How far should I be running?

I'm doing the Virgin London Marathon in April, but just wanted to see how I was doing in terms of progress. I'm currently up to 13.5 miles - and aim to add an extra mile each week - am I up to where I should be? How far is everyone else going at the moment?

I don't think there's any fixed distance that you should be at as long as you are progressing towards the race distance.  It all depends on your training program.  On the forums I've noticed that some people are already doing 20+ miles, some at 16 miles some at 10 miles, so it varies wildly.

The training program that I'm following is adding a couple of miles to my long run each week with a slight reduction in distance every 4th week to give you a bit of recovery time.  My longest run so far has been 14.5 miles which I did yesterday, but I won't be going longer than that for a few weeks because of the taper to a half marathon race in 2 weeks time.  I will eventually get up to 22 miles with 5 weeks to go before the marathon then the miles start to reduce again over the remianing few weeks. 

I've read somewhere that the mileage isn't necessarily the important thing to get hung up about, it's more about getting used to the time on your feet which is why so many training programs give you a length of time to run for rather than distance.  Again, my program doesn't get me to run longer than 3 hours.  It's how you use the time that matters.  Some long runs I stay at an even pace, but progression runs are also very useful, which is when you increase the pace gradually throughout the run.  My 22 miler will be run at marathon pace for the final hour.

I hope this helps.

Thanks Dave - really appreciate all the help! I ended up (non intentionally) doing a shorter run on Sunday which may have been okay since I've got a half marathon in 2 weeks - I hadn't even thought about tapering for that event.

Really good to know others are still at around the same mileage as me - feel like I'm not making enough progress which is really frustrating.

My longest run was today... 12.5 miles.  I had only done 10 miles before.  If I believe my plan, I should be at 16 miles now, but I think so long as you are increasing the mileage, we'll get there!!  Maybe I'm too much of an optimist, but I'm a realist too... I was out over 2 hours today and nearly missed collecting the baby from nursery on time.  I've got a half in 3 and 4 weeks.  Should be fine for those, but then it's a long step up for those extra 13.... eeek.

I guess on the day we'll feel even more motivated with people watching and cheering (or so I'm told). I''m going to really try and push it on my long run this Sunday, although maybe I should be tapering for my half marathon the week after... I think I'll feel happier if I can get to about 14...

Good luck with your half marathons Jellybeanz2!

My long run the Sunday before my HM the following week is a 90 minute run with the last 30 minutes at half marathon pace.  This equates to about 11-12 miles overall, which is lees than my longest long run so far, but gets me used to running at half marathon pace at a point late in a run.

This is a good workout as the distance has reduced before taking on a HM race which is good for the taper, but the extra effort of HM pace makes up for the lack in distance. 

That sounds like a good plan - what time are you aiming to complete your half marathon in.

It all depends on how I get on with running in a wig and fancy dress.  I've got a 1:30 PB, but I'm not in that kind of form.  I'm not sure whether i'm supposed to be rnning the race at marathon pace or half marathon pace.  If I don't find running with the wig too uncomfortable I will aim for around 1:35-1:40.

How about you?

It all depends on how I get on with running in a wig and fancy dress.  I've got a PB of 1:30, but I'm not in that kind of form.  I'm not sure whether I should be running at marathon pace or half marathon pace.  If I don't find running in the wig too much of a problem then I think I'll aim for around 1:35-1:40.

How about you

I can do a HM in 1hr 44 mins (Im 54 now ) and i thought that would stand me in good stead for the full marathon, but went out today and done my first 20 miler ever and came home in 3 Hours, and that was seriously hard work I will admit, so I will have to slow myself down for the next 20 miler i reckon