Having spent the last few months focused on work – my day job, my new second job and leadership training – I’ve been thinking about shifting my focus to my health for the coming few months. I’ve written before about my struggles with my weight and I haven’t made any further progress with the scales so I think it’s time to try a different tactic – setting myself a challenge that I can work towards that will encourage a healthy lifestyle. 
Not one to do anything by halves, I’ve only gone and signed up for a marathon! Yes, you read that right – having NEVER run more than 10km I’ve just agreed to 26.2 miles of running in one day! It’s always been on my bucket list and I think if I don’t do it now, I never will – carpe diem!
I’ve got just over 6 months to train and I’ve already started researching training and nutrition plans whilst my motivation is high! To keep my motivation from dipping too low, I commit to writing here once a month on how my training is going.
The official “Beginner’s Marathon” training plan doesn’t start until the end of January as it runs (pun not intended but I’ll go with it) for 16 weeks up until race day. In the meantime, I’m just building my basic level of fitness and increasing my running length up to 10km. This initial plan looks like:
- 3 runs per week (2 x 5km plus 1 x increasing km up to 10km)
- 1 trampolining class for cross training that’s easier on my joints (and that is seriously fun!)
- 1 yoga class for stretching and conditioning
I’ll be tracking my calories to ensure I don’t overeat the extra calories burned but I’m not restricting any food groups or treats for now. Wish me luck!
Have you completed a marathon? Or is it something you’d like to do? Comment with your tips and tricks below!
The Saving Journey 
I’ve run 15 marathons but probably won’t run any more of them. One knee gets a little bit unhappy after ten miles now. About all I learned is that I ran better listening to podcasts and music but in some races you have to hide the ear buds at first cause they are not allowed, for safety reasons. And the other thing is I ran better and cramped less if I ate a pack of Gu (or other gel) every thirty minutes (the gells with caffeine worked best for me). If it is cool wear throw away sweat shirt and pants with the (elastic cut off the ankles) over your shorts and singlet and when you warm up just take them off and toss them. And lastly I’d do at least two twenty mile training runs to get used to the very real soul sucking pain of running for hours. Enjoy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks steveark for the tips! That is a LOT of marathons – amazing! I only intend to do one and then I can tick it off my bucket list. I already listen to podcasts while running and I was very disappointed after reading about the “no headphones” rule but you are allowed bone conducting headphones so I’m going to buy some cheap ones to try. Not tried gel yet but will do when I’ve built my longer runs up.
LikeLike
Wow that’s awesome and ambitious! I’m not much of a runner myself. I can just about drag myself around for about 3-4km before I give up. Good luck with the training!
LikeLike