If you are a marathoner, what online resources/texts or training program have you used or you follow?<p>2012 NYC marathon would have been my first marathon but it got cancelled. I would be running 2013 NYC marathon and probably 2013 Chicago marathon.
Whatever you do just realize that marathons are, for most people, bad for your body. I ran my first (and last!) marathon last year and ended up not being able to go on light runs for over 6 months. This isn't an uncommon story.<p>There are a bunch of training plans you can find online and they all share one thing in common: start out easy and work your distance up, then back off a month before the run. Make it to 16 or even 18 miles as your longest training run, give yourself at least a couple weeks to recover from it before running an actual marathon.<p>Identify your pace! There's a ton of rules of thumb out there based on half marathon times. I looked at my finishing time in a half marathon 2 weeks before the full, then used that to determine the percentile I was in and how it corresponded to the full marathon results. Saw that it wasn't crazy to do a sub 4 hour, so I set my pace accordingly. I used both a running watch, and in general kept with the pace flagger.<p>Final word of wisdom: don't do what I do and train in only 5 weeks! It's way harder on your body that way, even if you are in good cradio shape (I bike alot). Your muscles need to build up to stabilize your knees.
I've run five -- four in New York City, one in Philadelphia, where I got my best time (3:51) and inspired my Mom to run her first, at 66 years old, which I wrote up here -- <a href="http://joshuaspodek.com/redefining_possibility" rel="nofollow">http://joshuaspodek.com/redefining_possibility</a> -- and story-told here -- <a href="http://joshuaspodek.com/telling-my-awesome-story" rel="nofollow">http://joshuaspodek.com/telling-my-awesome-story</a>.<p>I didn't use online tools. They feel like the opposite of why I run. I like to feel free and untethered, feeling just the wind. About once a year I try running with an mp3 player and they ruin my experience. I run in minimal shoes now (Vivo Barefoots, which I recommend) and will consider moving to total barefoot when I run my next.<p>I just run. If I'm not running my best time, so what? I don't expect to win. I expect to push myself, to practice discipline, to enjoy myself. I know how not to get injured. If my time could be a few minutes better because I'm too busy running the way I want instead of running optimally, I sleep just fine.<p>Here are more of my thoughts on running marathons and inspiration -- <a href="http://joshuaspodek.com/on_reading_new_york_city_marathon_results" rel="nofollow">http://joshuaspodek.com/on_reading_new_york_city_marathon_re...</a>.
I think the best thing you can do is run with a group, especially if you can find one training for the same marathon.<p>It'll keep you a lot more motivated than running by yourself, and it's a lot more fun. Plus if you're a techie, it's a good way to get outside and meet people.<p>FWIW, the 2013 Chicago Marathon and the 2013 NYC marathon are pretty close together for a first-time marathoner. I would suggest just doing one or the other.<p>If you get really into marathons, there's a very interesting subculture of people who do them all the time - for instance, the Marathon Maniacs - <a href="http://www.marathonmaniacs.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.marathonmaniacs.com/</a>
I was a first-time marathoner in 2012 and I found Hal Higdon's site very useful. <a href="http://www.halhigdon.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.halhigdon.com/</a><p>FWIW, training for a marathon isn't too complicated. Start at least 18 weeks beforehand. Run about 10-11 miles during the week and do one long run on the weekend, building up to 20 miles two weeks before your race.
SF marathon in 2003 -- for just finishing in a decent time, the long runs are key. I think I used the online run "diary" at coolrunnings.com, printed out a random training schedule, counted backwards from the marathon date, and started at "week 8" or whatever the current date fell on. I do not recommend that training strategy.<p>Edit: I've been playing with the "zombies, run!" iphone app and it's been fun for short runs, but (as I'm sure you know) it's going to get tedious quickly for training for a marathon. Audiobooks are wonderful, though. Especially stuff that's light, escapist, and fun but somewhat embarrassing: I listened to most of the Harry Potter books, for example. If you're disciplined enough to only listen to the books when you're running, it can be a surprisingly strong motivator.<p>Second Edit: (now I'm nostalgic) I also don't recommend a 2 mile warm up jog to the start of the race (I lived on Fell at the time).
I have fall in love with Strava - minimal iOS running app (<a href="http://app.strava.com/mobile" rel="nofollow">http://app.strava.com/mobile</a>). I am not affiliated with them in any way.<p>I can also second Hal Higdon's site above.<p>A lot of people in a recent half marathon I ran were using the half marathon as a staging ground for their full marathon. By running a half marathon/5k/10k you can get a feel for what running an actual race feels like, which is invaluable.
4 marathons here. Three were Ironman marathons and one just-a-marathon (Philly 2007, 3:48).<p>I followed a similar program for the standalone as I did for the Ironman marathons: one hard run (hills, tempo, fartlek, etc), one long run, and 2-3 easy-ish runs. Each run will get longer as you progress until you're at the point of doing 15-17 miles as your long, 8-10 as your hard workout, and the rest being as short as 3 and as long as 6 miles.<p>I personally never ran more than 2 hours (~15-17 miles) at a time when marathon training. Others, like my wife, would run three hours as their long run. For me, the recovery and wasted days after a three hour run weren't worth it. I'd rather run 2 hours then another hour the next day than run three hours and not be able to run again for two days.<p>And since you're still a ways out, weight train now to avoid injury later. You don't need to do massive weights and you can avoid bulk using higher rep sets but getting some lunges, squats, and dead lifts in now could save you from injury during your key training period.
Did my first one last November. It definitely takes a toll on your body. As for training, invest in a high quality foam roller and get "The Stick". Learn to enjoy the pain you inflict on yourself with these devices. They will help, and it hurts less the more you do it. Don't try to run through pain, well, most pain. That's your body telling you something is not right! Could be a muscle imbalance that can be fixed by stretching and some simple exercises. Find a good massage therapist and let them introduce you to a new world of pain. A good one can read your muscles like a book and tell you that your ankle pain is actually being caused by an unhappy muscle in your butt. Remember, the foot bone is connected to the leg bone, leg bone is connected to the hip bone. If something is wrong in one of those spots, it will propagate to other areas.<p>Probably the most important thing, don't be concerned about time. Just learn to enjoy running, and the faster times will come.
Not a full marathon yet, but I'm training for it: Maratón de Santiago on the 7th of April. I ran the 10K on 2011 and the 21K (half-maraton) last year, so this was the natural progression.<p>My resources:<p>* one page of the fabulous book "Show me how" by Lauren Smith and Derek Fagerstrom, which I used to train for the 10K and 21K: <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9z1cU74rEAQ/TSotdgSW5lI/AAAAAAAAD4A/lqpXpnfsmOc/s1600/running.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9z1cU74rEAQ/TSotdgSW5lI/AAAAAAAAD4...</a><p>* The Hal Higdon website. There are several programs, I'm specifically following this one: <a href="http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51137/Marathon-Novice-1-Training-Program" rel="nofollow">http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51137/Marathon-Novice-1-Tr...</a>
I agree with another poster, it is not a great idea to do both the Chicago and the NYC marathon in the same year, especially if it's your first.<p>Training programs are really dependent on your previous experience. If you're starting as a non-runner (or a once-a-week runner) then your training plan would be much different than someone who is running 5 times a week. Also important to take into account if you're doing it just to do it or doing it to do well.<p>I used a plan that was based on a Pfitzinger plan. It was helpful (I got a Boston Qualifier on my first marathon), but you need to be quite disciplined. It is high mileage and takes commitment to running 6-7 days a week.
<a href="http://running.about.com/od/marathonprograms/a/marathonbeg.htm" rel="nofollow">http://running.about.com/od/marathonprograms/a/marathonbeg.h...</a><p>Really the best training program is just to get out and run. Push yourself for long distance over a flat terrain. I did my elevation training on an elliptical. Long distance built the stamina, and the elliptical built the strength. I did the Flying Pig marathon last year for my first marathon. The combo of long running with elliptical cross training really did the trick for me. Everyone is different though.
I've run one. I hit the "wall" at the 25Km (out of 42) mark - which was really weird, because I was doing 21Km runs 4 or 5 times a week leading up to it - and they were no problem!<p>Once I got passed it was fine, up to the 39Km mark when I decided to walk for a bit. BAD DECISION! I walked for a few hundred meters, then went to start jogging again. No way. My body refused to start up! I had to do a weird shuffle-my-shoulders-in-a-circular-motion to get up a rhythm and work up back to a jog.<p>Got a banana at the finish line. Best thing I ever tasted.
<i>note</i> - I have the genes for running.<p>One marathon in an Ironman (3:48). Tried for a BQ this year, but was injured and pulled out 10 miles in.<p>I under-trained the run (three runs over 15 miles, but raced a few half ironmans in training) and did a lot of long bikes on an indoor trainer (3-4 hrs) with short runs after. When I got to the run, I felt fine and just paced myself. Most ironmans have aid stations every mile, so the last 10k, I walked the aid stations.
I've never run a marathon. BUT I've run plenty of ultras. Even stage races (back to back to back ultras).<p>Everyone is different. I don't like hearing people saying that running is bad for your body cause I did "x". It might be bad for "your" body but not everyone else. Also it might be bad for your body cause you ran with poor mechanics. There's so many factors...<p>I'm inclined to say that running is not bad for your body, but bad running is.
The only online tool I've used is Smart Coach [1] so I can't compare it to others, but it has worked well for me thus far. I'm still building to a full marathon with half marathons, but they have programs for half or full. Goal for the next one is to break 1:30. After that I'm going to start training for a full marathon.<p>[1] <a href="http://smartcoach.runnersworld.com" rel="nofollow">http://smartcoach.runnersworld.com</a>
I have a pretty good cardio, so when I started running I felt like I had no limits. Lesson learned: beware of the shin splints. Seems like the solution is to use your forefoot instead of the heels.
I ran the Houston Marathon in 2002. I tell people it was my second marathon: the first and the last!<p>What I really enjoy is my 3-5 mile runs, which I have done regularly for about 20 years.