Full marathon training question

[thebulldog]

I have been very "never a full" for awhile and still sit there but i have a training question.

I have a 1/2 on nov. 17...then another 1/2on feb. 22. I aim to keep up with longer training in between and not just start over.

With this amount of mileage under my belt, where would then feb 1/2 usually fit into a full training program? Would a April or May one be doable?

While i would love to do Marine Corps i dont want to have to run all summer in the heat.

I say this having barely squeaked out 5 miles last night so i am not fully into a full yet but just curious.

i be typing from me phone. typos and grammer dont count.

[chitownbelle]

my training plan called for a 12mi run 2 weeks out from the marathon....so if you began a marathon program, you could technically do a marathon after your half, as long as you used your half as a training run and not a race. just look at halhigdon.com or some other training programs and look at the dates, etc. if you want to race your half in feb, time it to be like 6 weeks out so you can recover a little. make sense?

[thebulldog]

Oct 2, 2013 8:26:54 GMT -5 chitownbelle said:

my training plan called for a 12mi run 2 weeks out from the marathon....so if you began a marathon program, you could technically do a marathon after your half, as long as you used your half as a training run and not a race. just look at halhigdon.com or some other training programs and look at the dates, etc. if you want to race your half in feb, time it to be like 6 weeks out so you can recover a little. make sense?

Thanks....i am doing Philly as my serious one...the Feb one is the Princess half in Disney, so i will run it but am not looking to PR there just to enjoy the race a little more.

i be typing from me phone. typos and grammer dont count.

[Wines Not Whines]

I'm very excited that you're asking this question.

It depends on what kind of training plan you want to use. You could definitely build up from a February half to an April or May marathon. I ran a half in early September, and I'm running a full marathon in late October. (But I should mention I ran more than 13 miles in training before my half.)

Basically, I would find a marathon that you want to run, train for it, and then stick your half in there on Feb 22. It's ok if you need to switch around a couple of training weeks to fit in your half. Training plans are not set in stone.

[jene]

I think it's totally doable. I ran a half on the 4th of July and incorporated it into my training program for my full that I am running this weekend.

Come to the dark side

[chitownbelle]

you just don't want to get burnt out with constant training and spending every weekend for 6 months doing a long run, ya know. It sounds nice in theory, but come Feb, you may be so over training, since you've been training already for november. So I'd say find a Feb race, or hold off and start a new training cycle months later. Where do you live?

If Philly, long runs may be rough all winter. If Florida, perfect, there is a marathon in Feb in Jacksonville (the breast cancer race with/for Donna or something). Just depends what kind of race youre looking for. Didn't clseale run a marathon in Feb, Surf City?

[lb2006]

I ran OBX half marathon on the step-back weekend of my two 20 milers a few years ago, it worked out perfectly. It's definitely doable, but you should pick your marathon first!!!

[clseale]

Chitownbelle makes a good point about burning out. You could use your 1/2 in Nov to kick off marathon training, and at that point, you'd already be at 13 miles for the long run. That could definitely get you in the time frame for a February full. I've run both of the February marathons CTB mentioned. Although, with the Feb 22nd half marathon, maybe an mid March full would make sense for you? You can work a half into any place you'd like while full training. 

[finallykrisb]

I agree about not getting burned out with constant training. After your goal half take a little down time before you start your full marathon training cycle. You can easily work the Feb half into the training plan.

[ebeth]

Oct 2, 2013 8:37:23 GMT -5 chitownbelle said:

you just don't want to get burnt out with constant training and spending every weekend for 6 months doing a long run, ya know. It sounds nice in theory, but come Feb, you may be so over training, since you've been training already for november. So I'd say find a Feb race, or hold off and start a new training cycle months later. Where do you live?

If Philly, long runs may be rough all winter. If Florida, perfect, there is a marathon in Feb in Jacksonville (the breast cancer race with/for Donna or something). Just depends what kind of race youre looking for. Didn't clseale run a marathon in Feb, Surf City?

listen to chitown.  she is wise.  particularly if you already have a love/hate relationship with running. 

training for a marathon involves a lot of running, sacrifice of weekend plans, and frankly, gets pretty boring. so make sure you really want to do it.

[thebulldog]

I am in DC so there are a lot of options nearby.

WNW i am not making any promises.

I sort of want to see how the rest of my training and Philly goes first. If that sucks doing a full may not be wise right now.

The mental games we play right?



i be typing from me phone. typos and grammer dont count.

[gt7301b]

I am anti spring marathons because you train over the winter and have the possibility of racing on a warm day. Even 70 could be misserable after running through the winter. Even if you do MCM you probably won't hit 20 till the weather has cooled off.

I did the Philly full last year and really liked that I only had to do a couple of long runs on hot days.

[clseale]

Oct 2, 2013 8:48:04 GMT -5 thebulldog said:

I am in DC so there are a lot of options nearby.

WNW i am not making any promises.

I sort of want to see how the rest of my training and Philly goes first. If that sucks doing a full may not be wise right now.

The mental games we play right?



i be typing from me phone. typos and grammer dont count.

In that case, I'd take a couple months after the Nov half off. Run for fun. Run to keep your fitness up, but don't follow a plan. Reassess sometime in mid January when you start doing longer runs for the Feb half. 

[Deleted]

Oct 2, 2013 8:51:12 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

I am anti spring marathons because you train over the winter and have the possibility of racing on a warm day. Even 70 could be misserable after running through the winter. Even if you do MCM you probably won't hit 20 till the weather has cooled off.

I did the Philly full last year and really liked that I only had to do a couple of long runs on hot days.

This is wise.  I don't desire doing a spring marathon for the same reasons mentioned. 

[thebulldog]

My first half was a march race. Trained all through the winter and it was like 80 degrees on race day. I wanted to die.

i be typing from me phone. typos and grammer dont count.

[G22]

I was really anti-full after my first half. I even said to my H "that was fun, but I'll never do a full". I also was anti-half after finishing my first 10k. But after the pain wore off, I decided a needed a new challenge and did exactly what I'd said I would never do.

I expected to come out of my marathon with the same mindset and was surprised how much I loved it. So much I'm signing up for another in a few days when registration opens!

You gotten good advice already, and I don't fancy myself good enough to give training advice yet for fulls, but just wanted to share my experience. You may like or you may hate it. But sometimes things change!

[cinco]

Oct 2, 2013 12:27:41 GMT -5 G22 said:

I expected to come out of my marathon with the same mindset and was surprised how much I loved it. So much I'm signing up for another in a few days when registration opens!

:Y: <) (high5)

[clseale]

Oct 2, 2013 12:27:41 GMT -5 G22 said:

I expected to come out of my marathon with the same mindset and was surprised how much I loved it. So much I'm signing up for another in a few days when registration opens!

Which race did you decide on?

[G22]

Oct 2, 2013 13:11:22 GMT -5 clseale said:

Oct 2, 2013 12:27:41 GMT -5 G22 said:

I expected to come out of my marathon with the same mindset and was surprised how much I loved it. So much I'm signing up for another in a few days when registration opens!

Which race did you decide on?

My H isn't sure if he could get off to swing Whidbey Island, as in he may not have enough PTO to go with me. So I picked one closer to home, The Governor's Cup here in MT. I usually do the 10k, so this year instead I'm going to do the full.