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Untrained Marathoning

Nebor

Nebor

Lifer
I'm doing it tomorrow morning. I haven't run more than 5 miles at one time in over 2 months, and I just had 6 drinks at a Christmas party. Also, I haven't eaten since I had some scrambled eggs & salmon for brunch.

I'm betting I can Barney Stinson this thing. I wrote on my emergency medical info on the back of my bib, "If I collapse during the race, just kick me into the river."
 
What a terrible idea. Ended up running it in 4:40 and I'm a ruin. Feel like I need to sleep for a couple days.
 
Hahahaha was this something you decided to do while drunk? Btw, unless you train for marathons or longer distance in general, I wouldn't recommend doing sudden bouts of distance. You can do irreparable damage to your joints.
 
Haha...awesome post. I have been running marathons for years, stay in shape all year, and still wouldn't run a marathon on a whim. A half marathon sure, but never a marathon.
 
Nebor said:
What a terrible idea. Ended up running it in 4:40 and I'm a ruin. Feel like I need to sleep for a couple days.
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Sadly, your untrained marathon wasn't much off the American average, which was 4:24 as computed by RunTri based on 2012 times. For certain races, such as the LA and Disney Marathons, you'd actually be ahead of the median (over 5:00 for both). As marathons have become a 'bucket list' thing for a lot of people, times have crept steadily upward and it's become less of a race and more of a long group hike. Completing a marathon really isn't that hard - only completing a fast marathon is.
 
PricklyPete said:
Haha...awesome post. I have been running marathons for years, stay in shape all year, and still wouldn't run a marathon on a whim. A half marathon sure, but never a marathon.
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Really depends on your base mileage year-round. I know lots of runners who train year-round and could essentially run a decent marathon (sub-4:00) on a day's notice.
 
Mursilis said:
Sadly, your untrained marathon wasn't much off the American average, which was 4:24 as computed by RunTri based on 2012 times. For certain races, such as the LA and Disney Marathons, you'd actually be ahead of the median (over 5:00 for both). As marathons have become a 'bucket list' thing for a lot of people, times have crept steadily upward and it's become less of a race and more of a long group hike. Completing a marathon really isn't that hard - only completing a fast marathon is.
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My best trained time (I've done 3 marathons before) was 3:45. And that wasn't nearly as difficult as this was, if that makes any sense.

I had to get up in the middle of the night and take some more percocet so I could continue sleeping. Haha.
 
Mursilis said:
Really depends on your base mileage year-round. I know lots of runners who train year-round and could essentially run a decent marathon (sub-4:00) on a day's notice.
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I'd say that's a pretty small group of people. I know maybe 4 people in my huge running group who could do it.
 
Nebor said:
I'd say that's a pretty small group of people. I know maybe 4 people in my huge running group who could do it.
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Maybe. I'd say anyone running at least 40mpw could do it, maybe less. As long as you're keeping up a decent number of total miles/week, endurance loss is minimal. After that, it's all about proper pacing.
 
Mursilis said:
Really depends on your base mileage year-round. I know lots of runners who train year-round and could essentially run a decent marathon (sub-4:00) on a day's notice.
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Couldn't and wouldn't are two different things. Sure I could run a 4+ hour marathon without training, but I don't think that would be healthy on my aging joints. In order to do a 3 hour pace (my normal marathon pace), I have to properly train.
 
PricklyPete said:
Couldn't and wouldn't are two different things. Sure I could run a 4+ hour marathon without training, but I don't think that would be healthy on my aging joints. In order to do a 3 hour pace (my normal marathon pace), I have to properly train.
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You run around a 3:00 marathon? What sort of miles do you run training for that? I've been thinking of trying to go sub-3:00, but I'm not sure if I have the time to train for it.
 
Mursilis said:
You run around a 3:00 marathon? What sort of miles do you run training for that? I've been thinking of trying to go sub-3:00, but I'm not sure if I have the time to train for it.
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I am not huge on high mile training. Towards the end of training I generally will hit 50-55 miles a week...but I try to run the minimum I have to as I get older. My maintenance running is usually 20ish a week and sometimes dips further depending on how much mtn biking I am doing.

My next marathon will be Big Sur. I took a break from marathoning over the last year due to my wife having twins. It will be interesting what my pace will be.
 
PricklyPete said:
I am not huge on high mile training. Towards the end of training I generally will hit 50-55 miles a week...but I try to run the minimum I have to as I get older. My maintenance running is usually 20ish a week and sometimes dips further depending on how much mtn biking I am doing.

My next marathon will be Big Sur. I took a break from marathoning over the last year due to my wife having twins. It will be interesting what my pace will be.
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What sort of plan do you use?
 
Mursilis said:
What sort of plan do you use?
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The "feel what my body can do plan".

Generally this has me starting with 5-7 mile days through the week and a long run on the weekends that starts off around 10 miles.

The weekday runs are generally hard and pushing my pace. The weekend run is more leisurely, but ramps up my mileage. By the end of training (2 weeks before marathon), the furthest I will generally run is 22-24 miles. My weekday runs will be in the 10 mile range and still pushing my pace.

I will throw in some biking and trail running to mix things up...but that is my general plan.

I ran more miles when I was younger, but tended to get more injured from over doing it. Now I pay more attention to what my body is telling me (which might mean I take a week off running and just bike ... Or might give myself an unscheduled rest day.

Not sure if this fits into any defined plan.
 
PricklyPete said:
The "feel what my body can do plan".

Generally this has me starting with 5-7 mile days through the week and a long run on the weekends that starts off around 10 miles.

The weekday runs are generally hard and pushing my pace. The weekend run is more leisurely, but ramps up my mileage. By the end of training (2 weeks before marathon), the furthest I will generally run is 22-24 miles. My weekday runs will be in the 10 mile range and still pushing my pace.

I will throw in some biking and trail running to mix things up...but that is my general plan.

I ran more miles when I was younger, but tended to get more injured from over doing it. Now I pay more attention to what my body is telling me (which might mean I take a week off running and just bike ... Or might give myself an unscheduled rest day.

Not sure if this fits into any defined plan.
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If you're getting 3 hour times off this sort of low mileage training, that's pretty impressive. Most of the people I know running right around 3:00 are putting in 40+mpw just for base mileage and peeaking at 70+ during a training cycle.
 
Mursilis said:
If you're getting 3 hour times off this sort of low mileage training, that's pretty impressive. Most of the people I know running right around 3:00 are putting in 40+mpw just for base mileage and peeaking at 70+ during a training cycle.
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I did closer to that when I was younger. The key for me is pushing my pace aggressively on my weekday runs. If I don't push hard enough, my pace in the long run suffers. I know everyone is different, but I have found this setup to work best for me. Will be interesting to see how this goes for Big Sur after taking over a year off. I will update this thread if I remember to.
 
Woamn at work trained for months for a marathon. She did it in 6 hours. Ya ... do the math. 360 minutes. 26.2 miles. That's like a brisk walk kind of pace.
 
IHateMyJob2004 said:
Woamn at work trained for months for a marathon. She did it in 6 hours. Ya ... do the math. 360 minutes. 26.2 miles. That's like a brisk walk kind of pace.
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Looking at FB feed around marathon time, you can see the reasons why some people finish the way they do.
Runs at 10-11 minute pace for 10 miles with group of friends (For mutual support)
Stops to take selfie
Walks for 2
Stops to take picture with family member.
Runs for another 5 miles at 10 minute pace.
Goes to bathroom.
Walks for 2 miles.
Stops to take selfie
Runs for 2 miles
Stops to take selfie
Emergency poo.
Walks for 1 mile
Stops to take selfie
Runs for 2 miles
Takes selfie with friend they bump into
Runs rest of race at 10 minute pace.

Goes ahead to post "Ran my first marathon!!!" and slap stickers on car. Gets tattoo. Gets t-shirt related to being woman athlete.
 
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