Marathon Training Thread

[Pheidippides]

My brother 1 mile from the finish line.

Awesome. He's still running and still smiling. That's a great place to be at mile 25.

[Blueintheface]

Awesome. He's still running and still smiling. That's a great place to be at mile 25.

Funny thing is he had no idea that 50 family members were waiting for him as he reached South temple at a slow walk. When he heard the cheers and saw the signs he broke into his first-mile jog.

[Hot Lunch]

Good luck tomorrow BG and HL (any others?). I'll look forward to the reports.

So I have to say that doing the marathon yesterday was hands down the hardest thing I have ever done in my life physically. It was an awesome experience. I am glad I can say that I have done one and I might not ever do another one again. Right now I am thinking I am going to stick to half marathons.

Bluegoose and I were able to meet up before the start or the race and Bluegoose was kind enough to hang out with me for the first 7 miles before he left me in the dust. It was great to meet another CUFFER and it was fun running and chatting with him and getting to know him.

I think the conversation with Bluegoose kept my mind off of the pain because once we split, I started to feel some serious pain in my left foot at mile 7. I can barely walk on it today it hurts so bad. My wife gave me some Motrin at mile 18 which helped me finish the race when that kicked in.

I called my father in law this morning who is now a retired orthopedic surgeon, as of two weeks ago, and he thinks I probably have a stress fracture in my foot because of what I told him and suggested I get it checked out tomorrow or Tuesday. hostile, do you have any openings? Other than that my other joints and muscles are a little sore but not as bad as I expected. Like I said, it was an awesome experience, it was a goal that I have had for awhile and I am so glad that I can say that I finished. Since my weight fluctuates around 230 pounds, I think I will stick to half marathons.

I am looking forward to a massage that I have scheduled for tomorrow during lunch.

[Hot Lunch]

Funny thing is he had no idea that 50 family members were waiting for him as he reached South temple at a slow walk. When he heard the cheers and saw the signs he broke into his first-mile jog.

I know exactly where that photo was taken. Mile 25 was all uphill. My wife and two daughters were met me at the start of that hill to give me encouragement. My wife has done the Salt Lake half before and knew it was coming. Seeing them helped me out big time. My 6 year wanted to run beside me and did for a minute. She even told me to run a little faster, sadly I told her that was as fast as I could go but they kept me from walking and I at least did the fat man shuffle up that hill.

Tell your brother congrats. That is an awesome accomplishment.

[PaloAltoCougar]

So I have to say that doing the marathon yesterday was hands down the hardest thing I have ever done in my life physically. It was an awesome experience. I am glad I can say that I have done one and I might not ever do another one again. Right now I am thinking I am going to stick to half marathons.

Bluegoose and I were able to meet up before the start or the race and Bluegoose was kind enough to hang out with me for the first 7 miles before he left me in the dust. It was great to meet another CUFFER and it was fun running and chatting with him and getting to know him.

I think the conversation with Bluegoose kept my mind off of the pain because once we split, I started to feel some serious pain in my left foot at mile 7. I can barely walk on it today it hurts so bad. My wife gave me some Motrin at mile 18 which helped me finish the race when that kicked in.

I called my father in law this morning who is now a retired orthopedic surgeon, as of two weeks ago, and he thinks I probably have a stress fracture in my foot because of what I told him and suggested I get it checked out tomorrow or Tuesday. hostile, do you have any openings? Other than that my other joints and muscles are a little sore but not as bad as I expected. Like I said, it was an awesome experience, it was a goal that I have had for awhile and I am so glad that I can say that I finished. Since my weight fluctuates around 230 pounds, I think I will stick to half marathons.

I am looking forward to a massage that I have scheduled for tomorrow during lunch.

Huge congrats (and best wishes for a quick recovery), HL. That's very impressive. I hereby swear an oath that I will never attempt to to do what you did yesterday.

[bluegoose]

So I have to say that doing the marathon yesterday was hands down the hardest thing I have ever done in my life physically. It was an awesome experience. I am glad I can say that I have done one and I might not ever do another one again. Right now I am thinking I am going to stick to half marathons.

Bluegoose and I were able to meet up before the start or the race and Bluegoose was kind enough to hang out with me for the first 7 miles before he left me in the dust. It was great to meet another CUFFER and it was fun running and chatting with him and getting to know him.

I think the conversation with Bluegoose kept my mind off of the pain because once we split, I started to feel some serious pain in my left foot at mile 7. I can barely walk on it today it hurts so bad. My wife gave me some Motrin at mile 18 which helped me finish the race when that kicked in.

I called my father in law this morning who is now a retired orthopedic surgeon, as of two weeks ago, and he thinks I probably have a stress fracture in my foot because of what I told him and suggested I get it checked out tomorrow or Tuesday. hostile, do you have any openings? Other than that my other joints and muscles are a little sore but not as bad as I expected. Like I said, it was an awesome experience, it was a goal that I have had for awhile and I am so glad that I can say that I finished. Since my weight fluctuates around 230 pounds, I think I will stick to half marathons.

I am looking forward to a massage that I have scheduled for tomorrow during lunch.

Excellent work, Hot Lunch! I looked around for you at the finish, but from my perch on my butt on the pavement with all of other runners milling around, I could see very little.

I'll write a bit more when I get a chance, but I'll just say that I definitely should have stuck with you after the 7 mile mark. Those miles totally flew by and I was feeling great. Hot lunch is a stud. He was twice as big as many of the other runners there and he was making it look easy. We had a good time for that hour or so.

The other 3+ hours totally sucked. And my legs hurt today. Badly.

[Pheidippides]

So I have to say that doing the marathon yesterday was hands down the hardest thing I have ever done in my life physically. It was an awesome experience. I am glad I can say that I have done one and I might not ever do another one again. Right now I am thinking I am going to stick to half marathons.

Bluegoose and I were able to meet up before the start or the race and Bluegoose was kind enough to hang out with me for the first 7 miles before he left me in the dust. It was great to meet another CUFFER and it was fun running and chatting with him and getting to know him.

I think the conversation with Bluegoose kept my mind off of the pain because once we split, I started to feel some serious pain in my left foot at mile 7. I can barely walk on it today it hurts so bad. My wife gave me some Motrin at mile 18 which helped me finish the race when that kicked in.

I called my father in law this morning who is now a retired orthopedic surgeon, as of two weeks ago, and he thinks I probably have a stress fracture in my foot because of what I told him and suggested I get it checked out tomorrow or Tuesday. hostile, do you have any openings? Other than that my other joints and muscles are a little sore but not as bad as I expected. Like I said, it was an awesome experience, it was a goal that I have had for awhile and I am so glad that I can say that I finished. Since my weight fluctuates around 230 pounds, I think I will stick to half marathons.

I am looking forward to a massage that I have scheduled for tomorrow during lunch.

Excellent work, Hot Lunch! I looked around for you at the finish, but from my perch on my butt on the pavement with all of other runners milling around, I could see very little.

I'll write a bit more when I get a chance, but I'll just say that I definitely should have stuck with you after the 7 mile mark. Those miles totally flew by and I was feeling great. Hot lunch is a stud. He was twice as big as many of the other runners there and he was making it look easy. We had a good time for that hour or so.

The other 3+ hours totally sucked. And my legs hurt today. Badly.

Congrats and excellent job both of you!

[Sea Chicken]

Congratulations guys! I've heard Salt Lake is a rough one. Way to tough it out and finish.

[bluegoose]

Thanks guys. SLC was the toughest of the 3 that I've done, no question. The first 13+ miles were deceptively tough, in that they were either going up or down the whole time. Nothing super steep, just long, gradual, punishing hills. Very little flat stuff until mile 18 or so, but by that time my legs were completely fried.

The final climb up State Street was really tough. By car, you would hardly know it was there. But after 25 miles of running, it felt like it went on for several miles.

On the positive side, my shin splints behaved themselves pretty well.

[Blueintheface]

Great job you guys. I'm truly in awe.

[Blueintheface]

I know exactly where that photo was taken. Mile 25 was all uphill. My wife and two daughters were met me at the start of that hill to give me encouragement. My wife has done the Salt Lake half before and knew it was coming. Seeing them helped me out big time. My 6 year wanted to run beside me and did for a minute. She even told me to run a little faster, sadly I told her that was as fast as I could go but they kept me from walking and I at least did the fat man shuffle up that hill.

Tell your brother congrats. That is an awesome accomplishment.

Will do. The guy finishes the race, walks home (lives downtown), showers and in an hour is at my mother's home helping her as she recovers from rotator cuff sugery. I wanted to lie down for him. See, not all Ute grads are bad guys.

[Eddie]

I am one month away from picking up my packet for Ogden. Talked to my buddy last night, and I have to admit I'm starting to get excited.

I can't help but think about my race last year, what I learned, what went wrong, what went right, etc. I like to believe that I'll do better this year simply from having experienced it once now.

And as I think about it, I can't help but plan out what will be different and what will be the same.


Last year I remember feeling pretty sick to my stomach by the end of the race. I think drinking too much contributed to this. I was concerned enough about hydration that I walked through all of the aid stations and took two drinks in most of them, whether I felt thirsty or not. By the end of the race I think my stomach was sloshing around. On the other hand, I didn't ever need to stop and use the restroom, so maybe my fluid intake wasn't so out of balance as I think it was.

I'm curious what the rest of you do when it comes to hydration during a race. Do you get something at every aid station? Do you skip some? Do you mix it up between water and sports drink or go heavy on one or the other?

Recognizing that everyone is different, I'd love some input as I try to figure out what to do this time around to keep from feeling like I'm going to spew towards the later stages of the race.

[Sea Chicken]

I am one month away from picking up my packet for Ogden. Talked to my buddy last night, and I have to admit I'm starting to get excited.

I can't help but think about my race last year, what I learned, what went wrong, what went right, etc. I like to believe that I'll do better this year simply from having experienced it once now.

And as I think about it, I can't help but plan out what will be different and what will be the same.


Last year I remember feeling pretty sick to my stomach by the end of the race. I think drinking too much contributed to this. I was concerned enough about hydration that I walked through all of the aid stations and took two drinks in most of them, whether I felt thirsty or not. By the end of the race I think my stomach was sloshing around. On the other hand, I didn't ever need to stop and use the restroom, so maybe my fluid intake wasn't so out of balance as I think it was.

I'm curious what the rest of you do when it comes to hydration during a race. Do you get something at every aid station? Do you skip some? Do you mix it up between water and sports drink or go heavy on one or the other?

Recognizing that everyone is different, I'd love some input as I try to figure out what to do this time around to keep from feeling like I'm going to spew towards the later stages of the race.

I would err on the side of too much hydration. I have a history of fizzling out badly in the last miles of marathons. Last time I made sure I drank a water and a gatorade at every aid station and drinking the whole cupful each time. While I didn't feel good at the end (if you feel good at the end of a marathon, you aren't doing it right) I didn't see starts, tunnel vision, tingly fingers, etc. And I was able to finish relatively strong.

[old_gregg]

My brother 1 mile from the finish line.

did your bro rock shapeups for a marathon? respect.

[Sea Chicken]

I did Ogden long run #3 tonight. I don't want to jinx myself, but man I'm feeling good right now. I did the 20-miler at a 7:18 pace. I hit the 13.1 mile mark in under 1:36, which would be a half marathon PR for me if I had been in a race.
The key to getting faster for me has been getting skinny. I didn't want to post this in the weight loss thread because it would probably piss people off (losing weight when I'm not really overweight) but I was about 170 last summer. I dropped down to under 155 for Top of Utah and got a 20-minute PR. I gained about 5 of that back over the holidays and then got serious. Now I'm in the mid/high 140s. I'm hoping to be holding steady under 145 by race day.
I've been training harder too, but dropping the body fat is what has made the difference and allowed me to push my training pace.