Hey guys, I’ve decided to take a year off from the CFA (after I was hit by the level 2 bus). I just want to clear my head and relax for a bit. I’ve always enjoyed physical activity and have decided to go for my first marathon in early next year. I just wanted to know if any other AFer’s have ran one or if anyone cares to share advice or story’s? Thanks all, Reggie
ive never run one, but good luck! i hate fat people and i approve of this
I think it’s a great idea for you to take some time off and engage in some physical endeavor. Finishing your first marathon will probably be more satisfying than completing any CFA level. Before starting off though, you should have a medical check up and read some marathon books. Your goal should not just be to finish the race in the shortest time possible, but to do it without injuring yourself and with a smile on your face. I found this book to be quite inspiring when I was training for my first marathon. It’s written by some old guy who used to be very fast and is still running in his seventies. Even if you don’t want to follow his training schedule, it will help you build a positive attitude towards running and help you define your goals for completing the marathon. http://www.amazon.com/Marathon-Ultimate-Training-Hal-Higdon/dp/1594861994/ref=sr_1_3?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285810334&sr=8-3 I’m not a good story teller, and anyway, race experience is the best way to learn. You should start off with some shorter races - 5k, 10k, half-marathon, etc. - to give you an idea of what to expect on the race day. Finally, here are a couple of things I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way): 1. Get socks that are made of acrylic or other synthetic material. Cotton will give you blisters during long runs. Something like this will do: http://www.amazon.com/New-Balance-Unisex-Nanotex-Wicking/dp/B001681GUI/ref=sr_1_6?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285811186&sr=8-6 2. You will become very picky about running shoes. You should go to a specialized running store and get a gait analysis. There are actually different sorts of shoes depending on whether you over or under pronate or are neutral. 3. Get some anti-chafing gel like Body Glide. If you have pecs, you are at risk for “Red 11”, i.e. nipple chafing. The chafing causes your nipples to bleed and drip down your shirt, creating two red vertical lines. You should avoid this at all costs. 4. You might want to choose a flat course for your first marathon. It can make 30 minutes or more of difference in your finishing time, and you will suffer a lot more on a hilly course. Chicago, for instance, is a flat course. Big Sur is a hilly course and will make you want to die. 5. “LSD” means Long Slow Distance run, not a drug. 6. You’ll end up consuming a lot of sugary recovery and energy supplements. This might seem weird if you’re more of a protein guy. Long distance running is a bit different though. Running 40-50 miles a week depletes your glycogen and you will need the sugar to move. Congratulations on not being a slave to the CFA program and good luck on your new endeavor.
Ohai, thanks a lot for the words of encouragement and advice. I did a lot of cross country running in early high school and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m only 24 now but last year was the first year I had ran in almost 7 years. I was vacationing in Florida for a month and saw an ad for a half-marathon literally the day before I had to go back home. I thought it seemed like a sign, so I signed up and gave myself three weeks to train after 7 years off. I absolutely loved it. The feeling you get is hard to describe unless you’ve been there. I figure I might only do one marathon in my life so why not celebrate by doing it on my quarter century of living. Thanks again for your words of encouragement and best of luck in your endeavors.
I took up running after getting the charter. My next marathon is the NYC on Nov 7th. The one thing that is worth mentioning is how time consuming the training is. I run in the mornings because that’s the only time that works for me which means I have to get up at 5:00 four days a week. I do my long runs on Sunday and the eat up two and half to three and a half hours.
SuperiorReturn Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ive never run one, but good luck! i hate fat > people and i approve of this I approve of this as well.
Some awesome advice in there, ohai! Reggie - Even I am on a 3 year break from CFA (failed L3 which I took on June 2010) and planning to run my 1st half marathon - Philly (Nov 21st). Never ran 13 miles before and its going to be difficult. Also I am going for the timing and hope to complete the half in under 2 hrs (wishful thinking!!). This is a good thread to solicit some good advice from veteral AF runners, please chime in guys if you are reading.
I ran the Philly marathon a few years back. I would say this: 1. There are many beginner programs on the interwebs. Pick one and stick to the training regimen. 2. Listen to your body. I ignored mine twice getting ready and had to reschedule because of injury. Watch out for downhill running (if you have hills where you live) when you are really tired at the end of a long run. Seemed to cause injury for me. 3. If you are running on the roads, if you can, switch sides every once in awhile. Every road has a “crown” to it and if you run on the right side of the road the entire time your right leg will be hitting a little lower than your left the whole time. Doesn’t seem like much but over a 14 mile training run it can cause injury. 4. My longest training run was 16 miles and I failed on it once (wife had to track me down in the car after dark). 5. Know that no matter how much you train you will have a point in the race that is going to test you big time. Call it the “wall” or whatever, but you are going to have to get nasty to get through it. Mine happened at 17 miles. By 19 I was through it. 6. Your legs are going to feel like anvils from 20 miles on. Expect it. 7. BIG ONE. Break the marathon (or half) into managable mental segments. I did it this way - Part 1 10 miles - this part is easy. People are in a good mood, bands playing, race is still crowded depending on size. Part II - Miles 10-20 - Mood starts to get more serious as you go through it, crowd thins out, start to “feel” the race at this point. Part III - Miles 20-26.2 - You got a 10k left that is all. Now you get to see what you are made of, only thought is finish. 8. At the end of the race I found it beneficial to pick out targets and run em down. For example, that guy in the blue is 200m in front of me - lets catch him. Now the one in the green, etc. At the end of my race there was some jackass guy running in a red dress. I saw him way out in front of me and swore I wasn’t going to lose to him. I eventually passed him. He’ll never know how much his douchiness helped me finish. These targets help the miles tick by without noticing them as much. Trust me they will get really slow at the end. 9. Finish like a champion even if your time sucks like mine. Run well.
Great advice mtw9, thanks a lot. And best of luck to you LaGrandeFinale. I’ve heard on more than one occasion (and some internet research) that chocolate milk is one of the best post-run drinks you can have. Train hard but mostly just have fun.
This is all great advice. I ran my first half marathon a few years ago and really didn’t train for it. Before that, my longest distance ever was 7 miles on a treadmill - once - just to see if I could do it. I’m not recommending not training, but a half isn’t that hard if you have already done some 10ks. What really, really helped me was running with a friend who’d run the race many times before. We ran together and trash talked each other the whole way, it made the time fly and it was really fun. My advice, don’t be in a hurry to do a marathon. Half marathons have their benefits too and there are always triathlons!
mwvt9 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 2. Listen to your body. I ignored mine twice > getting ready and had to reschedule because of > injury. Watch out for downhill running (if you > have hills where you live) when you are really > tired at the end of a long run. Seemed to cause > injury for me. I hear this sort of thing a lot. I say part of successful marathon training is ingnoring your body. Your body will tell you to stay in bed at 5:00 in the morning instead of getting up to work out and run 8 miles before work. Your body will tell you to stay on the couch because it’s so comfortable. Your body will tell you that running 26.2 miles is freaking stupid. Depending on what part of the country you are in, your body will tell you running in 100 degree heat or freezing rain or snow is ridiculous. And guess what, you will get some degree of injury during your training. You have two choices; stop running or run through it. If you try to run through it and get injured even more, so what. People who sign up for marathons and listen to their bodies usually don’t even try to run the race. Marathons are ran by people who failed to listen to their body.
“If you try to run through it and get injured even more, so what.” This is a really bad attitude to approach long distance running with. If you keep getting injured during training, you’ll have to reduce miles, which will reduce your fitness. There is a difference between fatique-related discomfort and injuries like plantar fasciitis. The former makes you stronger, but the latter is just bad for your training and performance. Part of “listening to your body” is knowing when to slow down so you don’t hurt yourself in the short and long run.
mwvt9 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I ran the Philly marathon a few years back. > 5. Know that no matter how much you train you > will have a point in the race that is going to > test you big time. Call it the “wall” or > whatever, but you are going to have to get nasty > to get through it. Mine happened at 17 miles. By > 19 I was through it. +1 > 6. Your legs are going to feel like anvils from > 20 miles on. Expect it. +1 > 7. BIG ONE. Break the marathon (or half) into > managable mental segments. I did it this way - > Part 1 10 miles - this part is easy. People are > in a good mood, bands playing, race is still > crowded depending on size. Part II - Miles 10-20 > - Mood starts to get more serious as you go > through it, crowd thins out, start to “feel” the > race at this point. Part III - Miles 20-26.2 - > You got a 10k left that is all. Now you get to > see what you are made of, only thought is finish. +100 > 8. At the end of the race I found it beneficial to > pick out targets and run em down. For example, > that guy in the blue is 200m in front of me - lets > catch him. Now the one in the green, etc. At the > end of my race there was some jackass guy running > in a red dress. I saw him way out in front of me > and swore I wasn’t going to lose to him. I > eventually passed him. He’ll never know how much > his douchiness helped me finish. +1000 > These targets help the miles tick by without > noticing them as much. Trust me they will get > really slow at the end. > All excellent suggestions. Especially loved the ‘picking targets’
Anybody tried GU gel? - Should I have 2 before the race?
GU: One before the race, once every 5 or so miles. I think a big part of the “energy gels” are the psychological effects immediately afterwards (ie. I just put more energy into my body, I should be able to keep going). Furthering the targets message, when I run halfs or marathons I pick out fat people when I’m running and tell myself, “If I can’t beat that guy, then I should just give up now…” Although you would be surprised at the pace some of those fatties run. I love my Garmin GPS watch. I use it every single time I go running.
stranger Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > I love my Garmin GPS watch. I use it every single > time I go running. Me too. I have the Forerunner 305, just wish I had a reason to buy the 405.
GU or similar gel probably helps. If you consume 5 packs during a race, that’s 500 calories, or about 20% of the calories that you will burn running 26 miles. Marathons are difficult because you deplete your body’s stored energy, so it’s reasonable to think that eating a lot of sugary gels will help somewhat. In fact, many marathons set up GU stations, in addition to water and Gatorade.
Thanks all, will try this GU gel over the weekend run. Especially agree with the psychological boost it gives you as mentioned by stranger. btw - I’ll be in the Garmin club of 405s too… soon soon…!
Energy gels are not about psychology. It’s actually to combat “the wall”. The wall primarily occurs when people deplete their easy to burn energy that the body has stored. At this point, your body begins to dig into 2nd and 3rd tier energy sources and this causes your metabolism to crash, dragging you down with it. Take an energy gel (basically synthetic glucose) periodically (like every 45 minutes) supplements your organic, easy to process energy supply, helping you avoid crashing. To avoid upper body chaffing, I heavily recommend wearing compression fit heat gear by under armor, it works miracles. Then I often wear a long sleeve layer over top for cooler runs and trail runs. Anyhow, I wouldn’t train more than 5-6 months for a single race so you don’t burn out and get sloppy towards the end when it counts. Running 13 miles may feel great, but running 26 is not simply twice as hard, it’s exponentially harder, keep this in mind. For me and most runners, the first 18 miles is just burning time, pace management and monitoring your body, the last 8 miles is really the entire race. Messing up your pacing and running your first 18 miles even 15 seconds to fast (per split) will murder you, so pick a conservative pace and then make it slower, there will be plenty of time to pass crumbling people in the final leg. I also heavily, heavily recommend doing at least two very long runs (in the 20-23 mile range) about a month before the race. This is not a common recommendation, most argue that from a physical conditioning standpoint the payoff is diminished. But psychologically for a first timer, I think it’s extremely valuable as it’ll expose you to what you’ll be feeling at that point and allow you to mentally prepare yourself and know what to expect. About the wall: http://www.marathonandbeyond.com/choices/latta.htm
Also, regarding pacing, lets say you pace a very conservative 9 minutes a mile because this is what you can comfortably run (like a 3:5X pace). But you decide to try to make up some time by shaving 15 seconds off per split, if successful, this will only save you like 7 minutes over the course of the race. But if it causes you to crash, you may be forced to walk a mile or two (or run at a pace that would allow a fast walker to pass you). A brisk walking pace is like 16 minutes a mile, the differential means that over two miles you’ll lose 12 minutes and have an unenjoyable experience. Pace conservatively brah.