LogYourRun.com - Training for your First Marathon

Training for your First Marathon

New to running - or just new to running long distances? Don't fret - running a half or a full marathon is not impossible - all you need is to practice and to stick with a training program. If you are completely new to long distance running - I would not recommend starting out with a full marathon (26.2 miles) - go for a half marathon (13.1 miles) and see how you like it and then maybe next year train for a full. Almost everyone who is healthy and in good shape will be able to complete a half marathon. You may not run the whole distance - but 13.1 miles is doable for most people if they train.

If you are just starting up on running I would recommend that you use the following guide "beginning to run", and sign up for our first 5K race program.

Spirit of Saint Louis Marathon

I ran my first half marathon in 2004. Before beginning my training program I had not been running regularly and did not think of myself as a runner. However, over the following 3 months I was able to slowly and steadily increase my mileage to a point where I could run the 13.1 miles of the Spirit of Saint Louis half marathon.

It is important to have the goal in mind during the training to keep motivation high and sticking with the training program. There will be many days when the weather is against you or you are just not feeling up for running - having a training program is especially important on those days. If you miss too many of your scheduled runs you will not be able to safely stick with the program since your mileage will increase too rapidly.

The marathon training programs are designed to safely increase you mileage over the course of the training. This should reduce the risk of injury due to overexercise. Increasing your mileage too fast will cause extra stress on your body leaving it with not enough time to recover. Most training programs have long runs on the weekend and 2-3 shorter runs during the week. The long weekend run is the most important part of the program - this is when you run at he pace you will run at during the marathon. The shorter runs is to stay in shape, train for speed, and allow your weekly mileage to increase slowly.

This is an example of a training program with long run on Sunday and shorter runs on Tuesday to Thursday.

Following the long weekend run there is always one day of rest or cross training. On days when you are not running or resting, training programs usually have strength or cross training scheduled. These are non-impact types of exercise which will let your joints recover from the stress of running. Some training programs schedule a very short recovery run on the day after the long run.

Fitting a running program into your lifestyle is the most common problem that people run into when training for a marathon. This is less of an issue with a half marathon since the weekday runs are shorter for the half marathon. Inevitably something will come up that will prevent you from running on a particular day. Do not try to make up for this by running twice the distance the next day. Just continue with the program.

Another essential part of the training program is tapering down the week before race day. Reducing your mileage the week before the race will allow you to build up carbohydrates for the race and will prevent you from stressing your body before the longest run of your training program.

There are several famous marathon training gurus that have created training programs that will help you with marathon training. The following two programs have been created by Hal Higdon and can be found at his website (halhigdon.com). Both programs are for beginners.

To start using these programs just sign up and click on the links above.