Training for first marathon didn't go to plan. What should I expect?

Just go by feel and see what happens.

At the end it's just a Marathon. If you finish or not will not change anything.

Takeout tin full of fettuccine alfredo in the parking lot immediately before. Worked for Michael Scott.

No idea what your times are but you should be able to finish easily off 30 mpw and regular 10 milers. The marathon is overrated. Just rest and do some 5ks.

Did it though? As I remember it he almost quit, was sitting on the grass, and only because of Pam's pep talk he got up and finished that 'Fun-run for rabies'.

OP mentioned he ran twenty miles in less than nine minutes per mile and felt good. Probably sub four hour neighborhood if you stick to your claim of running to enjoy it and not having a time goal.

First, you mentioned you had some hip pain and you immediately got an MRI. That's a bit odd, pain happens, especially at 40. So when you talk about getting through a marathon "safely" I'm not sure any of us can really understand what you mean by that word. Safe as in pain free? For someone poorly trained as you said? Probably not. Injury free from the race? Again, by your standards, probably not. Not that either of those are reasons not to do the race.

So you'll most likely be just fine after your race. But you might be limping for several days and in pretty rough shape. But I think a reasonable person would still consider that to be "safe", but I'm not sure you would based off what information we have.

Start slow, finish fast. And avoid the Achilles Heel of 1st time marathoners.

I know this poster means well, but I actually think this is bad advice. There is nothing more dangerous for new marathoners than going by "feel". You should actually do the opposite. You're gonna feel GREAT at the beginning, especially with only doing 30 miles per week, and then with a taper on top of that. But don't fall for it.

For the first half of the race, would recommend going at what will feel like snail's pace. Then settle in a bit, maybe even a bit faster, but probably not a good idea. Make it to mile 20 or 21 and then do a gut check. Your goal should be then be to finish feeling good. That might mean holding pace or even pressing a bit. If by some miracle you've got energy then start to race! But at only 30 miles per week you're just not going to be able to go much faster than your training paces you're already doing for your long runs. That little volume just doesn't support negative splitting a marathon, or even running it at a pace that's anything significantly faster than your current long run paces. If you've been doing your long runs at 9:00 pace but start your race at 7:55 pace, by mile 20 will be a bloodbath, if you even make it that far. Higher volume will support being able to hold faster paces for the entirety of the race, both from an aerobic standpoint and also from a musculoskeletal standpoint. Good luck!

I doubt high mileage is your issue, but rather doing a 20 mile long run off only 30 mpw.

The old rule of 'your long run shouldn't be more than a third of your weekly total' is pretty solid.

Doing more mileage builds the necessary strength and resilience to handle big one-off runs. The way you're training isn't sustainable.

Run more, but do it in smaller chunks. Maybe you won't get the confidence that a long run gives you for the marathon, but you'll certainly get more physical benefits and you'll be far more likely to make the start line.

Thanks for the reply! I went to the Doctor about the hip thing for 2 reasons. First, I had a stress fracture in my left leg from high mileage waaaaay back in high school that began as hip pain. Secondly, with under a week until race day I wanted to get an expert opinion if possible as I wasn’t confident I’d have time to “feel it out” and especially wanted to make sure I wasn’t grinding away at a stress/bone injury that could really set me back.

What you’ve said squares up with my long run experiences. Assuming I can make it 26.2 I expect to be fatigued, limping and have some muscle issues to work through. By “safely” I guess I just mean that I’ll be able to recover with a few weeks of rest and not be sidelined indefinitely. I know there are no guarantees and everything’s a calculated risk. I’m choosing to run a marathon for the experience and I’m looking forward to it. And again, I admit I’m a bit paranoid from having been an overtrained teen by bad coaches who didn’t understand recovery. As an adult with the pressure off I really try to listen to my body. Anyway, I appreciate the advice and actually found it encouraging that it’s totally normal to feel beaten up for a while.

Thanks Man Moth. That’s one of the things I’ve kind of learned as I’ve gone through this process. Including my swimming I get significantly more quality cardio than 30 mpw provides but I do understand that the pool is no substitute for conditioning my body to pounding the pavement for hours at a time. Could just be luck but I’ve actually handled the long runs a little better than I thought I might (which is why I’ve made it this far) and didn’t encounter that hip pain scare until a couple weeks after my final 20 mile long run. I’m planning to give it my best shot to hobby jog 26.2 like thousands of other people for the experience. Assuming I survive and recover I would in fact like to return to a more balanced and more frequent running schedule. I appreciate your input!

OP, your mileage is on the very low end for the marathon distance. If you get a lot of cross training and walking in during your everyday life it may not be a big deal, but if you're otherwise generally sedentary, the lower mileage can leave you with very little room for error at the marathon distance. Pace accordingly.

Hopefully you've experimented with nutrition (gels/drink/chews) during some of your long runs and have a general idea of what your stomach can handle.

Most hit the wall between 18-22 miles during the marathon. Be conservative and get enough nutrition. Also be prepared for the suck around 18-22 miles.

Thanks coffee cup! You lay it out very plainly— I’ll be trying to use 9:00/mi. as a guide to keep it slow enough from the start and if for some reason that starts to feel challenging too early I’ll try and ease up even more. I’m expecting misery by mile 20 regardless but what you’ve said really clears up some of my experiences on various long runs at different paces and how I can give myself the best shot to feel as good as possible later on.

Thanks for the reply! I found this a bit encouraging as I do cross train a lot in the pool, tend to hit whatever “steps” goal my Garmin thinks I have even on non-running days and have been taking GU Gels every 4 miles in my long runs without any issues. I’m expecting to approach the wall in blissful ignorance no matter how much I try to prepare so I’m just going to try to slow down, take in the experience and hope I can cover the distance.