EldredP said:I'm considering running in the Free Press Marathon on Oct 24. I'm not
currently a runner. 41 year-old male, 5 foot 7, 205 lbs. While I
don't have any delusions about getting into competitive shape in that
time, I'm wondering if I would be able to FINISH. Doesn't matter if
I have to walk the last 5 miles, and finish dead last.<g> Is this
even realistic? If not, then I'll just work towards next year's
race. Thanks for any help.
I certainly admire your enthusiasm, but that's just not the least bit
realistic. You are not the same indestructable teenager that you were 20+
years ago.
Common wisdom is that you can usually make a one-time effort (with the
proper rest) which consists of a 30 - 33% increase over your longest
training day, so you would need to be able to run 18 miles comfortably in
training to make a one-time Marathon effort, and I think that's even pushing
it a bit. There's almost no way you're going to be able to go from 0 to 18
miles in two months at your age and condition. Even assuming that you plan
on walking the last 5 miles, you still need to be able to run 21 miles, so
21 miles - 33% = 14 miles. Even then, going from 0 - 14 miles is a fair
piece of work in two months. If you were 21 years old again (and in decent
shape!) - *maybe* it might be doable. But at 41 years old? And a tad bit
overweight? I would VERY seriously recommend against it.
Think of it this way; at your age and condition (I'm guessing you're not a
bodybuilder, so that extra weight is mostly all fat), all you are probably
going to accomplish is hurting yourself, possibly very badly, and possibly
even in a permanent way. If you blow out a knee or an achilles tendon at
your age and condition, it's going to be a long, hard road to recovery, if
you ever recover at all. Running injuries occur most often due to
overtraining, and by doing what you are thinking about doing, you would be
doing the very definition of overtraining!
And frankly, to run a marathon decently (or enjoyably), you need to enjoy
the running itself. That much training over that short a period of time is
going to make you HATE running, probably forever.
Start now, start easy (real easy!) and plan for NEXT year. If you need some
intermediate goals, think about maybe a nice, easy 5k in November, maybe a
10k in March, a 1/2 marathon next July. Buy some books, read them, use the
web and research a *sensible* training plan. Learn to love to run, and
it'll change your life forever! Then, have a good marathon NEXT Oct and run
the whole thing! Now that's definitely an attainable goal.
I do wish you the best of luck in whatever path you choose.
Regards,
H.
