dallison

I should take a pic of this hill.

'06 Arctic

Shalooby I can't agree with dallison's statement more. For a half marathon you should try to get in at least one 12 mile run and for a full at least one 18 or 20. These long runs help build your physical endurance but also your mental endurance. Running for 3+ hours isn't a mentally easy thing to do. They also help condition your body to the trauma (that's really what it is) that your body is going to experience during the race.

Not that I've had a month (exactly now that I look at it) to look back at my race and really think about my performance during it, its crazy to see how fast it went downhill after mile 20. I didn't hit a "wall" as a lot of people say they do, but I definitely started to struggle with leg cramps and my pace slowing in general. With my training (2-20mi, 2-18mi, 3-16 mi) my body just wasn't prepared to run another 6.2 miles. I think that is the biggest struggle with the first marathon. I'm anxious to see how my body handles the last 6.2 miles during #2.

Shalooby

Thanks guys. I'm definitely going to do the long runs as well. It would be foolish of me to think I could do it without that type of training too.

Up until this point I've been working on building my base. When I started I tipped the scales at 210, and running 2 miles damn near killed me. I'm down to 180 now and 2 miles is a warm up. My heart-rate also seems to stabilize around 130 - 140 whereas before I'd have to stop or slow down as it starting inching up to around 180+

I've still got four months to go to start working in the distances. Enough time?

dallison

there's plenty of time. You are building mileage nicely. Your next step should be 7-9 mile long runs and gradually build like you have done. There are some running plans that will help you with this on the web. Runnersworld, coolrunning and others have 13.1/26.2 schedules.

Arctic can point you in the right direction as he has his first marathon under his belt. Learn from his experience the longer distances you need to run to finish strong.

Congrats on the weight loss. Remember lsd, (not LSD) long slow distance running is what you need.

Shalooby

Heh heh.... Never touched the second kind......

dallison

It'll give you a high just not the same kind.

'06 Arctic

Having that base will really help Shalooby. General rule of thumb to avoid injuries is to not increase your weekly mileage by more than 10-15% per week. 16 weeks will be enough time to get in those longer runs.

If you are already running a base mileage per week, Runner's World has a program called SmartCoach that is free that will give you a customized training plan. You need to sign up for an account (also free), but if you enter in your race distance, a previous time for a 5k, 10k, HM, full, etc, the amount of miles you want to run per week, and the date of the race it will give you a plan with distances, paces, etc.

This is what I used when training for my first and it took a lot of the uncertainty about what I should have been doing out of it. Unless you want to run 40+ miles per week, it will probably have you do 1 easy run 3-6 miles, 1 quality workout (either speedwork or a tempo run), and then a long run on the weekend.

Hal Higdon (former Editor at Runner's World) also has a bunch of free plans on line that are broken down by Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced runners. These plans specify distances to run and what days, but do not give any paces. It is more based on a perceived effort level.

If you want to go with a Higdon plan and would like an idea of what paces to run, Greg McMillian (McMillian Running) has a pace calculator which is pretty cool. Based on a time for a specific distance it will give you your recommended training paces for long runs, recovery runs, speedwork, tempos, etc. Website is http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmil...calculator.htm

Shalooby

Thanks a ton Arctic! I've been looking around too and there's so much stuff out there it's hard to pick one. Then I wind up questioning one over the other.

I don't want to go crazy with plans and such, but I do want to make sure I'm doing enough. And also not doing too much, too soon. That's why I've been slowly building up to this as well.

I've been looking at the runners world one and Hal Higdons too.

'06 Arctic

I don't think you could go wrong with plans from either Runners World or Higdon. The one thing I don't really love about the SmartCoach Plans that Higdon takes into account is speedwork. It can be pretty hard on runners if they don't normally do them as part of their running routine. I think that is where a lot of my shin splint issues came from. Even if you go with a SmartCoach plan you could always just substitute a tempo run, hill work, etc. in place of the speedwork.

bgsm1th

I did a half marathon from Napa to Sonoma, CA last summer for a fundraiser - it was awesome!

zac

Im getting curious about these. Have you done any long distance (10+ miles) in them? I love the idea, but can't imagine them being more comfortable then a traditional shoe.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

IIRC I don't think they are supposed to be more comfortable, just more natural

stogie1020

is there any cushioning in those?

'06 Arctic

There are very thin Vibram soles, but they don't offer much cushioning if any at all. The whole "theory" behind barefoot running is since you don't have the cushioning in a normal shoe you will run more naturally and not heal strike. It is supposed to promote a more mid-to-forefoot strike.

stogie1020

Oh. My knees hurt just thinking about that...

jkr_j32a2

saturday morning 5k!

anyone in?

stogie1020

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

Yes! Just not after a night out drinking!

JLatimer

Anyone here running with Haglunds deformity? Been running and have had a lot of growth in the bump in only 2 weeks. I think it might prevent me from making it a habit.

bgsm1th

Finished Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN this last Saturday in 4:15:37.

I was hoping for a sub-4 hour time, but I did much better than my first marathon last year, so that's something I guess. It was raining and 46 degrees, also had to make a 4 minute pit stop at mile 13, so I should be able to trim some time off that in the right environment.
Just something for me to shoot for on my next try I guess!

stogie1020

Nice job bgsmith!

at 4 minute pit stop!

stogie1020

OK, pretty obvious from the picture here of my running shoes that I roll my ankles inward (I am a little dick footed as well so my toes point outwards some).

I don't experience any noticeable pain or discomfort from this, but I am wondering if it is something I should try to correct through form or inserts or should I just leave it alone?


Tried to wipe the trail dust off the backs to make the lean more visible...

dallison

my next one is july 4th in vermont.

dallison

kick ass! anyone who finishes a half or full marathon gets props from me. That is something that i can't seem to wrap my mind around(running 26.2 miles)

dallison

stogie, does anything hurt on you running like that?

zac

stogie, they make shoes to correct it. I dont know if its bad but it does put more wear on a neutral running shoe.

stogie1020

Well that's the thing, I don't have any pain from it or anything, but don't know if I should force it to correct...

Sometimes the inside edges of my heels are a little tender after running, but come on, it's an impact sport right?

zac

If you bring your shoes to your local running store they should be able to tell you if its a bad form and give you some good advice.

stogie1020

Thing is, Zac, I have a really hard time taking advice from anyone who stands to profit off my diagnosis.

Same reason I am not in line at the Podiatrist's office. Within 30 seconds they will be trying to sell me some custom orthotics, whether I really need them or not.

bgsm1th

Find a running store that is trusted within the local running community - every city has a few. In most cases, they will simply tell you which shoe is right for you and how you can improve your form. These shops and their employees are experts first, salesmen a distant second.

On two separate occasions from two different shops, I have been talked down from a $140 to a $120 pair of shoes because they we're the right fit for my needs.

These places know that with good advice and rapport comes repeat business. We're not talking Foot Locker here...

'06 Arctic

Great job man

cM3go

I ran the Warrior Dash this past Sunday. A little over a 5K with obstacles, was hard as fuck but fun! Longest I've done in the Men's Health Urbanathlon which is 10 miles.

Running is truly an addiction once you push through the first couple miles.

dallison

Those warrior runs look fun in a warped way, and you are right about the addicting thing.

'06 Arctic

Yeah they are having one of those about five minutes from my house next month called the Ruckus. I think it is 10K with obstacles. Similiar to the Tough Mudder. I'm be on vacation though, hoping they have it again next year as I think this is the first year for it in Pittsburgh.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

A friend of mine did the Warrior Dash here last year. Same thing as tough mudder pretty much... like 5 miles, 10 obstacles, something like that. At the end you get free beer. But when she went it was so unorganized (first year here) and they ran out of water to hose people down with at the end and also ran out of beer.

I guess if you do it, I would plan on one of the earlier heats.

Shalooby

Congrats!

Sorry for the delayed response .... I've been absent from here for a few.

I started adding some long runs to my training and the route I took last week had some really steep hills. Then again, there isn't anywhere around this area that doesn't have hills. Actually I'd say these were more like inclines than hills.

I found that trying to "run" down them was resulting in tremendous pounding so I wound up walking down the really steep ones. I thought that I'd be just damaging too much if I didn't take it easy.

Well, I was right. Last week I noticed some joint pain in my hip and groin area that I'm going to attribute to the pounding from that. So I've taken it easy, mostly doing 3 - 5 mile easy runs.

The pain is going away and I'm feeling pretty good so I'm going to start putting the longer runs back into the plan again, but I'll be avoiding those steep inclines. Going down anyway......

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

Starting to mix interval training back up with my regular runs. Gotsta get back into shape for soccer.

dallison

Be very careful going downhill. That is how i injured my knee 3 years ago. You can see how long it took me to recover from that. It was a one mile downhill race that i ran in something like 5:02. After 12-13 years of no running + older knees........ bad results.



The one hill i run has an elevation change of 500 feet in 1.3 miles. I would much rather run up the hill than down. The workout is tremenous, but i have to be real careful on my descent. I will take real short and soft steps when coming down.

I also noticed that my achilles was getting overworked and was starting to hurt. I think it was from running up the hills with a mid strike and not on my toes. I rested for a few days and will get back on the road tomorrow.

zac

This!!!!

stogie1020

It's so damn hot here I can't really fathom going running right now...

111 degrees today. At night it gets down to the mid 80s. I can cycle at night on the road but not trail run.