just curious… how many of you do a marathon in training for an Ironman? I’ve seen plans that suggest doing the marathon and plans that advise not to do any running over 3 hours.
anyone do marathons before an IM?
Ive done marathons to see if could run 26.2 before I did an Ironman, but not in the same season. I did do one before I did two 1/2’s and I think it helped my running overall, but the recovery time was too long and I was plagued with running related injuries Throughout the season. I wont do one unless it is 6 months before, it takes me a while to recover and I lose about 3 to 4 weeks of training time. I do try to do a couple 1/2 marathons during the season, only a week of recovery needed for me.
i’m training now to do a winter marathon in preparation for IM this summer. but prior to this i’ve never done a run longer than 18mi to get ready for an IM. i wouldn’t recommend running longer than 18-20 or 3 hr within a few months of the IM race. also, there’s nothing wrong with a few walk breaks during the long run.