Marathon thread

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2013 8:34:06 GMT -5 Ratchets said:

Jan 31, 2013 17:29:08 GMT -5 @joey said:

Hi Archie and any other runners.
I just signed up for my first marathon, its a bit daunting.
The training is through a running clinic and seems to be very well organized.
I am only in my second week but the classes are moving slowly and surely towards our 10K run in April.
I am not a runner, I just needed a new challenge and this is proving to be one.

That's cool that you're in a group though, I find that very motivating.  I don't like doing group runs at work, in fact I hate them because the average person is so much younger and faster and they don't enjoy running with an old fat guy at all LoL.  I found a local running club recently though, and it's really a good experience running with them.  The attitudes and whatnot are much better as well.

Sounds like your group has their act togethor.  Is the group training for the 10k all or mostly working up to a marathon togethor?  That's a pretty cool idea...

It is very well organized this running clinic. The clinic is designed to get us all in shape by marathon time which is mid April. 

[steph08]

Feb 1, 2013 11:54:05 GMT -5 @joey said:

Feb 1, 2013 8:34:06 GMT -5 Ratchets said:

That's cool that you're in a group though, I find that very motivating.  I don't like doing group runs at work, in fact I hate them because the average person is so much younger and faster and they don't enjoy running with an old fat guy at all LoL.  I found a local running club recently though, and it's really a good experience running with them.  The attitudes and whatnot are much better as well.

Sounds like your group has their act togethor.  Is the group training for the 10k all or mostly working up to a marathon togethor?  That's a pretty cool idea...

It is very well organized this running clinic. The clinic is designed to get us all in shape by marathon time which is mid April. 

A lot of people say "marathon" when they are talking about a race of any distance.  But a marathon is a specific length - it is 26.2 miles.  

Most common races are a 5k - 3.1 miles; 10k - 6.2 miles; 15k - 9.3 miles; half marathon - 13.1 miles; and marathon - 26.2 miles. 

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2013 13:30:07 GMT -5 steph08 said:

Feb 1, 2013 11:54:05 GMT -5 @joey said:

It is very well organized this running clinic. The clinic is designed to get us all in shape by marathon time which is mid April. 

A lot of people say "marathon" when they are talking about a race of any distance.  But a marathon is a specific length - it is 26.2 miles.  

Most common races are a 5k - 3.1 miles; 10k - 6.2 miles; 15k - 9.3 miles; half marathon - 13.1 miles; and marathon - 26.2 miles. 

Good to know, I am new to all this. The run I have signed up for is called a 10K road race. Thanks Steph! 

[genericname]

Thanks for the pics and update, Steph. Looks like a fun time!

[NancysSummerSip]

A good friend of mine is now training for the Disney race, but he is going to do the half-marathon in January, 2014. Right now, he's an occasional jogger, single, no girlfriend, age 55, in good physical condition, but a good 25-30 pounds over his ideal weight. He's got what I would call a football player's build: six-four, about 240 pounds. Solid and carries it well; he's a snow skier, plays stick-and-ball sports, but he knows he needs to drop some weight to make the run a success.

I've offered to run some 5K and 10K races with him, sent him links to local events and the closest running club to him, so he can join up and train with folks close to him (I live about an hour away, so daily runs together isn't an option). I've encouraged him to swim (his complex has several good-sized pools) to get his cardio health in better shape. His eating habits need to improve (his words, not mine). He does eat out a lot, and orders in when he is working, so fixing his own and taking it to work needs to be more the order of the day. He can cook; in fact, he is a very good cook. He does not and has never smoked, but he does love his beer. Not to excess, and not even every day. But giving up the suds totally, or even going to a light beer, would be an issue.


Can I offer anything else to help him? Should I suggest bike riding as well? He does take long, fast walks regularly, in addition to the other activities. His most recent physical showed no health issues, other than the weight.

[steph08]

Personally, I think the best way to train for a half marathon is to run or walk/run, however he wants to complete it.  Biking and/or swimming 1-2 days a week and then running 3-4 days would probably be good. Cross-training is good, but it is no substitute for pounding the pavement.

For Disney, they require that you keep a 16 minute/mile pace, otherwise you kept swept and can't finish.  They recommend traininag at 15 minute/mile so that you have time for bathroom breaks if necessary, character photos of if you want, etc.  I would highly recommend that he runs a 10k and submits that time to Disney so he is placed in a decent corral.  Otherwise you get stuck in the back (closer to the sweepers) and with slower people that you have to go around.

Registration opens on April 9th for the January 2014 Disney marathon weekend.

I loved the Disney marathon and can't wait to do another Disney race! 

[NancysSummerSip]

Steph, that's good to know. I figured there was a time frame per mile on the marathon, but I was not sure if it also applied to the half-marathon. I know there's no way right now he can sustain that kind of time over 13.1 miles. I could do it, but I know he could not.

I just checked this year's Disney info, and yes, that applies to the half-marathon as well. I'll assume no change for next year, but I'll check in April, of course.

We do have some half-marathons coming up in this area; I mentioned one to him that occurs near my house, about eight weeks before Disney. That's close, but doable and enough time to recover, I think. But the 10K will be essential, you are right about that. And we also have some sanctioned races that are "oddball" distances, like eight- and ten-milers. Those distances would help him, too, and provide a good measurement of how he's doing. And he could submit those to Disney as well, as long as they are sanctioned and take place on courses approved by USTAF, I'm thinking.

The non-running workouts would prevent burnout, strengthen his heart and lungs and get some weight off, but yes, he really needs to run more often than the twice-a-week or so he's doing now.

[Sam_2.0]

Wow. I thought I was doing good entering the local 4 mile race. I love reading all these stories/tips! It makes me want to lace up and get to running.

[NancysSummerSip]

I appreciate all the help, too, Keeps me motivated. Wonder if DH minds if I start running a night or two during the week? And I really need to get that new bike ordered.


FWIW, I think my friend can do this, from a purely physical point of view. I think he needs some internal motivation to get him through the training aspects. His friends love and support him, and several, myself included, will train with him virtually. But that's only good up to a point. Deep down, he has to really want to get through the colossally boring, tough, miserable parts of training.

I'm wondering if there might be a way to set up a training page/blog for him and all of his friends to access, to kind of help each other out. He's not on Facebook or Twitter or any social sites, but maybe we could get him to join us on a Disney training page, and keep each other pumped. Report our daily workouts and keep each other going.

[steph08]

Nancy - 10k is just the shortest race that Disney accepts for corral placement - if he does an 8 or 10 mile, he can submit that time as well.

I am on the DISboards, and they have an entire section devoted to people getting healthy, etc. I usually hang on this page - www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=109 - where people talk about the upcoming Disney races that they are training for. There is already a thread for the 2014 Marathon weekend.   That would probably be a boost for your friend - a lot of the people on there are training for their first long distance races and are slower as well. 

I think 16 minutes/mile has been pretty standard at Disney for many years, I wouldn't expect a change once registration rolls around, but you never know.  I think I am signing up for the Tower of Terror 10-miler, which is run in October.  Registration opens next week and I will check the pacing requirements for you.

I definitely think your friend should focus on overall fitness and getting to a healthy body weight.  The race isn't for 11+ months, he has lots of time to train.  I'm not overweight and am fairly young, but I trained for the full marathon for just under a year.

I would focus on him doing cross-training, then something like couch to 5k, then building up to a 10k, then 10 miles, then a half marathon. I love Hal Higdon's plans, he has them for all distances (www.halhigdon.com).  I did one of Hal's 18-week plans for my marathon.  Before I started it, I am pretty sure the longest distance I had run was 9.3 miles (a 15k).  He builds you up slowly.  As long as your friend has a good base (say 10-15 miles/week) by the end of summer, he should be able to follow one of Higdon's plans with no problem.

[steph08]

Feb 7, 2013 13:33:30 GMT -5 Sam_2.0 said:

Wow. I thought I was doing good entering the local 4 mile race. I love reading all these stories/tips! It makes me want to lace up and get to running.

Sam - you are doing great! 

In January 2012, I started with Couch to 5k.  In April, I ran a 10k.  In July, I ran a 15k.  In October, I ran two half marathons.  In January 2013, I ran a marathon.

Just keep building - I never, ever thought I would run a marathon or run this much in my life.  

[NancysSummerSip]

Funny you should mention the Couch to 5K; that's what he is using now! He likes a running plan with an app for his phone.

I'll send him the Disney boards link, along with Hal Higdon, and yes, he could do other races up in that area. His daughter lives in Orlando, so for him to head up there to do a race is just fine; he can see her and have a place to stay, no problem.

We have a 10-miler here in March, but that's way too soon. October's is a definite good one, though. That Tower of Terror one is also on the list of races I sent him (the list was a statewide listing, not just local).

[genericname]

Nancy, if he likes to read or listen to audio books, there is a great one called Born to Run for inspiration. The author's name slips my mind right now, but I listened to it on a road trip a few weeks ago and it was a pretty great book. The author is about the size of your friend, and in the end he runs a 50 mile ultra-marathon through the mountains of Mexico. Your friend might find some internal motivation by listening to it on an iPod while running or reading it in the evenings. I love, love, loved that book!

[NancysSummerSip]

Christopher McDougall wrote the book. I actually found some info about it when I found some info about ultramarathoner Scott Jurek, who was one of the subjects of the book.

My friend would be interested in anything he can add to his iPhone; not sure if he has an iPod, but I will ask. Oddly enough, for a guy who knows his way around that phone so well, he is not much of a technofiend when it comes to anything else. He has a Mac, but no other electronic toys, not even HDTV. No interest in social or professional networking, either. I'll work on it, though.

[steph08]

I am actually the opposite of Ratchets. I don't agree with running over or even up to the distance you are training for.  For my half marathon, I had only done 11 miles.  But 13 would probably be ok.  For the marathon, I only did 20. I think that higher than that and the risk of injury outweighs the reward. 

[NancysSummerSip]

Feb 8, 2013 18:40:25 GMT -5 Ratchets said:

Feb 7, 2013 12:05:06 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

A good friend of mine is now training for the Disney race, but he is going to do the half-marathon in January, 2014. Right now, he's an occasional jogger, single, no girlfriend, age 55, in good physical condition, but a good 25-30 pounds over his ideal weight. He's got what I would call a football player's build: six-four, about 240 pounds. Solid and carries it well; he's a snow skier, plays stick-and-ball sports, but he knows he needs to drop some weight to make the run a success.

I've offered to run some 5K and 10K races with him, sent him links to local events and the closest running club to him, so he can join up and train with folks close to him (I live about an hour away, so daily runs together isn't an option). I've encouraged him to swim (his complex has several good-sized pools) to get his cardio health in better shape. His eating habits need to improve (his words, not mine). He does eat out a lot, and orders in when he is working, so fixing his own and taking it to work needs to be more the order of the day. He can cook; in fact, he is a very good cook. He does not and has never smoked, but he does love his beer. Not to excess, and not even every day. But giving up the suds totally, or even going to a light beer, would be an issue.


Can I offer anything else to help him? Should I suggest bike riding as well? He does take long, fast walks regularly, in addition to the other activities. His most recent physical showed no health issues, other than the weight.

Sheeesh Nancy, you just wrote a personal ad for him  !  I'm kidding...seriously though, my theory is "study for the test."  I don't think his weight is too out of whack either...he'll lose some just training I'm sure.  I'm sure he has a little extra aroudn the middle, but he can run a half marathon at that weight.  I just did one at 210-ish and I'm 6'0" so he'll be fine even if he doesn't lose weight.

If he wants to be a good runner he needs to run, and if he wants to be "fit" or a good athlete he needs to do cardio is my theory.  Maybe a good compromise would be running 3 days a week and other cardio 2 days?  Just make sure one of those 3 running days is a "long run" since he's planning to do a distance run.  So he could run like 2-3 miles twice a week, and do aerobics twice a week or the elliptical or something, and then one long run which would gradually increase every week.  Do you know what his current pace is for running?

One thing I will suggest...he should run a half marathon or more if that's the event he is training for.  I know from doing mine that mile 11 was brutal, because I hadn't done the distance in training.  Talking to a lady at work about her marathon, she did the kind of standard add a mile a week training program and worked up to 22 miles.  She said miles 23-25 were really bad.  So my theory being "practice for the test," I would say he should work up to running 15 miles or so to do a half marathon...that way race day won't be a new experience and be rough.  Maybe it won't be easy, since I'm sure he'll bring up the pace being a real race and everything, but at least he'll know the distance.

He's got a lot of time to prepare though...he shoudl be fine even if he doesn't do it perfectly.

Aw, I know, Ratchets. But I put the info out there on this thread in particular, because I knew I would get good, solid feedback that I could count on. And after all, you DID respond, right?

[NancysSummerSip]

Ratchets, if that's you on the pole - um, nice butt.

[NancysSummerSip]

Hey now...you post a good butt on EE, and the ladies are gonna look! We don't care who it belongs to!

[Deleted]

I was supposed to run  a 5k today to start tracking my pacing.  I was interested to see how fast I could run it, but alas, storm Nemo didn't allow it.   I dd end up running 6 miles, though, in SHORTS!!   I was beautiful out this afternoon. 

[NancysSummerSip]

Feb 10, 2013 19:43:30 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

I was supposed to run  a 5k today to start tracking my pacing.  I was interested to see how fast I could run it, but alas, storm Nemo didn't allow it.   I dd end up running 6 miles, though, in SHORTS!!   I was beautiful out this afternoon. 

Yes, we're sure you were.

[Deleted]

Feb 12, 2013 11:48:59 GMT -5 Ratchets said:

Feb 11, 2013 10:11:45 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Yes, we're sure you were.

LoL!  Freudian slip

Could you tell by the time you ran the 6 miles in if your projected marathon pace would be where you want it?

It is hard for me to tell.   I ran the 6 at an 8:00 min/mile pace which is faster than I do most of my runs and faster than I will run the marathon, but I don't know yet how I am going to do when the runs start getting longer.  The longest I have done so far is 13 miles.  I run 15 this weekend, so I am starting to work my long runs farther.

I would love to run the marathon at 8:35 min/mile, but I just don't know if that is feasible, yet. 


Also, I ate some gummy candies halfway through my 13 mile run.  I think I liked it.  i am going to try again during the 15 mile run and see how I feel.

[Deleted]

I ran a 15 mile long run over the weekend at a 9:20 mile/min pace. It was a bit of a pain because the sidewalks are too dangerous to run on and the roads are narrow and hard to see around because of the snow. So the buddy I run with mapped a run through a semi private community that had light traffic so we just ran in the middle of the road.

The 15 felt really good to me and I had energy to spare at the end of the run. I ate gummies at an hour in and two hours in which I think helped alot. I was also able to drink my whole water bottle which was nice. During our previous 3 long runs the water bottle froze enough that I could drink anything after about half the run.

[NancysSummerSip]

I have not tried the gummies during a run. I've done the gels, which were disgusting and difficult to use. As I progress to the point where I need them, I'll give them a shot. I know my local bike shop carries them.

I've spread out my three-times-a-week runs to Monday and Saturday mornings and Wednesday nights. Saturday was a six-miler, with about a 12-minute per mile pace. Not pushing it in the least, I admit. But I also knew I had a huge day ahead of me that day, and needed to save some energy. This Saturday will be another tough day with both running and swimming.

[genericname]

I tried the jelly belly sport beans during my 10-miler this weekend. Gah! Sweet, sugary aftertaste, but I did get an energy boost. I'm trying a gel this weekend for my long run. We'll see. 9:20 - great pace! I think mine was around 11:10. It felt great - but I have some mean chafe under my sports bra. Ouch! BodyGlide, here I come!

[NancysSummerSip]

BodyGlide is good stuff; I think you will like it, if you have not tried it.

Gatorade has a new gummies line out. They are on sale at my local market this week. Some Gatorade products I love, and some not so much. For the price, I'll try them.

[steph08]

I always use the jelly belly sport beans in fruit punch flavor on my long runs. Yumm. I could go for some right now.

I also like Clif Shot Bloks and Gu Chomps. I am not a fan of the gels. I like something I can chew (my DH makes fun of me because I chew ice cream).

I never used Body Glide -  never really had chafing problems. I used to get a blister or two from my toes rubbing together, but then I switched to Smart Wool toe socks so my toes are separate and no more problems! I love toe socks!

[NancysSummerSip]

Toe socks.....never seen those in my running store, but I do have an issue with a bunion that causes overlap between the big toe and the next one over. A bunionectomy will happen at some point, but right now, it does not hurt. The toe sock idea is kinda neat, though. I'll ask about those. My shop sells the jelly belly beans and the Clif Shots; never tried either one. I don't have anything good to say about the use of the gels while on the run. Before or after the race/run, no problem.

We're doing interval training at swim practice, and it is tiring. I have a meet in 10 days, so it's necessary. I'm just not a sprinter-type, but I do them because they work.

[genericname]

I went to Dick's last week and bought one of each kind of energy gel/block/bean/etc. so that I can try them all to see which one I like the best before the marathon. I'll figure out which one is good for me! Toe socks, hm? Never thought of them, but I do have two toes that rub together. So far no blisters, but I will keep that in the back of my mind as my long runs increase. Thanks for the hint.

[Deleted]

so far I just eat the cheapest store brand gummies that I can find at the grocery store. The only difference between those and gummies marketed to runners are a couple of vitamins that may or may not be helpful on a run.

[NancysSummerSip]

Bit of an update on my friend, the one who's going from couch to half marathon.

He's up to a four-mile combination of running and walking as his longest workout, which isn't bad for a guy who was jogging around the block occasionally and walking most of the time just a month ago. He's altered his eating habits as well, and dropped five pounds in the last 10 days. He got rid of the frozen convenience foods in his freezer and got more fresh fruits and vegetables for snacks. He admits he still loves a good steak, and I said that's fine. Have the steak, but make it a lean cut of meat, even if you have to marinate and slice it thin. And instead of the baked white potato topped with butter and sour cream, have half a sweet potato, or a small ear of fresh corn. He's also bought a crockpot (!) and I encouraged him to make soups, stews, turkey chili and other things to freeze for the days he's too tired to fix anything.

It's a good start, and he's getting it done.