UKC

Dear All,
I have booked myself onto a trail half marathon in North Devon at the end of June, though had run my first trail half marathon three weeks ago, managing sub 2hrs fairly easily. Currently I tend to run 3 times a week, getting 25/30 miles a week, due to work/family arrangements I would find difficult to run more, maybe 35 miles; would this mileage be enough to consider changing my half for a full marathon (aiming for more than just to finish the race)
Thanks in advance
Sebastian

In reply to Removed Usersebastian74:
I did a sub-3 road marathon on about 40mpw, and looking at the training I did, there were at least 5 junk miles a week in there. Trimming things to the bare minimum, I managed the Edale Skyline on about 25mpw. Life would have been a lot more comfortable in the 2nd half with more time to train though.

In reply to Removed Usersebastian74: What is the route? There is very little of Devon that isn't hilly so you may find it is a tough race.

In reply to BigBrother: thanks for your replies
yes, it will be hilly with about 3200ft of elevation, start/finish in woolacombe, it is north devon marathon; at the moment my training involve about 2500ft of hill reps a week though
thanks in advance
seb

In reply to Removed Usersebastian74:

What kind of terrain are your training miles run on? 30 miles a week on hilly trails is quite a bit and will put you in a better place than the equivalent on the road.

FWIW, my first full trail marathon was Greensand, which was about 1000m of elevation so a similar profile to what you're talking.

http://www.trionium.com/greensand/

I managed it in under 4 hours without an epic amount of training. Looking back on Strava though at my heart rate analysis it was ugly, but I remember enjoying it (it was a beautiful day).

The great thing about trails marathons, is obviously you lose a lot of time going up hill but if you really fly downhill it can help mitigate the problem.

Anyway, so if you can't run more distance (and you will need a long run every couple of weeks, and that can easily be half your weekly mileage in one run) then concentrate on quality. Get out on the trails as much as you can, practice hills and descending.

Good luck

In reply to Removed Usersebastian74: You will have to increase your mileage at some point to accommodate a 20miler. 2 or 3 will mean the difference between finishing comfortably and being able to walk the next week and finishing in a lot of pain.

Stepping up to the marathon distance is a big step. I think you'll find that if you're having to walk sections of it you will be lucky to get a sub 6hr and doing very well to get sub 5hr with those sorts of climbs.

A marathon on 3 runs a week is perfectly acceptable as long as you have a set purpose for each run. Eg 1 long run, 1 fairly long (10mile?) tempo run and alternate weeks intervals, hill sprints, 5k fast run etc.