So I've decided to run a marathon!  This will be my first marathon ever and I've never ran more than 3 miles without stopping before so I'm going to be doing a lot of training for these 26 miles (42km).   Its going to be the San Fransisco Marathon on July 31 so I have just a little under 2 months to train which is shorter than recommended, but I'm confident I can do it.  Its a pretty cool course too, it goes across the Golden Gate Bridge at one point.

Has anyone here ran a marathon before?  Any tips for training and such? 

Actually, I'm almost done writing an Android app for pacing myself that I started yesterday.  It uses the GPS and shows all sorts of different statistics. 

2 months? You've got quite the pair.

Here's how I train:
1) Create an epic running playlist. Eye Of The Tiger should be on this.
2) Run as far as you are physically capable of running.
3) Start at half that, and every day increase the distance a little.
4) Don't eat crap. If you must carry cash, carry 5s so you can't use vending machines.

I run a 5:50 mile, so this seems to work for me. YMMV.

Good luck!

NO. 5:50 miles in a marathon would legitimately kill me. And you. That's my standalone time.

Just to mention as a long distance runner myself an 8:00 pace marathon will be brutal to accomplish in the little time you have to train. That is about a 3:30 time for the entire marathon. For example my best three mile race time is 17:49 which is about a 5:56 mile pace. Normally I would add somewhere between 1-2 minutes to that mile pace to find the pace for a marathon. With the 1-2 minutes varying based off the experience of the runner. It is hard to judge the projected mile pace of a marathon runner based off their fastest mile time due to the huge difference in pace but normally that is about a 2-3 minute difference. For me my best mile time is 4:59 so adding about 2 minutes gets a 7 minute pace for me or a 3 hour marathon. For most marathon runners you will want to get at least 50 miles of running a week until the last 2 weeks when you should start to scale down. Also when you peak in mileage you should have done a 12-13 mile non-stop run a few times.

When it comes to equipment the most important thing you need are your running shoes. I recommend going to a dedicated running store and let the staff help you find the perfect shoe. There is no ultimate running that works for everyone and you need to find what is right for you based of your step experience, and foot shape. Also everyone needs a reliable watch to keep track of their pace. During a marathon the miles are marked so with a little quick math in your head you can find your pace. Otherwise for clothing you will want nylon shorts and shirts as cotton ones get hot and can leave a rash on longer runs. Equipment wise that is about it and don't bother with all that fancy gear that yo really don't need such as $50 dollar socks that are made from space shuttle material. Lastly stay away from orthotics as they don't do anything good.

For food make sure you eat healthy. Stay away from junk food and soda, but make sure you get plenty of calories as you will need them. I'm usually on a 3000-4000 Calorie diet to get the energy needed for long distance running. I also tend to stay away from energy bars and stuff as they first off taste bad and are no better than glorified candy bars. And for most people don't eat a meal within 2-3 hours of a run or otherwise you will get terrible cramps. Another good thing to include with food is plenty of water to drink. Runners should drink about 2 gallons a day which at first sounds hard, but as long as you have a glass about once an hour you will reach that. Also limit your consumption of sugary drinks like gatorade as they are not good in large quantities. I do recommend drinking gatorade after a long run though because of it's sodium content will make you thirstier and it easier to drink more water. The same thing applies with salty foods. Another drink I also have after hard or long runs is chocolate milk. I'm not sure why, but helps rebuild muscle.

Good luck with the race and make sure you get plenty of rest the night before. Make sure you warm-up and stretch before every run and cool-down and stretch afterwards. Lastly make sure you post your time after the race. 

Imagine running at the speed of AXE compared to Basic.

Good luck!
The most I've ever run is 5 miles (8 km). I still can't fathom how people can run 26.2 miles in a row. But I'm only 14, so I imagine stuff like that will seem easier in the future.

So I finished the marathon yesterday, it was really intense!  Now I see why they call it one of the hardest marathons, there were so many hills, it felt like it was up hill the whole way!  But anyway, I was doing great until the last mile (mile 25) when my legs couldn't hold up my body and I fell.  The volunteers there had me sit down on the side and told me I should rest and I shouldn't run, but I really wanted to.  Every time I said I was ready to run they kept insisting I wasn't ready, at one point, one of them was calling an ambulance.  At that point I was like, no, I'm running, I'll walk if I have to.  So I started walking and one of them was following me.  As soon as he looked away though, I started running to the finish until I finally made it.

So anyway, having sat down for 15 minutes kinda ruined my goal time, but its still a decent time for a first marathon.  I ended up with 3:52, but by my 20 mile split, I was on pace to finish in 3:37.  It was probably due to not getting enough sleep the night before, it was really difficult to go to bed when I wasn't tiered.  It was only a 9 hour day before I got in bed at 6pm to get up at 3am for the marathon.  I maybe only got 2 hours of actual REM sleep, the rest was just lying there trying to fall asleep.

The best part was going across the Golden Gate Bridge, it seems so much taller when you're actually on it.  Also the architecture in San Fransisco was really neat at some parts, but by then I hardly had enough energy to really appreciate it.

Anyway, I'm alright now.  My legs are still sore, but no more than from my training.  I'm just glad I finished  I was hoping this would be my last marathon, but now I kinda feel like I should try again at some point.  I already promised my brother that if he runs one, I'll run it too.