Has anyone here run a marathon? run any type of long distance race?

[dugweb]

I've been running for the past few months 3-4 times/week for no particular reason except to get my heart in shape.

I recently saw a large billboard advertising the "DamMarathon" coming the last weekend in June, and thought this might be a good goal to work towards.

I've never been apart of any track team, but I have a history of running (It's much more of a priority for me now though). To give you an idea of where I'm at I'm 5'11" @ 135 lbs. and just got done running 5 miles in a little under 50 minutes (pretty terrible actually, but it was a hard run... on the road with a bunch of hills and all). But that is about what I am capable of at this point.


I'm setting goals now, and want to know how I should be performing to know that I am capable of running a marathon (if it's even possible, 2 months isn't a long time).

also, is a marathon setting my goals too high... i.e. should I go for the 1/2 marathon before the full deal?

 

[Smartazz]

Funny, I posted almost the same thing two weeks ago, I'm considering running the marathon eventually too.

My post

 

[miniMUNCH]

Dude...you are not ready to run a complete marathon...it does seem that you have the body type for it from the height/weight you listed.

You should be able to run 10 miles in 70 minutes three times in one week to be able to do a marathon in arond 4:00 to 4:20 hours...and your body may be wrecked...be ready to call in sick to work for 1-3 days after the run.

I don't think you can go from 5/50 to 10/70 in 2 months. In 6 months? Maybe.

 

[dugweb]

Originally posted by: miniMUNCH
Dude...you are not ready to run a complete marathon...it does seem that you have the body type for it from the height/weight you listed.

You should be able to run 10 miles in 70 minutes three times in one week to be able to do a marathon in arond 4:00 to 4:20 hours...and your body may be wrecked...be ready to call in sick to work for 1-3 days after the run.

I don't think you can go from 5/50 to 10/70 in 2 months. In 6 months? Maybe.

what is the optimum body type? btw, the bolded is some good information, that's what I was looking for

 

[erub]

any body type can run a marathon, when I've done mine there were definitely some huge people (300+ lbs) doing them, and FINISHING..sure they may have walked or taken 6 hrs but they finished

personally, i've done 3 of them, I did cross country (5Ks) and miler or two mile races in HS..I was never fast but it was something I did

In order to train for your first one, I was running about 15-20 miles in 3 or 4 days a week, and then over a 3 month period went from long runs of 5 miles to 20 miles (about 3 weeks before the big one) then tapered down until the 26.2 mile run

after the first one, my training was a little less organized, but i still tried to get some runs between 15-20 miles in beforehand, to make sure I'm ready

I recommend joining a local marathon training group for your first one, doing it with other people is a great social experience, and the instructors will make sure you train for it correctly- plus if you are paying you will be more likely to get up early on a saturday to go for that 15 mile run

My best time thus far is 3:52 - I plan to do another one, I would love to qualify for Boston one day but I don't see that happening soon

 

[chambersc]

Originally posted by: dugweb
I've been running for the past few months 3-4 times/week for no particular reason except to get my heart in shape.

I recently saw a large billboard advertising the "DamMarathon" coming the last weekend in June, and thought this might be a good goal to work towards.

I've never been apart of any track team, but I have a history of running (It's much more of a priority for me now though). To give you an idea of where I'm at I'm 5'11" @ 135 lbs. and just got done running 5 miles in a little under 50 minutes (pretty terrible actually, but it was a hard run... on the road with a bunch of hills and all). But that is about what I am capable of at this point.


I'm setting goals now, and want to know how I should be performing to know that I am capable of running a marathon (if it's even possible, 2 months isn't a long time).

also, is a marathon setting my goals too high... i.e. should I go for the 1/2 marathon before the full deal?

Like it has been said, you're not ready to run marathons yet. You know that it's 32miles, right?

I used to run cross-country (5ks aka 3.1miles) and would suggest that. Try to get your time down to sub 20mins consistenly then progress from there.

 

[iwantanewcomputer]

Originally posted by: miniMUNCH
Dude...you are not ready to run a complete marathon...it does seem that you have the body type for it from the height/weight you listed.

You should be able to run 10 miles in 70 minutes three times in one week to be able to do a marathon in arond 4:00 to 4:20 hours...and your body may be wrecked...be ready to call in sick to work for 1-3 days after the run.

I don't think you can go from 5/50 to 10/70 in 2 months. In 6 months? Maybe.

that is definately doable...just run harder and longer than you have been 3 days a week and another 3 days do 3-6 miles easy to get filler miles

 

[iwantanewcomputer]

Originally posted by: chambersc

Originally posted by: dugweb
I've been running for the past few months 3-4 times/week for no particular reason except to get my heart in shape.

I recently saw a large billboard advertising the "DamMarathon" coming the last weekend in June, and thought this might be a good goal to work towards.

I've never been apart of any track team, but I have a history of running (It's much more of a priority for me now though). To give you an idea of where I'm at I'm 5'11" @ 135 lbs. and just got done running 5 miles in a little under 50 minutes (pretty terrible actually, but it was a hard run... on the road with a bunch of hills and all). But that is about what I am capable of at this point.


I'm setting goals now, and want to know how I should be performing to know that I am capable of running a marathon (if it's even possible, 2 months isn't a long time).

also, is a marathon setting my goals too high... i.e. should I go for the 1/2 marathon before the full deal?

Like it has been said, you're not ready to run marathons yet. You know that it's 32miles, right?

I used to run cross-country (5ks aka 3.1miles) and would suggest that. Try to get your time down to sub 20mins consistenly then progress from there.

where on earth did you get 32 from? 26.2. OP, I would do a half marathon faster in your situation, and look for a full one in the 6 month range, but you can get in good enough shape in 2 months

 

[CrazyDe1]

I'm doing a half marathon on may 7th. This is from someone who hasn't ever run more than 2 miles in their life. Started training 2 months ago and it's been pretty horrible...I absolutely hate running and never intend to run again after I'm done. I also feel like I'm burning muscle and my legs are permanently sore.

I don't care about time...all I want to do is finish. I run pretty slowly...like 10 minute miles. The time commitment (working 50 hours, coming home, working out for an hour, then running for an hour) is ridiculous. Like I plan events around having to run which is also horrible. Like, I could go boozing this weekend but I have a 9 mile run on sunday. Or, a bunch of people are going skiing but I don't want to kill my legs so I'm not going. Just random stuff like that sucks.

 

[tommywishbone]

Five marathons.

SF 1988
LA 1988
SF 1989
LA 1989 (PR 3:19.00)
LA 1990

FWIW. My longest training runs prior were 14-16 miles. I was absolutely undertrained, but I was racing (USCF) bicycles at the time, so I had decent aerobic & anaerobic fitness.

If you are planning to do a marathon, I would advise finding a group that is training do run a specific marathon, and start doing miles with them. It's a great way to put in miles & learn about marathon prep.

Good luck!:beer:

 

[BUrassler]

Just ran my first marathon ever on Monday. Boston Marathon in a time of 4:02:06.

My entire training was around 60 miles total, and I had never run over 15 miles at once before the marathon.

 

[Amplifier]

i once played quake for 14 hours straight i hope this helps

 

[tommywishbone]

Originally posted by: BUrassler
Just ran my first marathon ever on Monday. Boston Marathon in a time of 4:02:06.

My entire training was around 60 miles total, and I had never run over 15 miles at once before the marathon.

4:02.00 is a pretty solid time for minimal training. Nice work! :beer:

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: tommywishbone
Five marathons.

SF 1988
LA 1988
SF 1989
LA 1989 (PR 3:19.00)
LA 1990

FWIW. My longest training runs prior were 14-16 miles. I was absolutely undertrained, but I was racing (USCF) bicycles at the time, so I had decent aerobic & anaerobic fitness.

If you are planning to do a marathon, I would advise finding a group that is training do run a specific marathon, and start doing miles with them. It's a great way to put in miles & learn about marathon prep.

Good luck!:beer:

^^^^^ Listen to this one, he knows what he says.

Never run a marathon myself, but I know enough to recognize the above as excellent advice. To add to it, I suggest you get some BodyGlide and a heart-rate monitor (and learn how to use the latter).