"It was exhausting and took a lot of time, but finishing was really rewarding."
How I did it: Starting in January, I looked for a nearby marathon and set my training plan backward from there. I had already been running a decent base - 4-6 miles a day every day except friday, with occasional cross training. The major change for my training plan was just doing a long run on Saturdays, gradually ramping it up. I trained with my wife and we increased our distance week by week until we were doing 20 mile runs the month before the marathon. Then we tapered off and did the race.
Lessons & tips:
- Listen to your body and increase your training distance slowly
- If it's your first marathon, I would recommend not worrying about time, just get the distance in and take it kind of easy to avoid injury
- Your appetite will increase substantially. You may very well gain weight if you don't watch your calorie intake. This is something to consider.
- If something starts to hurt, do something about it if at all possible. I had knee trouble and a cho-pat knee strap ended up being the answer.
Resources:
- work with a local running store to make sure your shoes are a good design for your gait and running style.
- Google around for a training plan, but don't be afraid to adapt it to your schedule. At the end of the day, if you can complete a 20 mile run you should be able to complete the 26.2 on race day.
It took me 6 months.
It made me
See more progress on: run a marathon
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