*Are YOU training for your first marathon?* If so, let me know which marathon you'll be running, in the comments below... *Also, what's your biggest concern about the training, or race day itself?* Let me know and I can make a video about it :)
James Dunne Super video. Got back into running in March when lockdown started. I ran 3 miles every other day in fancy dress to cheer up the community. I set my goal of 100 miles which at the time seemed tricky but got there. Kept the running up, increasing to 5 miles every other day, then a month or so later threw in a 10 mile at the weekend. After another month I started running 10 midweek with a buddy and 10 at the weekend with a short one in between. We have just entered the virtual London Marathon and this morning are embarking on a 17ish mile run. Only a month left.....my question is..am I mad to think I can finish on willpower if my training isn’t sufficient? Really useful tips dude!
Great video. I did my first maraton (alone and just on Garmin) this week. Slow pace of course. It was in nature, many hills. About the training: actually instead of increasing some long runs to above 30 km, I just ran 20 K longruns, but did do them every week, instead of doing longer runs with longer time between and longer recovery. And I had pretty low weekly mileage, 40-50 km per week, but was consistent, every week. There's big difference between how people handle volume. I myself have started to believe more in moderation, listening to the body and instead being consistent and injury free, than pushing it too much. But then again I am a beginner hobby runner, a big guy who's pretty slow.
I am doing the San Jose Spartan trail marathon September 18th 2021, which is my 26th birthday. 26 miles for my 26th. I have never attempted long distance running before, and I am definitely feeling the weight of the challenge. But I know that I have it in me, and I'm tired of not pushing myself past my comfort zone. I watched this twice already, and will be watching it again, the information is really helpful and takes the edge off of the massive amount of intimidation I am feeling.
Great video. I will be running my first marathon this year even though I have training for 3 of them. The first one my wife (we run as a team) hurt her leg after a 16 mile run (not running related). The second one we made it to 18 miles and were on our taper when my wife was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer (she beat it and is doing great). The third we made it to 13 miles and Covid hit and cancelled the race. This time we are doing a 20 week training (we have 20 weeks before the Pittsburgh marathon on May 2nd). I figured the extra weeks would help us prep for the race. From when I understand it's got some rolling hills but nothing too bad. I use your plan and another to build a plan for us. The wife is in healthcare so it needed to be flexible with her schedule. Anyways, thanks for the video and plan. Lets hope the 4th time is a charm. There is nothing worst than being on your taper weeks only to not be able to run the race.
Just did my first Marathon this morning, wasn’t an event just wanted to do it. longest training run I did was 10mile, kept the pace steady @7:30/mile slowed a little at mile 23, 3hr19. Total time.enjoyed it .
Thanks for this video. All useful. I have my first marathon coming up in 11 days in Strathearn, Scotland. I'll be turning 60 just after. Your tips align pretty well with the training I've done, but I'm still a bit nervous as well as excited. Cheers
Great that you appreciate that "runners need to run", it's very difficult as you say to fit a strength/mobility session into an already busy schedule. 15min here and there might just be achievable! 👍
Thank you for all your great advice! I’m m running my first marathon in April 2024. I have done quite a lot of 10km races and a couple of half marathons and I really want to step up to a marathon!
Just signed up for Lisbon Marathon 2023. Furthest previous run was Cardiff half a few years ago, so I'll be starting from scratch. This all seems like great advice!
Never tried running over 8km run before my first Marathon. Been used to daily 5-8km runs. My brother in law challenged me to take part in a Marathon. Finished in 3:42.57. And felt just like an average jog. Just find your comfy running speed and you can basicly run infinitely at that speed. Giving that you keep yourself hydrated. It's not rocket science. Listen to your body and do what it tells you.
Thank you for the great advice. There is always new things you can learn. I'm running my first official marathon race in London in 3 weeks. I ran over the marathon distance 3 times (27, 28 and 30 miles) last year by myself at a relaxed/easy pace, purely just to see how far I could push myself physically and mentally. Following a marathon plan has helped me stay grounded and disciplined. I'm now in the tapering phase, and I am grateful for the interval workouts and long runs I have done over the past 13 weeks.
I'm doing the Loch Ness marathon in October this year, my first ever! I also am doing the Bath Half in September. Going to follow this plan closely, because I have ruined myself in the past by trying to ramp things up without any clue of what I was doing!
Aspen Valley Marathon, first timer, oct 16th 2021, so far sounds like I’ve been doing the right things, phew! Trickiest and most helpful part was figuring out what to drink and eat and when. I think it’s pretty dialed in. I’m excited! Tapering feels weird! I just want to run! One thing that has severely lacked for me, is strength training, so I’ll be sure to ramp that up - aft3qe the race as I want to try to do some longer ultras as well.
Great advice and tips! I will be running my first ever marathon this year in October. I’m doing the Yorkshire marathon. I have 5 half marathons under my belt so going for the full one this year 😁🤞
I've done several half marathon races past few years. Next week will be my first full marathon at Detroit. Did a 16 week program and it was going great till mid September dealing with a plantar fasciitis pain. I took time off running and did some cycling to heal. I'm about 90 percent healed. I'm a little nervous for my first full race but if I can just finish, I'm happy. Love watching your videos. Happy running.
My first marathon was the Paris marathon in 2021. I ran it to celebrate me turning 60 years old. My running experience was short (only 8 to 9 months since starting running). Since then, I ran 2 marathons, one in Burgundy (marathon des vins de la Côte Chalonnaise) where many people taste and drink wine during it (I didn't), and my third was last Saturday, le marathon du Médoc near Bordeaux in Pauillac, an incredible weekend of partying after the race. I have imrpoved tremendously in running that is I can run a marathon at a steady pace with variaionts of ony 10 to 20 seconds per km. My next goal is to increase speed and run even more regularly the 42.195 km or 26.2 miles. Thanks for your great video, congrats on putting all this together, your tips are very useful and I liked the video a lot!
I get the idea of the running based on time but personally like the idea of running by distance is the confidence it gives you to be able to say you did xx miles
It was in Carpi, a small town closed to Modena (IT). I was an experienced young runner but not used to very long runs. My favorite distance was 10k. Although I planned to run at a steady pace for the whole marathon, I started too fast and I ended slow... :-)
Thanks for all the information and your training plan. I downloaded it and am getting ready to start training for my first marathon in Berlin. I checked out a few of your videos and am confident that I won't get injured following your schedule, so thanks a lot!
Good informative video. I have been running over 40 years and I have done many Half Marathons. Later than ideally I would have liked I am doing my first Marathon next April in Blackpool. I am following the Andrew Kastor training programme and am into my second week. I'll be 61 when I do my Marathon and avoiding injury is going to be my biggest challenge.
Fantastic James thankyou. Love your channel but just found this video. First marathon last year & 50k ultra in Gold Coast too in Australia at 63 which took nearly 8 hours. Aiming to jog next marathon slowly all the way in sub 5:30 (hours not pace 🤦♂️) on July 2. Get your PB here, its flat , sea level & winter. Got to lose some of the unwelcome 100 kgs before then. Great tips, thankyou. ❤
@14:50 , 2 weeks until my first marathon.. I really needed to hear the views of someone experienced on this! Noone seems to warn you that your target marathon pace, and the target marathon pace in the Jack Daniels' book, is not going to feel easy at the end of training, and that its normal to question if it's sustainable for 3.5 hours!
I was enjoying the video already. But when I saw him break mid-sentence with excitement that Charlie had come to join him, that's when I knew I had to subscribe
How did it go 3 years ago? That's guarantee for injury. Hope you survived the training and didn't get injured. You should be able to run 16-17 km (10 miles) comfortably to start such a training plan. I would have started with a half marathon first so you don't destroy your body and give the time it needs to adapt.
@@JamesDunne My biggest concerns about race day are getting hydration right and needing the loo on the way round although this hasn't happened to me yet! Also I can never sleep properly the night before a marathon even though I don't have this problem on shorter races.
I've always maintained that sleep the night before is pretty much a write-off with nerves and unfamiliar surroundings that come with travel, and that it doesn't really matter all that much, as long as you get a proper night's sleep the previous night before that. So, if your race is on Sunday, it's the Friday night's sleep that REALLY matters! Hydration is a tough one... I'm yet to get it right when it comes to not needing the toilet 2-3 times in the start pen alone!! Similarly to sleep, getting enough fluid in during the week preceding your race, is arguably more important than over-hydrating on race morning. Work in progress!!
Thanks for the video! I just got accepted to my first marathon - Berlin 2021. With almost a year to go I know it’s too soon to start training properly - could you tell me what you recommend in the meantime before I start a proper plan? Much appreciated! Orla
That statement is so true, at 3 hours during each of my 3 previous marathons I felt like I almost instantly lost my steam and that's when the walking started. Really wish I could go the entire distance without walking so much. Thanks so much for the great video.
Fantastic video. Thankyou. My fist marathon is in Manchester. October 10th. Training has been ok. Calf strain very early in. Then Covid recently. I’m still hoping to hit 3:45. We shall see.
I am!!!! First and after only 1 year of running. I am doing the Manchester marathon in october and already training in increasing my weekly milage. I have run 3 half marathons ( very slow though) between 2.35 and 2 hours 40) though my speed is improving after some speed work in the last weeks and just managed a 10k in hour and 45 seconds and 5k in 28 minutes. Massive achivements for me. Any tips??
I was originally doing one long run every 8 or 9 days - but it was tiring me out too much. I shortened it a bit and added in another run (of about 1 hr). I've done quite a few of the 17 mile runs now - about 3 hr 10 was my best. The one hour run is nice because it really feels like I'm working on my fitness. I'm trying my best but I've been unwell for the last couple of weeks. My first marathon is in 3 weeks from now. I've done a fair bit of training overall in the last few months - but don't feel very prepared. I suppose I'll just have to do my best on the day. Thanks for everything
Local Exe Estuary marathon in Exeter.....postponed from July and fingers crossed it'll go ahead in Nov! Thanks for the tips :) It's my first time so just want to get to the end and hopefully finish strong! :)
Hey, James! Thanks for the tips. Could you tell me when the marathon training needs to stop for the final recovery before the marathon itself? I'm running since 2018, but my first marathon will be in October 2024. Thank you and good luck to all with your running competitions! 🙂
Great video and tips, however wouldn't recommend any beginner to only do 1 week of taper. In your training plan only 1 week of taper allocated before race day which in my opinion usually not enough for a first timer. I would definitely suggest another week to prevent injury and get those legs fresh.
Thanks a lot for all the great tips! I'm running my first marathon on may 16. 2021 (Copenhagen Marathon), and I'm really hoping to complete it in under 4 hours. That's my plan A. Plan B is just finishing xD I've been training consistently for a little over a year now, and I've just started adding miles on every week. I will follow your advice on the pacing strategy;) Thanks !
Yesterday I jogged 21km, and I had this dream to run 44km tomorror. I quess I will not, I want to be that runner you rather see. I jogg that 21 again instead.
I'm practicing for burling marothn. I'm so excited it is my 1st marothn . I don't have coach. Just gatting information from RU-vid. Now I got only 8 weeks left. If you can give some advice to me it will help me alot. Thank you.
Question. So i'm and avid cyclist who actively trains for long distance gravel types events. I also race cyclocross in the fall. I'll say it do 70+ mile rides for fun and try to through in a couple 100+ mile rides into a month. I cycle roughly 4-5 days a week depending on time. I like to ride hard and train but also have a life. I'm thinking of running a marathon just to say I did it. Now i'm not concerned about my time in the event. My goal is to just finish. My question is, is there a way to incorporate running along with cycling?
Just signed up for my 1st full marathon. I haven't run a 10 / 20k before. I'll see to let you know how it went... It's in 2 weeks time and I've been having approx. 2 months of preparation.
@@devastator200 Ha, hi there! It went great. Time was 5 hrs so not too shabby given the amount of preparation I put in. I also managed to complete a 100k 2450 D+
going to do my first half marathon on Dec. 5th with my oldest son that is 30 years old he has done seveal, I am 50 years old. this will be my 2nd year running. so excited and scared. i know i can finish but i want to finish strong
it is really great to watch your video, i have a question I"m doing half marathon this week but after that i need to build up my training to run ful marathon is 13 weeks so i really appreciate your advice please about the training plan
I feel your pain😥 I also can gain a ton of weight quickly, without immidiately looking like a fat guy. Used to be 10kg every winter but now I can limit it to 4kg. But even with running 1400km a year I struggle to lose significant weight. Gotta get that diet under control...
Okay so if my 10km is at 42:42 My half marathon was a 7.18 pace but I had a cold And my 5km was 18min in full What should I aim for the full marathon?!
Please advice me how can I avoid cramping no mater what I do I always cramp in marathon in hamstrings mostly sometimes even cramping while not running I think my nutritions are ok and fuling also not to bad I'm about 60 kg and 167 hight and more dry type of person about 12 % body fat sometimes lower. Please tell me how can I improve that?
Hi, I'm a bit late to this party but I'm running the London Marathon this year. My coach from the club is writing my plan which incorporates the points you said in the video. Thanks for the confidence boost both in myself and her!
ive got a question that i am hoping someone can help me with. this is my first marathon my marathon is 9 weeks away. i am wondering what my goal for total weekly volume should be. i have heard everything from 50k to 100k in a week and im not sure what i should be aiming for
Hey Maz! So exciting to hear about your place for London! The good news is that you definitely have time to build your mileage and prepare gradually. Have you seen my beginners marathon training plan?
First marathon is on 19 June 2021. I was up to 56 miles for the week with a 22 mile long run when serious runners knee kicked in about two weeks ago. I ended up taking a full week off of running and am now back at it running 25 miles last week with a 10 mile long run. Now my goal is just to survive......
Hello. I've been running for 8 years now (5K and 10K mostly), but never ran a Marathon. 63 yrs old and I'm following a 8 weeks program for the Athens Marathon. I try to put on the looong slooow runs every Sunday, but to tell you the truth, Athens Marathon is a toughie and I sort of worry whether I will manage to finish it within the 7hr time limit. Oh well.....