training for a marathon

[seraph]

my friend and i decided that we will run the boston marathon this year, we won't be official but we will run after the pack. now i have never done anything remotely like this before. last year i was running 5,6, and sometimes 7 miles and i usually averaged about 10 mins/mile. how should i prepare for this? what steps should i take? any advice and info is greatly appreciated :

So you are going to be a "bandit" eh? Well, good luck and have fun!

Start your training off slowly. If you haven't run in a while stick with about 2 miles at first. You really don't want to add more than 10% to your weekly running totals. That means, if you run 20 miles in one week, the next week only add 2 miles to your weekly total. Your body needs to adapt to the increased workload. To get through the marathon you will need a minimum of 30 miles per week. To do really well, figure on 50 to 60.

Once a week go out for a long run. How long is a long run? That will be relative to how long you are running each day. If you are running 2 miles each day, then go out and do a 6 to 8 mile run. If you are running 6 miles each day (almost a 10K) then go out and run 18 to 20 miles.

Take your time with your long runs - remember they are called LSD (Long, Slow, Distance). Go out with a friend and enjoy the secenery. Plan your increases in distance on your LSD so you are really close to the 26.2 miles you will be running on your marathon day.

[mikeygone1]

Go out to Runnersworld.com and look under training programs for a marathon plan. I've never used that one personally but I have used the 5k, 10k and half marathon plans and they work pretty well.

[abarlament]

Some runners and coaches like a 3x a week approach (I guess this is the 'HIT' of the runner's world). Two short runs during the week, and a long run on the weekend. Like Ironman said, don't try to add too much distance too fast, build up to it. For your long run, build up to 20 miles. I've heard from some runners that going over 20 miles during training is a no-no because the risk of injury is high. Also, read up on nutrition techniques, for before a run and during.

[seraph]

thanks for the info guys, really appreciate it!

my friend that i'm going to run w/ has a sister who trains people for marathons. he told me that his sister recommends that you slowly work your way up, then before the marathon (not sure how long before, but i'll ask) you do a 20 mile run, then drop back down to 7 mile runs. but he stressed that you only do the 20 mile run once

[ajarvis]

That's tapering, and a well used method for training for a marathon. It's all about the base you have, and then not burning out before hand! I think most people do the 20 miles (or your longest run) about 5 weeks out, and then 4 weeks of tapering - or slowly lowering your weekly mileage. Also in the last 4 weeks or so you wouldn't do any hill or speed training.

runnersworld.com is a great site along with coolrunning.com and runningroom.com all have forums, and training programs for any level.