Just wanted to toot my horn by saying I'll be running the Hatfield-McCoy Marathon this Saturday. Wish me luck as this will put me over the 100 mile marker on my trek across the US.
Thanks for all the well wishes, they came in handy. Quite an amazing marathon experience all the way from the pre-race meal to the kids run at the end of the day. A lot of "feud" humor and you could not get a better race director than this one. This guy does everything right and really makes this marathon special for everyone. The hills were challenging (especially the mile and half one) and my quads are sure feeling it today but it was definitely worth the effort. This is the best race at any distance I have competed in (and I have ran a few) and recommend anyone to give it a shot next year.
Awesome! Glad to hear all went so well with you. It'll be quite a while before I can even think of a half-marathon much less a whole marathon! So I tip my hat to you!
Oh, that's cool. Gotta try that out in this post. Got my picture taken with those fellas at the finish line. Once I get them all transfered I'll post one up here. Thx!
It's all about taking small steps. I went from being 230 lbs and not even being able to run 100 yards two days in a row to 5ks. I was challenged by my brother to do a 10k two years ago and it's been all "downhill" from there. Best advice is to look for the next distance you haven't done yet and find a race (and schedule it) and train for it. I use the FIRST plan because it works well for people who are busy (that's about all of us).
Thanks for the pointers JB, but it's not the endurance or the weight that's holding me back right now. Unfortunatly, it was a stress fracture in my right tibia and a "possible" fracture in the left tibia as well.
I was having some pain while training for a half marathon, so I went to the doctor and the xray showed the fractures. Four weeks no running with no results led to another 4 weeks in a walking air boot, followed by yet another 4 weeks of physical therapy to get things corrected.
Now, I'm cleared to run 30mins 2-3x per week as long as no pain is present. I've logged about 6-8 runs so far with my longest being 3miles currently. I'd like to work back up to my 10k and get back on that wagon. To me, those were fun races.
I have a sprint-triathalon scheduled for August (or at least I'm training for it) and we'll see how that goes. If all is well, then it'll be time to up the mileage and start back into some serious runs!
Ouch. Take a look at the FIRST program sometime. It specializes in focused workouts that maximize your time versus other programs that throw a lot of junk miles in there that can lead to overuse and injury.
10ks are definitely my favorite too though because they are long enough not be a sprint (like a 5k) but short enough were you can enjoy the rest of your day.
For the 10k's I was using a Couch to 10k program from our local track club. If that's the book you're referring to, I'll definitely give it a look. I can use some help getting back into it!
Not a single bookstore in my area had one of those books! I ordered it off Amazon last week, it arrived yesterday, and I'm probably 1/4 of the way through it.
It seems promising, has some great pointers, and it looks like it could kick my butt! I'll definitely give it a try though. Thanks for the suggestion. I really don't think I could have built my running back up on 5 runs/week w/out injuring myself again!
Glad to see you are giving it a shot. I've followed this plan for my last 3 marathons and it has significantly reduced my times. I rarely feel sore after the first few hours and I have never had to miss a workout due to my body. The downside is there is less weekly mileage so it'll take me longer to get across the USA. ;)
They also have plans for all other distances out there as well for anyone competing in 5ks, 10ks, and halves.
Hopefully if I get on the plan, I'll figure something out with the bike (my new love) to keep the miles up. It'll be a hard choice between the bike and swimming as a crosstraining sport. Both of those sports have been good to me!
This is my biggest mileage month to date and now that I'm climbing that high in numbers, it's going to be tough to accept anything less. That's the problem with stats...always want better :)