Subject: RE: Just wondering how far off I am ... Definite no-go on the marathon. For sure. Half-marathon is still a go, and I'd recommend it. If you still have the crazy desire/idea to go all-out for the full marathon, go do one of your required 20 milers (NOT recommended!) this upcoming weekend, and you'll feel the hurt and suffering that you'll be facing on race day. Take that TIMES TWO (no exaggeration here), and you'll have a realistic picture of the minimum pain & suffering you'll be facing on race day due to your low-mileage training. Running miles are somewhat different than cycling miles, due to the beat-down on the legs and joints. There is a world of difference between 8 miles, 15 miles, 20 miles, 22 miles, 24, and 26 miles. Yes, at those 20+ mile distance, those extra 2 miles will feel like an extra 10 miles each, since you will be past your body's intrinsic glycogen stores, even with GUs and fuel en route. This is seen a lot on HS forums when low-mileage HS track "stars" who run 15-16 minute 5ks routinely post that they can run "all day" at 8-9 min/mile. Someone usually challenges them to actually run a marathon at that pace, and when they try it, if they somehow manage to finish it, they suffer a world of hurt and swear to never do something that dumb again. Edited by agarose2000 2009-02-11 8:12 PM
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