Training for a marathon. I am a fitness instructor but don't know anything about training for a marathon.?

How far should I be running and how many times a week?
Any advice, tips etc etc would be appreciated.

Try runnersworld.co.uk it's full of training plans and useful info. See you at London next year!

First of all watch NOVA's special on Marathon training taking couch potatoes or people that were sedentary and having them run the Boston marathon. It shows anyone can run a marathon with proper training. Look at the 10 tips for running a marathon. You can even see their training calender so you can set up your weekly miles and goals. Keeping track of your plan is important - so #1 get a log or track your miles in your calendar. Set small goals for instance running 3 miles a day with your ultimate long term goal running the marathon.

You want to run probably at least 4-6 times a week increasing your miles by 10% per week. You should be comfortable so you can run 9 miles every day when your at your peak or before the marathon or at least comfortable enough to run 16 miles for a long run. Good luck!

There is two schools of thought for training for a marathon. I'll outline them both and let you decide.

Things you should know before you start though: You're running a marathon, that's 26.2 miles. Bodies don't like that so no matter what route you take you'll need to run a minimum of 5 times a week. 6 and 7 day weeks will not be uncommon if you're serious about running it. Shoes and diet are factors in running that become even more magnified in marathons, so make sure you both good shoes and eat lots of carbohydrates.

Now on to the training plans.

School of thought A people believe that at a certain point running farther (or further, I forget which) just won't have any added effect. With that in mind, these people never run farther than 13-16 miles during their training sessions, and standard runs are usually 8 or 9 miles. They believe this will maximize the bodies fitness level, and that on the day of the race it will just be a case of mental will power to finish. They put in the work before the race in the form of stretching and flexibility and weight/strength training and trust their bodies to hold up. Mileage in a week is around 50-75. If you're too busy to schedule in long long runs then this is probably the way for you.

School of thought B (and the one I subscribe to <although I'm yet to run a marathon, it's bad on the growth plates to run one before you're 21 (which I'll be in about a week)>) is to train through the distance you're running. Thus a 5k runner won't run less than 4 miles on a distance training run. People prefer this training method because you'll have actually run a marathon distance previous to running in the marathon race, and can thus know what to expect both from your mind and body. It takes about 8 to 12 to 16 weeks to train using this method properly. Daily runs of 5-8 for the first month, with Saturdays off and a long run on Sundays (starting at 13 usually and building up to 30 over the course of the training) This method is also nice because it usually prevents you from peaking too soon. Taper the long runs down to 13 and add another rest day during the last week or two and you should come into the marathon with the knowledge and confidence that you gave yourself a proper cardio base, the experience of having run the distance before, and yet still be feeling fresh from the added rest and scaled back LRs.

Best of luck, and if you would like me to draw you up a training schedule shoot me an email with the date of your upcoming marathon. fsu_boy_27@yahoo.com

a marathon is 40k and nothing you just do after 3 months of running. very basic jogging: find a nice area and run for 10 minutes, then walk for 5 minutes, then run for another 10, walk for another 5, run another 10. 3 times a week. after 2-3 weeks, increase to 15 mins of running, and later do 20 minutes of running, 5 minute walk, 20 minutes of running. keep increasing the running times, but for at least the first month, take those 5 minute breaks.

if you just start running, you will find yourself out of breath after 15 minutes and youll be frustrated. its all about discipline. do a 10k in 3-6 months and see how fit you are.

Look on the maration website for expert info and when you apply (early!) they will give you lots of specific into too.

then why did they choose you as FITNESS INSTRUCTOR???????
anyway good luck!!!!!!!
do your best!!!!!!!!!!!!