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Jan 2014
6:36pm, 20 Jan 2014
150 posts
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buttscratcher
Take regular walk breaks of around 30 seconds every 3 miles this will help you feel stronger towards the end of your run and the next day too , you can also use these breaks to take a drink / gel
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Jan 2014
6:49pm, 20 Jan 2014
1,383 posts
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RevBarbaraG
DT - yeah, I've thought of that. My parkrun course is a similar amount of ascent per mile as the London course, and I am wondering about doing one of the very long runs there - although that would be very boring! Another alternative is one of several former railway lines which have been turned into paths. There's one I can drive to in 10 minutes, and from the parking spot to the end and back, twice, would be about 18 miles.
BS - I'm currently doing 1 min run/ 1 min walk for the first 3/4 of my long run. I plan to experiment with the walk/run ratio, and fully intend to walk/run the marathon.
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Jan 2014
6:52pm, 20 Jan 2014
9,097 posts
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DerbyTup
Last time I did proper marathon training (2007) I did most of my long runs on a disused railway line / path. Black cinder surface, no road traffic and some paths even have miles posts. You can leave food and drink either in your car, or stash some where a road crosses. Great!
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Jan 2014
6:56pm, 20 Jan 2014
3,457 posts
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sallykate
I aimed for 2 20s before my first marathon. The first was actually a 19 but at a very good pace for me and I loved it. The second was a disaster and I canned it at 14. So aiming for 2 is good, achieving one is probably enough. In subsequent training plans I went for the "5 longest runs adding up to 100 miles" approach with an 18, 3 20s and a 22 but I can't say it had much effect on my time on the day.
FWIW I'm a 5h+ marathoner and would never think of doing only 2.5 or 3 hours in marathon training - if you're going to be on your feet for that long in the race it's important to have some sense of how it feels in training. My fastest time (and most even split) was at London using an approach of walking for one minute at each mile marker.
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Jan 2014
8:22pm, 20 Jan 2014
15,244 posts
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DeeGee
Although I'm no longer in a position to talk as my long runs *are* marathons, the best wisdom I heard and that I share with rokie clubmates is that 20 miles is ideal. A couple is better. But you should never be out longer on your 20 miler than you plan to be in the marathon.
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Jan 2014
8:25pm, 20 Jan 2014
15,245 posts
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DeeGee
I completed my first ever marathon on 2x16m 1x20 and a weekly load of 1 LSR of 13 miles and 2x35 min treadmill sessions per week.
I finished just under 5 hours and I won't pretend I enjoyed the last 2 hours of the race at all.
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Jan 2014
8:38pm, 20 Jan 2014
632 posts
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Lemon10
If there is a next time for me I would do at least one or maybe two 20 milers. But I thoroughly enjoyed Berlin in six hours on staggeringly little training, ditto Edinburgh, but not so much my two trips to Loch Ness. So, being flat will help, but a good training base helps far more and I think you are going about it the right way. Good advice above from these folks which I plan to follow if I am able to do a 5th marathon one day.
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Jan 2014
8:51pm, 20 Jan 2014
3,664 posts
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Corona
I did 4:20 for a 20 miler 3 weeks beforehand, ended with a 5:30 mara and struggled for the last 3 mile - I only managed the one 20 though and could have done with a couple more.
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Jan 2014
9:00pm, 20 Jan 2014
713 posts
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Lady Sol
I'd say you want to make sure you get up to at least 20 or 22 miles. I'm aiming at 22 I think before London. Running at 6 hour pace means that, like me, you'll take about 1.5 hours to do the last 6.2 miles. Even training to 20 miles, that's a long time extra on your feet, almost as long as your last training run, especially if you have to slow down for any reason at all at the end. Running marathons slowly is hard work and requires a very determined stubborn streak.
Running on the flat isn't always easier, especially if you are used to undulations. Your muscles will have to do the same movements constantly for over 6 hours, there's no let up in the movement. Running up and down hills makes it easier for some people as it gives some muscles more of a break. I find the undulating courses actually quicker.
Having said that a marathon is mostly mental. I did Windermere one year off a 9 mile training run a few weeks before the marathon. I kinda agree with an old BBC article - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17456672, if you are determined enough the average person could probably get round London on no training whatsoever. It wouldn't be fast, or pleasant, but possible if your stubborn enough.
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Jan 2014
9:40pm, 20 Jan 2014
1,385 posts
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RevBarbaraG
My goals are:-
1) Finish
2) Feel human at the end
So, I want to train as well as I can  On the whole, the idea that you train slower than you race doesn't appeal to me for the marathon. Or to put it another way, I will be quite content to cover the marathon at the same sort of pace at which I do my long runs. And if, by the time I get to 20 miles, that is still 14 minute miles, so be it. OTOH, if I've been able to speed my long runs up a bit without falling apart, I would be very pleased.
Another attraction of doing my later long runs on the railway path is that I'll be able to see how it affects my pace. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that I do a 20-miler on the railway path at 13 mins/mile, and feel vaguely human at the end...... I would then think I could start London reining myself in to 13, but not needing to rein myself in to 14.
I think I've talked myself in to long runs on the railway path, haven't I?
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