Running marathons C or D?

Nipple plasters.

My suggestions would be to:

-wear comfortable shoes, and put lube or Band-Aids on your heels or toes that tend to get banged up
-carb-up the 2-3 days before the race (pasta is good)
-apply something like BodyGlide on all areas of your body that might chafe -- armpits, nipples, crotchal area
-bring stuff like Gu with you, as well as a bandage or two in case stuff goes awry along the road.

Good luck!

I'm running my first marathon this Spring. I've done a couple half-marathons and have been doing some long training runs. The nipples really start chafing at about 15 miles.

The slogan they will wear on the back of their shirts for Sunday's Los Angeles Marathon reads, "We are running for diversity and peace."

And for the 15 members of the North Hollywood-based Day Laborers Marathon team, that means running 26 miles through the streets of Los Angeles to bring some pride and dignity to the 30,000 people like themselves who often are seen on street corners looking for work.

Most of the team's runners speak little English and have had to struggle to find regular employment since leaving behind homes in Mexico, Peru and other countries.

They train every Sunday at Lake Balboa and enter three marathons a year -- in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Long Beach -- as well as other local races. And the reception they have received within their own community has been remarkable.

"They are proud of us because they are seeing us running marathons," Rosario said through an interpreter. "It is like we are carrying everyone's pride. We are representing all the day laborers' community."

FYI: that picture is totally (and bizarrely) photoshopped. the golden gate bridge does not run into any civilized areas (either fort point/presidio or the marin headlands), i'm trying to figure out wtf is going on there.

Distilled down a shard, the reason you train is not as much to complete as much as it is to avoid injury.

CHAFING IS BRUTAL. Wearing microfiber is a must, but that shit do chafe when mixed with sweat. I wore band-aids on my nipples and slothered my crotch area to avoid chafing. Your asscrack can chafe, too. Some people put jocktape on their feet to avoid blisters, which isn't a bad idea. I strongly recommend getting high performance socks that wick moisture away. Oh, and don't make the mistake of wearing brand new shoes for the race.

Bay to Breakers is awesome, very fun. But I wouldn't call it easy.

Thanks for the advice, I have the utmost admiration for anyone who can run a full marathon, don't think I'll ever get to that stage I'm afraid.

As for chafing I know the dangers, I once spent four days walking around Rome with my legs two metres apart.

also, don't start out too fast, drop behind the pack at the start, cos there are people there doing time training, and you won't keep up.

some beginner-intermediate runners carry water. Don't, cos you don't need it on these distances (and, arguably, longer ones too), and it just gets in the way.

run at a pace where you're not really noticing your breathing too much. you shouldn't be breathing short. try to keep your arms down, don't hunch up. look a few meters forward, not down at your feet. then again, some amazing runners have weird styles, and really, just do whatever feels best.

ok, most of all, have fun!

Gygax, you need to visit your eye doctor because that's not the Golden Gate Bridge and Gatinha said nothing about San Francisco - he said LISBON MARATHON.

And that bridge is the Ponte 25 de Abril Bridge.

Don't overdo it, though. I was too gung-ho about getting my first marathon under my belt, and I over-trained and ended up severely straining an adductor muscle, and couldn't run for several months, which just sucked.

As far as overdoing it, I'm really conscious of that, since I started considerably out of shape and have read and heard horror stories about injuries that just never heal (or I mean take a really loooong time). I want to run a marathon someday but I'm not in a rush; we'll see how I do with 5 miles!

Also, question for those that have run marathons. I'm thinking about running the LA marathon in March. What's a typical training schedule for the months leading up to the marathon? Keep in mind that I don't want to change my lifestyle too much, other the running a lot part. I more or less just want to finish the race.

Im hoping to keep building, because after 4 and a half today, I wasnt completely dead, and doing something like 6 again seems feasable. Only problem is, after a long run, my right foot goes numb. It didnt today for some reason, but it did yesterday. My dad said the same thing happened to him. Once I was in a pool and my entire leg went completely numb and I couldnt move. I dont know what the problem was. I still don't. It better not get in my way though.

How do you determine how many miles you run when you do run? I just started running around my neighborhood and I have absolutely no clue the distance. I just know after 20 minutes, I'm really tired.

Just measure the distance in your car, and then you can compute your pace, and use this as a barometer for how long you go whenever you run. I am pretty consistently an 8:00-8:30 minutes/mile runner, so if I run an hour I figure I've done about 7 miles, or I adjust down if I've gone slow or stopped a lot to drink water.

Also, question for those that have run marathons. I'm thinking about running the LA marathon in March. What's a typical training schedule for the months leading up to the marathon? Keep in mind that I don't want to change my lifestyle too much, other the running a lot part. I more or less just want to finish the race.

Every time I've done a marathon, I've followed one of Hal Higdon's 18-week schedules. If you're just interested in finishing the race, you should probably stick with his novice schedule:

http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/Mar00novice.htm

I found it really good to not have to think about how much running I did in the weeks leading up to the race. The important thing about the Higdon schedule is to definitely not skip the long runs on the weekends.

Unfortunately, some of the areas I run in are inaccessable for a car. Maybe I'll have to figure out what my mile pace is on a track first and then go from there.

Thanks for the tips and the link to that training website.

And the last thing you want to do is get injured while training--imagine training for 3 months and doing long runs every weekend only to injure yourself a few weeks from the marathon.

The idea is to run 4-7 miles three times a week and then a long run on the weekend. Don't start this regimen until your total mileage is at least 15 total miles per week. Then begin running 3-5 mile runs three times a week, with your long run being 7 miles on the weekend. Take the long run slow, walk when you have to, and drink a lot of water if you are hot. Each week, add a mile to your long run until you get to 21 miles. There should be a one week break between your 21 mile run and the marathon. That last week before the marathon, run a total of about 15 miles during the week.

Your training should be regimented and paced. The long runs train your body for endurance, not speed. It's more about the TIME you spend running than the distance because you want to build up strength and endurance to avoid injury as much as anything else.

Many, many people get injuries because they try to do too much too soon. My advice is that if you have had any sort of leg or back injury in the past to be very aware of marathon training. If you are gunning for a March marathon then now is a good time to start up.

Twice a day at 4 miles each run is also a lot to ask of your joints. If you are training for football, you should vary your exercise to include sprinting, weight training, stretching, and other activities that provide variable training. And I still do not recommend running twice a day--if you have the time to do that, you, your body, and your ability would be better served to run once a day and use the other time you had set aside for something athletically complimentary.

Rest, especially as you are getting into shape, is essential to prevent injury--not only short term injury, but long term injury.

what you are doing sounds good cozen. You don't need long runs (i.e. runs of more than 5-6 miles.) I also recommend jumping rope, which is excellent for short-twitch muscles used in football--try doing it for 10 straight minutes at a steady rate then build until you can do it for 20 minutes. I guarantee you will improve your footspeed and quickness if you do that. Hop on one foot, switch feet, mix it up when you jump rope. It's cheap and very effective.

How about running 50 miles a day for THREE MONTHS?

UK teacher wins US ultra-marathon

I just can't get my head around this.

The streets in NY seem really wide, I always assumed it was pokey there.

ROFL @ GYGAX

some of the best things in life are stupid and pointless!

http://gothamist.com/2007/11/05/running_the_mar.php

where would we be without stupid and pointless things!

NYC is a great marathon and if there weren't so many others to run I'd do that again.

Training for a marathon often seems stupid and pointless, but race day makes it all worth it.

i will walk bsim when the little boy returns

worke up this morning with the desire to designate a definite marathon to run. the london one just doesn't really appeal to me though, and i think if i were to run one in the US it would be a good excuse for another trip there. which one does the Americans mostest recommend?

hmm, should probably have waited til the American are waked up to ask that one.

no Katie Holmes joke?

if you're coming to the States to do a marathon, you should check out Big Sur...a long flight, but what a magnificent setting...

yes that is truly the way to experience the majesty of the redwoods, by running past them in excruciating pain

that's a great idea, although i'm not sure i'll be able to be fully trained for it by April. I was thinking i'd need at least 6 months but I don't really have much basis more that estimate.

timing-wise, Chicago and the MCM in D.C. seem more doable but Big Sur would I think be more fun.

"fun"

there are no redwoods in big sur (right?). and you can walk the marathon as i noted up there.

yeah, but the appeal of the marathon, for me at least, is as a physical challenge. i'm not gonna fly across an ocean and a continent for a 26 mile walk.

the marathon always confuses me-- considering the permanent damage that, for example, my mother has done to her knees and feet doing these things (or the grade 6 teacher who dropped dead during one), surely there's a point at which the health benefits drop off and the health hazards take over! I'm not saying we should all just sit safely in front of a computer or anything, but the level of sacrifice of your bod for a marathno just astounds me, especially coming from health-obsessed people.

People do indeed die occasionally running marathons. But not many. And I want to do it as a one-off, like I said, to see if I can. Regardless I think the long-term effect are likely to be more beneficial than harmful, particularly if I put in the training time, which is why I'm giving myself at least six months to prepare for it. Here's what wiki says:

A study published in 1996[16] found that the risk of having a fatal heart attack during, or in the period 24 hours after, a marathon, was approximately 1 in 50,000 over an athlete's racing career - which the authors characterised as an "extremely small" risk. The paper went on to say that since the risk was so small, cardiac screening programs for marathons were not warranted. However, this study was not an attempt to assess the overall benefit or risk to cardiac health of marathon running.

In 2006, a study of 60 non-elite marathon participants tested runners for certain proteins which indicate heart damage or dysfunction after they had completed the marathon, and gave them ultrasound scans before and after the race. The study revealed that, in that sample of 60 people, runners who had done less than 35 miles per week training before the race were most likely to show some heart damage or dysfunction, while runners who had done more than 45 miles per week training beforehand showed little or no heart problems.[17]

It should be emphasised that regular exercise in general provides a range of health benefits, including a substantially reduced risk of heart attacks. Moreover, these studies only relate to marathons, not to other forms of running. It has been suggested that as marathon running is a test of endurance, it stresses the heart more than shorter running activities, and this may be the reason for the reported findings.

runners of ilx, i am new to thy ways and seek sage counsel. this weekend i did 5k in 36:00 at moderate effort (13:00 accelerating slowly to 9:20). then i decided rest was unnecessary and i should see the next day if i could do 10k (longest run evar, lol) at 13:00 pace, which i did, if you ignore cheating and including the warmup/cooldown walking in the mileage (near-1/2 mile total). i'm thinking about a first 5-k race in 5-6 weeks, and maybe a 10-k in early december. 30:00's a reasonable goal for the former, right? what about the latter? would it be better to do another 5-k? ultimately i'd like to do a 9-10.5 mile race next spring, but the purpose would be scenery as much as anything else, and i'd be happy to walk part of the way.

in my case once I got past the 5-mile mark I was able to quickly go to 7, 8, and then 10

is this generally true?

bumper cars?

I never thought the day would come when you would seek my counsel. But anyway.

1. Don't increase your weekly mileage by more than 10% per week.
2. Your goals should be distance first, speed second.
3. You will become faster over time without trying
4. You will easily be able to do 10 minute@miles six weeks from now at the rate you are going.
5. if you are feeling pain that lasts more than a day, back off
6. You can do a 10K as soon as you can run 5 miles.

thanks Don! i'm a little preoccupied these days. no real pain, but i felt the 10k in the ankles and the knees 24 hrs later and still a bit after 48. i'm gonna go back out for a tiny bit tomorrow morning, i think.

gygax won't thank you for reviving this

also i run on the treadmill at least for now - is it misleading me in some fashion?

yeah that's pretty dumb, sorry

no treadmill work is fine. It's way better for your joints and right now you're strengthening them. Ideally it's probably good to do two (or more) treadmill runs and one on the cement, but it's nothing to fret about.

For many people, frequency is also really helpful. Even getting 15-20 minutes on the treadmill--doing some running and walking when you're just starting out--is good for conditioning. Just keep the 10% increase/week in the back of your mind.

If you are feeling any pain 48 hours after a long (or your longest) run, then back off and don't run until you are pain free. If you are still tender after 24 hours, do a walking workout instead. Depending on your age/weight/fitness, it's just not worth getting injured over.

You might want to read some Jeff Galloway. He is a huge advocate of running a mile then walking a minute, even at marathon training level.

Don's got good tips. The run a mile, walk a mile thing is what my uncle (a former middle distance runner) recommended to me.

ok, thanks. i've been running near-daily, even at the 15-20 minute minimum, for a while, and did the longer run to mix things up a bit on top of seeing where i'm at. i started feeling the feet yesterday after spending a while on them just standing around.

Oh, and yes, treadmill training can be misleading:

You are not pushing air out of the way when you run on a treadmill, so your physical effort is relative to that factor. Some say an adjustment of 1 minute/mile faster on a treadmill vs. road but your mileage may vary. I find that it's way easier to run faster on a treadmill when compared to road running i.e. my mileage splits on a treadmill are significantly faster.

One last thing--when you throw a long run into the mix, take it slower because in that situation you are only building endurance and not speed. Long runs should be done at a pace where you can comfortably talk, whereas on the shorter stuff you should increase your speed and get a more cardio workout.

What Don said. Also, vary your runs as much as possible, don't fixate on doing the same circuit all the time and timing yourself. Try different paces, different terrains, different distances. Make the effort to go for your long runs in beautiful places and just relax and look at the scenery.

i just paid to do a half marathon in may 2009. i'm scared!!!!! but this also means i can eat more pizza.

how'd it go?

i don't wanna talk about it

Was the pizza good anyway?

yup!

i was doing a good job--like i got up to 7 miles or something. but i kept getting heel bruises and got super busy finishing school and i was lazy and a failure so i decided i wouldn't be ready. maybe in october? i don't know.

Just adding to this a few points:

1. If you want to duplicate outdoor running on the treadmill, use at least a 2.5 degree incline to compensate. Also, don't believe the calorie counter - wildly overinflated. I once ran 8.5 miles in an hour and it told me I'd used 1700 cals. Ridic. I avoid the treadmill. Once I figured out that real heat and real snow (20 - 95 degrees) is all ok, you just run through it.

2. After a few months, get used to running for at least an hour each time. 7 miles / hr. It's kind of a useful baseline.

3. I know this sounds annoying, but even on tough days, try to enjoy the feeling of your body doing work.

ugh yeah i hate treadmills. i used it at my parents' at xmas but bleh. and yr right about the cold: a 20 degree run can be really nice and it's a pretty comfortable temperature after you're warmed up. 95 on the other hand i need some getting used to.

OK, yeah. 90 recently in florida was horrible. i guess what i'm saying is that extreme aren't so bad, if you prepare. i'd rather run in non-icy snow at 25 degrees with a sweatshirt, gloves, hat etc, than a treadmill. the heat is bad though. i sometimes wonder about that: over a moderate winter when running is nice, there are only diehards in prospect park (brooklyn). by the time seasonal runner join in, it's hot enough to be unpleasant and i back off.

longest 60 minutes of your life: watching a digital countdown on a treadmill in a still room without a window.

u will run that marathon some day...there is no hurry...

Houston Marathon 3-1/2 weeks ago.

Austin Marathon this weekend.

Series of three 30k (18.6 mi) races this spring in Mar/Apr/May.

Targeting a 50 miler in the fall...

Nice! I've got the Brighton marathon in the spring. What time did you do in Houston?

Also:
ILX running running thread

What time did you do in Houston?

Nothing special, 5 hours-ish. I'm a distance-comes-first guy, I don't give time a second thought, really.

Well congrats anyhow! Pretty damn hardcore running two marathons in a month...

Always looking for the next challenge...

Was tinkering with the idea of doing an ultra in September myself (London-Brighton trail race, which is about 56 miles). Haven't taken the plunge and entered yet, still in the convincing myself phase. Hugely expensive though - £100 or something, heaps of money to spend on 12 hours of misery or whatever. Hmmm. You ever done one before?

I haven't ventured beyond marathons yet, but do more trail running than road at this point, so figure it's time to take the plunge into ultras at some point. I'll probably start small (50k, ~31 miles) but would like to do a 50 miler by year's end.

Well heck, let's suffer together...

Keep me posted on your progress. Gotta get in some strong, high-mileage (~50) months before I spring for the race entry fee, myself, but that's nothing new. I'm planning about half a dozen 30k trail races to whip myself into shape in the coming months, then I'll see where I'm at...

Yeah, I appreciate those reservations! Have done three marathons so far myself, and have never once felt like I could run another step after any of those. Have this doubting voice in the back of my mind telling me that, if I don't die, I will most probably just completely seize up after thirty and then have to walk all the rest. Guess I basically have to kill this guy off over the next few months.

Some crazy ultra stories in Born To Run btw...

So I've heard. I recommend this one, personally:

http://img.amazon.ca/images/I/51N%2BqFzgE4L._SL500_AA240_.jpg

this is an extremely crazy site http://www.marathoninvestigation.com/

I love it. Bless that dude.