Project 42195: Training for the first marathon

Running a marathon has been on my list for quite a while now. The past 1.5 years I did focus on learning Sambo (russian martial arts). But I just did sign up for the Frankfurt Marathon in October.

What are the goals?

The primary goal is to finish. In general this probably should be the only goal for a first marathon. However since I did very well in over fulfilling my self set goals recently, I will aim at a finish time below 4h.

Where am I?

Due to the Sambo training I did not have a dedicated endurance training. However, as I am into mountain biking, running and endurance since the age of 14, I have a good foundation to build on. Basic endurance should not be a big deal.

The important thing when going for long distance runs is to train you joints and the whole locomotory system to deal with the stress. This requires time and a training with a well controlled progression. Especially if endurance is not your limiting factor, you have to be cautious not to increase the run duration/distance too quickly. Otherwise you might fail or even ruin your health.

So I really consider this as my limiting factor which has to be overcome. Currently my weight is 78-79kg. That’s not very athletic, but it is not that bad, that it would be a concern. Of course reducing weight would help to bear up the stress during long runs..

Currently I do half marathons once a week and finish them in slightly under 2h. My longest run so far was 31km, but that was 2.5 years ago.

How to do it?

I am going to implement to training with a well controlled progression in run distance. I will do three training per week. A fourth unit would be great, but it I have to much time investment in other stuff.

There is nothing special to my applied training methods. Just a basic endurance training you can read about everywhere on the net. I will focus on long distance, which means rather low speed and heart rates below 80% of maximum heart rate. Continuity of the training is what I consider the key to success here.

Regarding a weight reduction of around 2-3kg: I am going to have an eye on what I eat. Although I had very good experience with a simple low carb diet, I will not do this during my marathon preparation. I don’t want to risk any kind of nutrition shortage during a sophisticated training series. And reducing weight is not that important. I will just pay attention to eat healthy, not too much and skip the things we all are aware of, that we should not eat them. ;)

So I will do two 15km units during the week and a longer unit at the weekend. Right now I am at half marathon distance for the long run. This will be extended to 42.195km. This means extending this unit by ~4.7km per month.

By the end of August I would like to run 34km on the weekend training. Average pace should be max. 6min/km. If everything goes well I, will continue with that progression and get to the marathon distance in October.

That’s the theory! I will keep you posted about how well I am doing in practice. ;)