I've been a runner on and off now for a few years. I seem to run a few months, take a few off, etc... Anyway, right now i'm currently doing about 3 x 10k runs a week for about 30k a week give or take. These are not official events, just my own training of course. I run my 10k's in about 55 minutes right now, not straining too much. It's fairly easy for me at that pace.

So how will I know when i'm ready to sign up for a marathon? And how long would I need of actual training given my current numbers?

any help would be appreciated.

Here's my opinion, one out of many. I recommend the following before beginning a typical 18 week marathon training program (many, of course, have gotten by with much less). Your pace doesn't matter.

1. run comfortably for at least 25 miles per week for a period of at least 6 months continuously, without injuries.

2. be comfortable with runs of at least 10 miles

3. run a few shorter races, up to half marathon

When you've got all of those in the bank, you'll be ahead of the game to start marathon training.

Thanks for the reply, and i'll take your advice.

I've signed myself up for a Half Marathon on December 16th, so that'll give me 40 days from now. So now i'll have to go through old threads and choose a good training program so I don't disappoint myself time wise. If I do well, maybe i'll do a full marathon next spring. If not, i'll do more halfs until I feel like i'm ready.

Thanks a bunch. If you happen to know a great training program for my first half would be i'd love to hear it. Say my goal is breaking 2 hours, nothing too heavy the first time out.

I have done 2 marathons and 2 halfs. I have used Hal Higdon's training for all of them. I started out with the intermediate, and for my last half, I bumped up to the advanced. The beginner just seemed too easy for me. Look at those, and see if one of them seems comfortable for you. Good luck.

I've actually made my own training schedule since I only have 5 weeks to prepare and don't have the time to use one of the famous ones. I can run 3 times per week, so I made up this schedule for myself:

week 1) 9 km / 9 km / 12 km
week 2) 10 km / 10 km / 14 km
week 3) 11 km / 11 km / 16 km
week 4) 12 km / 12 km / 18 km
week 5) 13 km / 13 km / 20 km

* I'll take 2 days off before the longer runs, and 2 days off after each long run.

** I'll take 4 days off with no running after my 20 km preperation run. Then run the half marathon 4 days later.

How does this look?

It's a bit of a rush into the half marathon, but if you have good fitness, it shouldn't be a big deal. However, unless you have an issue, there's no reason to take 2 days off after your long runs and taking 4 days off completely will not be beneficial unless you feel overtrained or injured.

well I do get some pretty major shin splints that never seem to go away. They heal a bit if I take a few days off, but they come right back. So I figured i'd just give myself an extra day to heal after long runs.

Also, I heard that you were supposed to take some time off before the actual race. Is that not true?