I can't imagine myself running 13 miles, moreless a full marathon. You can say I'm in pretty decent shape since I run 5k's daily, but the thought of running 10 more miles when I'm already feeling winded finishing my 5k scares the hell out of me. I honestly think I would have a heart attack. Maybe one day.
Congrats bobrek. The Houston Marathon is a great first marathon (I have run it 3 times), flat, fast, well organized, and the weather is usually good. But it is, like many marathons, hard to get in and 2015 was sold out a long time ago unless you run for a charity and raise big $. FYI, registration for 2016 will be in the May - June 2015 time frame - check the website for details. I finished 4th in my age group (55 - 59) in the Houston Half Marathon yesterday. Since the top three finishers in each age group get hardware, that is known in running circles as being the biggest loser. :grin: And I lift twice a week as well, Mr. Brightside. How about you?
So, I am guessing your time was less than 90 minutes? Probably close to 1:20? (By the way, our age group is the same)
Congratulations!!! i wish my knees didn't suck so bad. I'd love to run more than a few miles at a time.
I've ran the Houston marathon twice. The ATL marathon and half as well. I recently discovered that I've been running all this time with a torn lateral meniscus. It is a slight tear so I don't really need any surgery. I didn't even know I had it until someone was demonstrating a McMurray knee exam and heard a clicking sound in my knee. I went running about 6 miles yesterday and just got back from the gym just now. Gym three times a week. Running the other three days. Sunday is football. I first started to run about 10 years ago to get in shape. Then I kept running further distances to build mental toughness. Now I just run because I like being in nature. When I'm in Houston, my favorite trail is the Terry Hershey trail. It is amazing.
Good luck with the meniscus Mr. B. For some folks surgery is best, and others just rehab. I think it depends upon the location and severity of the tear, but being injured sucks regardless.
I'm running my first half in February. I did my first 10 mile race 2 weeks ago and finished in 1:21:37 (8:10/mile pace). With the weather cooling off, I've already gotten faster. I did 8 miles on Saturday in 1:02:15 (7:47/mile pace) and didn't feel like I was even running all that hard. My goal for the half is to finish in under 1:45:00. My next race is a 10K Turkey Trot where my primary goal is to qualify for guaranteed entry into the 2016 Houston Marathon (need to beat 51:08), but I think I can do much better and break 48 minutes.
You guys are fast. So I was amazed at the number of old, fat, and seemingly out of shape people who were passing me up. I am relatively young and not feeling the effects of getting older, and I am in decent shape. I am beginning to think that either some bodies are just not made for long distance running (I'm a natural sprinter), or I just wasn't training correctly. I began running longer distances when I joined the Navy a little over 3 years ago. I trained using a variation of the Hal Higdon model (long run on Saturday followed by 3-10 mile runs during the week). I think his training methods might just be to get you to finish. Mission accomplished to that. I just wanted to run a sub 4 hour race. Anybody got some good training regimens? The internet has too many. Specifically about building slow twitch muscle while not losing the fast twitch. I'm a taller guy, medium build.
It seems to me like a lot of Hal Higdon's plans just involve easy running. I base my plans on the ones in Greg McMillan's "You (Only Faster)". It's a good book, it has different plans depending on goal race distance and number of days per week you run, but he gives you the info to alter the plans to suit your style once you learn how certain types of workouts affect your performance and recovery. And you can use the calculator at his website to figure out what pace you should be running for each workout. It'll even give you different paces based on whether you're naturally a "speedster" who does better in sprint workouts or "endurance monster" who performs well in stamina based workouts. I run 5 days a week and average about 40 miles. Monday and Wednesday are the hard workouts. Sprint intervals and tempo type runs of which there are several variations of each. Tuesday and Friday are easy runs. Saturday is the long run. Thursday and Sunday off.
