To Marathon or not to Marathon?
- Thread starter Zetti
- Start date
I'm a West sider actually
......I was going to do the Grand Haven/spring lake Old Boy's marathon....end of Sept.Thanks everyone for your feedback! I think a half would probably be my best choice right now.
Lee and Pirate, I too would not really consider running a marathon if I couldn't finish under 4hrs.....so I think that also informs my decision.
I had a great run this weekend, pain free.....but it was only 6mi so I think I'll keep training but plan on the half. Honestly the hardest part is getting over my own excitement to run a marathon...and I'm sure that pride is part of it....
But I don't want to risk an important part of my daily routine for 1 race....
I get that everyone has a "pride" time they shoot for, but I disagree that any maximum arbitrary time requirement must be met to call a marathon a success.
Much like bow-hunting, where even a doe is a trophy, finishing a marathon barefoot is quite an accomplishment whether it's running a 3:45 or a 4:59:30.
JMHO.
((Oh, BTW, I'm in the latter time-wise...))
Much like bow-hunting, where even a doe is a trophy, finishing a marathon barefoot is quite an accomplishment whether it's running a 3:45 or a 4:59:30.
JMHO.
((Oh, BTW, I'm in the latter time-wise...))
I agree with you there that finishing is quite an accomplishment....however the time is not arbitrary for me as it is directly correlated to my perception of what pace I would not want to fall behind no mater the event (excluding ultras....you people are crazy)....So I could see the 4hr mark being arbitrary if I was to impose it on someone else, but for me I would consider it a goal. I personally would not be as satisfied if I ran a 4:45.....I would be happy that I finished but I would also know that I could have run faster.....I guess what I am getting at is that personally this time is not arbitrary, it only becomes arbitrary and silly once imposed on others as a marker for success.
Zetti, I didn't call it "silly". I was just intimating that unless you're competing for money, or your living is based on your time, it's arbitrary.
JMHO.
JMHO.
I tend to agree with Zetti, because for me as well the four-hour limit is not completely arbitrary; 10mm pace is about the slowest I feel comfortable running at. That's a bit more than four hours. So speed up a bit and make four hours the cut-off. But I also agree with Pilot that finishing any marathon barefoot is quite an accomplishment. It's not on my horizons at the moment, but I could see trying it in a year or two as long as I didn't put long-term running at risk. Right now I'm working on my own race: 10 miles (or maybe just one hour) at 8mm pace. I hope to win it within a year, hopefully much sooner. If anyone has any ideas for trophies (beside cold beer), let me know.
Been there done it. I have run sub 3, shod about 30 years ago. Does that mean I will be going for a PR next time I run a full? Heck no, I have no more time goals or dreams. I just run for the love of running, health, and the atmosphere of running in races. I usually enter runs with my kids and they still have ambitions and for them it is a great to have a goal, I just have to keep the goals realistic for them. I gets to discouraging if one can not achieve their goals. If this happens to often there is a good chance they will quit running. But then for some, if goals motivate them then keep the dream alive.
Wow Dutchie, sub-3 is impressive. That's better than a 7mm pace, right? I just did the calculations, and a four-hour marathon is much closer to a 9mm pace than a 10mm pace. Extremely unrealistic for me at this point, but we'll see . . .
One question, at what age did you start your kids, or did your kids start, running? I ran a block with my five-year-old daughter yesterday and it was a blast.
One question, at what age did you start your kids, or did your kids start, running? I ran a block with my five-year-old daughter yesterday and it was a blast.
NickW
Guest
BL, my daughter is 14, almost 15, and just started running last week. Today she did 1.5 hilly miles with me! I am so proud of her. I am just trying to give her little tips and make sure I keep up the encouragement as I don't want her to get discouraged. When I told her how far we went today after the run she was shocked. She was glad I didn't tell her how far we were running beforehand because as she says she would have wanted to quit after a mile. Not knowing distance and just doing it she ran farther than she thought she could which was a huge boost for her confidence. This is the max distance I am going to let her run for a while though.
Distance is a funny thing....while in middle school I remember loving running about as much as I do now and I would do 5 or 6mi long runs....I think it just depends on the runner =)
...and a gradual build up is probably a good idea too.
Very cool Nick. I'm trying to remember when I first ran around my neighborhood as a teenager, and how incredibly far it seemed at the time. Great to hear the journey has begun for your daughter!
P.S., cracked the 7mile barrier yesterday for the first time this year, at an easy 10mm pace. My mets feel fine today. It's going to be very hard not to see how eight will feel tomorrow, but I really should do something like 4-5 miles of hills and then try eight on Thursday. I've been done in by my exuberance at least twice before, but this time it really feels different.
Yah, it's amazing how one's perceptions change according to mode of transport. I like eying my city as a runner, plotting routes, feeling the geography differently. I want to run between the two downtowns of Mpls-St. Paul by the end of the summer. That's just 10 miles, but more importantly I just want to feel that connection in my legs.
So, if you guys(you know who you are) for some reason or another can't run a sub four marathon that means
that you'll never try running one? Sissies
I won't care about time I will run marathons as long as I am alive and capable and I won't care how long it will take me. They are just too much fun to worry about time.
So swallow your pride and hit the roads.
that you'll never try running one? Sissies
I won't care about time I will run marathons as long as I am alive and capable and I won't care how long it will take me. They are just too much fun to worry about time.
So swallow your pride and hit the roads.
Out of my 5 kids only 3 are still running. They all did track at school and did okay there. They seemed wired with fast twitch muscles. They all did well at shorter distances when they were younger. They all started out by pacing me on their bikes as I ran and then it was up to them to ask when they could start running. I would say they were about 5 or 6 when they asked. They were playing soccer since they were 3 though. Yeah I was pretty serious when I was in my mid twenties in trying to place racing the fulls. Never did better then 57th. But that was my goal and I gave it all for about 3-4 years before I could grasp the concept that I had of placing was not going to happen. Could have gone in smaller races but that would not have been the same as racing against the more elite. But like most everyone in this post has mentioned, it was a goal I had. Now, no more serious racing. I won one 5k age group (shod) about 7 years ago in a small race, my daughter won her age group in the same race, and that made it special to me.
That's really cool that you can share your passion for running with your kids. Maybe I'll see if I can get my daughter to run around the block with me and see if she likes it. Nothing like running a circuit for a feeling of accomplishment.
And I can see how having achieved a pretty high level young, you'd be content to just run now. I'm coming at running from a different angle, as someone who played sports in school, stayed very active until recently, but is only now taking running seriously, for the first time. I have no aspirations to win anything or even race, at least for the time being, but it is kind of fun setting some performance goals, just in my routine running, see what this body can still do, and having an image of what a marathon, or a 10k, or an ultra would involve, kind of adds to the enjoyment.
Dama, I don't know if it's really a pride issue for me, as I really have no conception of what it means to do well in a marathon. I know what kind of times the elites do, but not what sort of expectations all the different categories of sub-elite runners might have (maybe I should start checking out the marathon forum to find out). For me it's just a feeling. I don't feel good if I run slower than an 10mm pace, and even 10mm feels too slow most of the time. I only add distances to my running if I can sustain at least a 10mm pace. That's how I define my long and slow (steady pace) run, which I run once or twice a week. Then I do hills and fartleks at distances a mile or two less than my max distance. I like the fartleks a lot, because during most of the speed plays I run at 8mm pace, which feels really, really good--truly joyous. I can hardly wait till that's my long slow pace. If I can sustain that feeling then I may actually want to run for several hours at a time, like in a marathon!So, if you guys(you know who you are) for some reason or another can't run a sub four marathon that means
that you'll never try running one? Sissies
I won't care about time I will run marathons as long as I am alive and capable and I won't care how long it will take me. They are just too much fun to worry about time.
So swallow your pride and hit the roads.
You'll get there eventually. I still remember when the mile was my long run
My favorite runs are tempo runs and hills. Love, love hill.
Yah, I kind of have that feeling too, and I don't feel I would be feeling this way if I weren't feeling the ground; half the addiction and appetite are soleful in nature, although sometimes soiled by nature too.
Damn it, all this talk about marathons is getting to me also. I have told my kids that I am done with fulls unless it is to run their first with them. Now after rehashing things I think I will do one next year with or without them. No time expectation though.
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