Half/Full Marathon

I am training for a half marathon scheduled for October 19th. However, I just did some reading on one of the two Marathon websites I'm thinking of doing. In it I read about people walking the Marathon. That got me thinking, should I do a Full marathon, even if I walk most of it?

Has anyone done a Full Marathon first instead of a Half Mary? If so, what were your thoughts?

The Marathon I'm thinking of doing is in Grand Rapids, and its talks of being a fairly flat course. Where as the Detroit Marathon, is quite hilly. Well not so much hilly, as you have to walk over the Ambassador bridge into Canada, and its quite a climb.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Curt

If you can get your training up to about 20 miles by then, you should be fine to complete it.   My first "long" race was an 11.6 mile race about 4 months after I started running.  My next long race was the Disney Marathon in Jan of '07.  It sure is doable.   BTW, there is no shame in walking.  Where we came from, finishing is a HUGE accomplishment!!!

Oh trust me, finishing is all I care about for this Half/Full Marathon. Think I will continue training and see how it goes. Then decide for sure.

This weekend will be my first long run, and it will be 8 miles.

How much of your first Marathon did you actually run?

Curt

I ran about 85% of the first 18 miles and walked about 60% of the last 8 miles!  Kevin is right.  The full is about 10 times harder than a half but again, if it's a goal it's doable.

Half marathon is a whole lot easier than a full!! I started with a half then work my way up to a full marathon. It just a matter of getting your body use to run/walking for all those miles.. My first full was a nightmare. I was hurting and ended up walking more than 70% of the marathon. I can tell you walking it was alot hard than running. But you can to it!!

Kevin,

How much running/walking did you do leading up to your first Marathon? Were you prepared for that first Marathon? Did you do the Run Walk Run in your first Marathon?

Was it your feet that was hurting in your first Marathon?

Need to know as much as your willing to share.

Thanks

Curt

Before running a marathon I had already been running for 6 months competed 3 half marathons. September I trained with Aids Project L.A. during the week I did 2 training runs of 2-4 miles and on Saturday we would do are longer runs. We starting at 3 miles all the way to 26 miles. I think we would do 17 one week then 8 then back up to 20 miles the next week..

I was more than ready for the marathon but I think my first mistake was carb loading on seafood pasta the night before and having the "runs" all morning!!! I was I most likly was dehydrated and at about mile 10-12 my legs were gone... So I walked most of the rest of the 16 miles!! Not the race I trained 6 months to run!!

I wrote the L.A. marathon on my profile.. Check it out!!

Curt, I agree, there is a huge difference between a half and a full marathon, which is not to say that you can't do the full before doing a half.  Get your training in and you'll be fine.  Like Scott said you want to get in at least one 20 mile run before the marathon.  Now is the time to start training for a fall marathon, so your timing is good if that is your goal. Mary

Hey Curt,  To me, it's all about what you want to accomplish.  This half I'm doing on Sunday kind of works into the training plan I'm going to start at the end of Aug/ beginning of Sept for a full.  My long runs right now are 10 miles, so it's not a big leap to do a half. Then again, when I began training for the full I did in January, I was just starting to run again after healing from a hamstring and I wasn't very fast at all.  I hadn't even done a race in nearly 2 years.  I used a 20-week plan and I managed to run all of the marathon with the exception of the 7 potty stops and about a half mile between miles 24 and 25.  My time was 5:35.  I'm not sure you'd be satisfied walking most of it, just from what little I know of you here, but I have NO doubt that you'll complete it, though, whichever you decide to do. Is the full about the same date as the half?  If so, I'd look at a marathon training plan that you can jump into and fit in by the time it comes around.  Like Scott said, if you get at least one 20-mile run/walk in, you'll be just fine.  Plus, if you're doing 8 this weekend, you're probably right on schedule if you want to jump in and do a full. Now for all the mind games you tend to play with yourself.   Let us know what you decide! Linn

Geesshhhh, you make me sound like a real basket case.. ha ha.. This weekends triathlon showed me that I can accomplish what I set my mind on. I have had my eye on the Half Marathon for quite some time now, and with a structured training plan, I think I can accompli****

I would love the thrill of capping off a great spring/summer of training with a Marathon finish. That is a finish, anyway possible. It would give me a great leap of confidence going into next year.

I have signed up for my next Triathlon, and it will be August 23rd. Might even sneak in another one the beginning of August, if everything aligns just right.

You did a Marathon without working out for nearly 2 years (except for a 20 week training plan), and ran all of it? Dang girl...