Training for a marathon while keeping up with lifting?

[repoman0]

Hi all,

so, the Boston Marathon was yesterday and every year it passes I watch for a while and think, I'm going to do that - even though I'm completely pitiful at running and always have been partly due to asthma. I've always had a ton of respect for runners because I could never imagine being able to do it well because my lungs just couldn't keep up - but now it's not so bad anymore and I feel like I could work my way up to distance running.

This year I made a $100 bet that I'd qualify and do it within five years so now I have to. Not that I care about the $100 but it sure would be satisfying to collect.

At the same time, I really like what lifting weights has done to my body and I'd like to keep up with it. I'm thinking I'll set some reasonable goals to achieve and maintain 2-3 times a week while focusing on running - something like:

Squat - 225 3x5 or 5x5
Press - 115 3x5
Row - 150 3x5
Bench - 165 3x5
Deadlift - 275 1x5

I figure if I eat enough this will keep me strong and in the 160-170lbs range, where I'd like to stay (no lower). Reasonable? What kind of routine would you guys suggest, if not what I suggested above along with as much running and biking as possible?

 

[RavenSEAL]

Lots and lots of protein, cardio likes to bite at your muscles.

 

[Pantlegz]

gaining strength will be very difficult to do at the same time as training for distance running, if you've got 5 years to qualify you've got plenty of time. I would do both as long as you can and try to reach your strength goals then focus on distance while maintaining the strength you've gained. And run before you lift to allow your body to continue to build/repair muscle... something about ATP and mTORC metabolic pathways, if you want more info pm me your email address and I can forward some info to you on it.

Protein is all well and good when it comes to building muscle but carbs will help prevent your body from becoming catabolic better than protein will. Especially if you're running more than a mile or 2. Success or failure will probably be the result of your diet. Listen to your body if you're sore or weak you need to increase your calorie intake or take a day to rest. I'm rarely sore from a workout and when I am I know I need to eat more. Make sure you learn the difference between sore and tight too. Your legs will probably be pretty tight for a while so make sure you're stretching/foam rolling a lot too.

As far as your lifting goals, they're reasonable for a 160-170 pound person.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I don't know how bad your asthma is but if you wanted to, you could do a marathon within a year. I know two people that did this feat. One did a marathon with only 15 weeks of training. He said the last 2 miles were hell. But he did it.

What are the requierments to do the Boston marathon?

Of course, you'll want to do a progression since you have time. 5K, 8K, half marathon, full marathon, Boston Marathon. Long term I'dlike to do a half marathon but not sure if I care to do the full.

My personal experience with weights and running is this. It is hard to blend the two. Doing squats and deadlifts one day and going for a 5 mile run the next can just suck. Your muscles will only be at 80 or 90% for the run. Due to this, I've moved to a new plan which is working OK:
Day 1: Lower body weights
Day 2: Upper body weights
day 3: RunDay
day 4: Lower body weights
Day 5: Upper body weights
day 6: Run
day 7: rest

The key is to take a full day off of legs after a day of wegiht training on legs.

I find that weight training and running work well together. As I run faster, I find a new weak spot to fix with weights. Was calves as I ran for the past month. Did toe raises and now my calves are not tiring. But now my stomach muscles can't keep up when I run so I have to fix that (situps?)

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I don't know how bad your asthma is but if you wanted to, you could do a marathon within a year. I know two people that did this feat. One did a marathon with only 15 weeks of training. He said the last 2 miles were hell. But he did it.

What are the requierments to do the Boston marathon?

Of course, you'll want to do a progression since you have time. 5K, 8K, half marathon, full marathon, Boston Marathon. Long term I'dlike to do a half marathon but not sure if I care to do the full.

My personal experience with weights and running is this. It is hard to blend the two. Doing squats and deadlifts one day and going for a 5 mile run the next can just suck. Your muscles will only be at 80 or 90% for the run. Due to this, I've moved to a new plan which is working OK:
Day 1: Lower body weights
Day 2: Upper body weights
day 3: RunDay
day 4: Lower body weights
Day 5: Upper body weights
day 6: Run
day 7: rest

The key is to take a full day off of legs after a day of wegiht training on legs.

I find that weight training and running work well together. As I run faster, I find a new weak spot to fix with weights. Was calves as I ran for the past month. Did toe raises and now my calves are not tiring. But now my stomach muscles can't keep up when I run so I have to fix that (situps?)

There isn't enough cardio in that routine for someone serious about running. To be good at running he needs probably at least 4 days out of the week imo. That has always been the case for me anyways. The more time he puts in the better.

 

[blinky8225]

I would do a periodization approach. For half the year, focus on running and only lift 1-2 times/weeks. For the other half of the year, focus on lifting and only run 1-2 times/week with some HIIT. Fall and Winter might be a good time to focus on lifting as it gets quite cold outside depending where you are.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Is your plan to actually qualify for the Boston Marathon?

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Qualify:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon#Qualifying

 

[tedrodai]

Ouch...I'd need 7 min/mile for 26 miles. I love to run and want to keep improving, but I just can't summon the desire for a marathon.

 

[Pantlegz]

That's just insane. I'm happy to get a 7min mile and stop there... I couldn't imagine doing 26miles at that pace.

 

[repoman0]

Yeah that's pretty damn quick. I don't need to qualify, just run it.

I did a very quick two miles in under 12 minutes last night but was just about dead at the end, can't imagine doing it 13 more times at that pace. But then again I've never trained for running and haven't run since last summer, and I also did both squats and deadlifts the day before at 195 and 235lbs. I only did two miles because I figured I should keep my miles fast and just increase them over time.

I'm just going to throw running in on my off gym days and see how my lifts keep up if I eat a few hundred more calories each day to offset it. If it gets too tiring I'll post back here and think about the split routine suggested above, with running on upper body days.

Probably will buy protein powder again too, I've been getting it all from whole milk and ground beef but I can't really manage more than the current 2/3 gallon I'm drinking per day

 

[tedrodai]

Good luck. If I had to make a guess, I'd say it's likely you'll have to back down with your weights (at least for legs) for a while as a compromise to make some gains towards the marathon. More muscle on your body = more O2 & energy consumed over time, and it adds up over such a long distance.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Someone at work said that for the Boston Marathon, you can register as a walker. They leave last. But many people do this and run it. So, I guess you can run the Boston Marathon ... sort of.

 

[SWScorch]

Someone at work said that for the Boston Marathon, you can register as a walker. They leave last. But many people do this and run it. So, I guess you can run the Boston Marathon ... sort of.

Only if you raise so much money for charity. The only two ways of entering the Boston marathon are to qualify, and qualify with enough of a cushion that you get to register first, or enter as a charity runner, in which case the only standard is how much money you raise. However, as anyone in the running community will tell you, if you run Boston as a charity runner, you are NOT allowed to say you qualified for Boston. Sorry, that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

 

[neocpp]

If you're not "naturally talented" at running you're going to need to put in a lot of miles to qualify for Boston. But, sub 12 for 2 miles without any training or competition is a fantastic start. You actually don't need to be able to go faster, so if you feel like you're maxed out at 11:00 for 3200 that's fine; you'll probably still be able to qualify if you just run a lot.

That said, I think you should also do the exact opposite of what you're planning. Go long but slower so you don't get in the anaerobic range, then you can build up massive amounts of base. It'll stop your legs from feeling bad the day after so you can run more, but obviously it takes more time for workouts and it's probably bad for your lifting routine. The speed will come naturally as you get in running shape and will probably get you 95% of the way there, and once you have a good base then you can work on lowering your times.

BTW if you are in Cambridge I can go running with you sometime. 5 years is plenty of time to Q, so work your way up slowly and avoid injuries, you should be fine.

 

[repoman0]

^nice, I may take you up on that offer once I build up some endurance. I'm in Brookline by the way.