training for first marathon, hitting the wall at 20 miles? help :)

Hello. I am training for my first marathon first weekend in Nov in Indianapolis. I am very slow my only goal is to cross the finish line. 3-4  weeks ago I was able to jog 18 miles, the last 2 weekends I jogged 20 miles . I jog 14 minute miles my time was 4 hours 36 minutes.  Both times that I jogged 20 miles ( I think 20.48 and then 20.62) there was absolutely no way that I could have gone any further.  When I get to 20 miles I feel like I am moving in slow motion? I have a camelbak and have water the whole way. I even refill the water at my 1/2 way mark. Also I eat either 4 or 5 packs of GU while jogging to keep my strength. I am jogging about 50 - 55 miles per week. It is looking like that I will not be able to get beyond 20 miles?  What could I do to increase improve my endurance?  Any suggestions greatly appreciated! - Thanks so much!! 

 Hi I recently completed my first marathon in May. While I was training for it or use the program when my longest run was 20 miles. My thought was how the heck am I going to do 26 ? Suffice it to say I trusted in the training and come race day between the other runners the training and the support of family and friends I was able to finish the whole race.  Good luck and keep at it 

@billmacc7- thanks that is encouraging!  Did you gain weight while you were training for the marathon. I have gained about 2-3 lbs.

 Hi I gained a little bit  during training. Overall probably 3 to 5 pounds. Still after the race I had lost 8 pounds LOL. Regardless of the weight-loss  or gain I'm very proud of myself for completing a marathon something the less than 1% of the US population has done!!! 

May I ask are running the whole 20 miles or do you do walk breaks. Try doing 15 or 20 minute run and 1 minute walk. It does help and you can be faster than running the whole thing. Make sure you are eating some carbs before the long run. I do a bagel and I try and have some carbs at dinner the night before. I have always said running is the easy part the hard part is the mind. Your mind can brake you. I know when I see the 21k mark I think why am i doing the full I could be finishing now. Now I am a whole 21 more to go. I stopped looking at the distances that I have done in the race and just keep going. It does help if you know the route so you can have an idea when you are close to the end. You can do this. Make sure you are taking Gatorade in or something like that because that will help replace the salt that you are losing. One last thing running in the summer is hard believe it or not. People running time will be slower and it can be hard to push yourself. Make sure you don't start out to fast slow it down and than work on speeding it up closer to the end of your run. Do some tempo runs and work on strength training all of this well help

good luck

I live with a marathoner and his training resources tell him that you never want to actually run a marathon in training.  He'll run 26.2 miles split over Saturday/Sunday, but never all at once.  It breaks the body down to much.  

To me, it seems like you're doing what you should be doing.  Trust your training and your training plan.  :)

Your doing better than me. I hit a wall a few blocks in, every time. I have to fight it off for the next 5 min to get into a grove in order to keep going.

I have read when just starting run/walk/run. I very slowly worked up to walking 12 miles before ever trying to jog 1 mile. Stick with it :)

Hey there! My suggestion would be to reduce the total volume of your training. Instead of 50-55 miles per week, do 35-40 miles.

1x = Long/Slow Day (18-22 miles)

1x = Medium Day (8-10 miles)

1x = Short/Fast (3-5 miles)

This should allow you to recover more completely and ultimately have more in the tank to finish your marathon. Remember you want to peak for the marathon. On that note, the week before your marathon reduce your volume to 25-30 miles and try to incorporate additional carbs throughout the week. Good luck!

Renee