Hi,

The longest I have done on a slow mileage run is 15 miles; my comfort zone for training has for a month been around 8 miles. I hope to complete a marathon (Surf City) on February 7. I don't mind finishing with a slow time. I am young but new to running. My schedule is very flexible because I am on winter break from college. How should I train in the next five weeks? Should I sacrifice a lot of speed training to maximize distance runs and rest? Of course I'm also concerned with avoiding injury. I really appreciate your help.

With the training you have you should not be worrying about speed training. You are just trying to get to the finish line so distance is your friend.

The final two weeks prior to the marathon should be your taper. Reduce your mileage but not the speed that you run. You will NOT gain any fitness in the final two weeks no matter how hard you train. It will just leave you fatigued for the race. That being said, your longest run should be 2 weeks from the marathon.

The rule of thumb is to increase mileage no more than 10 percent per week to reduce potential for injury. So if you run 30 this week, run no more than 33 next week etc. If you had more time it would be better to run 30-33-33-33-36 etc to allow for your body to adjust. If you have run 15 miles I would include a 17 mile and a 19 mile run in your training( not on back to back weekends). The weekend between I would run 12 easy miles. the long runs are suppose to be slow.

Remember to go out slow and have fun.