Does your Marathon Training Schedule make the most common mistake of all?

Almost all novice marathoners make the same mistake in their marathon training schedule. I made it while training for my first half-ironman triathlon and ended up with a knee injury that prevented me from running for two years. A teammate from my rowing team can't run without pain to this day because of a mistake he made in college while training for a marathon.

The mistake is only natural. In fact, it's part of our value system as Americans. It's the idea that if some is good, more must be better.

Do you like ice cream? Then get a double scoop! Do you like french fries? Then supersize them! You want a large house? How about a mansion?

The one place where "more is better" definitely does not apply is in training. The most common mistake a first-time marathoner makes is overtraining.

When training for a marathon, avoid the urge to increase intensity or mileage too quickly. Increase your mileage by no more than 10% a week.

During my freshman year of college, I made up my mind to run a half-Ironman triathlon. The half-Ironman finishes with a half-marathon. No big deal, except that I had very little running experience at the time. With proper guidance and an intelligent training schedule, I could have been fine, but instead I opted for the "more is better" philosophy.

Having no concept of how difficult it would be to run 13 miles after a 1 mile swim and a 56 mile bike, I decided to push myself really hard in training. I figured that if I could run 20 miles in training, then 13 miles at the end of a triathlon would be no problem. I was in great shape from rowing and biking, but I hadn't been running at all. To up my mileage to 20 miles, starting from ground zero, meant that I would have to increase my mileage nearly 30% a week. So I did.

The shin splints I could handle, but it was the knee injury that really took me out. My knee became so inflamed that it couldn't support my weight anymore. I had to stop running, and even just walking around campus my knee would buckle and give out under me. I didn't run again until the actual race, with I completed only with the aid of painkillers.

That was the summer before my sophomore year of college. It took four years before I was ready to run another race.

When I began training for my first marathon, I resolved not to let the same thing happen. I searched for resources like The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer that would allow me to train smarter. There's no excuse for sidelining yourself for months because you didn't take a few hours to learn how to train correctly.

Another good friend of mine seriously injured himself in college while training for a marathon. Again, he overtrained, with a "more is better" marathon training schedule. One of the fundamentals of marathon training is giving your body enough time to recover between runs. A typical marathon training schedule involves one long run a week and several shorter "recovery runs" in between.

My friend decided to rely more on sheer willpower and determination, rather than thoughtful planning and did a long run every day. He actually lasted a couple months before completely blowing out his knee.

Correct marathon training is intelligent marathon training. It's easy to get excited about your race and want to overtrain. Don't attempt to fly by the seat of your pants or rely on your intuition. There are millions of people who have run marathons already and millions who wanted to, but got injured. Don't reinvent the wheel. Find a resource with a marathon training schedule that lets you run without injury. Personally, I like The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer. It's a fun read and gets great reviews.