Yorkshire Marathon

[waitingforlifetostart]

Eeek signed up for Oct 2018. Can anyone advise me of somewhere close to stay so I can be very organised.

I'm currently not running and 6 stone overweight. Does this sound like a good plan of action?
Lose at least 3 stone in the 12 months.
Be able to run 5km without stopping by Xmas.
10km by Easter.
10 miles by May.
Then a proper 16 week marathon plan from June till Oct.
I have weekends and teacher hols to dedicate to this and can fit in shorter swims and runs during the week. I know it's a long shot but I don't need a good time - just a finish.

I've ran/walked several halfs before. I've also done a marathon walk but my fitness isn't as good at the mo.

I ran it yesterday.

Today is not good.

We stayed at Staycity apartments on Paragon Street. Nice twenty minute walk to event. Some nice pubs nearby. Short walk into York centre.

A 'get round by any means possible' marathon plan for amateurs is 16-20 weeks. You probably don't need to set too many targets before rear, although most of these plans are for people who can run short distances (5-10k) without dying i.e. the casual runner who has never attempted distance/speed.

I would therefore:

1. plan on getting used to nice easy runs to improve your cardio fitness (and concomitantly drop some weight).
2. start some strength training to build a half-decent muscle base.
3. leave any endurance running for the pre-20 weeks.

I visited York for a ten mile, I stayed in an air bnb where the couple were happy to let me come back and shower afterwards. Otherwise I'd have had to have an extra night in a hotel just to get a wash.

Good luck!

And it's a tough course. Not as hilly as some but relentless gradients over several kms, and a steep hill right before the end. It's also reasonably boring as the route takes you out into the countryside where there is very little crowd support, and nothing fun to look at/no atmosphere). I ran Manchester back in April and that was ace.

Oh no. I didn't realise it was a boring course. It's York so I assumed lovely. Oh well it's at the right time of year and hopefully London 2019!

I'll take on board your strength advice.

York is tiny so it doesn't take long to run right through the city! Then you're out into to the countryside, which is beautiful but not very 'marathon party' feel. And the roads can be a bit dicey in terms of camber etc I am hobbling on a swollen IT band

Hmm, bear in mind I had a dreadful race so maybe my current 'horrible marathon' grumbling is tainted by that

True! Couldn't they just run around York fifty squillion times. It's so pretty! I love cheering crowds so could suffer if it's 6-7 hours of nothingness.

Just done a bit of online research. Sounds like first 3 months is acclimitisation. Walking for 2 weeks, then building to 5k running slowly. Sounds doable.

First walk done this morning. Half an hour at a fast (ish) pace. Haven't eaten well but at least I did the work. Day 5 of an abs challenge done and some leg stretches but finding the sit ups hard as it feels like intense pressure on my bum. Maybe too heavy.

I did the 10 miler and really want to do the marathon.

I like the course, you get a buzz running through the city, then out into nice peaceful countryside. If you were in the marathon you'd get a mid way crowd boost at Stamford Bridge and again from Murton / Osbaldwick for the finish.

I think you'd want some music to zone out with on the quiet sections. And you will want to do Some practice involving hills at the end of your training runs, that hill up to the finish is a BASTARD.

But it is a nice friendly and very well organised The app is ace for anyone spectating as they can track you round and if you are getting someone to drop you off, it texts them when you've finished ( the rest of the family go for a Mac D's breakfast and a spot of shopping at the designer outlet while I run.

I don't think you have made a bad decision at all!

Oh and good luck with the training.

Im so tempted to enter. I had a nasty niggle of an injury last year, that was still bad well into July this year so ended up doing the York 10mile as my only event, I normally do a couple of half marathons and some cyclesportives. Think I'm better now though. I have upped my cross training a lot and that helped with the strength to Get up the hill this year!

Plank is better than sit ups for building abs.

Maidofstars - the abs challenge is sit ups, crunches, leg raises and a plank.