Just remember who you're debating with. When I posted that a health teacher from my area ran a 2:28 at Boston in his 3rd marathon at age 25, LTH said it was pedestrian. LTH is not easily impressed. Nothing wrong with that. We just see things differently.
I said it was pedestrian because people were squawking about how he could be a professional runner. A 2:28, while a hell of a lot faster than I'll ever run, isn't in the same zip code as what it takes to run professionally. A 2:28 will win a lot of small, local marathons just as a 15:00 5K will win nearly every local 5K but neither are remotely close to fast enough to be a professional.
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 guess I need to give up my dream of getting a shoe endorsement deal.
Are we there, yet?
If memory serves me correctly, the original post about that teacher said 2:38, not 2:28. To give you some indication of why LTH may not be overly impressed with a 2:38, some calculators say that's what my marathon equivalent based on my 5K and 10K times was when I was at my peak and still wasn't fast enough to place overall in most of the races I ran, even the small, local races.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K, 9:11:09 06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
http://www.runningahead.com/groups/BF_and_Beyond/forum/30f1e58d645c4885bd6f8c9ce1d6cb6f/resume#focus
In summary:
Hey cool, local guy went 2:28...Wonder what his potential is...that's neat...you'll see him unless he's in a training camp...or unless he trains like Rupp doing crazy treadmill stuff...haha, that's funny and crazy....no, that is pedestrian, world class elites roll out of bed and run 2:09...pedestrian? that's harsh, no? I mean, he's young, 3rd marathon, maybe if he trains...no, pedestrian...okay then...
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and roguesWe're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
Smaller By The Day
G nailed it.
Improvements
Weight 100 pounds lost
5K 31:02 Sept. 2012 / 23:36 Sept. 2013 (Same Course)
10K 48:59 April 2013
HM 2:03:56 Nov. 2012 / 1:46:50 March 2013
MARATHON 3:57:33 Nov. 2013
2:28 in Boston? If I can't call him an elite, can I at least call him super-amazingly fast for a commoner like the rest of us?
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
In summary: Hey cool, local guy went 2:28...Wonder what his potential is...that's neat...you'll see him unless he's in a training camp...or unless he trains like Rupp doing crazy treadmill stuff...haha, that's funny and crazy....no, that is pedestrian, world class elites roll out of bed and run 2:09...pedestrian? that's harsh, no? I mean, he's young, 3rd marathon, maybe if he trains...no, pedestrian...okay then...
I always loved the Cliff's Notes in high school.
Dave
Skirt Runner
The only reason I brought up length of training is I have seen so many times on this forum and on RWOL that any time anyone with less than a year's experience running, especially right off the couch, brings up that they plan to run a marathon, everyone is like, "Omg no! Don't do that! You should not run a marathon a few months after you start to run! You need years of training under your belt before you even THINK of that, you idiot." (I am exaggerating a bit). I wanted to preface posting the video with a disclaimer that the people in it run a marathon on 40 weeks of training who were previously sedentary, and that that premise was likely to be met with a lot of criticism here based on past precedent, but I wanted to mitigate that because I wasn't posting it to be like, "OMG IT IS SO GREAT THAT THESE PEOPLE RAN BOSTON IN 6 HOURS WITH 4 MONTHS OF TRAINING" it was because I thought it contained a lot of interesting information about the effects of marathon training on the human body. I put the disclaimer to avoid it becoming a thread about how foolish it is to run a marathon on less than a year of running. Clearly, my mission failed.
PRs: 5K- 28:16 (5/5/13) 10K- 1:00:13 (10/27/13) 4M- 41:43 (9/7/13) 15K- 1:34:25 (8/17/13) 10M- 1:56:30 (4/6/14) HM- 2:20:16 (4/13/14) Full- 5:55:33 (11/1/15)
I started a blog about running :) Check it out if you care to
Clearly, my mission failed.
Some threads sink, some threads swim, few threads accomplish intent, and most take on a life of their own that have nothing to do with the original post at all. But anytime you spur civil discussion, you have not failed.
Kristin - The video sounds interesting. I plan to take a look at it. FWIW, a big reason I waited 2.5 years to run my first marathon was the conservative advice I received on RWOL BF. Some run marathons sooner and have great experiences. Perhaps I would have as well. Nonetheless, I don't regret waiting.
2013 goals: 800m: 2:20 | mile: 4:59 | 5k: 18:59 | 10k: 39:59 | HM: 1:32 | Marathon: 3:20
I think that it has meltdown potential so I'm not willing to call it a failure yet. Let's give it another day.
i need to watch the video and see if i should show the wife.
I took my big butt from the couch to 26.2 in 8 months just because. Am I awesome....to some yes....to most hell no.
My wife plans on going from couch to 26.2 in 9 months. Is she awesome. hell yes.
I bet LTH when he was overweight and chillin on the couch puffin on a kool was more impressed by the 26.2 than he is now.
”Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.”
Tomas
i need to watch the video and see if i should show the wife. I took my big butt from the couch to 26.2 in 8 months just because. Am I awesome....to some yes....to most hell no. My wife plans on going from couch to 26.2 in 9 months. Is she awesome. hell yes. I bet LTH when he was overweight and chillin on the couch puffin on a kool was more impressed by the 26.2 than he is now.
Tomas, you are indeed awesome. No one can ever deny that.
In then end, we make our decisions based on our needs. Performance, finishing strong, avoiding injury, etc... they are not always our motivators. We create our own challenges for ourselves and should not be judged on them. So, you get that? DO NOT JUDGE MY HUGE POSITIVE SPLITS! Thank you.
Please. You cannot touch my positive splits.
Are you positive?