Training Suggestion Needed (Read 766 times)

Mike- I think the advice you are getting here is great. You also seem to have a really good additude about it. I can tell you from my own experience that what the folks are saying is true. I only started running a little over a year ago (I did run quite a bit in college but with little consistency). Since then I have had two serious injuries. One was a stress fracture I got from sheer ignorance. The other was micro-tear in my calf directly related to over-training. I had done a half in September and it went so well that I thought I would do another in October. That was so much fun that I decided I was ready for a full. I even started making plans to run the Flying Pig this May. To hold me over I did a HM in Atlanta in Nov. Two days before the Atlant half is when I felt a soreness in my calf but that didn't keep me from running it. Everything I know now shows me that three HM in three months was way too ambitious for a new runner. Being sidelined for most of Dec, Jan, and Feb. gave me a lot of time to read (this board being a great place to get information) and really think about what I'm trying to accomplish. My realization was similar to what was posted above. I have both long and short term goals. The long term goal is to be a life-long runner. As of now I have taken the idea of running a marathon off the table. That involved swallowing a bit of pride. I had told several people of my "plans". I may revisit it when I have a nice base betwen 40-50 miles. Until then I'm going to enjoy every minute of my long, slow runs and just be thankful I have the ability to use my garmin run.