Has anyone trained for a marathon with a running buggy - am I mad to think about it?!

[StrangewaysHereICome]

I'm in two minds about training for a spring marathon with my baby (6 months). I ran London in 2010 and loved it and really want to get back to that level of fitness. Also a good friend of mine has recently been diagnosed with MS so I am motivated to take on a challenge and raised money for the MS Society.

While I am competitive I would just aim to get round. I did London in just under 4:30 and have a dream of a sub 4 hour marathon one day but I can't do speed work with the buggy. I would just follow a basic mileage plan.

DS loves the buggy but so far we have done 7 miles max. Is it fair to expect him to come along for the really long runs? Icould do those at the weekend but I have other children to consider.

Has anyone done something similar?

hi there - not done trained with a buggy, hard enough without! but didn't want yr post to go unanswered. I think it's doable if you have someone to look after yr baby for the LSRs and interval/speed work. Steady runs of 3-10m might well be doable with s buggy depending on terrain. how about posting on runner's world?

Thanks for the reply expat. I'm still undecided. I am going to see how my training goes and how DS gets on when he drops his morning nap before entering for a marathon. Like you say it is hard enough without a buggy. I could do medium length runs in the week (did 8 miles this morning and he was happy as a sand boy), hill reps in the evenings and the LSR early on a Sunday .... See still thinking about it!!