When do you know it's time to run a full marathon?

Posted on the Running Room forum is the question of when do you know it's time to run a full marathon? Here's my response...(wish I didn't give a marathon answer).

My first race ever was by accident. I was at the Toronto Buskerfest in 2006 and there was a booth that if you walk or run with Epilepsy, the organization will pay for the 5 K registration. I was very uncomfortable and had to "fight" with myself on making it to the race and then had to "fight" with myself to actually walk the race. At the finish line, I saw the shiny silver medals and asked how to get one -- you have to run either a half or full marathon I was told. Then I signed up to walk the Toronto Marathon which occurred 3 weeks later. I wore my winter coat and cotton sweat shirt -- just a week earlier, I walked from Mel Lastman Square to downtown to get a feel for the 1/2 marathon distance and to convince myself I could do it. And I did! I became hooked [I must admit I ran a few kilometres of that race -- and I entered as a walker] and walked the 1/2 marathon at Angus Glen a couple of weeks later. I then signed up for an on-line RR full marathon walking clinic (due to time commitment and my own lack of self-concept to walk with others). I did the 1/2 Chilly and the 30 K ATB as a walker and that set the stage for the Mississuaga Full marathon. I actually walked 3 full marathons in 2007 -- in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, but ran the final 2 K as I could walk no more. Sometimes totally flat courses aren't that great. Love the downhill.

After I finished walking my first marathon, I wanted another challenge. I wanted to run! I started with the Toronto Challenge 5 K in June 2007 (a few weeks after walking the Mississauga Marathon). My addiction to road racing was evident as I also ran the 5 miler Night Crawler, 10 K HBC race. Being the addicted runner I was, I experienced Runner's Knee :evil: a week before the Nissan 10 Miler in July -- I couldn't "shake" it off and couldn't even walk for 30 minutes. On race morning, I still wanted to walk the race but knew I couldn't -- so I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep (wanting to cry). It was that experience that taught me not to overtrain and to listen to one's body -- there will be other races. After getting orthodics customized, I countinued to walk half and full marathons for the rest of 2007. My confidence as a runner was shattered since I was concerned of further injuries.

In 2008, I trained to run my first half marathon. The sports medicine doctor gave me the green light and said the orthodics will help fix the way my legs land on the ground. I read on this board that one should not run a full marathon without having run for at least a year. There are sooooo many thoughtful runners on this forum and I've learned so much from them. Last year was the year of running the half marathon for me -- as I did 4 of them. Looking at my blog, I am shocked that I ran the half marathons in Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront, Toronto Marathon, and the inaugral Ajax -- 3 half marathons in 1 month :evil: Addiction got the better of me. I guess this also taught me that I had conquered the half marathon distance and it was time for the next challenge...

The year 2009 was devoted to training for 2 full marathons -- Mississauga and Scotiabank. As I said above, listen to your body. As you will see on my blog, I didn't rack up the mileage that training programmes recommended and I did the minimal of 3 runs a week. I resonated most with Jeff Galloway. He suggests doing an LSD the distance of the race -- I didn't do that on either occasion as I ran out of time in the training. I got up to 35 K. The crowds and thinking positively will get you to the finish line. You train your body to withstand the distance. I looked at my times at the 10 K, 21.1 K, 30 K, 35 K, and finish and they weren't all that far apart. Joan Benoit (1984 olympic gold woman's marathon) told us at the expo to run YOUR race.

In such a long-winded response, the Coles notes version would be to SLOWLY build up your training to the full marathon -- others on this board in the past have said make it a 2 year plan. There is no rush as you have a life-time of running. Just don't get injured! Been there - done that. Also, when training for the full marathon, sign up to run a 1/2 marathon followed by a 30 K. For the spring, there is the Chilly half marathon and 30 K ATB. For the fall, there is the 10 miler Acura in July and 30 K Midsummer's Night Run in August.

My goal next year is to train for 2 full marathons and incorporate speed in my training. I did that the past few weeks and it helped improve my time yesterday. I don't follow exactly a training programme :oops: but do what I think is right for my body. Should I be sharing this out loud?? :shock: And I got my sports medicine doctor and physiotherapist's numbers just in case...