How did you decide to do your first full mary? (Page 2)

LOVE IT!  I am in no way ready for full ironman and can't conceptialize really every having that goal but the awe I have for those that have done one...WOW!

You might surprise yourself. 

I struggled to imagine completing an Ironman, though it's been a dream of mine for quite a while.  Now, that I've done my first marathon, the Ironman is seeming much more obtainable. 

i'm signed up for my first full mary in november, the philadelphia marathon.  i know if i just bump up my run training a little i'll be able to do it.  i thought that if i didn't sign up for it and it passed, i would regret it. so i just went for it and signed up!

can't wait to do it

Looking forward to a IM next year, and the whole training group is doing this years Rock N Roll Las Vegas in December, so I'm in for the whole enchilada, as we say out west.

I've never gone past 10 miles running, but feel pretty confident that my determination will pull me through, along with not being shown up by my training partners.

I've got the swimming skills (competitive swimmer since 3rd grade), and already done a couple of centuries biking, but the running.........here we go.

Edited by SWIM2LIVE 2009-08-11 2:10 AM

You have enough time left to train for a full if you start now ...

I pretty much just jumped into it (the training that is). A student of mine begged/nagged/wheedled me into doing AIDS Marathon (I was a smoking overweight couch potato, no regular exercise in many years). Training started with a 3-mile run at whatever pace you could do comfortably (walk, run, crawl ...) and that, and each successive week of training, was the furthest I'd ever run.

My new's yr.'s resolution in 2006 (the yr. I graduated from law sch.) was to run a full mary, & run one every yr. for the rest of my life. I have serious aging issues. Prior to, I was running shorter distances for about a yr. w/biking my real passion. At any rate, I've run dozens since & think I can (physically that is) b/c once you put your body through it & follow-up w/nutrition/sleep etc..., the maintenance, IMO isn't that difficult. BUT, my first IM is this yr. Opinion might change.

BTW: I would personally recommend Chicago. It's flat (literally... like no hills) & the crowd support is wild.

P.s. Crossing the finish line on a full mary is an astonishing feeling that you can't ever out grow.

HA! Well, I think doing a marathon with a whole lot of fan-fare make it a little bit more special. I was happy when I finished, sure. But it wasn't completely over the top exciting.

BTW- Here were ALL the participants in my marathon:



And here was my finish line...

Now that's an ultra hardcore mary! My hats off.

HA! More like... FUNNY!!!!!



Edited by KSH 2009-08-11 10:08 AM

Mine was pretty much impulse too.  I had a so-so experience with my first half but I quickly forgot about all of the pain and signed up for the OBX marathon in November, I figured I had plenty of time to train properly, then I started doing tri's this summer and will have completed (hopefully) 4 by then.  I think the variety of training is keeping me focused but I will be happy to hibernate in December

my girlfriend signed me up....

I won a lottery slot for the NYC Marathon, which I will be running in November

Well, MomX3, this thread actually.  I just signed up for the Thunder Road Marathon in Charlotte, NC in December.  I purchased the Hal Higdon 18 week plan he put together for this race.  So far, my longest run has been 10 miles with lots of 4-7 milers in between and about 12-15 miles average per week.  I need to have a goal like this to improve my speed in tris and I want to do some longer tris next year, so this will be good.

Thanks,
Greg

I always wanted to run one before I turned 30 (I'm 28 now).  I ran a 1/2 mary last year and felt pretty good, so this year I signed up for the full.  I ran 28km a couple weeks ago and was hurting for the day, but felt alright the next day... a much quicker recovery than last year's 1/2.  Just over 2 months to go!

Oh, and I want to do Ironman Canada in 2012... might as well get a head start

I figured since I'd done a half marathon why not try the full.

There really wasn't any more consideration than that.  As long as it's far enough in the future you will have time to train.

You purchased a Hal Higdon plan? Then you probably don't want to hear that he has them for free on his website...

We're also looking at Thunder Road...

Well, I still haven't decided for sure.  But I am running with the girls tomorrow so I know they will try to talk me into it!  I want to do it, but I don't want to sign up (a weekend at Disney with a Disney race is expensive!) and then quit.

Oh, and as to my previous halfs, you are right, I never train very well for my races (ask any of my BT friends - my last tri I swam ONE time before the race!).  The only one that really shows what I could do was San Francisco at 2:36 - I was actually happy with that.  My first race (Gasparilla) I stunk because I had the flu a few days before and had a fever during the race.  My last half was at Disney and I did it with a friend for her first race - she got hurt so I walked with her a lot.  I will probably sign up for a half this fall to see what I am really capable of.

Then again, if I decide to do a full I will not be worrying about a time - I am always a slow poke!

Heck, we kicked their butts- that's what happened to them! Actually one other person beat us... we were second and third place. And there were 12 people (us included) in the marathon. Thank you.

I did a half-mary in November 2007.  My friend did the full marathon on the same day.  We chatted afterwards, and he said it was the hardest thing he had ever done.  He then said he wanted to do another one.  I swore up and down I'd never do a marathon, or if I ever did one, it would be as part of an IM.  Well, reality set in, and I realized I'd never even finish the swim on an IM, so I decided might as well try a marathon. 

I thought I'd like to train with the same buddy that did the marathon on my half-mary day, so we started doing long runs together.  A few weeks later, we got together to decide on our spring marathon, and he had a conflict on the date of our first choice.  So, we chose a local race on a different weekend, which is all within Umstead State Park. 

My first marathon was a trail mary.  I was hooked.

My second marathon was also in my hometown, with a few miles on the same course as my first marathon.  I trained pretty hard for that one, and ran a 3:26.

My third marathon was in March of this year.  I trained for 19 weeks for it, with a 55-mile peak week.  I qualified for Boston.

My fourth marathon will be with my wife in November, when she runs her first, and I will be her sherpa.  It will be on the same course I ran a 3:26 last year.  We're expecting a slightly slower pace

My fifth marathon will be next March, on the same course where I ran my first.  It will be run as a long run in preparation for my sixth marathon.

My sixth marathon will be Boston.  My training plan starts December 13th.

I am currently training for my first Full Mary: Richmond, VA in November. 

I had registered to run the Rock & Roll half in VaBeach and out of curiousity, I looked at the training plan for a Full, just to compare the two.  Turned out that the Full training plan had a 1/2 mary worked in on the same weekend I was planning to run the R&R 1/2.

No doubt, the full Mary is a bucket list item for me, but I want to attempt a couple of longer Tri's next year.  Getting my endurance built up for a full Mary this winter seems like a great place to start. 

I'd never even considered doing a marathon -- the idea of running that far seemed ridiculous to me. But at some point during tri training I realized I loved running so I signed up for a half mary. I had a blast and signed up for another right away. By then, it seemed like a natural next step to tackle a marathon. I'd already built up to about 30 miles a week and the motivation to bump up the training was there. I think the final decision came down to the fact that I really wanted the challenge; I actually *wanted* to run lots and lots of miles for training; and I figured I should take advantage of my running fitness while I had it. I had a great time (right after finishing I told my friends I was never doing that again -- and now I'm training for my second).

My advice to the OP is to make sure *you* want to run the marathon. The training can be intense and take up a ton of time (if you're doing it right...). You've got to want to do it or you'll be miserable, during the training and possibly during the race.


Edited by Fielding 2009-08-11 9:38 PM