Have madly entered my Snowdonia marathon as my first marathon attempt in October. Has anyone else done this and could you give me any tips for training? Completed a half marathon last month so have already built up my weekly long run to 13 miles. I'm not looking to break any records just want to keep running on the day and do enough to enjoy the day with minimal pain! Fairly hilly where I live my usual 10 mile route has a hill profile of 16 and Snowdonia is 24 (so 2/3 the hilliness). Will my usual routes be ok or do I need do more specific training. Any tips appreciated!

Thanks for the tips Mark, advice appreciated. I'd pulled off a marathon schedule off the internet that has one long run, one tempo session and one interval session per week, then I was going to fill in with some recovery runs inbetween. I might replace the interval session with the hill session instead as I don't want too many hard sessions in one week and I'm not really looking for speed I'll be happy to just get round! Luckily I have a good hill (short but steep) about half  a mile from where I live so can use this. The schedule builds up to two 20 mile runs so I'll change this and aim for the 23 miles suggested, mentally I think I''ll feel happier near race day if I've nearly done the full distance.

I'll see how I get on, I know I've set myself a big challenge but I love North Wales and Snowdon so even if I have to walk some hills I'll enjoy the scenery and take in the atmosphere of the event. I don't really like the crowds of a city  marathon and bizarrely I prefer hilly routes, I get a bit bored with flat routes.

Looking forward to it!

Hi Andy, comforting to know I'm not the only mad person taking this on :-). I've mapped out the route and profile on this website and that first 3 mile hill looks a killer, middle bit to 13 miles looks better and then 2nd half up and down! Trying to find somewhere near me with such a 1-3 mile long hill! I'm currently trying out chi running techniques which seem to be helping - I've realised i'm not using gravity to help me effectively and the "lean" technique has really helped me move down hills much quicker (prreviously I'd put on brakes going down hill by leaning back).

Looking to do a weekly targeted weights session for legs and core too plus I have my daily yoga routine which has kept me injury free for the past 12 years.

Good luck with your training!

Have got a polar heart rate monitor which is useful when it's working, would love a garmin but finances won't allow at the moment.

On the Chi running techniques the book I have splits downhill running into either "runnable downhills" or "non runnable downhills" (very steep ones). Only just started trying this out so haven't perfected the technique but basically lean forward (from the ankles not the hips) and let the hips rotate slightly from side to side with legs moving back with hips (not quite got this yet!). For steeper hills body vertical and try to have the weight on the heels coming down to absorb the impact on the quads. Uphill lean technique  again and shortent the stride but high leg turnover rate (Danny Dreyer taalks a lot about the legs trurning over like whells under the body and relax everything, shoulders, legs anklesetx)

Won't go into too much details but book is quite cheap on amazon I think!

Nothing to do with the Snowdonia marathon but thanks Karen for the Chi tips, I had a go using the technique in my 10k race today and I think it did contribute somewhat to me getting a PB in the race. I posted my main topic in the races section. 

Well done on the PB! By the way the chi running book "Chi Running" by Danny Dreyer is currently £4.61 on amazon. It's quite hard going but I'm steadily working through it and picking up and trying things.

The only thing I use as a guide is the total climb rate for the whole route which Good Run Guide gives you (23 for Snowden route). I must admit I look and compare the hill profile graph for each of the hills on Snowden compared to my hill training route. One of my hill training routes is 8 miles with a total climb rate of 32 so should be good (I;m doing that one next week so I'll see how I get on ?). The hills look about as steep as the one's on Snowden but only 3/4 mile long (not 3 miles!).

Have also read up on Chi method for steep uphill and don't quite understand the technique, it suggest running up sideways! Can't work out form the pictures what this means, perhaps it will click into place once I try it out!

Hi Karen,

Just to say I'm in the same boat. My first marathon as well. I'm currently doing around 25 miles a week with my long run nearly 13 miles.

The advantage I have is that I spend a bit of time out near Snowdonia so I get to practice sections of the root. Its the last hill at the end going over the ridge back to Llanberis that will be the killer. I maped the route on this site.

My main training goal is loosing weight. I was 14 st 3 months ago, now I'm 13st 2lb and hopefully I'll be under 12st 7lb on the day.

My main unknown is refuelling on the run, something I'm experimenting with.

Brian. (On the good ship mad boat)

Hi Brian,

Yes, I need to get to grips with the refuelling issue as well. I only started taking fuel and water out with me running when I started getting over 9 miles for my half marathon training earlier this year. I had started to get a bit jaded in the long runs and this really helped me to keep going. I used a couple of gels for the half marathon I did in May this year and have also since tried some lucozade jelly beans (a bit chewy and get stuck to your teeth!).

I used to think I had failed if I stopped running at any point during a run or a race - I've since realised it doesn't really matter and I stop (walk) now to drink and eat throughout long runs rather than risk choking myself trying to eat and drink whilst running!! I find soreen quite good as a snack - at Snowdonia I think I read that you get a Mars Bar half way round!

Karen

Hi

Just to say that there are some interesting posts on fuelling on the 'long run nutrition' thread - lots of things others have tried which may give some ideas.