42km Marathon Training Plan for 1st Timer - YK Loke

Thanks YK for sharing with us your Training Plan for a 42km full marathon event.
Congratulation on completing your 1st full marathon run in the Sundown event with very good timing of 4:50 hours.
Glad to hear that "running" has help you stop smoking.
w.rgds,
HC Gan
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From : YK Loke
Date : Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 11:02 PM

Hi ,

I actually picked up running in only Aug last year, doing distances like 3 to 6km per run about 3 times a week. Was still a smoker back then, smoking about 15 sticks a day. Only managed to kick this bad habit on the 1st day of CNY this year.

Then I signed up for the Sundown marathon in late Jan this year, so I've actually about 4 months to train for it.

My main focus was on building up endurance and stamina as I felt that my foundation is not sufficient, and importantly to stay injury free at the same time. I did not intend to do any speed, tempo or interval type of training as my target was just on completing my 1st marathon comfortably, hoping to do it under 6hrs.

I increased my mileage progressively to about 8 to 15km per run 3 to 4 times weekly. On either Sat or Sun, this is where I will do my LSD (long slow distance) run, doing distance of 20 to 25km. Keep these runs at very easy chit-chat pace at about 7mins/km, no need to rush thru them. This is teach the body to adapt to long run and to burn fuel more efficiently. Try to keep your heart rate under 150 bpm, the lower the better maintaining the easy pace.

Remember to follow the 10% rule, i.e. don't be too impatient to up your mileage too much and too soon, otherwise you will risk getting injured. Keep the weekly increase to within 10 to 15%. I did have a slight ankle injury which kept me off my training schedule for a good 2-3 weeks.

So my mileage was building up to about 50 to 60km weekly. Try to do a couple of LSD runs that is slightly above 30km 3 to 4 weeks before actual race. It's not necessary to run beyond 35km during training. Remember not to run a marathon before a marathon.

Last 2 to 3 weeks before the marathon, you should go into taper mode, i.e. decrease your mileage.

The above was more or less my training plan. There's actually a lot of online resources and books that you can find on training for a marathon.

Now back to my actual Sundown run. This is quite a tough marathon as many people told me. 1st, this is a night marathon and secondly, the route is not flat (compared to stanchart), there's actually a number of overhead bridges that we need to conquer during the 2nd half of the race ! Very interesting terrain, some parts are quite mentally challenging.

My hydration plan was very simple actually. I brought 4 energy gels with me. Took my 1st one 15mins before start. 2nd one at about 12km, another 1 at around 25km and the last one at 35km. As for water/isotonic drinks, I tried to drink them at every alternate station. As I have a fuel belt with me, I can actually drink from my own bottles so that I do not have to stop at every one. Also ate a banana at the one and only aid station that gave them out at about the 25km mark..

I did not suffer from any cramps throughout my whole run. Try to keep a consistent pace if u can, and don't start out too fast. I did however slow down quite a bit during my last 10km as fatigue set in, needed to take a toilet break and a couple of walk breaks when I got to the water stations.

I hope u will find the above useful in your preparation. I learnt quite a fair bit from this whole marathon training and experience, and there's still a lot to learn !

Have fun training, but do remember to listen to your body ! Feel free to ask me if you have further questions.

All the best for your 1st marathon !

Rgds
YK