Thinking of doing the marathon

[Gtiain]

Am I mad?! I havnt really got a charity in mind, just something I've wanted to do for a while. Has anyone done it and would like to give me some advice other than don't do it?!

[Top Cat]

It's to late, you should have been on the start line this morning. 

[Gtiain]

It's to late, you should have been on the start line this morning. 

I don't think I'd have done 2 miles if I hadve lined up this morning!

You've got to register for next year soon, think it's a couple of days.

[Top Cat]

If you google marathon runs, you will sh*t your self the training involved, you will need to get trainers fitted at a specialist shop or you will fall to bits.  You have to be really committed or really enjoy running. 

[markymark]

Me and my wife have done the London Marathon twice now, if you like running you will love the marathon. The atmosphere is amazing, the support you get from the crowd is so uplifting. You have a couple of options, you can enter the ballot for a place, which is a huge lottery as normally about 100,000+ people enter. We entered the ballot about 3 years running but we got no where. We then decided to run for a charity, which is your second option.
Different charities expect you to raise minimum amounts of money ranging from a few hundered pounds upto thousands.
First time round we ran for St Johns Ambulance and we had to raise a minimum of £1250 each!! It sounds a lot but it was surprising how generous people were. You might have to be a little bit creative in your fund raising if you struggle.
The second time we ran in 2009, we got lucky and got ballot places, it was surprising how much more we enjoyed it second time around, maybe because we knew what to expect and could take more of it in. It may have been due to the fact that we didnt have the pressure of finding £2500 in sponsor money.
Either way I highly recommend it but dont under estimate how tough it is to complete a marathon! Preparation is everything!
Good luck!

[Gtiain]

Wonderful advice Mark thankyou. I understand it is nothing to be taken lightly, for some reason I just think it's something I'd like to do at least once in my life. I'm not a runner so will have to train incredibly hard!

I didn't know charities required you to raise a minimum amount, id have thought they would have been grateful for any money raised.

[markymark]

Wonderful advice Mark thankyou. I understand it is nothing to be taken lightly, for some reason I just think it's something I'd like to do at least once in my life. I'm not a runner so will have to train incredibly hard!

I didn't know charities required you to raise a minimum amount, id have thought they would have been grateful for any money raised.

I think it is something you should at least have a go at once in your life if exercising is something you enjoy. Training is definately the key, if you are a member of a gym they can devise you a programme so that you can achieve your goal.
Yeah unfortunately, with the charities there is a minimum amount they expect, the way they look at it is if you cant commit to raising the minimum amount there are plenty of other people who will.

[Janner_Sy]

you dont need fitness trainers, you just have to be sensible, dont jump in the deep end with distance, just get out there and start pounding the tarmac abit.

Not sure of your fitness level at the moment, but get your self entered into a few 10k runs, building upto half marathons. this should really be the first half of the training year.  Once you have done that start picking the distances up to around 15-18miles.  Then gradually increase it to race distance.

i would advise to change your diet to take into account the exercise, you need to be taking on plenty of carbs and protein.  medium distance runners ned around 1.5grams of protein per kg of body weight.

Also get your self to a proper running shop where they can asses your running gait, and advise you on the ideal trainers for you.  if anything this is the most important part IMO.

Really concentrate on stretching.  Something i always pverlook, and probably the reason im so injury prone.  Im always to tired to stretch off, then i pay for it.

[Gtiain]

Again, great advice. Id like to think I'm relatively fit at the moment but no where near where I'd need to be. Good point about the warm-up, it's always the warm-down then I tend to overlook which can be just as bad 

[dnLcal]

I recently decided I want to do the 2012 London marathon and was a none runner. It's been 4 weeks since I started running and I built it up gradually from a 2k run in 15 mins and being knackered to a sub 25min 5k and am working on increasing my distance now.

Tips I would have for you are to thourghly stretch before and after as I didn't used to do this and suffered with injurys (mainly from the illoptical tendon) and socks and trainers should fit correctly or your feet will hate you! Look after your feet and muscles and you will be able to train more often.

My plan is to do some 10k runs and the great north run in October in preparation.

Hope it goes well for you
Cal

[Janner_Sy]

Tips I would have for you are to thourghly stretch before and after as I didn't used to do this and suffered with injurys (mainly from the illoptical tendon) and socks and trainers should fit correctly or your feet will hate you! Look after your feet and muscles and you will be able to train more often.

My plan is to do some 10k runs and the great north run in October in preparation.

+ 1 on the illoptical tendon, if you strain it you will be held back for a long time.  Mine is fooked, I now have ITB Syndrome on the right leg/knee, and currently can only manage about 3 miles before im in agony with it.  Messed the ligament up when training to run the Bupa 10k with 20kg backpack in sub 1hr last july.  Still managed the run in 67minutes, but now im still not fully fit after 9 months of physio.  they are now looking at an operation, but wont do it until my flexibility is improved which is a big issue as ive been doing heavy physical training for the past 10 years  with minimal stretching off after.

[Gtiain]

Sorry to hear that mate, Hope it improves sharpish. You've reminded me about that guy who was carrying the washing machine round on his back for help the heroes today. I wonder if he finished??

[Janner_Sy]

i can still row and cycle though so its not all bad, its just impact that causes issue tbh.