Marathon training question

[Candlesandflowers]

I’ve been totally inspired by the London marathon and have signed up to a marathon in October. I’m already running 13 miles comfortably, and can’t find any training programmes online that start at that level, does anyone have any plans they can recommend please ? 😊

Ideally I’d also want to get as close to the 26 miles in my training programme as possible, has anyone done this or is it a terrible idea ?!? Mentally I feel like it would really help me to know I could do it.

Try looking for intermediate or improver plans, even though this will be your first marathon.

Runner's World publish lots, so have a browse and pick one that you like the look of. CRUK plans are good too - they go by time on your feet rather than distance.

If you want to go right up to the full distance in training, then do it (I do get it about confidence) but most plans don't go beyond about 22. I don't really know why. Just make sure that, if you are going longer than the plan, you add the extra milage a bit at a time over a few weeks (ie not in a one-r). And taper properly!

Most 16 week "improver" marathon training plans start at that level, OP - look for one that's aiming for the sort of time you might run.

As a very rough guide for your target time, they say to multiply your half time by two and add 20mins - but that is often a bit optimistic for first time marathoners. My first marathon was my half time x2 plus 40 mins. My PB is now almost exactly my half time x2 plus 20, but that's after a LOT of marathons!

Most plans don't go further than 20 or 22 miles in training as the risk of injury is thought to outweigh the training benefit after around 3 hours on your feet.
I tend to train to time these days rather than distance, and will do my longest runs topping out at 3hours. When I've gone further in the past it's resulted in niggles that have wrecked the next couple of weeks of training, so I've learned the hard way that my body doesn't like doing 22+ miles in training. You might be different, but no way would I risk it on a first attempt.

If you don't mind paying for a plan I'm currently using the Runna app and really liking it. It's personalised to you, incorparates different types of runs like hills and intervals and has a community side of it too. It's about £15 a month but I'll cancel it after my first marathon in October

I used Runna-£99 for the year and it was a tailored plan with strength training.

I ran up to 22.5 miles before my marathon and did my half x2 +20.

I wish I’d done a 16 week plan rather than 12, but as I ran Paris I would have needed to have been running over Christmas and didn’t want to.

Google Hal Higdon training plans, they’re excellent.

Thank you everyone I’m looking into all the suggestions 😊.

And everything I read says don’t run the full distance pre the race so I know I shouldn’t but running the extra 4 /5 miles at the end feels impossible !

Think of it as being about time on feet rather than miles, though. You'll be doing the actual race much quicker than your training runs (hopefully) so you might only be on your feet for half an hour longer than your longest training run, if that.

And on the day, with your race head on and other people around you, it's easier to keep going than when you're slogging out the miles on your own on a Sunday morning.

The extra at the end is easier on race day because you're fresh from tapering and there's the company and crowd support.

I've recently run my first marathon and while it wasn't "easy", at no point did it feel insurmountable and I found it much easier than the 20 mile run on a horrible day on tired, niggly legs and run on brute force of will power for 4.5 hours. At halfway through, I really didn't know if I was going to do it and swapped the route so I wasn't too far out and extended a leg at a time.
5:15 on race day was much easier in comparison.

If it's a first marathon and you just want to complete, drop the pace. Hypothetically I could have trained to be sub 5 hours by a reasonable margin based on HM times, but I didn't want to risk injury and I just wanted to enjoy the challenge of the distance.

From HM, increasing the milage wasn't too bad with a minimum of 14mi, 16mi, 18mi and 20mi to hit the target long runs.

The 6.2 extra is surprisingly doable. I've just done London with a longest run beforehand of 20 miles. I did the full quite comfortably in 5.15 hours from a half time of 2.20. The crowd really are amazing, and I think by that point there is absolutely no question that you will finish somehow, it is just how quickly you get there.

I used the Runna app and liked it. It felt like I needed to do the training or they'd be sad! So I actually did all of it, including in the days I didn't want to

Bear in mind that your training isn't just about going from 13 to 26 miles; you need to be doing shorter speed sessions and hill reps, as well as strength and conditioning sessions to get your body ready for those longer runs and looking at nutrition.

Hi. I've done 10 plus marathons. Can I suggest the NSPCC beginner or intermediate plans? They're free!

Please don't do anything longer 20-22 miles in training. The 'reassurance' isn't worth the detrimental effect on your training. You won't be able to recover and continue training adequately. By all means do a 20 mile race a few weeks out.

After 10 miles, you need to crack energy gels and hydration.

Good luck!

I’ve just done London with my longest run at 20. The ides is that your legs are tired as over the course of the week you’re running a lot more distance and on the day your legs will be fresh from the taper. You risk injury if you do too much for your first marathon.

With the NSPCC training plans, Google by possible finishing time e.g. 4 hours not 'beginner' etc like I said further up. DH will be doing that one, starting at your level of fitness for Chester marathon in October.