Anyone NOT wanting to run a marathon?? (Read 1521 times)

There are as many paths to success as there are people who choose to succeed. Why's that? Because everyone's definition of success is different. It doesn't make sense to follow anyone else's path when chances are real good it's not leading you where you want to go.

This is almost Yoda-esque, except your syntax is better.

SNIFF, SNIFF - I love you guys! I must apologize - I realized after I posted that I'm a little hormonal at the moment. Hence my depressing-ness. I shouldve rented Steel Magnolias and curled up with a box of tissues and a bottle of wine until I snapped out of it. So I guess I was kinda considering this "training" as work. And you are all correct, I DID start running for a reason and I'm gonna start reminding myself of that more often. I think I got caught up in all the talk about running 200 miles in a month, catching up with some pace bunny, fartleking, hill running and so on. So I felt I wasnt doing it correctly if I didnt vary things up a throw some speedwork runs in there. Since I'm physically able to run a 10k I will be signing up for one soon, but after reading all your posts I think I will cut back my long runs and such afterwards. Maybe I wont feel as rushed and busy during the week trying to squeeze in as much mileage as possible. Also, although I love my garmin, I think I might ditch it for a little while. Last week, my batteries died so I left it at home and I have to say I was pleasantly suprised at how well I ran that day and how long I went for without knowing it. It was more enjoyable than normal. I also didnt have to constantly look at it to see what my pace was every 5 minutes. And I was able to go for longer before taking my walk break. I also want to join my local running club so get more involved in volunteering for races and meeting new people and such. I was tossing the idea around but I think now I will defintely do it. And more 5ks this year - since my first was in September last year I know I can at least do better than that finishing time! Once again, thanks for all the support thus far. And yes, Blaine you can certainly use anything I said in your newsletters.

Chrissy, it sounds like you have a good plan. The local running club is a GREAT idea. I run about as slowly as you do, and believe it or not, you may discover that there are SLOWER runners (especially the moms pushing those gigantic baby strollers, lol). My running partner and I meet a group of moms at our local running store every Thursday morning - it's fun, because a store employee or two runs with us and has us do different simple workouts each week. It's nice for someone else to tell me what to do for a change, and I've met some neat people who I frequently see at races. It's one of my favorite parts of running now.

I completely agree. I have been running for about 3 years and have no interest in racing. During that time my mileage has lengthened and my pace has quickened. I am stronger, fitter, and happier than ever. I have a good friend who loves to race, ran the Boston Marathon last year, runs Falmouth, etc. and she always wants me to race with her. Is now encouraging me to do a half marathon. During a recent run I was asking myself why I don't race, and it dawned on me that one of the reasons I love running is the solitary nature of it. I run early in the day (5 am or so) 6 days a week, and have the world to myself. This prepares me for a day of work, kid, husband, dog, commute etc. in a way that makes me very grateful. On the other hand, running with a huge pack of people is not motivating to me. So I decided to just keep adding to my miles and continue enjoying my lonely runs. I completely admire others who race and find that motivating, but am OK knowing that doesn't work for me. For me, I just love that even on those days when I run poorly, I am always happier than if I hadn't run at all. Final note -- I agree with others that outdoor running is the best. With the right gear the temps and wind aren't a problem, and you feel even more hardcore at the end!

"Teresa sprinting" is an oxymoron. Trust me on that.

I'm not interested in one anymore, and here's my story. I finished my first marathon in 1984 in 2:50 at age 19. My longest "long" run was 14 miles leading into the race. In 1987, I was a much faster runner than I was in 1984 and was running a bunch more, so I thought that I'd take a shot at breaking 2:30. Starting in August of that year, I began running about 100 miles per week. My wife and I had jobs where we got home around 4:30 p.m. On Fridays, we'd eat dinner and go to bed. The alarm clock would go off at 10 p.m., and she'd ride her bike while I ran 22 miles every Friday night. Remember, this was August when it was 95 degrees at 10 p.m. in Texas. I was also doing speed sessions such as 1-mile repeats. I plugged away all fall and ran some lead-up races. I was crushing all my races, and my final speed session was 8 * 1-mile averaging 5:05 w/ a 440j, and I ran the last one in 4:50. I was definitely ready. I woke the morning of the race to find that it was about 70 degrees with 90% humidity. It was over. 5 months of totally focusing on one event and one outcome was upset by something over which I had no control. As a result, I have not attempted a marathon since because I just can't find the rationale that makes that total focus worthwhile. Meanwhile, I've run my 5 and 10K races, and I've run some times that I'm quite proud of. I don't need a marathon to validate my status as a runner. While running a marathon is quite an accomplishment, it doesn't make or break you as a runner.

I have recently been struggling with these same issues. I have really only been running seriously for about a year. I started running again when a co-worker and I were eating lunch and she said "we should train for a half-marathon". I thought it was doable because I remembered that I really liked to go out for runs when I was in college. So I started training without having any idea what I was doing. As you can imagine, the results were not good. I ended up with a stress fracture a couple of months after I started. When I was forced to take some time off I learned a little more about how to train for a half-marathon. I rode my bike a lot and stayed in good cardio shape and began running again as soon as the doc gave me the ok. I ended up succesfully running three halfs at the end of last year. I probably should say that I ran two successful and one un-successful. Two days before the half on Thanksgiving I injured my calf. I should not have run it but had been planning it for a couple of months and didn't want to dissapoint my brother-in-law who was going to run with me. I finished it in my average time but I did damage to my leg that I have just now recovered from. So since thanksgiving I have taken about 5 weeks off. I had a goal to run the Flying Pig Marathon in May. I have totally scrapped that idea. Right now I just want to be able to run- injury free. To train for a marathon the right way takes a lot of time. Right now I have two children under three with the younger one being only seven months. My wife just started a new job which requires some extra hours. This may not be the best time in my life to train. My current goal is to just enjoy running. I'm going to enter in some more 5k races for the fun (I didn't like to race those when I was "training" for my halfs because they messed up my long run schedule). I'm going to build a good base following the 10% rule. I have decided that someday I will run a marathon. For now I'm just going to enjoy running, not burn myself out, and not make it a chore.

Believe it or not, I could've written the exact post myself (not wanting to run a marathon, not wanting to run over 2 hours etc). I am at a stage in my life where I cant squeeze any more time out for running than I already do, but I find that I enjoy what I run now, and am a bit moody on days I don't run. I used to worry about being the slowest runner on earth, and if I'll ever be any faster, but once I stopped tryng to get faster, I think I actually am. I used to have trouble breaking 10min/mile when I started, running 2 years ago, but on a recent run I broke 7 min for a mile, so there is hope for all of us. I stll train at 11-13 min miles for the most part, because that's the pace I enjoy. My optimal running time seems to be around 1 hour, anything longer starts being work and not really fun, so I guess you have to find your happy pace and duration and keep at it as long as its enjoyable.