Marathon Training Thread

[The_Douger]

I started back up for my half marathon training today. I blew off the last couple weeks in Dec and first week in Jan.

Yesterday I ran four miles, today I did 4.5. Feels good to get out.

My goal is to run 3 half marathons this year. First one is Thanksgiving Point in April. The last one is going to be either the Nebo or one of the October ones they do. Trying to find a good one in the middle, around July or so.

I'm not posting this to pat myself on the back, but it helps to keep oneself accountable, at least for me.

[lambdacoug]

I started back up for my half marathon training today. I blew off the last couple weeks in Dec and first week in Jan.

Yesterday I ran four miles, today I did 4.5. Feels good to get out.

My goal is to run 3 half marathons this year. First one is Thanksgiving Point in April. The last one is going to be either the Nebo or one of the October ones they do. Trying to find a good one in the middle, around July or so.

I'm not posting this to pat myself on the back, but it helps to keep oneself accountable, at least for me.

I have been putting off earnest half training until Friday, when I see a doctor re: my IT band issues. Until then it's just 10% a week increases and if can't get enough miles in by June, so be it, I can find another half to run later. I'm at 6.5 miles this week. I may cheat and do 7 miles with a 5k run on Saturday with my oldest daughter...or I may just do 6...depends on the knee. I'm also attending a running form clinic at the big local running store tomorrow. All in preparation for my journey to a half and eventually a full.

[Pheidippides]

Hmmm...dare I ask which one?

My training has taken a bad turn this week. I tried to do 17 miles on Saturday but only got 16.2 before I had to stop. I didn't eat well before starting and didn't take any gels. Stupid, I know. But the worst part is that my right achilles has been crazy sore since Saturday. I could barely walk yesterday and today it still hurts but not as much. Thankfully it's a rest week and I'm just going to skip everything and try to run 12 miles on Saturday if it feels better. I've been pushing myself a lot with 4 runs/week and the long miles but maybe I pushed it too far. Anyway, I hope I heal quickly and can get in two more long runs before my marathon in six weeks.

It's the one you're doing, of course. Trying to pace a friend to a sub 4 finish (I won't be racing in my own right - not sure I'll be ready, although the recovery from the Goofy has been super duper easy).

Take the time off if you need to. You've done enough to get to the finish in a worst case scenario.

C'mon, that's all you got for me? I get a yard by yard breakdown of milepoint 16.35, but all I get here is salt tabs?

Hydration-wise, my plan is pretty simple. I drink a lot of water and gatorade the day before - so much so that my pee is clear or nearly so. With the carb loading it is a lot of fluids. Then in the morning, I drink water until 90 minutes before the gun. During the race, I do water only - gatorade/powerade mess up my gut - but I take a gel and a salt tab every five miles. I also try to drink at every station. This worked well for me on Sunday, but I did have some gut distress (it passed without issue) and I was dehydrated during those last two miles.

[Moliere]

It's the one you're doing, of course. Trying to pace a friend to a sub 4 finish (I won't be racing in my own right - not sure I'll be ready, although the recovery from the Goofy has been super duper easy).

Take the time off if you need to. You've done enough to get to the finish in a worst case scenario.

After all your training I'd imagine that a 4:00 marathon would be like a walk in the park.

[Moliere]

So it's Friday and my lower right leg (near the achilles) still hurts when I walk. I'm pretty sure I messed something up down there and it's not just simply soreness. It is getting better, but slowly. I wonder if I have to take another week off if I'll lose a lot of what I built up.

[OhioBlue]

So it's Friday and my lower right leg (near the achilles) still hurts when I walk. I'm pretty sure I messed something up down there and it's not just simply soreness. It is getting better, but slowly. I wonder if I have to take another week off if I'll lose a lot of what I built up.

Damn.

[Eddie]

So it's Friday and my lower right leg (near the achilles) still hurts when I walk. I'm pretty sure I messed something up down there and it's not just simply soreness. It is getting better, but slowly. I wonder if I have to take another week off if I'll lose a lot of what I built up.

You'll undoubtedly lose some of your build up. But it's worth getting better before you put on too much strain.

I know everyone's story and situation is a little different, but I keep looking back at my first marathon. I pulled/sprained my soleus, which kept me off of it for quite some time since I kept trying to run again too soon. And just as that is starting to feel better, I go through a bout of bronchitis that needs two rounds of antibiotics to kick. In all I ran very VERY little over the last 8 weeks before the race. I still managed to run it and finish it - though it wasn't easy and the recovery was tough.

My longest run was about 15 miles. And no run was longer than 3 miles in the last 6-7 weeks of training. I ended up finishing the marathon in about 4.5 hours - but I finished. I figured it was already paid for, worst thing that could happen is that I'd end up getting picked up by the meat wagon.

Take the time you need to heal up. If it were me, I would prefer to not be in pain but not be in top form versus being in top form but being in pain - which may increase as you run the race.

[Pheidippides]

You'll undoubtedly lose some of your build up. But it's worth getting better before you put on too much strain.

I know everyone's story and situation is a little different, but I keep looking back at my first marathon. I pulled/sprained my soleus, which kept me off of it for quite some time since I kept trying to run again too soon. And just as that is starting to feel better, I go through a bout of bronchitis that needs two rounds of antibiotics to kick. In all I ran very VERY little over the last 8 weeks before the race. I still managed to run it and finish it - though it wasn't easy and the recovery was tough.

My longest run was about 15 miles. And no run was longer than 3 miles in the last 6-7 weeks of training. I ended up finishing the marathon in about 4.5 hours - but I finished. I figured it was already paid for, worst thing that could happen is that I'd end up getting picked up by the meat wagon.

Take the time you need to heal up. If it were me, I would prefer to not be in pain but not be in top form versus being in top form but being in pain - which may increase as you run the race.

This. Happened to my during training for my first too. I finished, not as fast as I wanted, but I finished proud.

I think very few people are prepared for the miles run in marathon training when they start it. And that's okay.

[Moliere]

You'll undoubtedly lose some of your build up. But it's worth getting better before you put on too much strain.

I know everyone's story and situation is a little different, but I keep looking back at my first marathon. I pulled/sprained my soleus, which kept me off of it for quite some time since I kept trying to run again too soon. And just as that is starting to feel better, I go through a bout of bronchitis that needs two rounds of antibiotics to kick. In all I ran very VERY little over the last 8 weeks before the race. I still managed to run it and finish it - though it wasn't easy and the recovery was tough.

My longest run was about 15 miles. And no run was longer than 3 miles in the last 6-7 weeks of training. I ended up finishing the marathon in about 4.5 hours - but I finished. I figured it was already paid for, worst thing that could happen is that I'd end up getting picked up by the meat wagon.

Take the time you need to heal up. If it were me, I would prefer to not be in pain but not be in top form versus being in top form but being in pain - which may increase as you run the race.

Thx, good advice. I'm still hoping it heals up and I only lose 2 weeks of training. I've done two runs over 16 miles and only had 2 other really long runs left. I have until the end of January to defer my registration to next year, which I don't want to do. But if I'm still hurting on Jan 31 there's a chance I might not even be able to walk the 26.2 miles.

[Eddie]

...but I finished proud.....

If it is possible to finish proud while you are walking more than running and you don't care that 70 year-old women are passing you...then me too!

Thx, good advice. I'm still hoping it heals up and I only lose 2 weeks of training. I've done two runs over 16 miles and only had 2 other really long runs left. I have until the end of January to defer my registration to next year, which I don't want to do. But if I'm still hurting on Jan 31 there's a chance I might not even be able to walk the 26.2 miles.

My race didn't have the option to defer - so it was run it or toss off the entry fee. I'm a cheap Mormon, so...

After spending so much time not running, I was worried that the strain of 26.2 would result in another soleus injury. So the week of the marathon I went out and ran about a mile on Wednesday and then 2 miles on Thursday. I walked a little Friday - probably about a mile again. And to be honest that was probably all the running I did for 3 weeks before the marathon. I felt great - so I went. Interestingly enough, I felt a little soreness at one point probably only 6-8 miles into the race and thought I might be in trouble. But it was gone by the halfway point, and I didn't feel soreness again until the race was over.

[ERCougar]

I started the 55-75 Pfitz plan this week (for ogden).
I ran a 95% (not completely all out, but close) half on Saturday so I was a little nervous about starting right up. Ran a 9 mile LT and then a 8 mile the next day followed by a 5 mile recovery the following. I hurt quite a bit after the recovery miles, with IT band starting to act up a little, which made me nervous. The next morning because of work schedule I had to run long, thinking I'd stop at the first pain. I ran 13 and felt really good up until the last mile, where I cramped up a bit and was walking pretty gingerly for about 10 minutes after finishing. But then felt great all day. This morning, I ran another 5 recovery, and now my ITB is aching a little. IT band stuff makes me really nervous so I might just be nervous but it's weird that my most pain has come after my recovery runs. I haven't had any issues during any of the runs or I would have stopped, since I'm a little nervous about doing a full training week right after a hard half.

Anyone else get that? Feel fine on the hard days and then pain on the recovery days? Today's I can explain because it's the first I've been on hills (unavoidably) in a month, but 3 days ago, it was on a treadmill--weird. Also, no pain while I'm running, only when I'm walking around during the day. It's not bad, just making me nervous.

One more weird thing--I've been having achilles tendinitis type pain in the mornings for I'd guess about 6-7 months now. Only lasts a few minutes and then doesn't bug me the rest of the day (nor does it bug me on runs) but I feel like an old man walking around when I first get up. Also, it's not getting any more severe, just not really going away.

None of this bothers me during runs or I'd cut back. Nor is any of it really bad. Just strange. I think losing 15 lbs would probably eliminate it all.

[Pheidippides]

I started the 55-75 Pfitz plan this week (for ogden).
I ran a 95% (not completely all out, but close) half on Saturday so I was a little nervous about starting right up. Ran a 9 mile LT and then a 8 mile the next day followed by a 5 mile recovery the following. I hurt quite a bit after the recovery miles, with IT band starting to act up a little, which made me nervous. The next morning because of work schedule I had to run long, thinking I'd stop at the first pain. I ran 13 and felt really good up until the last mile, where I cramped up a bit and was walking pretty gingerly for about 10 minutes after finishing. But then felt great all day. This morning, I ran another 5 recovery, and now my ITB is aching a little. IT band stuff makes me really nervous so I might just be nervous but it's weird that my most pain has come after my recovery runs. I haven't had any issues during any of the runs or I would have stopped, since I'm a little nervous about doing a full training week right after a hard half.

Anyone else get that? Feel fine on the hard days and then pain on the recovery days? Today's I can explain because it's the first I've been on hills (unavoidably) in a month, but 3 days ago, it was on a treadmill--weird. Also, no pain while I'm running, only when I'm walking around during the day. It's not bad, just making me nervous.

One more weird thing--I've been having achilles tendinitis type pain in the mornings for I'd guess about 6-7 months now. Only lasts a few minutes and then doesn't bug me the rest of the day (nor does it bug me on runs) but I feel like an old man walking around when I first get up. Also, it's not getting any more severe, just not really going away.

None of this bothers me during runs or I'd cut back. Nor is any of it really bad. Just strange. I think losing 15 lbs would probably eliminate it all.

How can I put this gently? Ah, screw it - your legs are going to feel like shit most of the time and you are going to continually wonder if you are tearing them up. At least for these first few weeks. It's pretty common with Pfitz plans I'm told, and it was true for me.

By the end, I felt like I was freaking Superman.

[ERCougar]

How can I put this gently? Ah, screw it - your legs are going to feel like shit most of the time and you are going to continually wonder if you are tearing them up. At least for these first few weeks. It's pretty common with Pfitz plans I'm told, and it was true for me.

By the end, I felt like I was freaking Superman.

Ok...that's kind of what I'm thinking. Like I said, if any of this were hitting during my runs, I'd stop. If any of it were really severe, I'd stop. Just making me a little nervous.

[Pheidippides]

Ok...that's kind of what I'm thinking. Like I said, if any of this were hitting during my runs, I'd stop. If any of it were really severe, I'd stop. Just making me a little nervous.

I was nervous the whole time, to tell you the truth. A few times I was sure I was going to hurt something, so I eased off. But it paid off and I'm bumping up to the 85 next cycle.

When I lined up for the full last Sunday, my legs were a bit tired, but I'd been there before. Same at the end of the marathon - they hurt, but I knew they wouldn't fail. Great mental bit.

My BIL, a former cross country athlete at a DI school, was here for part of the miles and ran them with me. He was impressed and said that the 18/70 schedule was big boy NCAA level training.

[lambdacoug]

I'm not sure I'll be able to run a Marathon. I went to the doctor Friday and he mentioned that my knee issues may be a result of 15 years of obesity, not running. We'll wait and see what a specialist has to say, but I may need to revise my goals downward... 5 and 10ks may be my ceiling.