marathon runners

[bellasam1]

In my marathon training I have been putting in a ong run each weekend. This Saturday it's 12 miles. I feel like I'm turning into a running nerd!! It is such a good stress reliever and something I really look forward to on my weekends.

[ksusarah]

Greetings fellow runners,
When I'm in training, I incorporate long runs each weekend, with my weekday mileage totals adding up to my weekend mileage. Now that I'm just running for fun, I'm not doing as many long runs, and I'm really wanting to get back to that. About once a month or so, we're doing longer runs as a group. People from all over our area come up to run, this weekend there were 22 runners from several different towns. We went 10 miles over the hills...it was a tough course, even the most seasoned runners said so. We have one guy in our group that has run over 70 marathons! His knees aren't so great anymore, so those are done, but he still runs with us on our longer runs.

I'm a total running nerd these days....I would rather do that than most anything else! I read about it, do it, dream about it....just love it!

Saturday's run was hard....it was slow and I just felt like I couldn't run more than a mile at a time. I don't know if it was the hills, or what. It was also the weekend before TOM, so my chest was sore too. I'm hoping the next run is much more pleasant!

As far as food....sometimes it is hard not to think, I just ran 10 miles, pile it on! It's amazing how little it takes to defeat all the hard work you just did!

[JeddoMom]

Hey runners!!!

I wanted to share something neat that happened last night.

We went to my son's (14) Cross-country banquet. He's a freshman, so it's the first one for us. At the banquet the coach had each runner come up and he said a little about each one. When it was Josh's turn the coach said something like this:

"Josh has come such a long way in a short period of time. It was easy to tell when he decided to kick it in gear and improve his race times. He's promised me that he's going to keep running through the off-season and everyone here knows that his mom will keep him running right alongside her!"

I thought that was so cool!!! They know I love to run because I would run (in the opposite direction) this summer when they trained and I also ran in an "open race" before one of the meets. The whole team cheered me on and it was really special.

I love the fact that I can run just like my son. It's something we will hopefully always share!! We're running the Turkey Trot (10K) together on Thanksgiving morning. ;D Monica

[CoreIsCool]

I finished today's race. It was supposed to be 3.5 miles but it was shortened to 3.4 due to some construction that interfered with the course. It was a tough course. Lots of hills and on a golf course. I'm used to running on pavement and the uneven ground on the golf course and the plethora of hilss left my legs feeling very tired.

I finished in 38:18 (actually a few seconds shy of that. they didn't have chip timing and I was way at the back of the pack). I was running way out of my league though. There were some very fast runners out there today. I finished last in my age group but not last overall (I finished ahead of an 86yo lady). It was close to a personal record though, which considering the terrain was pretty good for me. It was faster than my 5K time in August. I'll do better next year.

[bellasam1]

I had a couple fun runs this week. My family spent Thanksgiving in San Francisco so I ran 2 days there. The first day I ran about 4.5 miles along the water near fishermans wharf. The second day it rained si I only ran about 3 miles. Today I ran almost 7 miles up and down hills. They are challenging but I actually love the feeling I get. A friend of mine told me something neat that she heard. A friend of hers told her that she likes to "collect" runs. Tose that are memorable that mweant something to her. My first "collected "run would have to be the first time I ran 5 miles in an absolute downpour. The friend I was running with and I were just laughing and feeling gtreat about being outdoors!! My S.F. runs will also be in my collection. It was a great way to see some of the city. My first 1/2 marathon and my first 5K would also be in the collection box! Anyone else?
Monique

[ksusarah]

Hey runners, no body with big running news these days? I am registering to run a half marathon in January, that's my big news. It's a hard one, very hilly and you never know how our weather will be in the land of Oz. The only thing that will stop me is a) cold and rain that day and b) if I am pregnant by then. I'm going to run through my pregnancy (that is the plan at least) but I'm not risking it on a course rated as Difficult!

I have a question for all of you. If you have recently started running (i.e. weren't a runner in high school or early on) and have gained confidence in your abilities, how have you done so? (gained the confidence, that is). I'm mentoring a runner right now that has self esteem issues anyways, and is really struggling with the confidence in her running. I'm having a hard time conveying the distance I've seen her cover and the development I've seen in a way that is clicking with her. Your help would be great! She's running a marathon in January, so inner strength will be key in those later miles.

Cheers! Gotta run!

[simpsoncd75]

Hi everyone!

I've recently gotten hooked on running. I'm thinking about joining NYC Roadrunners and competing in enough races to qualify for automatic entry into the marathon in November. *eeek*

Can anyone recommend a good training book or whatnot? I already visit coolrunnings.com. I'm just not usually the structured training kind of gal -- hence why I like core alot. ha!

TIA!!

simps

[Talon]

Yes! I'm an ultramarathoner. I started running 8 months ago after losing some weight on WW, and I'm still losing and running. ;-) I finished my 5th marathon last month at Honolulu and am preparing for my 1st 50-miler in March and 100-miler in June. I did Flex for almost a year and then switched to Core and REALLY like it and find it's even better for me.

[simpsoncd75]

Ksusarah - I forgot that I wanted to answer your question. Morning!

I just started running last summer. I started because I didn't feel my exercise tapes were doing enough for my cardiovascularly. I was a jock in high school but not running specifically. I was never a running enthusiast. I found it boring and watching all the ultra-skinny people pass me was annoying. haha. Recently, I started keeping a running journal on coolrunning.com. That has been such a great motivator. There's this really wonderful function that allows you to see your progress in graph chart form. To see the great strides (no pun intended) I've made over the past couple of months is pretty amazing. I didn't realize I was covering that much ground per week.

So, perhaps seeing her weekly results in another form might help her see her accomplishments...?

[simpsoncd75]

Hi Runners!!

Question for you:

Now that I've upped my running to 25 - 30 miles per week, my sugar cravings have gone through the roof. What can I do to curb them? I'm getting in at least 7 servings of friend and veggies, having 1 or 2 servings of protein a day, eating 1 or 2 slices of whole wheat bread, etc. I'm not being bad in that way...I just can't figure it out.

I heard somewhere that when you crave sugar, you're actually craving protein. Is this true?

Thanks for any help you can provide!!

Simps

[CoreIsCool]

Make sure you're getting enough grains. When you're running that much you need more carbs. Just go for the healthy ones. I would increase intake of things like oatmeal, brown rice, starchy vegetables like corn and peas, etc.

[lawyergal]

Hi Simps,

In response to your question about a good book for marathon training, I used Galloway's Book on Running (1984!) when I was training for the NYC marathon in 1995. I thought the book was terrific, and I actually got up to a 19 mile run (from being a total non-runner 1.5 years before). Unfortunately, the part of the book I ignored was the stretching. Given that, and a history of back injuries, I got a back injury just weeks before the marathon & couldn't recover in time to run. Since then, I've jogged on and off, but nothing serious. Anyway, there may be better running books out there now, but I loved Galloway.

Good luck!
Rebecca