23 April. I noticed that there were suddenly a lot of runners with clearly just out of the packet new hydration vests. (Cant think why......) I've also been trying a couple of alternative nutrition strategies with a Mountain Fuel gel which is just fruit and chia seeds which feels a bit like baby food but is otherwise OK and tastes quite nice. Yesterday I swapped the Kendal Mint cake for dried apricots which taste nicer but do take a bit of chewing. Seem to work though so I might try a combination of the two when the long runs ramp up again in a couple of weeks.

Saw the physio today and he was sufficiently pleased with progress to say that I could return to my hillier routes rather than only doing flat ones so I might see a bit less of the Thames path now.

I do a circuits class with weights anyway. My upper body has definitely got stronger since starting it 2.5 years ago.

Hello. Do any of you do weight training to help with marathon training?

Can I join please! Doing London in 9 weeks

I'm mapping out my plan until my race plus recovery phase. With having to defer due to injury last year, I was a bit reluctant to look at it in too much detail, too far ahead and have my journal besmirched by pages of thwarted ambitions.

I've been using a Jeff Galloway plan which mainly focuses on the long run, and I'm in a good place. I did 18mi 10 days ago, have a HM next weekend. I'll do 20mi after half term. I'm a weekday runner and the teaching strikes are hitting the days that would be optimal for me to hit my highest milage and recover after. I have enough flexibility to get the miles in, but if I do it on a Friday, that then knocks out doing a decent push at parkrun on the Saturday.

My long run this week was a gentle 10mi, (my long, long runs are every other week) and I'm feeling knackered and dead-legged. I initially put it down to hormones, but that should have passed. I'm wondering if my immune system is fending off DS's cough/ cold as he's been spluttering all week. My yoga routines have also been disrupted by different morning routines caused by our semi-half-term (DCs straddle different LAs) so there might be a lack of stretching not helping. There is also a lack of space in the house as my room is currently lacking in some floorboards... these things do not help!

Oh well, niggly shins will pass, and there is time to get the miles in and get more comfortable with those long runs, and taper. It's just a shock when you realise that you're roughly a month away from the taper, and it's a more disrupted period than you'd reasonably have anticipated.

You'll be ok if you get the long runs in now, @GrannieD , but you can't wing a marathon the way you can wing a half. In my experience it's all about those long runs; not just for getting the miles in your legs but also about practising fuelling.

A half is essentially just a long run. Even if you're fairly steady, it's only around two hours, and most people can get through that without worrying too much about fuelling. But a marathon is an entirely different beast, and in my view you need to have at least three - preferably more- runs of 18-22 miles in the bag to be in the right place on race day.

You have time though; if you aim to get a 16 and then a couple of 18s and a 20 in before starting your taper at the end of March?

I’m also in Manchester this year. First ever marathon so will be a PB whatever time I do it in. Training not going as well as I wanted but I keep reading that the 20 or 22 mile training run is not essential or am I just hoping it isn’t ?? Atm my longest was 14 mile a couple of weeks ago. I’ve done a few HM over the years and a 32 mile race over 4 consecutive days so fingers crossed !

@EveryLittleWish , that's what I'm hoping for. I did 4 marathons last year, 2 in May/June and 2 in early and late October. So I was so used to running long distances that I kept the miles up pretty much.
Must ensure I have quite a few cut back weeks

@Teawaster In 2012 I did a similar training plan . I had kept up my long runs from a previous marathon and was averaging 50kms a week before I started training for my marathon . I just did a ton of 32km runs and a few 35km ones too. Lots of cut back weeks . My body was so use to running the distance that I smashed it on race day !

London for me. I have reached 20 miles a bit earlier than what most plans would say but I kept my long miles up after my last marathon so I'm hoping that doing a few more 20s than normal will help, especially as I may have to split a couple due to races that I've entered.

It's 2hs 40mins, @xsquared - I've done very similar plans before. In general I agree that plans by time make more sense than plans by miles; especially for steadier runners when churning out 20+ miles could take four hours or so, and have more injury risk than training benefit.