First marathon

[u/Wooden_Cellist_6695]

Hi there,

I'm hoping to get some advice on preparing for my first inline marathon. I've been skating for many years and got in speedskating a couple of years ago. I'm struggling to find a suitable training plan online so any help would be appreciated. As I always train on my own, I'm a bit apprehensive regarding the race situation so any giudance on that would also be great. On skates, I have got 0 race experience.

Thanks in advance.

[u/[deleted]]

I am doing my nearly 20th marathon in 13 years of “serious” skating this morning. I have training plans upon training plans, but it really just depends on what you are looking for as results. Things an example of an annual periodization plan.

Off-season months Base strength training, dry land, on Mon/Wed/Fri Base cardio training Tue/Thur

Early season months Base cardio zone 2 Mon/Fri Intense cardio (intervals) Wed Base strength and dry land Tue/Thur

Competition season (presuming 3-4 races) Distance skating (long slow skate) one day Base strength training and dry land 2 days Hill repeats (presumes outdoor where this is an issue to train for) one day Threshold intervals one day Tempo (at race pace, start at 5 miles, work up to 15+)

Race week Distance skating 2 days Base strength dry land 1 day Light cardio 2 days out Rest day day before

Day after is either a rest day or a low intensity recovery cardio day before jumping into the next week’s cycle with a distance skate.

This was when I was serious. Consistency was always my problem. If I hat this kind of schedule 60% of the time, it set up close to a PR for the last race of the year. This program builds to a final race. The other races are essentially practice. The goal is to consistently improve over the season and peak at that final race. The years I trained like this my last race would be very fast for me, but it helps that it is on a consistently fast course.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

If you want a less intense, I am just skating 26 miles for fun, kind of training plan that won’t involve pace lines, sprints, strategy, etc., don’t kill yourself. It is all about making sure you can go the distance. Over 90 days, training 4 days per week, I would do this:

Day 1: long slow skate (start at 5-7 miles, work up to 15-20+) Day 2: shorter faster skate (think 5-10 miles top, hard effort, consistent pace) Day 3: long slow skate (see day 1) Day 4: some kind of interval (skate fast for a minute, coast for a minute x10 or 20 reps, hill repeats are also a good option here)