Last week I mentioned in my column about one of the most repeated questions asked of us at Sportlink by potential marathon runners and that being “how far should my longest run be?”
Whilst running a marathon does require a certain level of conditioning to get you round the 26.2 miles, this is still such an individual thing and will always relate to a person's current level of fitness.
Yes, you can run a marathon off just a few weeks training or I should say that you will be able to get round but for those who want to do it well, then as far as I am concerned several months or indeed even a year or two will help build a very solid base for any budding marathon runner by way of careful and structured training as well as incorporating races over the shorter distances.
This will allow for the body to gradually adapt to the increased stresses.
It’s one thing setting out at the start of your marathon build up saying my aim is to run a specific time, but through training and racing you will be able to always gauge where you are at and if it means with just a few weeks to go that you are somewhere off the mark, then be realistic about it and reset your goals. There will always be other marathons to run at a later date.
Needless to say, if your training has gone to plan, then awesome and stay on the schedule. It’s obviously worked up to now, so don’t spoil it by trying to cram in more than what you had originally planned.
I was always an advocate of high mileage and 100 to 120 miles a week worked really well for me, whereas one of my club mates and regular training partner Gregor Booth worked equally as well off just 65 to 75 miles each week. Yes, he could and would put in the occasional 90/100 mile week, but it really would be just occasionally. This of course goes back to what I also said last week about following your own journey.
As the saying goes: ‘A wise person is a person who learns from other people’s mistakes.’ Sadly, and for most of us, we tend to only learn from our own errors despite always asking others who are more experienced for advice.
I don’t mind admitting that I learnt the hard way and what with having just said that 100/120 miles a week worked perfectly well for me which also meant training twice a day, this was until I decided to start running three times a day and pushed the mileage up to a minimum of 140 miles each week. Whilst I did still do well off it, looking back the lower mileage was by far the recipe I should have stuck with.
Anyway – all the very best to Mark Armstrong this weekend who I am pretty sure will produce another marathon PB in Barcelona. I also think it is fair to say that he has had to follow a personal journey which has seen him make a few mistakes along the way so as to now fully understand what works best for his needs.
Have a good running weekend all...
