how do I know I’m ready for a marathon?

First of all, aku ucapkan tahniah kepada mereka2 yg telah berjaya menamatkan larian 42km baru2 ni di Putrajaya Night Marathon…Kepada mereka yg pernah lari 42km tahun lepas, or tahun2 sebelumnya, aku ucapkan tahniah gaks..so when is my turn to take part in marathon..

I know for certain people, It's important when training for a marathon to have a goal. Normally for first attempt at the marathon distance everyone’s goal may be just to finish. That's a reasonable goal …but for me, I’m not only want to finish, but I want to finish without getting injured and I want to finish knowing in my heart that I will run another one sometime in the future. It's important that my goals be both attainable and reasonable. I probably wont’s set any goal that impossible to be achieved, coz I will become disheartened or frustrated and may not want to run another marathon.


So, how do I know I’m ready for a marathon?

Some might say that we need to run at least for a year.. quite a long time rite?.. but if there are people who run a marathon after they start run for about 2 month, that’s a special case..hehe wether u finish in 3 hour or four or six, it’s going to put a lot of stress on your body..so don’t play2 ok.. even orang yg dah lama berlari pun still follow a marathon training schedule to run that gruelling 42km..

Do I have an averaged 30 miles to cover each week? Absolutely not. even 20 km pun tak sampai lately. running a marathon requires me to do 30-40 mileage every week for at least 3 month…so I can start taking part a marathon wether on May or July..when thinking about there a people died during an attempt for marathon, it really freaks me out..so I need to train really well..

Besides physically demanding, a marathon requires a mental toughness that most young runners haven’t develop yet..so please don’t ask someone below 18 years to commit a marathon.. easy word : marathon is a older runner's sport who have lots experience in running..Most young people under the age of 18 haven't learned that patience is a virtue. It takes patience to train for and patience to run the marathon.. plus, it was lucky to have a marathon in Malaysia when the sun don’t shine, if the sun above my head, so it’s going to be my mental torture for the day.. I 'll appreciate the event more if I wait until both physically and mentally ready…

Do I have at least two or more races in the past year? A marathon shouldn't be my first race. Even if I know I won't be finishing any faster than five hours or six hours, I still need to have some familiarity, and feel fairly comfortable with race protocol such as , pinning your number correctly, lining up in the right place, drinking at aid stations etc

Do I have the time to commit to the training? Anyone who has run a marathon will probably agree that actually running the race is easy, provided you've done the training. The training is the hard part. Make sure I have support from my family, co-workers and friends. And if I’m in the midst of a lifestyle change like getting married, starting a new job, consider putting off the marathon training for awhile, then sambung balik..hehe

If I achieved the above requirement, that’s when I’m ready to run a marathon..