First Marathon

Question:

Unknown Author

Unknown Author

Oleg Sergeevich, good afternoon.

I run half-marathons regularly, my personal record is 1:52:00.

I've finished running season and plan to return to running trainings in spring (in late March or in the beginning of April). I have several questions:

  1. What date should I choose for my first marathon's start considering that I plan to return to running trainings in March and let's assume that I'll start to train for a marathon since 1st April? I would like to prepare good, it doesn't mean quickly because my main goal is to run a marathon without injuries.
  2. Could you give me some recommendations on training plan: frequency of trainings per week, weekly running volume? How will the weekly running mileage change every month?
  3. What's number of speed trainings a week? How many long runs should I do?

Thank you.

Answer:

Кульков Олег Сергеевич

Kulkov Oleg

Master of Sports of International class in track and field athletics, winner of the Zurich marathon, participant of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, multiple European Cup and Russian championships medalist, coach of the school “I Love Running”

Good afternoon.

First of all, taking your half-marathon results into account I'd like to say that you have rather good basic level. So, you can plan to run a marathon as your next goal.

As your trainings are seasonal, the length of training for a marathon will increase. On the whole, it makes sense to talk about an overall running experience. I think going to the starting line of a marathon is a kind of statement of runner's maturity and readiness for this distance. I don't recommend beginners who train and run less than 2 years to set this goal. If your running experience is enough and considering your wishes, you can run your first marathon at the end of summer (August). Or you'd better choose an autumn period for the start as the weather, especially if we say about a marathon, has a significant impact on the final result.

I'll tell you frankly, in this format it's impossible to give you detailed recommendations and overall view of what a marathon training plan should include. All I'll you tell now can be considered as just general recommendations that can be applied to practice only if your goal is just to complete the marathon without high sports results.

My trainees ran 40 km per week (minimum running volume) and it was enough in order they completed a marathon without any problems. In my opinion, the number of trainings per week should be at least 4. Increasing of running volume is desirable but you should do it gradually and set a limit of 70 km per week, for instance. Too high running mileage can have a negative impact and there is a risk of injury in the result of insufficient recovery.

Considering the above, only one speed training per week is possible. Otherwise, there is a risk of insufficient recovery mentioned above. As for long runs I can say from experience that now marathon debutants usually don't do runs more than 26-28 km. Such a habitual distance as 30K that can give many runners a psychological confidence that they are able to run a marathon successfully requires long period of recovery. So, it will make it impossible to implement the original training plan without any modifications including correction of time needed for recovery.

Вы уже ставили оценку этому вопросу!

Обсудить в социальных сетях

Instagram
ВКонтакте
Facebook

Similar question:

Армен Давтян
How Oleg Kulkov Trained For a Marathon
Question:

Could you tell about your marathon training plan? What was your weekly training volume? Did you use down weeks? For instance, 3 weeks of full training volume and 1 down week. How many kilometers did you run on Sundays and which exercises did you include in your trainig plan?

Thank you in advance.

Вячеслав Богомолов
Weekly Running Distance during Training For Half Marathon And Marathon
Question:

How many kilometers, on average, per week should I run when training for a half-marathon and marathon?

Natalia
How Long Does It Take to Train for a Half-Marathon?
Question:

Good afternoon.

I'm an amateur runner, not a professional but I'd like to run a half-marathon in spring. Please, tell me how many times a week I should train for?

Неизвестен
How Much Should I Run If My Weight is High
Question:

I have lots of weight. At the moment I run 5 km every two or three days, plus I train in the gym. I limit my food consumption but sometimes I can break my diet and begin to eat a lot.     

I would like to take part in a marathon.        

How many times a week do I need to run (how many times a week and how long should my running training be)?

timapes
Half-Marathon under 1:48
Question:

Good afternoon.

In May I ran my first half-marathon, the result was 2:01:13. In September it was 1:56:16.

  1. What is the perfect running volume provided that my goal is to run a sub-1:48 half-marathon?
  2. Is it necessary to include a long run in my training plan and how long should it be?

Thank you.