First Time Marathon Training Rules

Your first marathon can be a very daunting event. So much so that many runners never give it a go. Which of course is a shame, because everyone reading this article could easily run one (if they wanted to).

The key to a successful marathon is all in the training. Get this right and the marathon itself will be a formality. It’s simply a case of preparing your mind and body for what lies ahead.

There are a few simple rules to bear in mind, and everything else will fall into place.

Firstly you need to allow yourself enough time to train. This will allow time for your body to adapt to the loads that will be placed on it during a marathon. The idea being come the big day, it won’t be such a shock to the system. Usually 15 weeks should be enough, depending on your current level of training. Don’t delay though, the sooner you start building towards a marathon the more gradual a build up you can have, and so the easier it will be on your body.

So onto the first rule:

The 10% Rule

Never increase either your long run or your total weekly mileage by more than 10% a week.
This will give you a gradual build up, without any sudden jumps in mileage, and so won’t give your body any nasty shocks! It’s also why you need to allow enough training time! Put simply if your current Weekly mileage is 20 miles, and then only add an extra two miles for the next week.
This doesn’t seem like a lot, which is exactly what your body will think, and so it will adapt easily to the extra miles. The next week go onto 24, then 26 or 27. Before you know it you will have significantly increased your running without it being too much of a shock to your system.
This works equally well for long runs, going from 10 to 11 miles, isn’t to daunting a task. From 11 to 12, and onto your first half marathon now seem like logical steps.

Now that you’re steadily increasing your work load, it’s time for the second rule:

Have Planned Rest Weeks

Over a long training plan, it is not sustainable to increase your work load every single week. You can only fool your body for so long, soon enough it will rebel at the constantly increasing pressure. Anticipate this by training in blocks of effort, say three to four hard weeks followed by an easy week, this will give your body that extra recovery time it needs.

Think of it as three steps forward, one step back. You’ll still get there in the end; you’re just giving yourself more chance of getting there in one piece!

You don’t even need to reduce your mileage on your rest week, just levelling off and doing the same mileage two weeks in a row is often enough for your body to recover. Think about it as walking along a landing, between flights of stairs. You lose no height, but you do get a small rest before starting up again.

Whilst we’re on the subject of resting, we can go onto the next rule:

Every Week Should Have At Least One Rest Day!

Yes it’s true; to run a marathon you don’t need to run every day. In fact you’ll get on a lot better training in small blocks each week.
Most people do their long runs on a Sunday, so it makes sense to have Monday as a rest day. If you are a member of a club attend regularly, and rest on your non club days.

Suddenly a plan is emerging. Work on Sunday, have the next day off, work again for three days, then have another rest day. So what to do with Saturday then? Well it is up to you, how do you feel? Need more rest, and then take it (definitely a good idea at the beginning of your training). As your body gets used to the work, and the mileage begins to pick up, you might end up going of a short sharp session on a Saturday, but that is in the future – nothing to worry about now.

This leads us nicely onto the next training rule:

Take Each Week, One Week At A Time

Give anyone a training plan for a marathon and the first thing they do is look at the hardest weeks, usually followed by “There’s No Way I Can Do That!!”And of cause they’d be right; there is no way they could do that (today). That’s why they’re not being asked to!
Think about it one week at a time, can I do the first weeks work? If the answer is yes, then give it a go. Next week look at the planned work, based on what you’ve just done; do you think you will be able to tackle the sessions planned? Keep working on this principle and 10 to 12 weeks into your training, you could well be doing the sessions that you thought were impossible at the start.
This is leads us onto the most important rule of marathon training:

Get A Plan!!

Looking at the earlier rules, you’ll be trying to keep your 10% increases in line with rest weeks, whilst making sure you have enough rest days during each week, and trying not to panic about training weeks to come. Let’s face it; it isn’t easy to keep on top of, especially if you’re trying to do it off the cuff! You need to plan it out (or ask someone to do it for you).
By having it down in black and white it makes it easier to get your head round, and also makes it seam more real! Use this plan not only to look at what’s coming up, but also look back at what you’ve already done. See how far you’ve already come, and use this to gain confidence in your ability to push on.

So onto the most overlooked rule of all:

Don’t Be A Slave To The Plan!

Whether it’s your own plan, or you’ve asked a coach to sort one out for you, one things for sure, neither of you are mind readers! No one can predict exactly how your marathon training’s going to go. You need to be flexible; it’s your body so listen to it. If you’ve picked up a muscle strain, do you really need to do that 5 mile interval session? Think about it, missing five miles now could be the difference between keeping up with the schedule this week, but then missing three weeks training due to injury, or even the marathon itself! Maybe you should be giving your body that extra rest it needs, so that you can then push on strongly the next week, and for the rest of the training.
At the end of each week (or even after each session) you need to reassess how the training is going. Do you need to ease off, and take extra rest? Basically no plan should be set in stone, it needs to be as flexible as you are, there’s no rule saying you can’t totally rewrite the plan at any time you like.

So onto the last rule:

Don’t Get Obsessive With Your Training!

It is all too easy to do, remember it’s only a marathon after all! You need to keep it in perspective, there’s no point in training all the fun out of the event, what’s the point? Don’t neglect your support crew (family, friends, coaches!). Come the big day, it could well be them that get you round. What’s the point in finishing, if there aren’t people jumping up and down, screaming at you all the way round?
You need to keep them on side, balance your time. During your training you will easily go over 300 miles, missing one or two sessions along the way won’t make the slightest difference, don’t get paranoid about mileage! Go for that meal, see the school play, meet up with friends, make time for a life outside running. Remember training for a marathon is supposed to be an adventure, not torture. The more people you bring along for the ride, the more fun it will be.

So finally:
Good Luck from us all at Havens Hospices!