Beginners and Beyond

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For the Experienced - Let's Talk about your First Time (Read 79 times)

FreeSoul87


Runs4Sanity

    I am actually glad for the 3 week taper, as some sort of irritation or soreness has shown up in my left groin since Sunday evening. I am hoping that with a few days of no running and some icing, that things will get better. It looks like this week and next week or going to have a lot less mileage than I planned  and hopefully that will help.

    *Do It For Yourself, Do It Because They Said It Was Impossible, Do It Because They Said You Were Incapable*

    PRs

    5k - 24:15 (7:49 min/mile pace) 

    10k - 51:47 (8:16 min/mile pace)

    15k -1:18:09 (8:24 min/mile pace)

    13.1 - 1:53:12 (8:39 min/mile pace)

     26:2 - 4:14:55 (9:44 min/mile)

    catwhoorg


    Labrat

      Okay you people, this is not going to become an underwear thread damn it 

       

      So this is officially a no underwear thread then ?

      5K  20:23  (Vdot 48.7)   9/9/17

      10K  44:06  (Vdot 46.3)  3/11/17

      HM 1:33:48 (Vdot 48.6) 11/11/17

      FM 4:13:43 (Vdot 35.4) 3/4/18

       

      catwhoorg


      Labrat

        This year like my previous marathon I'll be doing a 3 week taper of sorts.

         

        A mini-taper for a full on HM race, followed by two proper recovery/taper weeks.

        5K  20:23  (Vdot 48.7)   9/9/17

        10K  44:06  (Vdot 46.3)  3/11/17

        HM 1:33:48 (Vdot 48.6) 11/11/17

        FM 4:13:43 (Vdot 35.4) 3/4/18

         

        LRB


          Looking back on your first marathon, do you think that your taper helped you or hurt you, do you think you could have done things smarter or less, or more?

           

          My first went about as well as could be expected given where I was running-wise, although I shudder when I think about my mileage back then I may also shudder a few years from now looking back at my mileage now.  So the key words there are where you are running-wise.

           

          I trained for it to the best of my ability (at that time) and gave myself a decent shot at having a good race, no different than anyone does regardless of how long they have been running.

           

          In real life I am not a person who thinks a lot about going back and changing things and the same can be said about my running.  Having said that the one thing that did me in was the temperature went from 50 at the start to 70 at the half and I basically melted from that point forward!

           

          Going through that experience though is why I would never race a warm weather marathon again, but I would not have known that unless I did so I have zero regrets.

           

          As my time goal slipped away from me those last 7 miles the only thing I held onto was that under no circumstance would I stop running and that is what kept me going.  It may not sound like much but the insanity beginning around mile 19 was just fuckin crazy!  Mile 23 was and remains the longest mile of my life and I am still unsure how I made it through that.

           

          Mile 25 was uphill and I honestly do not remember a single fuckin thing about it except I wished I was fuckin dead!  Still, somehow I did not stop running...which I am certain looked more like a two-step slog at that point!

           

          All that time I had no idea why I was struggling but came to understand obviously that the heat was killing me, I simply did not know anything about that back then (n00bism at its best).

           

          In the end I only came up 10 minutes short of my modest goal (3:50 vs 3:40), and I do not say only 10 minutes loosely.  It was the greatest feeling ever to finish that fuckin thing and that is exactly why we do it.  Remember that should you struggle; you would do it ten times over regardless of the misery because once that seed is planted, running a marathon is something we just have to do come hell or high water...

          FreeSoul87


          Runs4Sanity

            Lol, no undies thread 

            *Do It For Yourself, Do It Because They Said It Was Impossible, Do It Because They Said You Were Incapable*

            PRs

            5k - 24:15 (7:49 min/mile pace) 

            10k - 51:47 (8:16 min/mile pace)

            15k -1:18:09 (8:24 min/mile pace)

            13.1 - 1:53:12 (8:39 min/mile pace)

             26:2 - 4:14:55 (9:44 min/mile)

            happylily


              I will look at my 2010 log book to see what my mileage was overall and what kind of taper I did for the first marathon that I completed. I do remember that I had trained with Pfitz 18/55, but had probably added some miles to it. It's strange, because although it's only been 4 years since my first, I have almost no recollection of it, except for the finish time. Almost like giving birth and then forgetting all about the unpleasantness to trick you to do it over and over again. I also remember that it was like 60F at the start and around 70 something at the finish and I was afraid that I would freeze out there. 

              PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013

                      Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013

              18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010

              Love the Half


                My random thoughts.

                 

                I'm a fan of a two week taper.  Let's assume you've been averaging 50 mpw.  The week before the race, cut back to 35-40.  The week of the race, 20-25 not including the race.  Assuming you have been doing regular speed work, you should continue to do so during the taper except that you should cut back on the volume.  So, for example, you might have been doing 10-12 mile marathon pace runs.  Cut it back to 5-6.  You may have been doing 6 x 1,000.  Cut it back to 3 or 4.  The last three days for me are nothing but very slow recovery jogs and I don't run at all the day before.  That day is to focus on glycogen storage.

                 

                As for a warm up, most marathon runners make the mistake of not warming up at all.  Then, the gun goes off and you try to hit marathon pace right from the gun.  Even if you are running at your easy pace, that's going to cause your glycogen usage to spike and that's one thing you want to avoid at all costs.  Jogging for 10 minutes (or a mile, whichever comes first) followed by a few strides should be sufficient to get your body primed to go at race pace without spiking your glycogen usage.

                 

                Believe what you have read.  I read a lot of crash and burn race reports.  Because of that, I ran what I thought I was capable of running and had a 19 second negative split.  I also read from Pete Pfitzinger that you keep hoping that all of those hard workouts will make it less after Mile 20 and it never does so I knew it was going to hurt.  Mind you, the intensity of the pain caught me off guard but the fact that it hurt was something I expected.

                Short term goal: 17:59 5K

                Mid term goal:  2:54:59 marathon

                Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life.  (I started running at age 45).

                  I ran my first marathon purely due to peer pressure.  I had no business tackling the "training", the taper, or the race.  I trained for an entire 8 weeks, averaging 34 mpw.  But hey, I was READY!  

                   

                  The marathon went pretty much as you'd expect it to go, going from not being a runner to doing a marathon in eight months with little training.  I was fine for 13 miles, got very tired miles 13-18, and death marched miles 18-26 while depleted and dehydrated.  I positive split by like 30 minutes or something.  Still a 4:15 finish was pretty damn respectable, all things considered.

                   

                  I have no regrets and I am glad I was too stupid to know any better.  As painful as it was, it hooked me.

                   

                  ^ this is roughly my story. Except 4:16 finish. And my training was not quite so excellent -- that 34 miles was my peak week, which included a 20-miler. That & the previous week with an 18 miler were the only weeks >30 miles. Never ran more than 3 days/week.

                   

                  During the ~8 mile death march, every bone, joint & muscle group below the waist was screaming in pain. I really thought I was doing some kind of permanent damage. Took a few walk breaks through aid stations, but kept returning to a limp-jog, just to get the damn thing over with more quickly. The triumphant crossing of the finish line was followed shortly by dry heaves. And as I shuffled towards the car (fortunately my wife was driving), I made the mistake of trying to step over a curb, was hit with an excruciating calf cramp & went down like I had been shot. Had to call up from the ground & plead with some passer-by to stretch it out for me.

                   

                  BTW, the peer pressure in my case came from a neighbor who was "training" for a different race on the same day, but also had no idea what he was doing. Found out afterwards he ended up backing down to the half. Ha ha, joke was on me.

                  Dave

                  MothAudio


                    1981 Columbus Marathon

                     

                     

                    I'd pointed toward this race since the inaugural race one year earlier. Unfortunatly I'd only resumed running [after a 6 year absense] in March and with three weeks till the marathon I'd done no specific training [whoops]. No fear, I just said let's go and see how long we could run comfortably and based off that decide whether to send in the $20 entry fee.

                     

                    Ended up getting in 17 miles, no idea what pace, but it must have left me confident I could give it a shot so I registered. Don't recall how I felt following the long run but basically didn't do anything else specific to the race the last three weeks [this was before I kept a journal]. *

                     

                    My only goal was to finish and don't recall any splits from the race. What I do remember was how easy it felt through mile 18 or so. The last 10k was your typical fade but I've felt A LOT worse in future marathons. Finished in 3:35:18.

                     

                    * Ran a total of 800 miles in 1982 and ran even less in '81. That works out to something in the 15 mpw range

                     Youth Has No Age. ~ Picasso / 1st road race: Charleston Distance Run 15 Miler - 1974 / profile

                     

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