Choosing Your First Marathon

Recently, I received a question from a local runner who has hopes of one day running a marathon.  I thought I’d take this opportunity to answer it here on the website in hopes that the answer might help some others in the area who have similar questions.

I would like to run a marathon some day and I was wondering what it takes and what are some good ones for first timers. I had a few in mind like Pocono, Philadelphia and Steamtown. Also I’m confused with all the training plans. I was looking at Galloway but I don’t know much about it. Any help is appreciated.

First of all, choosing a marathon is no easy business. One question you should ask yourself is what are your favorite kinds of races? Do you like big races with a large field size, or smaller races with fewer runners? The reason I ask you this is because 26.2 miles is a long distance to run. If you enter a race with fewer entrants, chances are you will find yourself running alone or with the same handful of runners for much of the race. The bigger the marathon, the more likely you are to have more runners surrounding you throughout the race. There is a big difference between the Philadelphia Marathon and the Pocono or Steamtown Marathons, and I’m not just talking about elevation.

If you run the Philadelphia Marathon, you will be cheered on by fans lining the streets for most of the race. There are three sections which stand out in my mind where there are very few fans cheering you on: the waterfront section early on in the race (miles 2-3.5), Kelly Drive around miles 10 through 12, and the section before you get to Manayunk which you will run through twice since the route to Manayunk is an out-and-back. The rest of the time you will hear a lot of screaming and cowbells, and you will see tons of great race signs with some  words of encouragement. Those race signs can be a great distraction during those long miles. You will also hear a lot of people shouting out your name if you have it written on your shirt or race bib. Last year there were nearly 9,000 marathoners and 8,300 half marathoners. The first half of the race can be very crowded.

On the other hand, the Pocono Marathon is a much smaller race with only 726 finishers in 2011. That is a big difference. If you like running your long training runs alone then this race may be perfect for you. You won’t find tons of race fans lining the streets to cheer you on. There will only be a couple of times when you encounter race fans, and while it will certainly bring a smile to your face when you do see them, most of this race can be pretty lonely. Once you get to Stroudsburg and near the finish line you will see more people offering you words of encouragement, and you get to finish the race in a stadium which is a nice bonus.

The Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, PA had 1955 finishers in 2010, so you can classify this race in the small field size category. While I have not run this marathon and cannot speak from personal experience, a good friend who has run it told me that it is very similar to the Pocono Marathon. If anyone has run Steamtown I welcome your comments about it below.

Aside from the crowds, another thing to consider is elevation and the actual race course. Philadelphia offers a mostly flat race with only a couple of very short hills. As a runner residing in the Lehigh Valley, it’s hard to get away from running hills unless you run every single run on the Lehigh Canal Towpath. The elevation changes you will experience in both the Pocono Marathon and the Steamtown Marathon are not uncommon to much of the terrain you will encounter throughout the Lehigh Valley. If you really want to practice hills, head out to the Trexler Nature Preserve a couple of times to strengthen your legs. Both Steamtown and Pocono are point-to-point courses, and Philly is a big loop with an out-and-back thrown in at the end. Another thing to consider is the time of year the marathon takes place and the season you’ll be training in.

It’s hard for me to say which one is better for a first-timer and which one isn’t as good. Two marathons which you didn’t mention are the LVHN Marathon for Via and the new D&L Marathon, two great hometown races for all of us living in the Lehigh Valley region. Probably the biggest reason why these two races shouldn’t be overlooked is because of the family and friends who will come out to cheer you on. I cannot tell you how much that will mean to you on race day. If you can get your family and friends to travel with you to a race, that is great, but you will probably be able to coax more friends into cheering for you on race morning if they only have to drive 20 minutes versus 1-2 hours.

My best piece of advise is to ask those who have run these races in the past what they liked and didn’t like about the races and then figure out which one would be best for you.

Start of Pocono Marathon – Photo: Michael Drabenstott

WHAT DOES IT TAKE?
That is a pretty loaded question and I’m not sure how to answer it. Ultimately, it is going to take a commitment from you and your family. I include your family because you will need between 8-10 hours a week to train and you’ll need to pull that from somewhere, most likely your family time. It also takes willpower. Without that, it’s going to be really hard getting past the infamous “wall” which typically happens anywhere between miles 18-20. You also need to be dedicated to the training. That means not only the runs, but the recovery and nutrition plan as well. It is a constant and consistent five month endeavor from beginning until well past the end. You can’t take short cuts, you can’t half-ass the training and expect a decent outcome. If you don’t give it your all, you will suffer. Giving it “your all” doesn’t mean training at 100% all of the time. What I mean by that is you have to be fully committed to your training. You have to run each of your runs the right way (easy=easy, recovery=recovery, and speed=speed), and you have to respect those rest days. Only you will know if you can do it. You have to believe it, from deep down in your soul, that you will finish all of those miles, and you will.

TRAINING PLANS?
I remember how hard it was trying to figure out which training plan was best for me when I finally decided to run my first marathon. It was practically intimidating. With so many plans out there on the internet, how do you choose? I’d start off asking you to take a good, hard look at how you train right now. Then I would ask how that’s working for you. How long have you been running? How many races have you trained for and run? Are you a mid-packer, back of the pack runner or front of the pack runner? Do you continually run PRs or are you still trying to chase one down? The answers to these questions will help you figure out if you are training hard enough or too hard. Next, have you run a half marathon yet? How did you train for that?

With a few marathons notched on my belt, I can tell you that I have learned that for me, training for a marathon is a lot like training for a half marathon, except my long runs are generally longer and I run at least one mid-week long run which is longer than my half marathon mid-week long run. My speedwork also looks different; marathon speedwork is longer and slower than half marathon speedwork. If you’ve never done speedwork before then I would advise against starting it now as you embark on your first marathon training cycle. Focus, instead, on endurance and finishing your first marathon.

The Galloway Method is a great approach for the first-time marathoner. This method incorporates running and walking to ensure you get from the starting line to the finish line. There have been many successful marathoners who have used this method and if this is a training method you use now, I would encourage you to continue using it.

I hesitate to tell you that one plan is better or worse than any other. As I noted a couple of paragraphs ago, you have to consider the kind of runner you are currently and find a plan which best suits you, personally. Don’t choose a plan simply because it is the most popular and everyone else is using it. I have seen plenty of runners choose a canned plan on these premises and end up with injuries which prevented them from ever making it to the starting line. Or worse yet, they start the marathon and had no business doing so, only to end up with a DNF.

Again, ask around. Find out why someone chose they plan they chose and what they liked and disliked about the plan. It’s okay to start with a plan and make changes to it. One of the biggest traits you will need to learn is flexibility. You have to be able to roll with the punches that life throws at you. If you can’t run one day, don’t beat yourself up over it, and don’t try to make up for it later. Just chalk it up to an extra day of rest and move on. It is far better to go into the marathon slightly undertrained than severely overtrained. One or two (even three, four or five) missed days of training isn’t going to amount to a hill of beans when you toe the line on race day. I promise, you won’t be standing there on race morning cursing yourself for that missed day of speedwork two months earlier. You may, however, be wishing you had taken it easier on yourself during the taper than you actually did.

As you can see, it’s all one big question mark followed by a bunch of smaller question marks. There is no easy answer so I apologize if I didn’t answer you the way you wanted or tell you what you thought you wanted to hear. I will tell you this: millions of people run a marathon every year. Some of them are beginners running their very first marathons. Others have run twenty or more marathons. There are a variety of skill levels, abilities, and intelligence. Some of them never had any business being out there in the first place. Others have some very compelling reasons for being out there. I honestly believe that everyone has the ability to do anything they set their minds to, including running a marathon. Lucky for you, there are a lot of runners here in the Lehigh Valley who have run marathons or plan to run one some day. You can tap into this community here and ask your questions, seek advice, or find some other people to train with. I can’t necessarily speak with any authority other than the fact that I have run a few marathons and I have learned something new each and every time I’ve run one. Most of those lessons are personal and speak to my training and how to do it, or not do it. But there are some bigger lessons that I’ve learned which can be adapted to anyone.

1. Run one big marathon at least once. Even if you don’t like the crowds or all that cheering, there is something to be said about all of that energy flowing about on race day.

2. Run one small marathon, and if not, do at least one of your 20 mile training runs alone. The alone time is so worth it.

3. Nothing can prepare you for how you will react when you cross that finish line after your first marathon. I have seen people jumping around and screaming that they did it. I have also seen people break down and cry. Emotions run the gammet.

4. Be prepared. Have a race day execution plan and stick to it. Don’t speed up because everyone around you is running faster. Don’t decide at the last minute to run a different brand of running shoe or wear a brand new shirt. Don’t try energy gels if you’ve never used them in training.

5. Be strong of will. Believe with your heart that you will finish, and you will. Don’t let anything get in your way of that goal. Even if you have to walk the last five miles, you can do it. And you will.

If you have any advice for this wannabe marathoner, please leave a comment below.