quote:<HR>Originally posted by ttansley99:

Part of my feelings might be that it frustrates me to see how she's almost trivializing the training. I trained so hard for my first, and the race was still really hard. to me, making the commitment to the training is half the glory of finishing the actual race. so i guess i'm a little bitter about her attitude too, which is kind of silly i suppose.
<HR>

It may be silly, but most of us feel the same way. I have an acquaintance who has been sending e-mail updates and talking about her marathon training...very similar to your friend. A couple of weeks ago, she ran her marathon, so I looked up her time...3:35. Pretty respectable! (except she failed to mention she ran the HALF, not the full.)

When I was 25, I ran the LA marathon cold turkey. Bought the shoes that week. I'd been playing a lot of basketball and figured that I should try it while young. The first 18 miles were really not all that bad. I self-invented Gallowalking, but was able to keep bumping along at a 3:30ish pace. Then the wheels fell off. Huge pain in the knee -- and with 8 miles to go. I basically walked it in and finished in 5 hours. I couldn't walk for about a week. At the time, it was a sort of symbolic victory for me. I'd had some rough times at work and personally and the fact that I gutted it out meant something. I didn't run again until two years ago (41). Looking back . . . so stupid, just in every single respect.

By the way, I wouldn't use Lance as the posterchild. He learned a lesson in humility. Quote: "I think I bit off more than I could chew, I thought the marathon would be easier...I could barely walk..." He also admitted that the marathon was the "hardest physical thing he had ever done", even compared to the Tour de France. "I don't know how these guys do it," he said in reference to marathoners.

"Considering all my Tours, even the worst days, nothing was as difficult or left me with such a sense of fatigue and so much soreness as the marathon today."

Don't say anything unless she asks your opinion. It's not likely to
be life-threatening, so it's not worth you looking like a know-it-all or
jealous friend (I'm not suggesting you're being either). As long as
she doesn't say she plans to guzzle down a ton of water during
the race or alternatively not drink at all, she'll survive. Then you
can congratulate her on her 6:45 finish afterwards.


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Print this thread and give it to her.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by ttansley99:


I mentioned to our mutual friends that I think running the race is foolish, but have been advised not to tell her this because it is unsupportive of her so-called dream to become a marathon runner.
<HR>

What is the mutual friend's background ? Is it bold to assume he/she is not a runner ? This, in my opinion, of how new runners quit being runners. They go into an event grossly undertrained, get injured or have a miserable time, and decide this is what running feels like, and quit. If I were to write a book on how not to make running a lifestyle, this would be a text book example. Next year she may be saying "I can't run, my knees can't handle it", when in reality, no one's knees could handle what she is trying to do. I would state my opinion once, and then drop it. You are not supporting her by nurturing her plan. Resist the temptation to say "I told you so" when you are proven right after the marathon. I wonder what goes though people's head when they prove they cannot run 20 miles but they think they are ready for 26.2. Hopefully she is taking walk breaks early and often. Given more time and better ramp up she may have a long running career.