I've committed to running the Marine Corp marathon in October, and have begun working on establishing a strong base before entering an 18 week program culminating with the race itself. I am currently running 4 times a week, with runs between 3 and 5 miles. (I began this about a week and a half ago). I will be running one longer run a week, until I can comfortably run 9 miles, with about 25 miles total for the week.

I have made some real gains in muscle and strength over the past year, and I'd really want to minimize the very real possibility of experiencing significant losses while I pick up on my running.

My plan is to continue to lift weights as hard as ever while training for the marathon. I'm just not sure if I should ease off on dedalifts and squats (so to avoid injury, which will set me back in my training).

Any first time marthoners care to share their experiences with training, and any resulting muscle and strength losses? Any suggestions on how to minimize taking one big step forward in endurance running and two big steps back in weight training?

Thank you!

I followed Hal Higdon's Intermediate training program leading up to my first marathon and yeah, you will lose some muscle and lean out quite a bit. It's pretty tough to go after two major goals at once, so while I continued to weight train, my strength goals were "put on the shelf" for a few months so to speak. It's frustrating, but you can gain most of it back in a few weeks afterward. However, if you stop weight training throughout your marathon training, expect to have more significant strength and muscle losses.

It was worth it though. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

Crossfit Endurance say there is nothing you can do about the muscle loss that will be inevitable if you follow their program.

Pete is absolutely correct, you can't follow 2 goals at once. Train for your marathon, train hard, and do your best. Once your training is over, you can always start lifting and bulking once again.

I've always looking at 'fitness' as a never-ending journey. You're constantly going to be trying to reach ONE goal, and when you've reached it, you set new ones and try to reach those.

Thanks for the replies. You both make a lot of sense. One question I have after reading your posts is whether continuing a weight training schedule while training (I too will be using Higdon's approach) is ill advised. My goal is to minimize the inevitable muscle loss while finishing the marathon.

While I would agree that the weight training frequency will diminish somewhat, I'm not sure I see a reason to forego it altogether, or to weight train with less intensity.

One final question is whether I should avoid leg work with weights (squats, lunges and deadlifts) while training for the marathon.

Thanks again!

Definitely continue weight training during your marathon training. I did three days a week of lifting, but even two would be fine. Continue training legs with squats, deadlifts, etc. Maybe do lower body one day, and upper body the other. Just use common sense in your planning. Obviously, don't plan a lower body session the day before a long run.

Yeah, the weight lifting is still essential to your training.

Besides, doing squats and other leg related exercises will only strengthen your legs and help your running ability.

Good luck!

Excellent! Thanks for the info.

Maybe I'll see you both on race day.