Marathon Training Program: Lessons Learned from the 33rd (2008) Marine Corps Marathon
9 November 2008

In March 2008 I got orders to attend a military school in the Washington D.C. area. A friend of mine from a recent deployment and I were discussing it and he asked if I'd run the Army Ten-Miler through downtown D.C. with him since I'd be in the area. The race was in October. I thought about it briefly and told him I would enjoy that and we signed up the day it opened. A ten-mile race, while challenging certainly, isn't anything you'd need to overly prepare for if you lead an active lifestyle with regular running like I do. If you want to set a time goal of course, this is different, but basically you don't need to get crazy with training for it if your goal is to finish in a respectable time and have fun. Then another friend of mine, my boss actually, mentions the Marine Corps Marathon, also in October, also in D.C. He tells me how he ran it twice when he was stationed there. Recommends I do it. Hmmm. Now we've stepped it up a notch. 26.2 miles is not something you can just go out there and run like a 10-miler is. Even a half-marathon isn't too far a stretch to just go run providing you have been keeping yourself in shape in general terms. You probably won't finish a marathon if you don't train for it and if you finish, not only will you be embarrassed by your pathetic time, but you will probably have serious injuries and be on the verge of death, almost literally. I went back and forth with the marathon idea for a few days. I was going to do one some time in my life just for the experience so I may as well do it now, right? So I sign up for that too. It is now essentiall April and I have 6 months to train. With my background in exercise science, I could have been able to devise a basic program without ever referencing anything, but with the Internet so readily available and a wealth of free knowledge, why not get some lessons learned and some programs to work with?

I begin at Active.com since I got a free training program with my marathon fee (around $70). I get a free account and I plug in my personal info, activity level, previous marathon experiece, etc. and it gives me a program to follow for beginning marathoners. The program essentially has 3-4 runs from Monday to Saturday then a longer run on Sunday, which increases until the 24-mile level 3 weeks out then decreases each week until the marathon. This is in line with what I would have designed without reading anything. Good to go, but I have a minor issue. I am not the average beginner. Although I haven't run a marathon, I have been a regular runner for 5 years and do physical activity almost daily. I am not at the level where my best friend was when he ran his first marathon (no physical activity at all for many years) and this program essentially would have been prescribed for both of us. I make some tweaks and off I go. I begin in April with 3-4 runs of 3-5 miles per day varying it by pure steady-state running one day, then interval running for another, then hills for the third. Then there is one long run of the week, which I did on Mondays. I started off at 8 miles, then did 9, then 10, then 12, then 13. I had been doing resistance training 2-3 times per week as well during this time. At this time I moved across the country from Washington state to Washington D.C. area. When I relocated, I relooked my program and made some adjustments. I met some guys who had run the Marine Corps Marathon before and they recommended a web site to me, www.HalHigdon.com. On that site there are many programs for runners of all levels. I read some good guidance from Hal and made some modifications to my program accordingly. At that time I also got introduced to CrossFit, which I incorporated into my plan as well. Here is the broad brush program I ended up with after all my minor tweaks:

* NOTE: the blank spots there in weeks 7 and 8 are because I didn't record what I actually did there not because I didn't do any training.

This program is basically Hal Higdon's Intermediate Level II workout modified. Read his site for details on how to execute the program, i.e. how fast to run long runs versus shorter runs, etc. The big changes I made are adding in CrossFit training and that I had to substitute the Army Ten-Miler for a 20-mile run, which I wasn't happy about. The cards fell that way, but I would have liked to have done one more really long run before the race.

OK, so let's fast-forward to today. The marathon is over. I ran it in 4 hours and 17 minutes (6275 out of 18270) with no problems. I could have finished faster, but I didn't want to get into any problems my first marathon, like trying too hard at the beginning then dying at the end. So I ended up with a little more energy than I needed. Minor issue. My goal time was 4 hours initially, but as the race went on I adjusted it to 4:20 and was happy with what I ran. Here are my lessons learned:

Equipment is very important. With this much running, you need quality shoes, socks, shorts, hats, etc. I will get into each below and even include some specific products and recommendations on employment:

I initially bought some shoes without doing any real analysis on them past them feeling comfortable in the store and knowing they were expensive and popular. I never really was able to tell what kind of runner I was, i.e. a pronator, supinator, neutral, flat feet, high arches, etc. I know now after some needed and determined research. The key is when you are running less than 8 miles at a time, even if you run every day, the kind of shoes you have isn't a huge deal. A quality shoe is fine for short distances. I have experienced this my entire life. Get over 12 miles and up into the 3-4 hours in a row, and you need shoes that are made to fit your feet. My biggest learning point was to go to a professional running store where they actually watch you run and analyze your feet to find the right shoe. I found I was a mild pronator and needed a mild stability shoe with a EE width. When I put the shoes on that I ran the marathon in, I knew instantly they were the right shoe. My first run in them was a 20-miler and I had no pain and no blisters. Unreal. So I can't give you any good recommendations on shoes in specific terms. I will say I am a fan of Asics and Mizuno now. I ran the 10-miler and marathon in the Mizuno Wave Inspire 3 and love them. I own a lot of Asics and have always since I was a teenager, but the Mizuno's were recommended to me at the running store I went to and I am now a fan. Most serious runners have one shoe they run in and they buy the same pair or the new version every time they get new shoes, which is in the 350-500-mile range.

A good shoe recommendation is to have at least 2 pairs to run in and rotate them and log the total mileage in each. Little bit expensive initially and somewhat detailed to log every run, but if you are running a marathon, this is just the type of thing you do. This isn't time to be cheap or lackadaisical.

Runner's World has some good shoe reviews as well such as this article http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-400--12428-1-1X2X3-3,00.html that gives some thoughts on the new shoes that were out this year.

Socks:  http://www.runningwarehouse.com/descpage-WWIT2P.html.  Get 2 sets, 4 total pairs.  Rotate for each run over 5 miles.

Shorts: http://www.runningwarehouse.com/descpageMRA-BMSRPSB.html. I’d get 2 pairs. They are unbelievably comfortable so you may order more later on.

Shirts:  http://www.runningwarehouse.com/descpageMRA-UAMHGFL.html as an example. I have 4 shirts like this, not this exact one, and they are all I will run in.  No chafing and no sweat soaked shirts like a cotton shirt will. You can get something like this at any sporting goods store in a number of different brands too.  This one is good though. This Brooks one http://www.runningwarehouse.com/descpageMRA-BMRTTB.html looks good too although I don’t own one.

Hats:  a good running hat to keep your head cool and dry is key.  Here is a good example from Under Armour: http://www.runningwarehouse.com/descpage-UAIC.html.  I have a Nike one I found in a store.  All the major brands will have them.  Adidas has a cheaper one here http://www.runningwarehouse.com/descpage-A3SC2H.html. 

For water belts, see http://www.nathansports.com/our_products/hydration_nutrition/speed_4.html.  This is the one I have. I think it’s very good. You can find these sometimes at sporting goods places. The smaller 4-bottle style is the best I found.  I’d recommend you get this one.  Comparable one I read about is the fuel 4-bottle Endurance, seen here http://www.fuelbelt.com/fuel_belts/4_bottle.html .  Anything over 8 or 10 miles and I’d definitely wear one. 

For drinks, you can get regular Gatorade mix to add to your water at ay grocery store.  For food, there a ton of kinds, but regular Power Bars are simple and easy to find. I buy mine in bulk here http://www.dpsnutrition.net/get_item_pf037.htm.  These are about a dollar each online and probably 2 each in a store.

For while you are running, gels are a great idea and highly recommended. You can find these at sporting goods stores too usually by the checkout area.  Again, I buy mine online in bulk because it’s easier and cheaper. Something you’d use every 3-4 miles during a long run.  See http://www.dpsnutrition.net/get_item_pf084.htm.

For gadgets you may want but not need, this is the best thing out there https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=349, the Garmin Forerunner 305. Bit expensive but it will tell you pace, distance, heart rate, everything and upload it all to your computer and let you analyze it.  I have had one of these for a while (I had an older model I got in 2004) and I just bought one of the new ones.  It was $200 with shipping at Walmart.com.  Once you have this, you will never go back.

You need to make a commitment to running. This type of program will interfere with your social life even if you do regular physical training. Be prepared for rest Saturday night for your Sunday run. Be prepared to not want to do anything on Sunday after you finish a 20-mile preparation run.

You should work up to and go over 20 miles at least once in your preparation. I had one 20-miler only. I read a lot of recommendations from people who said you don't need to do any training runs greater than 20 miles because it's all the same after that. I am not so sold on this fact. I don't have enough personal experience to debunk it either. In general, you don't train for an activity no matter what it is and never actually do the activity even one time your training. Getting up to 26.2 is a lot more than getting to 20. Every mile after 20 is like 3 miles. My 20-mile traing run was a joke compared with the marathon even though I was better rested and hydrated and excited for the marathon itself. I noticed a distinct difference after mile 22 in my race. The learning point here is that it is possible that training above 20 will not make much of a difference anyway at that point so you may as well stay at 20 or below. At a minimum, I think you should get up to 20 at least once though and no closer than 3 weeks from the race.

Take advice, but make logical changes based on you knowing you better than anyone. I was too apprehensive initially to change much or make large changes, but after having one race, I should have trusted myself a little more.

Do your long runs on Sunday and keep the Saturday run. If you look at the program above, it has a long run Sunday with a smaller yet long run on Saturday. This was one of the parts of the program I initially disagreed with most, but now I think this is a great technique. Most programs have a day off the day before the long run that I found and logically it didn't make sense to me to add a long run, like 7-9 miles the day before a long run of 17 or 18 miles. I did away with these runs a few times and realized how helpful there were when my 18- and 20-mile runs were so easy. It's like Karate Kid where Daniel-son doesn't understand how painting the fence or waxing the car are training him for the All Valley Karate Championships, his date with destiny against John Lawrence of the Cobra Kai. I didn't realize the benefit of these runs until I removed them. They add just a little bit more fatigue to the long run so that when they are removed, you feel unreal on the long run days. I should have maintained them throughout. I also think that the Sunday long run is the best day of the week since you can control diet and sleep on Saturday better than a weekday without work getting in the way. This is a personal preference though.

Keep records of how much you eat and drink immediately before and during long runs. I knew exactly how much water and gel I wanted to take in during the race each hour because I found out the hard way during training how much is enough and how much is too little. For me, running anything less than 13 miles required very little dietary or hydration prep, i.e. I could run 13 miles without deliberately drinking a certain amount during a run or not even drinking anything at all. At higher distances, even though I didn't feel like I needed it, I drank water every 3 miles because I knew that if i didn't, I'd pay for it at mile 15 or 17. I found this out the hard way during a 15-mile run in which I ran in the heat and barely drank anything. I had to stop every 3 minutes for the last 2 miles because I was so fatigued yet I ran 17 and 18 miles with zero problems the weeks afterwards since I maintained my hydration throughout.

Don't underestimate the effects of heat and humidity. I had been running in Washington state in the early morning in April and May (you need a light jacket and a hat even when running) when I had my next run in Ohio in June. Even worse was I ran a hilly route and didn't start until 10 AM. I thought I'd casually finish a 14-miler like I did a few weeks before in Washington. Nope. The heat and humidity were such a shock to me that I couldn't even run at all by the end and I felt like I was going to vomit the entire time. It was the worst run I have had in my life. I mistook being in great shape with being acclimatized. Very very different things. Had I ran at 5 AM, I might not have noticed much of a difference, but when I was finishing in the hottest part of the day, I could tell I had made a bad mistake.

Use your first marathon as a training tool for yourself. Don't get too worried about times for your first race. Train logically as I have laid out and get the full effect of what it's like to run in a race with 18,000 other people with hundreds of thousands cheering you on. Use it to evaluate your training program to make modifications for your next race. After you run one, you will learn more than you can from reading anything or having someone explain it to you. Then you can start setting realistic goals for yourself. Problem is, many times after finishing one, you just don't care to run another. At least you did one. That's more than most people can say, right?

If you have any questions about an upcoming marathon or race, let me know if I can help.