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New runner, training for 1/2 Marathon (Read 1808 times)
posted: 1/6/2009 at 6:54 PM
I started running last year. I did two 5Ks and 1 half. This year I'm signed up for a half in April.

For me, the half was a bigger goal because I could push my body as far as distance. I'm never going to be a fast runner - not for a good while at least. So it was about working on endurance. So I wasn't a HM racer but a finisher. My time was slow and I even had to do some walking. My goal for the next one is NO walking - and of course a better time.

However, I was never a 5K racer, either. I knew that I didn't have the chops to compete for any sort of award. So for me, a HM felt like more of something where I could accomplish something more meaningful to me. I think it is all individual.

Could it be that more people are also doing HMs and other similar longer distances because we've all been listening to the advice to run slow and steady and to run more mileage?
Kerry


RobinandAmelia


posted: 1/6/2009 at 7:03 PM
modified: 1/6/2009 at 7:03 PM
I agree with previous poster who said that if it wasn't for the goal of a marathon (or 1/2 in my case), I probably wouldn't be running. I've been in 3 5K's and improve my time each time, and one 10K which I ran in :55 which thrilled me. I am registered to do my first 1/2 on May 3 and this is what motivates me to extend my runs. I will continue to do 5K's though as I like the short race and I want to keep improving my time there, however, you don't need to train in "miles" to do that (in my opinion). So for me, I think it will be a combination of both, short distances (more race type) and longer distances like the 1/2. Who knows, maybe from there I'll tackle a full Smile

Robin
jEfFgObLuE


posted: 1/6/2009 at 7:19 PM
Quote from PowerOfQ on 1/6/2009 at 6:34 PM:
MTA:
Yet I contend that running the 400 and/or 800 competitively is a hell all its own.


Given the choice between running a marathon at any pace I want, or an 800m all-out, I'd take the marathon. The 800 scares the shit out of me.
20th Century: Is ancient history
21st Century: 5k: 19:42 |10k: 43:00
posted: 1/6/2009 at 7:37 PM
Quote from jEfFgObLuE on 1/6/2009 at 7:19 PM:
The 800 scares the shit out of me.


Like this surprises anyone.
jEfFgObLuE


posted: 1/6/2009 at 7:40 PM
Quote from TanyaS on 1/6/2009 at 7:37 PM:
Like this surprises anyone.


Big grin Figuratively. It's about 2 miles to short to do it literally.
20th Century: Is ancient history
21st Century: 5k: 19:42 |10k: 43:00
posted: 1/6/2009 at 7:42 PM
Quote from Kerry1976 on 1/6/2009 at 6:54 PM:
Could it be that more people are also doing HMs and other similar longer distances because we've all been listening to the advice to run slow and steady and to run more mileage?


I imagine it's the other way around: People run slowly for long distances so that they can complete long distances.


Thunder, Cube Jockey!

posted: 1/6/2009 at 8:00 PM
Quote from RobinandAmelia on 1/6/2009 at 7:03 PM:
I agree with previous poster who said that if it wasn't for the goal of a marathon (or 1/2 in my case), I probably wouldn't be running. I've been in 3 5K's and improve my time each time, and one 10K which I ran in :55 which thrilled me. I am registered to do my first 1/2 on May 3 and this is what motivates me to extend my runs. I will continue to do 5K's though as I like the short race and I want to keep improving my time there, however, you don't need to train in "miles" to do that (in my opinion). So for me, I think it will be a combination of both, short distances (more race type) and longer distances like the 1/2. Who knows, maybe from there I'll tackle a full Smile

Robin


What is this "Full" you speak of tackling?
Relentless Consistency
Pain is just weakness leaving the body.
"You're obviously the kind of guy that would throw your best friend under the bus if it suited you. You're an asshole. Not a funny asshole. Not a swampy asshole. Just an asshole. " - Ben Schneider on The Thunder
RobinandAmelia


posted: 1/6/2009 at 8:10 PM
"Full" Marathon Smile
posted: 1/6/2009 at 8:21 PM
How about a "Full" 5k?
posted: 1/6/2009 at 8:34 PM
modified: 1/6/2009 at 8:36 PM
Quote from Kerry1976 on 1/6/2009 at 6:54 PM:
I started running last year. I did two 5Ks and 1 half. This year I'm signed up for a half in April.

For me, the half was a bigger goal because I could push my body as far as distance. I'm never going to be a fast runner - not for a good while at least. So it was about working on endurance. So I wasn't a HM racer but a finisher. My time was slow and I even had to do some walking. My goal for the next one is NO walking - and of course a better time.

However, I was never a 5K racer, either. I knew that I didn't have the chops to compete for any sort of award. So for me, a HM felt like more of something where I could accomplish something more meaningful to me. I think it is all individual.

Could it be that more people are also doing HMs and other similar longer distances because we've all been listening to the advice to run slow and steady and to run more mileage?


Kerry, I understand what you're saying, but why does finishing a half marathon appeal to you more than running a 5k at a pace that is challenging for you?

I'm not saying one goal is somehow better than another...just trying to get at the reason why so many new (adult) runners want to jump to the longer distances so soon in their running careers, while runners who started in high school (especially the most talented ones) tend to wait many years before tackling the half marathon or marathon distances.

I've been following Dakota's log since last year and that guy is going to kick some ass. -flovesparko


2010 Goals
Sub-18 5k
Sub-38 10k
2:55 Boston Marathon
RobinandAmelia


posted: 1/6/2009 at 8:48 PM
You get better shirts for a 1/2 then a 5K Big grin

kidding of course.
posted: 1/6/2009 at 9:02 PM
Dakota, that is a good question. I think it is because it feels like a bigger thing? I don't really know. What I can say is that I've wimped out of running some of the local 5Ks because they are so competitive that I'd be the last one in by many minutes. That isn't something I want to say I "accomplished" even though it shouldn't matter. I'm simply not a very fast person. My fastest mile is just under 10 minutes. Recently I was doing short sprints on the treadmill and my 9:31 mile felt like I was sprinting. If I focused on that I could be better at it so your question is a very good one to think about (and I think about this stuff). Right now, I prefer taking a nice long run and pushing myself in terms of endurance. In those terms, even at a 12 min/mi pace, I feel like I am doing something that is above and beyond the norm. This may change as I continue my training - in fact, it probably will. For me, right now, this seems to be what I want from my running...but that seems to adjust daily, so who knows what I'll want tomorrow, next week or next year! Smile
Kerry



1983

posted: 1/6/2009 at 9:06 PM
Quote from Dakota RR on 1/6/2009 at 8:34 PM:
Kerry, I understand what you're saying, but why does finishing a half marathon appeal to you more than running a 5k at a pace that is challenging for you?

I'm not saying one goal is somehow better than another...just trying to get at the reason why so many new (adult) runners want to jump to the longer distances so soon in their running careers, while runners who started in high school (especially the most talented ones) tend to wait many years before tackling the half marathon or marathon distances.


My name isn't Kerry, but here is my take on this.

Competition, thats why.

Why are people paying lots of $ to climb (or be hauled) up Mt Everest. So they can say they did it. Granted, they might not have free climbed it, but they will be in an small group of people who can say they did it. The elite Mt climbers are probably shaking their heads wondering why they don't take the years to train and climb it.

Its the human spirit to challenge itself with something new. Why did Columbus sail to the new world? People are always trying to do something no one (or not many) has done before, or to do something that is at the edge of what they perceive they can do. 5Ks have been around forever. Everyone and their brother has done a 5K. Not everyone has the time to train themselves to do a 5K to the best of their ability, let alone a Marathon. If you are new to running and you tell your friends, I ran a 5K in 28 minutes, they might say, cool, thats nice. If you told them, I ran a 5K in 18 minutes, you would probably get the same response. Few people understand the difference between what is required to run 18 vs 28 minutes for a 5K. On the other hand, if you told your friends, I ran a marathon, you would get a much more impressed response. Now, I'm not saying that people are going out to run marathons just to impress their friends, but it just is another way of illustrating that a marathon is closer to climbing Mt Everest, the tallest Mt in the world, that a 5K.
Don't worry about him, he has no "game". - some kid
Scout7


CPT Curmudgeon

posted: 1/6/2009 at 9:15 PM
Completing something is not competing.

Most people are not competitive people. They are satisfied finishing. And that's perfectly fine. Good for them for doing something, as it is still better than nothing.


1983

posted: 1/6/2009 at 9:45 PM
Quote from Scout7 on 1/6/2009 at 9:15 PM:
Completing something is not competing.

Most people are not competitive people. They are satisfied finishing. And that's perfectly fine. Good for them for doing something, as it is still better than nothing.


Completing something is competing, if you are competing against someone as to complete or not complete.

Keeping up with the Jones's is competition. That is more how people are competing.
Don't worry about him, he has no "game". - some kid
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