Sometimes when we mention to people that we run marathons we get either of two responses.

The first is ”I could never run that far” and the second is “I would like to do that one day”

Let me start with one of those self deprecating statements. There’s nothing special about me. I enjoy a beer and red wine, I breed budgies, I went to work for forty years and am now preparing for retirement. As I said, nothing special. I also have a running habit. I’ve run forty marathons. To some people that’s amazing, to many people it’s so what?

If I asked you to move yourself without mechanical aid from the top of Mount Dandenong to Station pier in Port Melbourne, at the end of that you would have completed a marathon. Yep, 42km and overall downhill. Now for many people that is not a realistic goal but for a surprisingly high number it is achievable. The first consideration that many people don’t talk about is how long should it take ? For me, less than four hours. For a really good marathoner less than three hours. For a world class marathoner closer to two hours. For someone who has never run or even walked the distance it could be anything. Walking pace is about 12 minutes/km so 42 kms would be 42 x 12 = 504 minutes or about 8 1/2 hours without breaks. Be realistic, there is only one Kipchoge for a reason. I am not him. I can live with that. You should too.

For many, the first obstacle is the expectation. ”I wouldn’t want to be the slowest” or ”what if I can’t finish” What if you can? What if you can’t? In the words of Yoda ”if no mistake you have made, losing you are. ”

So what does it take to run 42 km ? I’d suggest before even starting to think about a marathon, start putting aside 30 minutes a day for three days a week and walk or walk/jog to start to build the habit. It can be done at any time of the day but a regular time makes it easier. It’s amazing how people will work around your habit if they know it’s important to you.

Find a friend, join a group. They are out there. Find your nearest Parkrun. You will soon see that runners come in all shapes, sizes and speeds. Discipline is much easier in company. You wouldn’t let your mates down when you know they’ll be waiting for you, now would you.

Time. The first consideration of a marathon program is time. I have run an average of 55 km / week for the last 6 years. Even at what is a fairly brisk overall training pace of 5 min / km that’s 275 minutes a week or 4 1/2 hours of running time every week. That doesn’t count getting changed, getting to and from or getting cleaned up afterwards. It isn’t necessary to jump immediately into these sorts of figures but be aware that there is a significant investment.

We break up our week these days into track work Tuesday, Longish run Wednesday, recovery run Thursday and then competition or long run Saturday and recovery on Sunday. David tends to seven days a week but I find I get too tired so five days suits me better. I am also findinng breaking up my Wednesday into two runs is beneficial.