New runner, training for 1/2 Marathon (Read 1807 times)

Quote from MrH on 1/7/2009 at 7:29 PM:

Yep. Most college programs are like that: turn the dial up to 11. You've got a bunch of competitive folk in there together, everyone's used to winning and expects to win, and it's fire island: everyone's gonna get burned. But there are worse outcomes than getting injured. Worse things than taking a giant swing and missing. Fire island may not be smart or cautious, but it's an experience that precious few are lucky enough to have, and one that I cherish.

Anyhow, to get back to training, my view is that it really is the intensity that leads to injury, much more than the mileage. That's a hard pill to swallow when you're 19 and all you wanna do is hurtle your body at the edge of oblivion. Obviously, it takes both to excel in the sport. But qualitative shifts in your running ability happen in the off-season, when no one's looking, the steady grind, the trial of miles. The long lonely miles are what prepare you to sharpen up, to handle the withering intensity, to thrive off it for a time, until you run your best or get injured trying.

Quote from mikeymike on 1/7/2009 at 9:20 PM:

Just my two cents on this: if even half of the "just finishers" become more serious runners, doesn't that help the sport move forward as a whole? I understand the frustration about people ruining the perception of the marathon as "Everest". However, many "just finishers" have a healthy respect for the distance and, therefore, only perpetuate the perception that 26.2 is (deservedly so) a monumental task.

Take with a grain of salt, I'm trying to "just finish" my first (goal time: 4:30) in May and plan to "race" my first marathon in October. I started as a "just finisher" on the half marathon not too long ago, and got a "healthy" addition to the sport.

MTA: my spelling sucks.

Quote from celiacChris on 1/7/2009 at 9:30 PM:
I don't understand the question. How do you define the sport "moving forward" and is it that a good thing? I was saying there's room for everyone and I could care less why someone else runs.


I don't.

Quote from Anzura on 1/7/2009 at 9:39 PM:

Your comments about your own running are harsher than anything that has been said on this thread.

Your description of your attitude towards running and racing does not seem to jibe with any of the characteristics of someone who is in the marathon "just to finish." So, I don't understand why you think people would lump you in with a "just finish boom." Unless it's just perception that people who are fast or experienced must look down their noses on slower people or on beginning runners.

Quote from Anzura on 1/7/2009 at 9:59 PM:

I've met some of these idiots. It's so not worth it.

Quote from Lank on 1/7/2009 at 10:11 PM:

Glad I'm not the only one who took it that way.

I need those big goals to keep from being complacent...especially when the weather goes all to shit, as it's wont to do this time of year in these parts. It would be too easy otherwise to make all those excuses that dogged me all of my pre-running life. One of the biggest frustrations for me since starting this nearly 3 years ago was my DNS due to the flu last Spring. Seems there's little that irks me more than paying for and preparing for a race, only to have something out of my control keep me from the start. Training consistently is the one thing I CAN control.

The bonus of plugging away the miles in an effort to finish the longer distances strong is that I automatically am that much faster at the short distances--without any specific training. After tackling each distance once I find that I'm not merely ticking the event off on an imaginary bucket list, but I want to come back and better my time for the next go-round and keep registering for new and varied races.