I'm trying to wrap my brain around running a marathon without training for it, and just cannot. Your muscles must be made of stronger stuff than mine, because I trained my ass off for my first marathon last summer, and the race still kicked my ass six ways to Sunday.
I guess inadequate training is a better term. I normally run 5 miles twice/week and 7 miles on Saturday. I added two half marathons and a 15 mile run in the last three months, but other than the 3 long runs I didn't change my normal schedule. This was not a good plan. I do not recommend it.
I will NEVER run another one. While I was walking up the Hill from Hell I made a solemn promise to myself not to be that stupid again. I love halves and will stick to those in the future. Life is too short to do something as miserable as the second half of today's marathon.
I'm trying to wrap my brain around running a marathon without training for it, and just cannot. Your muscles must be made of stronger stuff than mine, because I trained my ass off for my first marathon last summer, and the race still kicked my ass six ways to Sunday.
I guess inadequate training is a better term. I normally run 5 miles twice/week and 7 miles on Saturday. I added two half marathons and a 15 mile run in the last three months, but other than the 3 long runs I didn't change my normal schedule. This was not a good plan. I do not recommend it.
I will NEVER run another one. While I was walking up the Hill from Hell I made a solemn promise to myself not to be that stupid again. I love halves and will stick to those in the future. Life is too short to do something as miserable as the second half of today's marathon.
Yeah, I plead temporary insanity, because I signed up for the same damn race this year. This race doesn't have one hill, though, because I am far too lazy for that You must still be in kick ass shape to have finished, so I say congrats (and be best friends with ibuprofen for the next few days)!
And I actually really like half marathons - it's a great distance, and the halves I've done have been really well organized with lots of support, etc. Next year I might just do a few halves in the year and keep it at that.
clseale - I see you're running Chicago! Have you run it yet? It's awesome! The crowd support is unreal.
I haven't, and I'm so excited! There are 5 of us going, and it will be the first time any of us have even been to Chicago. I've heard nothing but awesome things about the race.
It'll be DH's first, so I'm very happy to hear the crowd support is so great! I'm hoping that if I can get him to stick with me through training & really prepare, it'll be a somewhat enjoyable experience for him. Â
Wow! Congrats! I can't even fathom completing a marathon. (My motto is "run only when chased and even then, just be a bit faster than the slowest person.") And such a cut dog to keep you company.
You know, I think it would have been more accurate to say I ran/walked/hobbled a marathon. But thank you everyone.
You covered 26.2 miles on foot. However you did it, it's an accomplishment to be proud of! How are you feeling today? After my first, the only thing that didn't hurt was my hair. As soon as I opened my eyes, I was immediately terrified to get out of bed. Stretch & walk around to loosen things up. Extended sitting is the worst thing you can do right now.If you have to tackle stairs, taking them backwards helps. Good luck!
Daisy - the jump sucked. Everything after mile 13 was pure misery. This may not be true for everyone but at my fitness level a half is the sweet spot. Nothing more.
I will NEVER run another one. While I was walking up the Hill from Hell I made a solemn promise to myself not to be that stupid again. I love halves and will stick to those in the future. Life is too short to do something as miserable as the second half of today's marathon.
I can relate SO MUCH to this. I remember being at about mile 19 and thinking "this isn't fun. Why am I doing this?" lol. For me personally, I would have to spend a LOT of time to adequately train to run another full, and that's just not something I care enough about to prioritize that highly in my life. So half marathons, sure, when I get an itch again, I'll do more of those. Never a full.
Right. And I didn't like marathon training the time I did it (and got injured before the race). So I don't think I will be doing other marathons. Halves are much better IMO.
I shouldn't have read this post - I'm planning on running this next year as my one and only marathon in my life!
Hope you're not too sore today Elle!
My only advice would be to run a pretty one. Something flat, on the ocean or a lake. I would have liked this race much more had it not been hilly (not exceptionally hilly relative to other courses, but very hilly for someone who normally runs on a flat stretch of the beach). Or, if the one you are doing has hills, train for hills.
ETA: were you saying you are planing on running SD? If so, then yeah. Practice hills. Don't spurn them as I did. Lots and lots of hills. Long ones.
Miles 18-20+ are always miserable for me, and having a giant hill right there just sucks the life out of you. Halves are definitely my sweet spot too, but I still never say never to another marathon!