So I am trying this new fad called jogging, or yogging it may be a soft "J" I don't know, but apparently you just run.
Anyway, I have decided that I am going to run in a full 26.2 mile marathon in October of this year. As of last week I was not a runner. I don't think that I am in bad shape, I play basketball 3 times a week. I have started an 18 week training program and my goal is to do the marathon in 3.5 hours. I am not sure if I have set my sights too high or too low.
My first semi long run of my program was yesterday and it was 8 miles. Before I started it I honestly didn't think I'd be able to finish, so I started out very slow and I did the 1st mile somewhere around 14 minutes and the 2nd mile at about 11 minutes. As I went on I realized I was feeling ok so I picked up the pace and finished in about 75 minutes. I realize that's pretty slow but I didn't really know what I was doing. Afterwards I felt great and I still played basketball for a while. So I am feeling better about accomplishing my goal than before yesterday.
I guess my questions are:
Is my goal realistic and if so should I be aiming higher?
Secondly I wonder if I should keep lifting weights? I lift about 3 times a week and have put on some weight in the last few years which has been my goal. I am 6'2'' and weigh about 215 right now, when I played basketball in college I weighed about 185. I am wondering if I am carrying to much weight right now to reach my goal? Should I stop lifting all together or go with lower weight and more reps or keep doing what I am doing?
I would appreciate any insight any runners on the board would have. Thanks in advance.