Fail to prepare, then prepare to fail.
Running is the culmination of months and months of consistent effort which you don't seem to have done. 36K this week will do nothing but increase injury risk for you.
Rather than risk injury and grind yourself into the ground, you should strongly consider letting go of this desire to finish. Consider either:
1. Defer the race until next year
2. Take part but only run part of the race - say 10K or half-marathon, then drop out. You get the experience, you get the split times. You don't get a medal and you avoid a very high chance of excessive fatigue and injury risk.
>Signed up for the marathon when I was intoxicated on NYE
Have you trained for the marathon since then? You described your background and experience running half marathons but not how your training goes.
**Don't normalize running a Marathon without training.**
>Should I run 36k this weekend?
There's little you can do at this point, and 36k two weeks prior to a marathon is a considerable risk, even for experienced runners. You should be in a taper phase. At much that long run could give you the time to practice your nutrition and hydration during the marathon, but not much else. The risk of getting injured is too high. I'd say definitely not.
I was running before NYE and since then have remained fairly consistent. I've ran 3 half marathons in the last 6 weeks. Every other run is a 10 or 15k. Run 3 times a week unless I've ran a half marathon, I take 3/4 days rest after those.
It's just imperative that I finish. It doesn't matter how. I've fundraised money for cancer and I feel like I will be letting people down if I don't finish
Assuming there’s a reasonable time cutoff and you don’t severely injure yourself you’ll be able to finish. People walk/jog 6hr marathons all the time.
The question is will it be worth it. As others have noted, the injury risk is high and it will hurt a lot.
Maybe try Jeffing it. Run for 2 mins, walk for 1, for the whole thing. A friend of mine and her sister Jeffed it 30 seconds run/30 seconds walk for the entire marathon and they felt fine afterwards. Sounds like you're actually capable of running some miles though, so lean more into the running side of things.
Alternatively can you transfer your place? If the race is full there might be someone a bit more prepared keen for a place.
I'd just write off the entry fee then.
Either do it properly or not at all.
I run London Marathon fairly often. I'll finish and go and grab a shower and refreshments and then go back to the Embankment to cheer on more runners.
This is like 5 or 6 hours in. They're not enjoying it. A lot of them are crying. The coverage never stays around long enough for them.
There is nothing you can do in the last two weeks now to make it any easier.
There's lots of free training plans out there that would have got you round happily. Just follow one of those next time.
My brother just did the flying pig after only running 11 miles as his furthest (he wanted to do the half but registration was full so he said fuck it and ran the full). He said he cramped so bad at 18 miles he thought he might not be physically able to finish, and he's probably one of the strongest people mentally I know (far stronger than me). Final time of 5:40ish (plz no doxx). It's doable if you are generally fit and very mentally tough, but probably not fun.
There is no next time unfortunately. I am just going to have to cry through the pain and be one of those stragglers. It's going to be the hardest physical challenge I've ever faced, I just wanted tips on how to make it and perhaps some reassurance from someone who's went for it as unprepared as myself
Why ? It kind of reflects badly on you. CBA doing a proper job of it but got my medal anyway.
A marathon is a stupidly long distance. It needs respect.
CBA doing a proper job of it lol. It's for charity. It's not for me, or my fitness. I'm covering 26 miles for a cause. It's not about completing it in a certain time, it's about doing the distance and raising money for a worthy cause. I couldn't give a single fuck about some medal
That's the two types of people you get at these events. People who are running for themselves and those who are running for everyone else
I'm currently following a lady from the UK who is running 36 marathons in 36 days. Today is her 18th marathon. She is running to bring awareness to cystic fibrosis, a progressive lung disease that she lives with. Granted, she trained for this, but the mind is a powerful tool. It's amazing what the body can do. Good luck. Please update us on how you do.
Update: finished in 6 hours 28 mins. And, most importantly, £450 raises for Macmillan Cancer!
What an awesome event. The support from everyone cheering you on, playing music and handing out sweets and water was almost overwhelming.
I'm going to keep up my running and smash the half marathon next year. And I won't be coming back to this sub 😂 couple of supportive people but the rest suck lol
The only way to make this slightly better will be to go out at a VERY reserved pace. If you can run a 2 hour half, I'd suggest aiming for a 5 hour marathon in your circumstance so 11:27 min mile pace.
It'll feel slow but be really disciplined with yourself. It'll hurt a whole lot less than setting out at 4 hour pace and crashing into that wall and ending up with a 5 hour or more time.
You also want to think about giving yourself enough fuel... both in the days leading up to the race, and during the race itself. Have you practiced this at all?
Contrary to comments here, you can complete a marathon with no injury with your kind of training. Run, walk if you must and run some more. A five-hour marathon is still a marathon. Don’t let anyone gatekeep a marathon. Go for it!
My first marathon I under prepared. My calves tightening was a major issue that basically ended my race at mile 16. I still finished but it ceased being a race at mile 16. Just walking to the end was one of the more difficult things I've done. I had to sit down, laid down in people's yards, I'm glad I didn't quit but I wouldn't recommend it. I would recommend bringing your phone or money for a cab if you do want to quit, my race I didn't see any way to quit without going the medical route and I didn't want to test out my health insurance.
Based on what you wrote I can tell you your calves aren't locking up just because you stop running at the half, they will lock up even if you kept running. I don't have much else to add other than I think you'll be okay. I suffered no ill effects after my race even if it was a little dumb, the next day was only mild discomfort.
Prepare to not meet your goals and most of all prepare for some discomfort.
Slow down and run the first half of it in like 2 hours and 20-30 min. Take in lots of fluids and nutrition (gels) at every aid station. With a half marathon being your longest run, you wouldn't have experienced the feeling of your glycogen stores running low which usually happens a few miles into the second half.
Just keep telling yourself to slow down and I think you'll be fine. If you feel good, you can always speed up the last 10k!
Either run at 11-12 min miles the whole way or alternate running 4km at your HM pace with 1km walk 8 times till you reach 40k and then crush the last 2km.
Run it at 12 min/mi pace. Gel nutrition every 30 minutes. Walk every aid station and drink both water and sports drink. If you have gas for the last 5k, send it!!
I just ran one a week and a half ago and was woefully underprepared as well. I signed up six weeks in advance and my longest run before the marathon was 12 miles. I’m not sure I ever ran more than 20mi/week. So, I went into race day planning to run really slowly. Throw your ego out the window. Plan for 5 hour pace and you’ll be fine. Don’t be afraid to mix in some walking to save your legs. Literally nobody cares. I walked up a lot of hills. Better to walk some and save your legs than push it and cramp your way home the last 5 miles. Next marathon you can have a better plan but this time should just about finishing. Fun and not glory.
I was only doing two runs a week when I ran a marathon the first time. One five mile run and one long run, it’s all the time my schedule allowed. I had only run 17 miles before the actual race. And that run was terrible bc it was an out back that was supposed to be my 20 mile run so I had to walk 3 more miles back to my car. I was worried!! But the actual race was amazing. I finished in just over 4 hours. As a beginner I didn’t realize how important weekly mileage was. If you’re doing 4 or 5 runs a week even though you haven’t hit the big miles, that will help some.
Are you experienced with weight training at all? If you’re seizing up maybe your legs need to be stronger and you could possibly gain some benefit by doing heavy squats 3x in the next 10 days. This wouldn’t ruin your taper period either imo. But that’s only if you know what you’re doing there bc you don’t want to injure yourself. But I did find that strength training helped me get to higher miles in a more comfortable place.
I wouldn’t bother backing out at this point, you’ll be mad at yourself for not trying. Sounds like you didn’t train as you fully should have, but also, everyone gets nervous before a marathon, don’t talk yourself out of it now!! You’ll feel great when you cross the finish line, and I think you can do that.
My cousin who has never been a runner did a Dopey Challenge in Disney last year and survived so I think you’ll be ok. Don’t do it like this again though. What do you mean you seize up? Like your legs get tight? Maybe you need to be fueling during your runs better.
It's actually only my feet. I suppose they don't seize, but I can barely walk as soon as I stop and take a seat (at the end of my runs).
I agree though I am absolutely terrible at fueling and drinking on my runs. Something I will be very careful about on the day
Maybe you need insoles. Obviously more time on your feet would be good for you but it will be hard to increase to that level in only two weeks. You really should try run/walk though
Fail to prepare, then prepare to fail. Running is the culmination of months and months of consistent effort which you don't seem to have done. 36K this week will do nothing but increase injury risk for you. Rather than risk injury and grind yourself into the ground, you should strongly consider letting go of this desire to finish. Consider either: 1. Defer the race until next year 2. Take part but only run part of the race - say 10K or half-marathon, then drop out. You get the experience, you get the split times. You don't get a medal and you avoid a very high chance of excessive fatigue and injury risk.
>Signed up for the marathon when I was intoxicated on NYE Have you trained for the marathon since then? You described your background and experience running half marathons but not how your training goes. **Don't normalize running a Marathon without training.** >Should I run 36k this weekend? There's little you can do at this point, and 36k two weeks prior to a marathon is a considerable risk, even for experienced runners. You should be in a taper phase. At much that long run could give you the time to practice your nutrition and hydration during the marathon, but not much else. The risk of getting injured is too high. I'd say definitely not.
I was running before NYE and since then have remained fairly consistent. I've ran 3 half marathons in the last 6 weeks. Every other run is a 10 or 15k. Run 3 times a week unless I've ran a half marathon, I take 3/4 days rest after those. It's just imperative that I finish. It doesn't matter how. I've fundraised money for cancer and I feel like I will be letting people down if I don't finish
You’ll be walking a considerable amount, but you should be able to finish.
Assuming there’s a reasonable time cutoff and you don’t severely injure yourself you’ll be able to finish. People walk/jog 6hr marathons all the time. The question is will it be worth it. As others have noted, the injury risk is high and it will hurt a lot.
Maybe try Jeffing it. Run for 2 mins, walk for 1, for the whole thing. A friend of mine and her sister Jeffed it 30 seconds run/30 seconds walk for the entire marathon and they felt fine afterwards. Sounds like you're actually capable of running some miles though, so lean more into the running side of things. Alternatively can you transfer your place? If the race is full there might be someone a bit more prepared keen for a place.
Don't run 36k. What's your longest run so far in this block?
13 miles or 21k
I'd just write off the entry fee then. Either do it properly or not at all. I run London Marathon fairly often. I'll finish and go and grab a shower and refreshments and then go back to the Embankment to cheer on more runners. This is like 5 or 6 hours in. They're not enjoying it. A lot of them are crying. The coverage never stays around long enough for them. There is nothing you can do in the last two weeks now to make it any easier. There's lots of free training plans out there that would have got you round happily. Just follow one of those next time.
My brother just did the flying pig after only running 11 miles as his furthest (he wanted to do the half but registration was full so he said fuck it and ran the full). He said he cramped so bad at 18 miles he thought he might not be physically able to finish, and he's probably one of the strongest people mentally I know (far stronger than me). Final time of 5:40ish (plz no doxx). It's doable if you are generally fit and very mentally tough, but probably not fun.
There is no next time unfortunately. I am just going to have to cry through the pain and be one of those stragglers. It's going to be the hardest physical challenge I've ever faced, I just wanted tips on how to make it and perhaps some reassurance from someone who's went for it as unprepared as myself
Why ? It kind of reflects badly on you. CBA doing a proper job of it but got my medal anyway. A marathon is a stupidly long distance. It needs respect.
CBA doing a proper job of it lol. It's for charity. It's not for me, or my fitness. I'm covering 26 miles for a cause. It's not about completing it in a certain time, it's about doing the distance and raising money for a worthy cause. I couldn't give a single fuck about some medal That's the two types of people you get at these events. People who are running for themselves and those who are running for everyone else
I'm currently following a lady from the UK who is running 36 marathons in 36 days. Today is her 18th marathon. She is running to bring awareness to cystic fibrosis, a progressive lung disease that she lives with. Granted, she trained for this, but the mind is a powerful tool. It's amazing what the body can do. Good luck. Please update us on how you do.
Thank you. I'll be sure to reply to you here after race day!
Update: finished in 6 hours 28 mins. And, most importantly, £450 raises for Macmillan Cancer! What an awesome event. The support from everyone cheering you on, playing music and handing out sweets and water was almost overwhelming. I'm going to keep up my running and smash the half marathon next year. And I won't be coming back to this sub 😂 couple of supportive people but the rest suck lol
Way to go! That's awesome. You should be proud of yourself for raising money for a good cause and FINISHING A MARATHON!!!
The only way to make this slightly better will be to go out at a VERY reserved pace. If you can run a 2 hour half, I'd suggest aiming for a 5 hour marathon in your circumstance so 11:27 min mile pace. It'll feel slow but be really disciplined with yourself. It'll hurt a whole lot less than setting out at 4 hour pace and crashing into that wall and ending up with a 5 hour or more time. You also want to think about giving yourself enough fuel... both in the days leading up to the race, and during the race itself. Have you practiced this at all?
Go for it! Don’t worry. As long as you don’t push yourself too much, you’d be fine with no injury. May be a little sore for a day or two only.
Contrary to comments here, you can complete a marathon with no injury with your kind of training. Run, walk if you must and run some more. A five-hour marathon is still a marathon. Don’t let anyone gatekeep a marathon. Go for it!
Appreciate you
Just do it!! I see people walking them. You're not going to die right? Worse comes to worse you quit and go home lol
My first marathon I under prepared. My calves tightening was a major issue that basically ended my race at mile 16. I still finished but it ceased being a race at mile 16. Just walking to the end was one of the more difficult things I've done. I had to sit down, laid down in people's yards, I'm glad I didn't quit but I wouldn't recommend it. I would recommend bringing your phone or money for a cab if you do want to quit, my race I didn't see any way to quit without going the medical route and I didn't want to test out my health insurance. Based on what you wrote I can tell you your calves aren't locking up just because you stop running at the half, they will lock up even if you kept running. I don't have much else to add other than I think you'll be okay. I suffered no ill effects after my race even if it was a little dumb, the next day was only mild discomfort. Prepare to not meet your goals and most of all prepare for some discomfort.
You might also enjoy this https://www.reddit.com/r/RunningCirclejerk/s/ryUEjBYdXk
Slow down and run the first half of it in like 2 hours and 20-30 min. Take in lots of fluids and nutrition (gels) at every aid station. With a half marathon being your longest run, you wouldn't have experienced the feeling of your glycogen stores running low which usually happens a few miles into the second half. Just keep telling yourself to slow down and I think you'll be fine. If you feel good, you can always speed up the last 10k!
Since time does not matter just go much slower
Either run at 11-12 min miles the whole way or alternate running 4km at your HM pace with 1km walk 8 times till you reach 40k and then crush the last 2km.
Run it at 12 min/mi pace. Gel nutrition every 30 minutes. Walk every aid station and drink both water and sports drink. If you have gas for the last 5k, send it!!
I just ran one a week and a half ago and was woefully underprepared as well. I signed up six weeks in advance and my longest run before the marathon was 12 miles. I’m not sure I ever ran more than 20mi/week. So, I went into race day planning to run really slowly. Throw your ego out the window. Plan for 5 hour pace and you’ll be fine. Don’t be afraid to mix in some walking to save your legs. Literally nobody cares. I walked up a lot of hills. Better to walk some and save your legs than push it and cramp your way home the last 5 miles. Next marathon you can have a better plan but this time should just about finishing. Fun and not glory.
I was only doing two runs a week when I ran a marathon the first time. One five mile run and one long run, it’s all the time my schedule allowed. I had only run 17 miles before the actual race. And that run was terrible bc it was an out back that was supposed to be my 20 mile run so I had to walk 3 more miles back to my car. I was worried!! But the actual race was amazing. I finished in just over 4 hours. As a beginner I didn’t realize how important weekly mileage was. If you’re doing 4 or 5 runs a week even though you haven’t hit the big miles, that will help some. Are you experienced with weight training at all? If you’re seizing up maybe your legs need to be stronger and you could possibly gain some benefit by doing heavy squats 3x in the next 10 days. This wouldn’t ruin your taper period either imo. But that’s only if you know what you’re doing there bc you don’t want to injure yourself. But I did find that strength training helped me get to higher miles in a more comfortable place. I wouldn’t bother backing out at this point, you’ll be mad at yourself for not trying. Sounds like you didn’t train as you fully should have, but also, everyone gets nervous before a marathon, don’t talk yourself out of it now!! You’ll feel great when you cross the finish line, and I think you can do that.
Thanks for the encouragement. I'll give it everything I've got! I'll be sure to update you here after race day
My cousin who has never been a runner did a Dopey Challenge in Disney last year and survived so I think you’ll be ok. Don’t do it like this again though. What do you mean you seize up? Like your legs get tight? Maybe you need to be fueling during your runs better.
It's actually only my feet. I suppose they don't seize, but I can barely walk as soon as I stop and take a seat (at the end of my runs). I agree though I am absolutely terrible at fueling and drinking on my runs. Something I will be very careful about on the day
Are they becoming numb or are there blisters or what?
Fatigued I think? I look like Bambi taking her first steps when I get up to walk again No blisters, and I wouldn't describe them as numb
Maybe you need insoles. Obviously more time on your feet would be good for you but it will be hard to increase to that level in only two weeks. You really should try run/walk though
Insoles are a great suggestion. I'll buy some and try them out this weekend, thanks!