Can you run a marathon with 3 months of training?

Since the beginning of time man has yearned to know the answer...

Dec 03, 2023

I began this article three months ago, then I added updates as they occurred and wrote the final section a few hours ago.

In the last year I’ve run an average of 0 to 5 miles a month. I’ve only run more than 5 miles twice in my life, and both of those occasions were back in college.

So I’m surfing and yoga fit, but definitely not a runner. Here’s the thing though… I want to run a marathon but there aren’t any available where I live until Q2 2024. I’m an impatient man. I can’t wait that long so I’ll have to go elsewhere. How about a huge marathon in Bangkok on December 3rd? Unfortunately that only gives me three months to train. Is that enough time? I honestly don’t know, but let’s find out!

Inspiration

This summer my sister ran a 100 mile ultramarathon in the mountains and was among the roughly 50% of runners who actually finished this atavistic torture. Her example was a kick in the ass to get me off my gelatinous ass and into a pair of running shoes.

If my sister is the spark then David Goggins is the fuel that keeps me going. He’s a tough motherfucker, Goggins is, and if you make even 1/5th of his effort you’re gonna be in great fighting shape before you know it.

Maybe it’s more sensible to just run a half-marathon? That would be totally doable on three months of training. I’m toying with the idea but then Goggins bitch slaps me back into manhood.

Recently, someone asked how to best prepare for a half-marathon.
“Why the fuck are you running a half-marathon?” I asked. “You’re already training, so why not a full marathon?” He tripped over his tongue trying to come up with a satisfying answer, but I already knew why. He was training for something he knew he could do. I’m not picking on him. That’s how most of the world operates. Very few individuals step outside the box of how most of the world operates.

The individual Goggins was picking on probably had more than three months to train but excuses are like grievances: everyone’s got one. So I asked myself: is there an incontrovertible reason that I cannot run a marathon? No, right? So why not try.

In my second month of training I ran 7 miles in 1:12 - I’d never run 7 miles before. Ignore the distance tracking on my shitty watch 👇 it’s as accurate as using a tape measure to measure dark matter.

Then I ran 10 miles in 1:52 - I’d never run 10 miles before.

Then I ran 15 miles in 2:47 - I’d never run 15 miles before.

Then on my last long training run I tried for 20 but only managed 16.8 miles in 3:36 before nearly feinting. I was not in pleasant shape.

My failure to complete a trifling 20 adds an element of uncertainty as to what’s going to happen on race day. I’ve only got a few weeks left until the marathon. Am I going to be able to find another 10 miles in that time?

Equipment

A brief sojourn into equipment.

Watch - I bought the cheapest thing I could find: a Galaxy Active 2 smartwatch. It has a timer, and you can download Spotify playlists onto it, other than that it’s garbage. The distance tracker is off by miles, the cadence monitor is a joke, I wouldn’t trust the heart rate monitor with Klaus Schwab’s health. This is only a watch to buy if you want to save money and don’t care about features.

Update - My watch broke after a month. I replaced it with a Coros Pace 3 which is superior in every way except that it can’t play Spotify playlists.

Shoes - I love my Adidas Ultra Boosts, they feel like clouds on my feet. My sister recommends Brooks though.

Headphones - Buy bone conducting headphones, they’re a game changer. I bought a pair of Lenovo X4s because they’re dirt cheap and they ended up working great.

Inspiration - Read / listen to “Can’t Hurt Me” by sir Goggins.

Nutrition

I’m drinking one or two protein shakes a day, depending on the length of my run.

No pizza or burgers. Fried chicken max one piece and once a week.

I’m moderately flexible about dinner if I don’t have a run in the morning. If I do have to run in the morning it’s always a salad with grilled chicken or Mahi for dinner.

For pre-running prep, if it’s just a 5 miler I get the fuck out there and do it.

For a 7 miler I’ll eat an energy bar or some other snack before hitting it.

For anything over 7 miles I’m going to eat a protein bar while I stretch. Then I’ll have my first gel packet at mile 6 and will have more as needed. Don’t fade the gel packs, they’re a game changer.

Stretching & injuries

MASSIVE! The only reason I’ve been able to increase my mileage so rapidly without getting injured is a prodigious stretching regimen. I’m stretching one to two hours a day, without fail. Mostly online yoga classes* combined with a deep stretch at night while I watch a movie.

*Check out Boho beautiful on YouTube, she’s a phenomenal instructor.

Then there’s the shin scraping. Also known as gua sha scraping (check out this video). The point is to stretch out the tendons and muscles in your legs by rubbing something hard over them. I’m using the wooden handle of a hammer, but any smooth hard item will work. You’re supposed to use massage oil while you do this but oil is for wusses. I scrape it dry and it’s just as much fun as it sounds. I wear my scraping scabs with pride.

Also, you have to work on your running cadence. Cadence means how many times your foot strikes the ground per minute. Increase that shit! Turn your legs into fast little windmills.

The old schoolers will say your cadence should be 180 strikes per minute. The new schoolers say that everyone has a different cadence. I think the new schoolers are correct, but training yourself to try and reach 180 before you discover your own cadence is the strategy I used. I downloaded a bunch of 180 BPM music onto my watch and listened to it while I ran, trying to match my footsteps to the beat.

Training regimen

In high school I got shin splints and they suck worse than the woke Olympics, where you get a gold by coming in last and then accusing the winner of oppression.

To avoid injury I ramped up my training schedule as follows. None of this is scientifically verified, I just did what felt right for me.

Week 1

Monday (1.5 miles) Wednesday (3 miles) Friday (1.5 miles)

Week 2

Monday (3 miles) Wednesday (1.5 miles) Friday (1.5 miles)

Week 3

Monday (3 miles) Wednesday (1.5 miles) Friday (3 miles)

Week 4

Monday (5 miles) Wednesday (3 miles) Friday (3 miles)

Week 5

Monday (5 miles) Wednesday (7 miles) Friday (3 miles) Sunday (5 miles)

Week 6

Tuesday (5 miles) Thursday (3 miles) Saturday (7 miles)

Week 7

Monday (5 miles) Wednesday (10 miles) Friday (5 miles) Sunday (5 miles)

Week 8

Tuesday (7 miles) Thursday (5 miles) Saturday (15 miles)

Week 9

Monday (5 miles) Wednesday (5 miles) Friday (7 miles) Sunday (5 miles)

Week 10

Tuesday (16.8 miles) Friday (5 miles) Sunday (7 miles)

Week 11

Tuesday (7 miles) Thursday (5 miles) Saturday (10 miles)

Week 12

Monday (5 miles) Wednesday (10) miles - Then rest and relaxation till the marathon on Sunday.

Way to bury the lead, jackass. Just tell me: can you run a marathon with only 3 months of prep?

In my research I found an article by this bloke about his experience running a marathon on three months of training. I’m sure he’s a nice enough fellow, but too moderate in his assumptions for my taste. Just look at this hidden challenge I discovered…

In fact, if you are not confident about your ability to run the whole 26.2 miles, then it’s better to build walking into your training – and marathon strategy – rather than wait until you’re too pooped to run any further before you start running.

Game. Fucking. On.

I’m going to run this entire beast even if I collapse dead at the finish line. It’s called a marathon not a walkathon, you misinformed mope.

On December 3rd we assembled in Rajamangala National Stadium at two in the morning. Setting: downtown Bangkok. Vibe: me and ten thousand of my closest friends are in high spirits. I’m thrilled that it’s not raining and the humidity is a trifling ~50%. This is desert conditions compared to the 70-90% humidity that I’ve been running in where I live.

The Capitalist, waiting for his shot at glory 👇 We lined up at the starting line shortly after this picture. What happened?

I ran the entire fucking thing, no walking. I followed the 4:45 pacing crew the whole time. They were my clan, although admittedly they ran a touch late. I finished in 4:47:58 with an average pace of 10:53 miles.

After finishing I hobbled off to a corner, sat down and started to cry. Going the distance was really that difficult. Mile 18 to 24 was the fucking worst and I wanted to give up several hundred times. But I thought about my sister running for 26 hours through the mountains, and I thought about what Goggins has said that most of us only reach 40% of our potential, and these things kept me going.

I feel good about what happened. I tapped into a reserve of strength that I didn’t know I had, and even if I never run another marathon I’ll always have that memory. It’s literally priceless.

So to answer the age-old question: yes! It’s possible to run a marathon with just three months of training. Provided that you’re already physically fit, at least.

Final commentary

Adequate hydration separates the winners from the losers. I drank 3–4 liters of water on the run and could have chugged even more. On my 20-mile training run where I only made it to 16.8 miles, I failed because I was severely dehydrated. If you live in a hot humid climate like South East Asia you’ve got to consume an ungodly amount of water.
I am sore but not injured. I attribute my well-being to stretching. I want to reiterate that the only reason I was able to do this and not get injured is because of an intensive daily stretching regime.
I enjoy music on my runs, but I think I perform better without it. The haphazard beats of different songs can screw up my rhythm. I didn’t listen to any music for the marathon.
I saw dozens (hundreds) of people quit running and start walking even though they appeared to still have gas in the tanks. If you’re going to kick ass you’ve got to have a good reason for what you’re doing. Are you doing a thing because your soul demands it, or because you want to post about it on Facebook?
The only elevation gain in this marathon was going up and down freeway on ramps. This also made my run possible. I couldn’t have done it with a lot of elevation gain. If you’re preparing for a marathon, take this into consideration.

That’s all I’ve got. I’m writing this final section just a few hours after finishing and I’m beat to fuck and back. But in a good way. When we consider what is and is not possible, so much of the advice you get is limiting. People will tell you to be careful or there’s no way to do something, and they’re well-meaning folks I’m sure but they’re also probably wrong. Here’s how I like to frame it. Is the thing I’m thinking about doing in direct violation of the laws of physics and thermodynamics? No, it’s not… Well then fuck it, why not give it a try?

The Unhedged Capitalist

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