@ProofOfWorkFitness a fitness sub now for you to share your advice.

Good to see a fellow runner here on SN. Full marathons are not easy and definitely requires the proper training, especially endurance training. I find that if you are in relatively good shape and exercise occasionally, you can complete a half marathon without any training. But the jump is not linear from half marathon to a full marathon in terms of difficulty and stress on the body. A full marathon definitely is much more than twice as difficult as a half marathon.

I completed my 4th full marathon in May 2023, with the other ones ran in 2018, 2020, and 2022. The 2020 one was the toughest, because they cancelled the event due to covid and told you to run a full marathon on your own during the month of May, then upload the run data to count towards your completion. So I went and did that, without road closures, without water/electrolyte stations, without aid stations, and without the motivation of thousands of other people running with you. I planned the route to loop back home after 23km so I can drink water, coconut water, and eat banana. The rest of the route was looping the same 6km route near home in case anything happens, with the last km just running randomly around the neighborhood. I was able to finish with an elapsed time of 4:56:21, not very speedy (in fact, my worst time out of the 4 completed marathons), but completed nevertheless. The cool thing was that my kids drew a finish line for me on the sidewalk pavement and it felt great running across it with them cheering on the side.

If your race is in March, and you start your training now, is 4 months enough time to prep for it? Personally, I prefer at least 6 months of regular running and endurance training to prep for my previous marathons. Also, I'm a regular drinker, drinking about 2 nights per week with 2 drinks each time. When I start my marathon training, I try to completely cut off alcohol consumption. Maybe still a drink or two during family gatherings in the holiday season and Chinese New Year, but no more regular drinking on my own. Starting the month before race day, I cut off alcohol and caffeine completely.

I also signed up for a full marathon that takes place in May 2024. Hoping to put more time into training to get a faster finish time. Aiming for 4:15:00, but hoping for sub 4, as my best time was 4:26:08.

I run ~50 miles per week and have done maybe 15 marathons.

Drinking sufficiently becomes increasingly important when you go above ~10 miles in a race. Eating as well. You have to get used to it.

I recently ran a 50 mile trail race in 8.5 hours. Then I drank in total 6 liters of sports drink and ate 2 gels per hour, along with some candy bars. This is a pretty standard amount.

Pro marathon runners don't have to eat much, because they spend so little time out anyway. The slower you are, the more you will have to drink and eat

Keep it up! I’ve got 9 under my belt. The first one is always the hardest to break though the mental and physical barriers! Pace yourself as the halfway point of the marathon is actually mile 20 once your body starts to eat your muscles for energy.

I was always big on gels and Gatorade endurance formula back in the day. I’m retired from the marathon distance now but ran a 2:27 back in my prime. If you’ve got questions shoot em my way, I’d be glad to help.