From: raym@runner.asd.sgi.com (Raymond Mascia)
Newsgroups: rec.running
Subject: Re: Re marathon first-timer seeks advice
Date: 9 Sep 92 20:49:27 GMT
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.

In article <1992Sep9.174045.28948@zeus.ieee.org>, tbont@ep.ieee.org writes:
|> I'm a not-so-experienced runner training for his first marathon (New York,
|> November 1). I have no time goals whatsoever, only survival, and I've
|> latched on to Galloway's book. I picked up the thread on this topic
|> rather late. Rather than opening it all up again, I'll just ask a couple
|> of questions:
|> 
|> 1) With under two months to go, my long run (Sept 7) was the New Haven
|>    20K, which I finished comfortably and without residual soreness. My 
|>    weekly mileage is just over 20. Is the marathon out of the question?

20 miles a week for a 20K is low, probably terrible for a marathon. How
about 35 miles a week, and take 1 day off. Or 8 miles every other day,
with in between days off, or follow Galloway. 
2 months of consistant training for your goal is OK. 
Start any schedule immediately.

|> 
|> 2) A friend of mine--an experienced runner--cautioned me against running
|>    the marathon, in view of the wall at ~30K. He said that regardless of
|>    how far I had gone to date, all bets were off at that distance. What
|>    had attracted me most about Galloway's book was his revised thinking
|>    about the wall and the idea that one must acclimate one's body to the
|>    sheer distance of the marathon. On the other hand, I've seen posts to  
|>    this group warning against overtraining. Is Galloway's premise, however
|>    attractive to the novice, just a bunch of hooey?
The wall isn't death or a wheel chair for life or.. You can run a marathon on
no miles, however you probably won't finish it. Therefore the more training
under your belt, the more you are likely to finish. If you wish to run
marathons every month you need acclimated. If you wish to race at other
distances within, (a month or so), you need acclimated. If you're happy to 
finish, then take it easy for however long till you fell comfortable,
then don't race aggressively for another, (month?) you don't need to be
acclimated. 
Every training method works, some prepare you better than others, 
providing it does't injure you. A program that
makes millions of runners faster breaks some poor guy that just follows.
Your an experiment of one and need to listen to your own body.
I'd say your a perfect example of a low mileage runner that can complete
a marathon, based on successfully running a 20K on 20 miles a week. Again
you need to be very careful after this type of distance jump because it
leaves your muscles in poor shape.

|> 
|> 3) The marathon experiences I'm interested in, needless to say, are *first*
|>    ones. Any posts about your first marathons and how you would have run them
|>    differently if you had it to do over would be warmly received.
|> 
|> Thanks to everyone,
|> 
|> Tom
|> New York
Paul French's experience is, I feel, not relative to finishing a marathon.
(I'm impressed). He want's a PR. Paul, was the wall for you walking?
Also my experience at attaining my best, was as frustrating. I
tried different techniques, but was not sucessful. Just watch a professional
marathon and see how many are able to start at their goal pace and also
finish at that pace. Being 1/2% off, physically, really adds up over 26 miles.
On top of 'being off' you try to force yourself at your goal pace, the result
may be the wall, or worse an injury. 
So, having a goal of finishing, and being comfortable during, just makes
you very tired towards the end, and tests your resolve to complete. If you
don't finish you will now have an idea of how your body reacts, and what
you could change to fix the problem.

Ray Mascia