Has anyone ran a MARATHON?

[WesternEyes]

I was wondering if anyone has ran a marathon before? How many miles was it? How did you train for it? How long did it take before you built up your stamina? Was it for charity?

The reason why I am asking is because, I would really like to have another excuse to workout besides to lose weight. I feel like if I have a goal then I can really acheive two things at once (weight lose and money for charity). I've never been on a track team or even ran more than a mile straight, so I'm wondering if there are any experts or novices in marathons. Here in Atlanta they are having a Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day. It's 13.1 miles!!!! I'm very intimidated by this. What do ya'll think?

[BAILEYSCREAM]

I was wondering if anyone has ran a marathon before? How many miles was it? How did you train for it? How long did it take before you built up your stamina? Was it for charity?

The reason why I am asking is because, I would really like to have another excuse to workout besides to lose weight. I feel like if I have a goal then I can really acheive two things at once (weight lose and money for charity). I've never been on a track team or even ran more than a mile straight, so I'm wondering if there are any experts or novices in marathons. Here in Atlanta they are having a Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day. It's 13.1 miles!!!! I'm very intimidated by this. What do ya'll think?

I have. It was a mini marathon and I think it was 5/10 km. It was in 1991 so I can't really remember the specific distance. I still have my medal though.

We trained about 3 - 5 times a week running around a park, doing stretches and basically building our stamina because you will need this kind of training for endurance, which you will need if you're going to complete the race.

You will need a combination of weight training and also cardio workouts. Anything that strengthens the heart.

This site looks useful: http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/half_marathon.html

[Poohbear]

I haven't but I wouldn't mind running a marathon just to achieve something besides losing weight too. If I had the endurance and energy, I would do it. :yep:

[SplashAtl]

I also would like to run a marathon.

I've never been someone that enjoyed long distance running. I started running to get in shape for my wedding last year. I LOVED the results of running. When you run you are working a lot of muscles and you just start looking tone and wanting to run.

In regard to the marathon, I plan to start small. I am looking for a 5K run. I currently run about 2 miles. Anything over that I feel like I'm going to fall out. I started out doing the run/walk routine and built it up to running a straight 2 miles. Just thinking about running 5 makes me tired, but hopefully one day I'll get there. I'm taking it one additional mile at a time. My goal now is 3 miles, then 4, then 5.

Good luck.

[WesternEyes]

Thanx for the replies!

Baileyscream, congrats for completing a marathon! I think it takes real dedication and determination. I didn't realize that I would need to do any significant weight training, but maybe I should start. Right now i'm almost running a mile straight, so i'm trying to build up to 3 miles by the end of March. Do you think that's too much too fast? Thanx for the website.

Poohbear, maybe you will think about running a marathon one day. I think anyone can do it with alot of training and dedication.

SplashATL, 2 miles! that's great! congratulations on getting your endurance up to those 2 miles. I think there is going to be a women's 5k here in ATL at the end of March. And also the Peachtree Road Race which I believe is 10k. At atlanttrackclub.org they have all the info on marathons in Atlanta.

[options]

I've done a half-marathon. It was 13.1 miles. A full marathon is 26.2 miles. I will be doing another half-marathon this spring.

[BAILEYSCREAM]

Thanx for the replies!

Baileyscream, congrats for completing a marathon! I think it takes real dedication and determination. I didn't realize that I would need to do any significant weight training, but maybe I should start. Right now i'm almost running a mile straight, so i'm trying to build up to 3 miles by the end of March. Do you think that's too much too fast? Thanx for the website.

Poohbear, maybe you will think about running a marathon one day. I think anyone can do it with alot of training and dedication.

SplashATL, 2 miles! that's great! congratulations on getting your endurance up to those 2 miles. I think there is going to be a women's 5k here in ATL at the end of March. And also the Peachtree Road Race which I believe is 10k. At atlanttrackclub.org they have all the info on marathons in Atlanta.

Thanks Girl:)

The endurace and stamina training is a lot more important than the weights but you need to build up muscle strength as well, hence the weights suggestion. I remember we used to have trainers and there were a lot of us when I was training. It helps to keep you motivated if you have a running partner or a little group.

I have another useful link that I found in an online search and this one really has a lot of good info for you.
-----> TRAINING FOR A MARATHON (http://www.netfit.co.uk/marathon-cornwall.htm)

[SplashAtl]

Thanks for the website!

Thanx for the replies!

Baileyscream, congrats for completing a marathon! I think it takes real dedication and determination. I didn't realize that I would need to do any significant weight training, but maybe I should start. Right now i'm almost running a mile straight, so i'm trying to build up to 3 miles by the end of March. Do you think that's too much too fast? Thanx for the website.

Poohbear, maybe you will think about running a marathon one day. I think anyone can do it with alot of training and dedication.

SplashATL, 2 miles! that's great! congratulations on getting your endurance up to those 2 miles. I think there is going to be a women's 5k here in ATL at the end of March. And also the Peachtree Road Race which I believe is 10k. At atlanttrackclub.org they have all the info on marathons in Atlanta.

[lonesomedove]

I've done a half-marathon. It was 13.1 miles. A full marathon is 26.2 miles. I will be doing another half-marathon this spring.
Me too Options! I ran a half marathon last April. I also plan to do another one this year :yep:

[KinksnCurlz]

i ran/walk for breast cancer (susan b. koman foundation) back in 99. i believe it was 5 miles (not sure tho). during that time, i was in pretty good shape b/c i was exercising frequently. i didn't do anything extra maybe that is y i ran/walked instead of ran the entire marathon. either way, it was for a good cause and i am sooo proud of myself :)