Marathon Training 2023 - Who's in?

I've had a lot of issues with a niggle in my right hip that moves around - started a bit sore (like a pulled muscle) at the front at the beginning of todays run, by the end it had shifted itself to the back. Deload week so only 10 miles today so ran to somewhere that has really lovely charity shops and rewarded myself with a mooch around (and a couple of bargains) before walking a couple of miles back to the train follwed by a warm bath and epsom salts....

I did my long run yesterday 1 mile to the train and then 19 miles , up one side of the Exe and down the other nice easy flat run. It should have only been 18 but my daughter who I was meeting parked in the car park furthest away , the good thing was I felt ok going on and could have done more although I was glad not to. 13 miles on Wednesday and 5 mile club run on Monday. I only have one more long run 20 miles in two weeks time (next week only 14!) and race day is 5 weeks today.

Hi everyone !! Well done on the long runs 👏

This was my first week back after I injured my soleus muscle! I ended up taking a full 10 days off to let it heal. So far I’ve had no pain this week. I ran 27kms today !

I got new shoes with better support as well, in hopes my injury won’t return . I also reduced my week day milage for the rest of my training . I see the most improvements with higher milage but no point if I can’t run the marathon at all! Oh well! Lots of warming up and stretching as well and trying to eat well!

My knee sometimes hurts particularly on steep downhills (which is really mean as it takes all the fun - and speed - out of running downhill) I saw a chiropractor a few years ago and she said it was because my pelvis was tilted/uneven and she did some acupuncture and treatment which helped. But also stretching quads, hamstrings and hips can help. (But probably worth seeing a physio/chiro if you can afford)
After a long run I try to keep moving so normally force myself to go up and down stairs a few times (and usually end up doing a tesco shop in the afternoon!🙄) and at least 15 min of stretching I think helps feel less achey the next day.

I just did 14 miles long run. I was planning to do 15 miles but my knee was just too painful in the end.

Anyone have any advice for painful knees? It starts hurting about 4 miles plus in the outer side of my knee.

I feel like I don’t have time to rest it as only 8 weeks until race day but equally don’t want to make it worse so I won’t be able to do it. Any advice? I’ve never been injured before - seems to be since I got my new shoes but may be coincidence as I have also increased distance.

My plan had 13 miles on it for this week....so made a last minute decision, earlier this week, to do a local half marathon. It's a fairly tough course but felt pretty good most of the way.

20 miles done on Friday . Pleased wIth my pace. Groin felt ok . Hopefully the exercises are helping . Good luck to everyone with their long runs

Morning everyone!
I’ve signed up for autumn marathon. My last one was in 2018, long runs are a distant memory. Trying to be easy on myself so I don’t start dreading my training. Oh to be running fit again :(

Two club runs this week one was intervals and I did my 18 miles this morning. Just under 3 hours which I’m pleased about because it wasn’t flat unlike my actual race. I had 2 gels , half a gel every 4 miles and no problems. I felt good at the end as well which is just as well as I had a mile to walk home needed to divert to a shop for a drink. Another 18 miles next weekend.

@xsquared . I feel fine today apart from cracking a tile in my kitchen and breaking the glass in a porch light when trying to replace a bulb!
Doing 3 hard sessions on 3 consecutive days is, as we all know not recommended but it's for one week only , I hope.
I will give XC my best shot if I decide to do it. It's a long way to drive to do a 4k race and not many others from my club are doing it. But chances are that I will go.

It's definitely been a good confidence boost.

I'm out of excuses to book hotels now!

I've cracked my 16 mile run this week 😎

It went well. Understandably some aches in the last few miles, but not carried into the next day, just a general fatigue. What's surprised me most at these HM+ runs is how tired my brain feels the next day.

I did a speed session on Tuesday , my long run of 18 miles on Wednesday and a tempo session yesterday . All too close together this week but my XC race from last weekend is this Sunday so I wanted to get things out of the way. Not sure I'm going to do it but I want to keep my options open.
I went to a physio about my groin/hip pain and he diagnosed tendonitis of the adductor muscle.I felt a bit of a fraud as I didn't really feel any pain when he was pulling and poking and getting me into various positions. He hasn't told me to stop running and has given me exercises , but if it gets any worse I might have to reduce volume for a short while. I think he felt as I had run 18 miles the previous day, 4 miles that morning and not much pain when I was there, that it wasn't a major issue. Still quite sore when I'm running slowly, ok when I'm going faster! Might just have to keep going fast !
Good luck to everyone running over the weekend!

I am clif blocks fan- especially the margarita ones as they have salt too :)

I only tried Cliff Bloks once and tested them on a run home from work as they’d been delivered that day. Let’s just say I 2 toilet stops in an hour! It might have been unrelated as I did have bad IBS problems at the time but I’ve never tried them since. I also now always try any new nutrition in the gym first.

@xsquared I’m a big fan of the cliff blocks ! They taste great and don’t give me tummy issues .

@CringeCrush fantastic 👏! The marathon is humbling ! Those are so great goals and you will find your pace improving a lot between now and your marathon . You never know what you are capable of . I’m aiming for sub 4 hours for my current marathon which is Brighton ( more like 3:45-4:00 ) but I currently have an injury so who knows ! I would love a 3:45 but realistically it looking more like a 3:50-3:55!

Hi everyone, just happened upon this thread in Active 😊 well done with all your training so far! I’m training for Manchester in April as well, just started Week 5 of a 16-week training plan. I’ve run on and off for a few years but never consistently enough to train for a marathon (or I convinced myself that, anyway!). I’m aiming for sub-4 hours for my first time, but secretly I’d love to get closer to a 3:45 which would be a GFA time.

Nutrition is my real stumbling block too. I’ve used Tailwind before on mountain/trail runs, which I really liked. I had a small bottle before starting and then kept topped up during the run, about 20km-ish. I’m trying to remember the flapjack make that went down quite well, possibly Torq? There’s a cherry bakewell that’s quite palatable and seems to be easy on the stomach too. I’ve never been a gel person either but that might have to change! Good luck, everyone, keep on keeping on 😊