SF marathon in 2003 -- for just finishing in a decent time, the long runs are key. I think I used the online run "diary" at coolrunnings.com, printed out a ran

SF marathon in 2003 -- for just finishing in a decent time, the long runs are key. I think I used the online run "diary" at coolrunnings.com, printed out a random training schedule, counted backwards from the marathon date, and started at "week 8" or whatever the current date fell on. I do not recommend that training strategy. Edit: I've been playing with the "zombies, run!" iphone app and it's been fun for short runs, but (as I'm sure you know) it's going to get tedious quickly for training for a marathon. Audiobooks are wonderful, though. Especially stuff that's light, escapist, and fun but somewhat embarrassing: I listened to most of the Harry Potter books, for example. If you're disciplined enough to only listen to the books when you're running, it can be a surprisingly strong motivator. Second Edit: (now I'm nostalgic) I also don't recommend a 2 mile warm up jog to the start of the race (I lived on Fell at the time).