Glad to see fellow distance runners coming out of the closet on the forum.
It's not clear from your comment whether you have completed other marathons (just to finish), or only shorter distance races. Two different situations, although as you say, time has passed, so you should probably treat this as a first marathon. A reasonable goal for a first marathon is to finish without walking. That should put your somewhere in the four-hour range, if you aren't an experienced distance runner.
Get some 10K and half marathon races under your belt this season if you haven't already done so. Even though a marathon is very different in nature than a half marathon, you will benefit from having experience at shorter distances. From your half marathon times, you will be able to predict your marathon finish time, assuming you are getting your long runs in.
As for the 50mpw (80 kilometers) guideline you saw on letsrun, first marathons have been run on far less, but unless you are talented and/or lucky, you risk crashing and burning and/or injury. Since training for a marathon involves a lot of preparation, you should be fairly sure you can complete it when you toe the start line. Standard advice is to get your long run up to 20 miles or so, every two or three weeks, mixing in easy-pace training runs and shorter/faster tempo runs during the week. All of this requires a substantial base in order to steer clear of injury, which is the main thing that keeps marathoners from reaching the start.
If you can train with a local group, better. That will keep your focus and motivation. At all costs, stay away from the Galloway program, Team In Training and similar.
Quote: (06-11-2016 12:49 PM)dog24 Wrote:
I've done a few races a few years ago where i just wanted to "finish" but i'm over that now.
It's not clear from your comment whether you have completed other marathons (just to finish), or only shorter distance races. Two different situations, although as you say, time has passed, so you should probably treat this as a first marathon. A reasonable goal for a first marathon is to finish without walking. That should put your somewhere in the four-hour range, if you aren't an experienced distance runner.
Get some 10K and half marathon races under your belt this season if you haven't already done so. Even though a marathon is very different in nature than a half marathon, you will benefit from having experience at shorter distances. From your half marathon times, you will be able to predict your marathon finish time, assuming you are getting your long runs in.
As for the 50mpw (80 kilometers) guideline you saw on letsrun, first marathons have been run on far less, but unless you are talented and/or lucky, you risk crashing and burning and/or injury. Since training for a marathon involves a lot of preparation, you should be fairly sure you can complete it when you toe the start line. Standard advice is to get your long run up to 20 miles or so, every two or three weeks, mixing in easy-pace training runs and shorter/faster tempo runs during the week. All of this requires a substantial base in order to steer clear of injury, which is the main thing that keeps marathoners from reaching the start.
If you can train with a local group, better. That will keep your focus and motivation. At all costs, stay away from the Galloway program, Team In Training and similar.