The easiest or hardest 42.2km of all your life - preparing for the Auckland Marathon

So, you’ve done it. You’ve signed yourself up for the Auckland Marathon, or maybe the half. You had the best intentions when October seemed awhile away. Now, we’re well within the time frame required for the typical marathon training plan of 12-20 weeks. It is 42.2km after all, so now it’s time to start preparing.

Getting started

Getting started is always the hardest, that and finding the time to fit in three to five runs a week. Each run should increase in length, with a least one ‘longer’ run each week. It’s a good idea to carve some time out of your weekend to do this.

If this is your first marathon, your focus should be on getting around the course and becoming experienced with running to a pace, with less of a focus on your time. Sites like runnersworld.com might be helpful to check out, as they have pace calculators for setting yourself targets. It’s also ideal to look out for shorter races in the months leading up to the main event, even 5km or 10km races are perfect for getting in practise and understanding how a race day works.