What could go wrong if I ran my first marathon Sunday and:
-I haven't ran at all in a probably two weeks.
-I generally don't run over 4-6 miles, at a medium-slow pace.
-I've been running 3 times a week mostly over the winter, sometimes two, less often 4 times.
-I haven't trained at all. At all.
-The longest run I've done in the past six months is 11 miles.
-The longest ever was 13 last fall, and I was getting pretty bad achilles pains and doing a nice shuffle the last few miles.
-I beat myself up on some bike rides this week.
-I am young though, so I figure age is on my side.

Think I could finish? Think my legs might snap off at the shins? By the way, every time I said run I really meant jog.

Can you finish? Sure. What's your goal here though? Finishing? If it's that important to you, go for it. If not, hold off and get some training in. Don't risk hurting yourself. It's not worth it if you enjoy running (even if it is only every once in awhile).

You could probably finish, but will you be able to get out of bed the next morning?

Finishing is my goal.

I would suggest a run/walk strategy. Maybe run 5 minutes then walk 1 minute. If you try to run the whole thing you're probably going to fall apart around 18-20 miles and then you'll have to walk a LOT after that.

you will be able to finish, make sure you get lots of liquids and i hope you have a good fittin pair of running shoes, but yeha like that one guy said ur gnana have to crawl out of bed the next day, u will probably want to knock out as soon as u finish heh. good luck.

Anything I can do to make it less painful, outside of food and liquids? How about a pocket full of advil? A shot of whiskey at the 15 mile mark? Any edges to make up for the lack of fitness and training?

It's going to be a deathmarch towards the end. What's the point? It'll cause you more physical harm than good.

Well the point is to do it. I've got a three month bike ride in less than half a month though, is there a possibility of causing an injury that could keep me from doing the bike ride?

You are young so you have a lot of time for your first and subsequent marathons. You could finish this marathon and maybe even enjoy it on some level but you will be hurting for much of it and much of the next week or more. You will not recover from it in less than half a month. Since you have such a big bike ride coming up I'd push the marathon off. You have plenty of time for one, train for it properly and enjoy it.

now that u say u have a bike ride soon, i go with what others re sayin and try to not do the marathon at this time, i dont personally know how long it takes to recover from a marathon but i do know running more than 2 hours straight is more hazardous then good to your body. specially if u are not exactly fit for it and havent trained for it.

As a relatively experienced marathoner, DON'T DO IT! The hallmark of every marathon training program is the Long Run, usually on weekends. The point of this is to gradually acclimate your body to long, sustained, multi-hour runs. If you haven't built up to at least 18-20 miles, your body is not ready. I understand that your goal is just to finish, which is the goal of most first-time marathoners, but it isn't worth the pain and suffering you will go through. Do you want to crawl to the finish line (perhaps literally), have a horrible experience, and swear of marathons or running for good? Or, do you want to train properly and have an enjoyable experience?
However, if you already paid the money for the race, it does seem like a shame not to at least run a little. So, here is what I would do. Since you mentioned that your longest run was 11 miles, why don't you start the race, and duck out at the halfway (13.1 mile) mark? That way, you get the experience of race day, you get a quality training run where water and snacks are taken care of, and you have a healthy, happy experience that gets you excited to run farther!

BTW, if you are looking for a great running website with training plans, I recommend Hal Higdon's site, www.halhigdon.com. He is a running guru here in the Chicago area, and he offers a lot of helpful information.

I agree with the poster above. I am doing Grandma's Marathon in Duluth as a training run for IM Wisconsin this fall, and I feel behind in my training because I have just been doing my long run (18 miles this weekend) on the weekend, and one or two 6-7 mile runs during the week.

If you are going to do it, do a run/walk strategy. Run 10 minutes, walk one minute. If you start feeling like crap, make it 7/1 or 5/1....

Good luck. Remember: "If you're gonna be stupid, ya gotta be tough!!!"

thanks for the advice. so i wound up giving it a stab, going in with the goal of finishing 20 miles. did that, so i set a new personal distance record, but it got pretty painful and slow for the last three miles or so. i definitely understand why so many people run marathons now, its a real blast. the crowds and the other runners are great.
one thing i didnt expect was a hip pain that developed maybe 4-5 miles in, and lasted at least noticeably until the 12 or 13 mile mark. im not sure what to attribute that to, possibly over exertion during hill climbs on my road bike the week before, or over-extending my right leg when i goaltended on ice for the first time in two years 5 days before the marathon? it reappeared today when i did my first road run after the marathon. any thoughts?

It's because you ran most of a marathon without proper training in addition to all of the other workouts that week. Now you need to rest it quite a bit so it isn't a recurring, nagging injury.

I think it started way too soon to have been the result of the marathon. I usually run 5-6 miles.