Maybe it's just time, you know? Time to take on those 26 miles and 385 yards. Time to step right up to that whole history-soaked, messenger-in-ancient-Greece situation. You'll wear better shoes than Pheidippides did, of course. (He ran barefoot.) And as race sensations go, you'll be shooting for something a little less dramatic. (He immediately died.) But you will be a marathoner, is the point. And let's face it: athletically speaking, there is your marathoner, and then there is everyone else.
I loved this article because it confronted every lingering question I had ( of course..post decision, the wheels started churning that maybe I'm jumping heels over head)
HOW MUCH OF A DAILY TIME COMMITMENT ARE WE TALKING? On "short" days, you're looking at 80 minutes, max. Figure 5 minutes for changing, 30 to 60 minutes for actual exercise, and 15 for showering. On "long" days, when the runs are between 8 and 20 miles, the actual running may take from one to 3.5 hours. The good news: as noted, most programs have only one long run a week, not to mention a day off.
WILL IT HURT? Oh, yes. Especially if you're starting from scratch. You'll struggle with breath for the first six weeks, says Finke, who has groomed rookie runners for two decades. And depending on how far gone from "fit" you are, it could take between six months and a year for your bones, muscles, joints, and tendons to get used to the near-daily pounding. Women in particular, Finke observes, may struggle. Whereas even out-of-shape men usually have played enough sports to understand that masochism is part of improvement, female runners are often true rookies -- people with almost no sports experience, she says. So they have to get used to the whole pain thing for the first time.
The next thing that struck me was my eating. I baked brownies tonight. I also was treated a chicken walnut sandwich from paradise bakery. Something tells me these are going to be a thing of the past. 5 months without sweets or junk food. All or nothing right? Also..limiting my coffee and alcohol intake? Maybe not the coffee.
Ø Balanced proportions of carbohydrate, protein, fat
Ø Increase your carbohydrate consumption as your training intensifies
Ø Moderate calorific intake
Ø Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables
Ø Moderate alcohol and coffee consumption
Ø Less sweets, and ‘junk’ food
Finally,
Running distances, whether it’s a mile or 18, is all about whether you know you can get through it. Especially when you hit a point in your run where you’re tired or your legs hurt or you’re hungry. The marathon is a testing event and many runners hit something called "The Wall". The Wall occurs at a certain point where you simply feel that you can’t move any longer. Your legs are exhausted and your energy stores are gone. Here is where you need the mental abilities to conquer the wall and the pain. Think about the finish line. Take things slowly. Think positively and that this pain is temporary. Unless of course you have a serious injury coming on- then take the proper care. However, if it’s just a question of whether or not you can finish, this is a race against yourself.
So I'm thinking coupling my running training with lots of spinning, kickboxing and yoga will keep me grounded. I'm oddly excited to start this experimentation.
WHAT WILL SURPRISE ME? Finke says there are three sides to marathon training: the physical side, the mental side, and the "dark side." The dark side is something rookies have to prepare for. It is simply the concept that sometimes training doesn't work; sometimes you can train perfectly and just have a bad day on race day; and sometimes there are marathon conditions that you have no control over and that can undermine you.
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