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<p>I agree. I’ve spent most of my career as a 5- 10K guy. Those are plenty long enough races to assess your fitness and provide some competition. Running a marathon has always struck me as belaboring the point.</p>
<p>mowc thanks for your insights. I ran my first marathon 3 weeks ago, and qualified for Boston, I’m soooo proud to say. I’d been a lifelong 10k racer, so this was a big breakthrough for me.</p>
<p>In the process of training over the last year, I lost the 10ish pounds I needed to in order to run easily. I just heard through the grapevine that a neighbor had been asking if I had some kind of disease, causing me to waste away. I guess I do! It’s called distance running…</p>
<p>CONGRATS, riverrunner. That is excellent to qualify for Boston in your first marathon. I just finished posting on a running forum that (besides training) the single most important factor in running a strong marathon is being at a very low weight for your body. It isn’t easy and it isn’t worth it to everyone, but the marathon distance simply demands it.</p>
<p>RR - congratulations! Nice accomplishment! We will be waiting to hear your results in 2010!</p>
<p>riverrunner, congrats!!! I will tell my D to cheer you on when you’ll run by her campus :)</p>
<p>My friend who ran the Boston Marthon a few years ago said that people never run just two marathons - they either stop after the first one or keep on running them. Now her goal is to run a marathon in every state! I’m slowly building up strength to run longer distances, but I don’t think I will ever be able to run anything longer than 10K. I bow to you, distance runners :)</p>
<p>mowc, what website do you go to for talk about marathoning? I’ve been cruising runner’s world, but don’t always find much there. I’m looking for support/advice, especially for this recovery/between marathons phase. I haven’t found much to read on that topic.</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind comments! I had said good bye to the marathon goal when I started having kids 20 years ago, but low and behold…</p>
<p>runningahead dot com. (RA) The general forums are pretty good, but there are a lot of “groups” you can join, too. The LLR (ladies locker room) is mainly younger women, but very supportive. The Runner’s World Racing forum is OK, too.</p>
<p>riverrunner, here are some tips from my friend: reserve your Boston hotel room, like, NOW. Ditto for airfaire. And make sure you make reservations for your carboload dinner!</p>
<p>I qualified for Boston this year, but am not going. I don’t like that race. Ran it 3 years in a row in the 80s. No desire to go back. I guess it’s something every qualifier should do once… I guess I like the smaller races that aren’t such logistical nightmares.</p>
<p>Hi bunsen- 4 of my running buddies have qualified for Boston, and we booked rooms a couple of weeks ago. Best mid-life crisis/girls weekend ever! Thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>MOWC, one of our group was running marathons, including Boston, “back in the day”, as well. She talks about wearing yellow and green Nike Waffle shoes, running 100 mile weeks, and racing the marathon distance without water, sports drinks or “gels”. She can’t help but smile at how we baby ourselves, compared to the grueling style of training and racing of the 70’s and 80’s. She’s not interested in a return to Boston either, but I just can’t resist.</p>
<p>My city enthusiastically puts on a 12k race every year with 40,000+ participants and welcomes the slowpokes. (I’m one myself. 
) They stagger the starts so that the faster people begin before the slower people, but there are a few bottlenecks where even the runners usually get slowed down. (Hey, what do you expect with 40,000 people?) Only one person can win a race (or one per category, I guess), and it’s usually a hardcore runner from Kenya. Most people I know run (or walk) to beat their time from last year or to challenge themselves. There have only been a handful of medical problems over the year, a pittance when you consider how many people are in the race.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, medical problems are on the increase, especially in half-marathons.<br>
Many of us run to improve our times, and we like to have unobstructed roadway if possible. This year at Country Music Marathon the marathoners and half-marathoners came back together at about mile 12 of the half and 19 or so of the full. One marathoner was actually hit by a hula-hoop in use by a (slow) half-marathoner. Not what you want at 19 miles of a grueling, 80 degree day marathon.</p>
<p>I think the obsession with marathons is harmful. Most people are not prepared to run a marathon, and the time it takes to heal is significant. Yes, I understand the feeling of accomplishment in doing so - but running a great 10k is hard in its own right. In fact, I have never done anything more difficult than a 10k on a track - the relentless pressure to run 25 laps at an intense pace is oh so challenging and painful. Going out hard in a big 10k road race can in a sense replicate this experience. </p>
<p>I say all this as a former competitive Div. 1 runner, where running 5 minutes a mile for an 8 mile training run was a common occurrence. I have never run a marathon, and once ran a decent half marathon for training when I was in peak fitness. I never was truly ready (meaning that the first half must be entirely an “easy” float), and it didn’t make sense. I don’t think it makes much sense for the average jogger, either.</p>
<p>I’m going to recommend a book on distance running:</p>
<p>Born to Run by Christopher McDougall Published 2009</p>
<p>mam1959, I had similar feelings to yours, but this book (not a training manual!) reframed everything I thought about why humans are drawn to running, and particularly running a distance as crazy as 26 miles. </p>
<p>McDougall writes for Runner’s World so is a legit writer. Bear with the first few chapters to get into the meat of his analysis. This would make a good Christmas gift for a runner.</p>
<p>It’s a great book, but I would say that he is a legit writer DESPITE writing for Runner’s World. 
I wear my Vibrams to work sometimes!</p>
<p>MOWC Ok, you might be right about that.</p>
<p>Uh, Riverrunner, I have a lot of respect for Christopher McDougall, but he is a little out of the mainstream :)</p>
<p>^^ Here’s a quick bio I came across. I think his writing is entertaining and readable. Yes, he’s got an obsession with distance running (including marathons and ultras) and everything about it. I guess he presents an end-member view. I can say my running friends and I who have read this book have NOT come away wanting to run an ultra!</p>
<p>“Christopher McDougall is a former war correspondent for the Associated Press and is now a contributing editor for Men’s Health. A three-time National Magazine Award finalist, he has written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Men’s Journal, and New York. He does his own running among the Amish farms around his home in rural Pennsylvania”</p>
<p>RR - Oh, I like Chris McDougall and we have read his articles for years. He happened to be Harvard alumni interviewer for DD and couldn’t have been nicer. They had a very long talk about running - but I don’t think any of us are ready to strap on those leather things to run.</p>
<p>^^ I had no idea he was a Harvard alum. That lends an interesting facet to his resume!</p>