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It’s my first marathon but have done plenty of half marathons on roads and fells.
I’m a bit behind now but will be doing a 20 miler this weekend and mid March. My gut instinct tells me I have left it too late. Had some knee niggles in early January which held me back. We will see!
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Good luck! Another reason for having a conservative target is that after the euphoria of finishing you're bound to want to have another crack at it, so you've got a marker to beat.
@RoddersJ - Totally agree with the easy miles/higher volume. If plodding gets a little boring, throw in the odd parkun to test your fitness. Knocking chunks off a time-trial/race time is great for motivation. And definitely don't underestimate the importance of bowel movements. I've learnt through trial-and-error that porridge agrees with me way more than more fibrous cereals, and that I can comfortably do a pre-brekky long run as long as I give myself a coffee and an hour from waking before I head out the door.
Just managed 7 miles feeling very comfortable and absolutely no gyp from the foot. That's after 10 & 5 at the weekend, and jog to gym and back yesterday, so recovery is looking good.
PhilPub
Not enough info. How much marathon training have you done? How many long runs (18/20+) will you have done and what's your longest so far? What's your conversion like over shorter distances? I assume this is your first marathon. You might well improve fitness over the next few weeks but without more info, my conservative feeling is that setting off at 4 hr pace could result in some pain later on.