The Marathon Thread - been bitten by the running bug or just crazy?

[theimage13]

That's awesome; congrats!

I've been doing more at the gym for strength training since my doctor visit a month ago, but I've been really slow to actually pound pavement again. I tried it out for the first time in weeks a few days ago and couldn't make it two miles - my lungs lost all acclimation to running in sub-freezing temperatures. But I managed to do three miles on the treadmill a couple days later without any major problems, so I'm encouraged. I finally bought a foam roller too, and am going to start working that into my conditioning since so many runners I know have sworn by it.

I really want to go running today, since I'm bored to tears and restless - but it's still sub-freezing (WTF, spring?), and my knees aren't feeling 100% - don't want to risk reversing the progress I've been making. Aaaaaaaargh.

[REPLICA]

Getting ready for SummerSlam Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon - just a few months days away!

[REPLICA]

Knoxville went well! However, I didn't beat the 5 hour mark because of cramping and chaffing. BUT, I was able to see old volunteers and meet some pacers for next year. I had made it to the half at 2:15 and at 3 hours I was at the 17th mile. Oh well, I'm just glad I got to spend the weekend with my friends and family. It's very rare when I can actually have people from here in Greensboro meet my family. I think my finish time was around 5:15 or so.

[sentient02970]

Congrats on the finish! That's the other great thing about event like marathons is there is always a social aspect with families and friends to see each other or even run together. Glad you got that part of it too. Enjoy the recovery!

[nothing8]

Knoxville went well! However, I didn't beat the 5 hour mark because of cramping and chaffing. BUT, I was able to see old volunteers and meet some pacers for next year. I had made it to the half at 2:15 and at 3 hours I was at the 17th mile. Oh well, I'm just glad I got to spend the weekend with my friends and family. It's very rare when I can actually have people from here in Greensboro meet my family. I think my finish time was around 5:15 or so.

Well done! I would love to be able to run a marathon distance one day. If I can run 2 marathons in my life I'll be cheering.

[nothing8]

Ran another half marathon the other day, 2 hours and 8 minutes this time around, I hit the wall at the 19th kilometre but I'm happy I ran the whole thing without stopping. Kept up a consistent 5:30/km for the first 10km then it ended up around 6:00/km for the last 11 (with the odd 6:30-6:45/km for 19 and 20).

I ran 14km today, again non stop at a slowly degrading pace starting off with 5:00/km and eventually finishing on 6:00/km, 1:20:30 and it's the quickest I've run that distance ever plus the weather was cold as anything today which was real good training for the half marathon I have coming up in the next 2 weeks.

[nothing8]

So the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon is coming up this Sunday. I'm nervous as all hell, being nervous about work stuff isn't helping either. I skipped running this weekend (and instead went out and got drunk for my birthday shenanigans) and decided to do 5km on the treadmill last night. It's going to be real cold on Sunday.

[nothing8]

So the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon is coming up this Sunday. I'm nervous as all hell, being nervous about work stuff isn't helping either. I skipped running this weekend (and instead went out and got drunk for my birthday shenanigans) and decided to do 5km on the treadmill last night. It's going to be real cold on Sunday.

Official time: 2:01:50

Wasn't cold at all, scenery was awesome and it's been a great day so far quite happy with my time as well.

[sentient02970]

Been going out for sporadic morning runs lately, low mileage (3-4 miles) but the pace seems to be back to where I remember it (before chemo last year) and it feels real comfortable again. So happy to have the old legs back in action.

[nothing8]

Been going out for sporadic morning runs lately, low mileage (3-4 miles) but the pace seems to be back to where I remember it (before chemo last year) and it feels real comfortable again. So happy to have the old legs back in action.

Well done! I just started back up again today with a light 5km after a months break since the half marathon and managed 28 minutes. It's been windy as hell lately which is why I didn't go any further, plus I was getting battered around a fair bit.

[nothing8]

Went for a 14km run today in preparation for the City2Surf which is coming up in 3 weeks time (also 14km). Managed a time of 1:23:22, the course I took included a fuck off steep hill that's about the same grade as the "Heartbreak Hill" in the City2Surf track.

I've also started running real early in the mornings now (5:15-5:30am start times) and I'm actually really enjoying it. I only tend to have time to punch out a quick 5-7km but I feel great throughout the day and it means I don't have to screw around on the treadmill after getting home late from work. It is pretty cold though, seeing as we're pretty much going through winter now.

[Timinator]

Oh, shit, City2Surf is that close? Dammit. I've been battling colds all winter and I haven't been running for shit. I'll have to squeeze a couple in.

C2S is a great run, though. This will be my 4th time.

[the duder]

This is a pretty interesting finding about marathons/endurance training. Would like to keep track of the findings and follow up on this.

[REPLICA]

Got that marathon tattoo about two weeks ago. I'll post a picture of it here in a few days.

[nothing8]

Oh, shit, City2Surf is that close? Dammit. I've been battling colds all winter and I haven't been running for shit. I'll have to squeeze a couple in.

C2S is a great run, though. This will be my 4th time.

Nice work, this is going to be my 3rd one. I decided to sign myself up for the Rebel Run half marathon in November this year the other night. The best part is I'm also booked in for Tough Mudder 2 weeks after it, so when both of those events roll around it'll be very interesting...

[Dra508]

http://jezebel.com/female-runner-who...+morninggloria

I think she's on to something...

[nothing8]

Nice work, this is going to be my 3rd one. I decided to sign myself up for the Rebel Run half marathon in November this year the other night. The best part is I'm also booked in for Tough Mudder 2 weeks after it, so when both of those events roll around it'll be very interesting...

Pretty happy with my time, 1:19:26, I've now learnt that it is in fact BAD for you to donate blood at the peak of your training season/before an upcoming event, I definitely felt a big difference in my body today which wasn't nice, but I'm over the moon seeing as I wanted to crack 1:30:00. Also didn't realise with my time in the Half Marathon earlier this year I actually qualified for the Green group (which would have helped me shave another 2-3 minutes off that time lost from having to dodge those who decided to walk and drift all over the place instead of running in a straight line).

How did you go, @Timinator ?

[Timinator]

Good one!

Mine was good: 1:12:39. Not my best time, not my worst.
Luckily I'm in Red group.

[elevenism]

I want to try it someday, but i would like to just walk fast. Are there people who do it that way?

[Millionaire]

I want to start running regularly, but my motivation is giving me the eye-roll. I should hire a guy to scream "RUN YOU FUCKING FUCK" at me repeatedly after work until I do it.

[nothing8]

I want to try it someday, but i would like to just walk fast. Are there people who do it that way?

Not that I have done one myself, but judging from experience with half marathons here, you SHOULD be ok to just power walk or run/walk the whole thing as long as you stay within the cut off times (assuming they're going to need to open the roads back up ASAP). I'd just stick to the back of the group so as not to get in the way of anyone who's there to destroy a personal best or anything. Also definitely worth training for, even if you are just going to take it easy/walk.

I want to start running regularly, but my motivation is giving me the eye-roll. I should hire a guy to scream "RUN YOU FUCKING FUCK" at me repeatedly after work until I do it.

That's actually not a bad idea, running with a friend actually makes it easier (to an extent) and makes it more fun. Plus you can both yell at each other. I have my own voice in my head yelling at me to run most of the time.

Also realised that I should really start wearing body tape/bandaids on my nipples when I run from now on...especially in cold wet weather. Long story short, went for a 19km run along the bike path along the motorway and as you do, you wave and say hello to other runners and cyclists that you pass. On the way back I would wave/say goodbye to anyone I may have initially passed, except this time instead of giving the usual nod of acknowledgement, I was getting looks from about 20m away that lasted up until they passed. About 15-16km in my uncle was speaking to me and then I got the look from him as well and mid sentence he was like "-and how are you feeling with that?" whilst pointing at my shirt. I had no idea what he was talking about so I looked down and saw 2 nice red racing stripes leading down my shirt from my nipples which weren't there when we left...

[REPLICA]

Yeah... So I did Greensboro Marathon this past weekend... Cramped hard at mile 15 and onward... 5:52 and some change. #9 done though.

[nothing8]

I decided to sign myself up for the Rebel Run half marathon in November this year the other night. The best part is I'm also booked in for Tough Mudder 2 weeks after it, so when both of those events roll around it'll be very interesting...

Did the Rebel half marathon yesterday, 1:57:36 which I'm totally happy about, 4 minutes off my last half marathon and I made it in under 2 hours! The best part of it was I actually managed to keep all my splits under 6 minutes, managed an average pace of 5:36/km (slowed down for water twice and lost a few seconds on some of the uphill sections) so I'm pretty happy.

Not to sure how I'm going to go with Tough Mudder, though.

[nothing8]

Managed to sneak the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge in on the Wednesday (5.55km) prior to doing Tough Mudder this weekend. Managed to run that in 27 minutes and 26 seconds which worked out to around average 4:57/km which I'm more than happy about.

Tough Mudder was great. I feel unbelievably broken, but so happy and everything at the same time. Incredibly tired at the moment (even though we didn't run in, our team basically jogged/walked it). The obstacles are insane, I gave everything a go and I'm definitely looking forward to heading back next year to do it all again with the intention of actually training muscle-wise for it. I got through it as I am now, but I really need to hit the gym a lot more.

[nothing8]

So since my last post I've been very sporadic with my running. Tough Mudder literally broke me, I think I burnt myself out and then work started getting a bit more full on and I basically came to a grinding halt. Went for a run this morning, just a short 5km and managed 28 minutes, which I'm happy with only because I've been out for so long.

I've signed up for Tough Mudder again this year, only because I want the green headband for finishing (indicates 2x Tough Mudder events completed).

[hellospaceboy]

So, seems like this thread is slacking lately

I've been neglecting my runs the last couple of months, but I'm determined to get back into shape and train for a marathon at the beginning of next year. Depending on how my training goes, I'll either do one of Jan 3rd of Feb 14th. I'm turning 34 at the end of February, and my metabolism sucks now, and I decided not to become an out of shape middle aged man, so I need to get back into this. It's been 2 years since my last marathon, but I think I can do it!

[Rubeninphoenix]

Just crazy but I kinda want to start training to see if I could maybe do a half-marathon in January. Any tips?

[hellospaceboy]

Just crazy but I kinda want to start training to see if I could maybe do a half-marathon in January. Any tips?

I'm a firm believer in using a schedule, just google one for a half marathon that seems good to you (example http://www.californiatriathlon.org/running.html) and stick to it. It will help build your runs so you peak on the day of the race.
Good luck, and keep us posted!

[Timinator]

I'm a firm believer in using a schedule, just google one for a half marathon that seems good to you (example http://www.californiatriathlon.org/running.html) and stick to it. It will help build your runs so you peak on the day of the race.
Good luck, and keep us posted!

I second this. Find one that's simple, which makes it easy to stick to. Pick one for beginners. I did this for my first half (at age 40!) and it worked well, getting under 1:50 my first time out.

[magnolia]

Just found this thread. Seriously disappointed to see that it's not named "26.2 miles on my way to hell."

I'm in the midst of training for another half that's next month, and out of curiosity went looking to see if there was a running thread here, to commiserate with someone else. Anyone else training for anything coming up?