RunningAHEAD - Topic: Introduction and Thanks!

AwesomeJoe

posted: 12/9/2008 at 3:49 PM

First of all, let me start by saying I've gotten a ton of advice from this site. What a friendly community. It really helps keep me motivated. Now, on to my introduction. I've always tried to keep myself in good shape. I bike, water ski, play basketball, soccer. in June, I ran a 28 Minute 5k on a whim with my neighbor. That sparked the running urge in me again. I started slowly, running once or twice a week 1-2 miles at a time, but not on a regular schedule. Just whatever I felt like doing. In October 2008, I started running regularly. I ran about 2-3 miles, 3-4 x weekly. I ran a small 5K in 23+ minutes (age group award!) on Nov 8th. Kept building my mileage. Ran a 10K on Thanksgiving morning in 47+ minutes. So now I'm feeling pretty serious about this running stuff. I haven't broke into the 20mpw, but I'm close. My running data is on the nike+ site. I like the ease of use to log miles there. (I'm considering logging it here as well) I'm strongly considering running the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati in May 2009. Comments are welcome.

nothing to see here.

sparky_

posted: 12/9/2008 at 4:07 PM

Welcome! First off I'd HIGHLY reccomend logigng your info on this site if you're going to be looking for advice in the future, etc. as many of the experienced advice givers will look at that, etc. Good goal on the marathon! You should slowly start increasing your weekly milage and adding in a long slow run once a week. Now "long" is going to be relative concept here. Start at the lower end, probably around 6-8mi in your case, and work at increasing it about 1 mile every week for two weeks, then reverting back to the original base distance on the third week. Keep on repeating this. There will be more people with better advice than me, but basically you need to build a good base milage of around 30 miles/week before you start of a marathon training plan. Start looking for a 4-5 month begginers marathon plan now so you know what and when you need to start come January. Good luck!

Slo

posted: 12/9/2008 at 4:14 PM

Hey Big Joe Congrats....I'm new here too. Right now keep working on building your base. Keep increasing your weekly mileage. With your early success I think you'll see alot more Age Group awards. Those are really some great paces for such little running. And a 5 minute improvement in a 4 month span! Figure out how much time you can dedicate to getting your MPW up. Get consistent with your weekly runs. Shoot for 5 - 6 days/week. Your pace will quicken with the volume. If your serious about the Marathon in May then your training needs to begin pretty soon. 20 mpw isn't much when your preparing for a Marathon but I know alot people who have started on less. Since I'm new here I'm interested in what advice you'll receive on doing the Marathon. It is a big undertaking, be prepared for a long recovery period afterwards. Your 1st run will feel pretty labored ! Your excitement is great and I wish you a long and fast running career !

AwesomeJoe

posted: 12/9/2008 at 4:25 PM

Quote from Slo on 12/9/2008 at 4:14 PM:

It is a big undertaking, be prepared for a long recovery period afterwards.

Funny thing... I ran the 2003 Flying Pig marathon and my long recovery lasted nearly 4 years. and I'll start to import my past runs into RA's database, and I'll start logging my future ones. I've started looking at Hal's novice marathon plan. It's the usual 3 midweek runs + 1 long run + 1 cross train session a week. Right now I'm running 4 times a week, should I consider adding a 5th day or keep my 2 rest days. example week: Sun. CrossTrain; Mon. Rest; Tues. 3 miles; Wed. 5 miles; Thurs. 3 miles; Fri, Rest; Sat. 6 miles (long day). I like this because it gives me the flexibility to flip my long day between sat and sun as needed.

nothing to see here.

Slo

posted: 12/9/2008 at 4:52 PM

Quote from AwesomeJoe on 12/9/2008 at 4:25 PM:

Funny thing... I ran the 2003 Flying Pig marathon and my long recovery lasted nearly 4 years..

That's funny..........That was kinda in the back of my mind. I know two people....got started running, loved it. Took on a Marathon with less than a year under thier belt and that was the end of thier running. I'd hate to see that repeated. Me persoanally......I'd skip the Marathon this year. Work on your volume....have fun racing and see if it is something you still want to do next year.

AwesomeJoe

posted: 12/9/2008 at 5:00 PM

I understand that point. I had a major life event happen shortly after the 2003 marathon. My daughter was born. That really changed my focus and I just kept saying I'll start running again next week. Then daughter two was born and it started all over... Now I've got a good work/life balance schedule and I've got more free time to do the things that I like to do. I plan on training for the marathon in May and if I get to March and realize I've bitten off more that I can chew I'll scale back and run the 1/2 and look for another marathon in the fall. I appreciate the advice.

nothing to see here.

Introduction and Thanks! (Read 599 times)