Hey all
Since the last time i was on here my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer and then he had bone cancer and it was like hell he was in so much pain and eventually didn`t eat and got worse and worse at some point he looked as if he didn`t even know who we were.
And he passed over Feb 8th last month.
And i want to help spread the word of bone cancer and give some money to cancer charitys and make my dad proud of me at the same time.
So i want to take up jogging (again), and was hoping someone could tell me how much training you need to get fit for the abingdon marathon or a 26.2 miles marathon, in months and/or in general.
I weigh 13st with shoes on am fairly fit as i go mountain biking,but ain`t jogged in ages.And i want to do this right and not land up with a serious injury.

Thank you all who can help me.

CarlC

P.S to who ever has suffered or knows anybody that has suffered with any form of cancer, my heart goes out to ya.

Hi Carl

I have no advice whatsoever about training or marathons having only just started myself, but I wanted to say that I'm sorry for the loss of your Dad. I'm sure he would be extremely proud of you and your efforts.

Good luck with your training.

Jude

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Hi Carl, so sorry to hear your story ,however it 's fantastic that you have decided to take a positive approach to the future it'll not only help you but will help other close relatives who may not be dealing with the loss to feed off your positivity

So to the other question It really depends on whether or not you want to target a finishing time or not ,and depending on how far off this marathon is .to how realistic a target you can set yourself.

The most important aspect and this can't be stressed enough is to pace your training , ie not too much too soon.Whilst at seventeen years of age you'd make it round for your own self esteem i'm sure you'd like to get round in the best itime and condition possible!

There are numerous marathon programmes to follow such as beginner to marathon in x many weeks, runners world website has them for instance but if you type marathon training programmes into your search engine you'll find loads.

build up your distances gradually, eat a healthy diet, set youself a realistic target time,and above all remember why your doing this that will keep your motivaion up,and enjoy the experience .

Good luck with your training and the race keep us posted of how it's all going we love reading peoples experiences and your story will encourage other runners as well

take it easy

Cheriton

Carl... I'm really sorry to read about your Dad, it's hard to lose a parent at any time but at 17 it must have been especially tough for you.

I can completely understand your reasons for wanting to take up running, and also to raise money and awareness through racing, but why the marathon?

Training for a marathon isn't just about training your body... there's so much more to it than that and you only begin to learn about the other stuff through build up races.

I have many years of marathon running experience behind me, having run almost 30 marathons plus ultra distance races, so I just want to give you the benefit of that experience.

If I was you I would put 'The Marathon' on a long term goal and then take one step at a time. I would look for a half marathon for say around September this year, and then look into a training plan to build up to that. There are some great half marathons around that time... I can point you towards some if you want, just send me a message via this site.

Within the training for the half you could put in some 10k races to sharpen your speed and get a feeling of race conditions and the preparation that suits you.

I really would urge you to think strongly about this, the marathon is a fantastic achievement but it requires respect or it can bite back quite severely.

You have age and time on your side, don't rush into it... build up to it over time and the experience will be all the better for it. You will only ever have one first marathon, so make it count.

Good luck and feel free to ask advice

I agree withTrinity Carl,i didn't communicatye it very well in my last post build up gradually!

Hey all
Thanks for the post(of support).I`ve thought about what you`ve all said and was thinking about the last time i ran and was thinking that i must of went rworng by jjogging to far at once, i felt sick when i got home.
So now i`m just gonna take it nice and easy,and hey trinity what about those half marathons can ya send me some please.

Cheers

CarlC

P.S i won`t be jogging till after next wednesday (my 18th birthday) just to let ya`ll now.

Thanks again.

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lol, you'd better make that friday then eh? Hope you have an awesome 18th, and make sure you keep us updated with your progress... We'll be sure to give you more info, advice and opinions than you can shake a birthday card at!

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Will do

My Son was 18 yesterday... hey that makes me old enough to... erm, now I'm depressed



Better get off to work... sigh

Hi Carl

I am saddened to hear your news, you sound like you are coping with great dignity and it takes a strong person to take a positive from something like this.

Best of luck with your training and like the others have said keep us posted on your progress you are an inspiration.

Happy 18th and make sure you party like crazy

TT

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Sorry about your Dad Carl hugs

Charity is a great way of raising awareness and money.

I would definately recommend what Trinity said, Half a Marathon is a mile stone in itself... then least you know how you feel after a half etc... then you can then focus from there to go full hog and do a marathon.

I am running a half in October for Charity for Leukaemia.

I normally raise monies for Race for Life and last year i raised over £400 for just a 5k race.

So i am hoping to raise a bit more for the run to the beat half marathon in October.

So maybe you can raise monies for a half too first ?

I have only been running 7 months and worked my way up to a few halfs so i know how challenging they are, one day i hope to do a full but i know i am not ready this year.

Good luck and keep us all posted.

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