half or full?

"WH" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

...Prior to that I had completed
runs of 20, a couple 18, a couple 16, etc. . I pretty much missed the
next
3 weeks (12, 13, & 14) except for maybe 8 miles per week, lots of
swimming,
and some elliptical machine. Finally, after some physical therapy and a
cortisone shot I was able to ramp up the training again but it was week 15
(time to taper according to my schedule). Since then I've done a 12, a 9,
and several shorter runs.

The marathon is this coming Sunday. My injury doesn't bother me any more.
I was so mentally prepared to do the full it seems like a failure to drop
back to the half. On the other hand, have I lost enough conditioning that
the full will be too much? I've already prepared to give up on my goal of
4
hours if I run the full.

If you scale back your pace about 30 sec/mile, I think you'll be ok. It
will still be tough, but you got in a lot of training.

Let us know how it went.

Good Luck,

Dan

WH said:

I've been training for a May 1 marathon. Training had been going very good.
I felt fine even after a 20 miler but 11 weeks into a 16 week training
schedule, got an IT band injury. It happened 17 miles into a 22 mile
training run (the longest in the schedule). Prior to that I had completed
runs of 20, a couple 18, a couple 16, etc. . I pretty much missed the next
3 weeks (12, 13, & 14) except for maybe 8 miles per week, lots of swimming,
and some elliptical machine. Finally, after some physical therapy and a
cortisone shot I was able to ramp up the training again but it was week 15
(time to taper according to my schedule). Since then I've done a 12, a 9,
and several shorter runs.

The marathon is this coming Sunday. My injury doesn't bother me any more.
I was so mentally prepared to do the full it seems like a failure to drop
back to the half. On the other hand, have I lost enough conditioning that
the full will be too much? I've already prepared to give up on my goal of 4
hours if I run the full.

Has anyone had a similar training outage? Able to still run the full?

I'd say just go for it. 3 weeks of down time isn't that bad, especially if
you're cross training -- especially if you were overtrained in the first place
(if you got injured, you were probably overtrained). You still have some long
runs under your belt, the conditioning from those doesn't just go away just
because you had some down time.

In answer to your two questions, I have experienced down time before. I had
a major breakthrough a while back, after I cut back mileage to about 20mpw
because of injury. Haven't tried a marathon under the same conditions.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

1500 miles in under 4 month
goal this week is 56 miles
did a 11 did a 21 today and fri a.m. and weather supost to storm rain
agen.
michigan the state with a circle wind and lakes on 3 sides.
in same day get 5 different weather pterns.a norm.......

don't have a calt. butt this might be 13 miles a day on a bike and
backpack for 10¢cans...× under 4 months. trail in state is a 1500
mile one......
point is.: oh hell I think i went cross eye agen......... a bike......4
seasons.....in this weather....R U Nuts.........
yah baby.I beleave so. it is the weather that well kill you. and at
nigt. not knowing........ ether way...you may be dead..........got to
ride.......

OK, you've had a couple of "go for it" responses, so now for a more rational
response.

3 weeks of downtime during what is considered to be your most crucial stage
in your marathon training is not something to take lightly. This is a huge
lack of essential traning, and I would not substitute your tapering weeks
before the race with those missed weeks, as tapering weeks are also crucial
for preparing your body to run the marathon.

As well, you have suffered an injury which does not go away overnight.
Although you are able to run again, the area of the injury will still be
weak, and therefore you are risking injuring yourself again by trying to
vamp up to preparing for a marathon and running the marathon. As with
running, injuries need time to heal, and overstressing this area by training
hard in your final weeks before a marathon is not a gradual strategy for
training and recovery.

What you need to focus on is that there will be other marathons, and part of
running a marathon is mental preparation. This includes setbacks to your
goals from the unexpected (injuries) and you need to mentally adjust to
these setbacks and refocus. I would suggest refocusing your attention to
running the half marathon, and setting a target for an upcoming marathon
later.

Remember, true runners run for today, but plan for tomorrow.

Good luck!
Tim

"WH" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've been training for a May 1 marathon. Training had been going very
good.
I felt fine even after a 20 miler but 11 weeks into a 16 week training
schedule, got an IT band injury. It happened 17 miles into a 22 mile
training run (the longest in the schedule). Prior to that I had completed
runs of 20, a couple 18, a couple 16, etc. . I pretty much missed the
next
3 weeks (12, 13, & 14) except for maybe 8 miles per week, lots of
swimming,
and some elliptical machine. Finally, after some physical therapy and a
cortisone shot I was able to ramp up the training again but it was week 15
(time to taper according to my schedule). Since then I've done a 12, a 9,
and several shorter runs.

The marathon is this coming Sunday. My injury doesn't bother me any more.
I was so mentally prepared to do the full it seems like a failure to drop
back to the half. On the other hand, have I lost enough conditioning that
the full will be too much? I've already prepared to give up on my goal of
4
hours if I run the full.

Has anyone had a similar training outage? Able to still run the full?

Thanks,
WH

Tim said:

OK, you've had a couple of "go for it" responses, so now for a more rational
response.

3 weeks of downtime during what is considered to be your most crucial stage
in your marathon training is not something to take lightly. This is a huge

A different point of view -- the whole 16 weeks is crucial. He misses some
training, it's a setback, but not the end of the world.

Quoted message said:

lack of essential traning, and I would not substitute your tapering weeks
before the race with those missed weeks,

.... but the reason I followed up to this post is the above. I agree -- you
can't do a "make-up" during the taper.

Quoted message said:

As well, you have suffered an injury which does not go away overnight.
Although you are able to run again, the area of the injury will still be
weak, and therefore you are risking injuring yourself again by trying to
vamp up to preparing for a marathon and running the marathon. As with

Except we all agree that he should do a taper and not "vamp up", right ? So
assuming he does it right, I suppose he could re-injure himself during the
race, and need a few weeks off after the race. But that's hardly the end of
the world, you expect some down time after a marathon anyway.

Quoted message said:

running, injuries need time to heal, and overstressing this area by training
hard in your final weeks before a marathon is not a gradual strategy for
training and recovery.

Again, this seems to me to be a red herring, because assuming that he trains
smart, he's not going to train really hard in the last few weeks.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

WH wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

I've been training for a May 1 marathon. Training had been going very

good.

Quoted message said:

I felt fine even after a 20 miler but 11 weeks into a 16 week training
schedule, got an IT band injury. It happened 17 miles into a 22 mile
training run (the longest in the schedule). Prior to that I had completed
runs of 20, a couple 18, a couple 16, etc. . I pretty much missed the

next

Quoted message said:

3 weeks (12, 13, & 14) except for maybe 8 miles per week, lots of swimming,
and some elliptical machine. Finally, after some physical therapy and a
cortisone shot I was able to ramp up the training again but it was week 15
(time to taper according to my schedule). Since then I've done a 12, a 9,
and several shorter runs.

The marathon is this coming Sunday. My injury doesn't bother me any more.
I was so mentally prepared to do the full it seems like a failure to drop
back to the half. On the other hand, have I lost enough conditioning that
the full will be too much? I've already prepared to give up on my goal of

4

Quoted message said:

hours if I run the full.

Has anyone had a similar training outage? Able to still run the full?

Look back for Phil M's post leading up to the Boston marathon. He went for
it, but that was Boston, and he didn't have an official 1/2 there as an
option.

You say your injury doesn't bother you any more, but would you be
comfortable going all-out for the 1/2? Would you get more satisfaction from
just finishing the full marathon in whatever time, or running the 1/2 hard?
There are other marathons, and unless finishing the full will give you a
great deal of satisfaction, if I were you I'd go for the 1/2 and see what I
had, then choose another marathon in the Fall and ease back into your
training.

-Tony

"WH" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've been training for a May 1 marathon. Training had been going very

good.

Quoted message said:

I felt fine even after a 20 miler but 11 weeks into a 16 week training
schedule, got an IT band injury. It happened 17 miles into a 22 mile
training run (the longest in the schedule). Prior to that I had completed
runs of 20, a couple 18, a couple 16, etc. . I pretty much missed the

next

Quoted message said:

3 weeks (12, 13, & 14) except for maybe 8 miles per week, lots of

swimming,

Quoted message said:

and some elliptical machine. Finally, after some physical therapy and a
cortisone shot I was able to ramp up the training again but it was week 15
(time to taper according to my schedule). Since then I've done a 12, a 9,
and several shorter runs.

The marathon is this coming Sunday. My injury doesn't bother me any more.
I was so mentally prepared to do the full it seems like a failure to drop
back to the half. On the other hand, have I lost enough conditioning that
the full will be too much? I've already prepared to give up on my goal of

4

Quoted message said:

hours if I run the full.

Has anyone had a similar training outage? Able to still run the full?

Thanks,
WH

Wow! Thanks everyone for the great responses. This is my first marathon
and training was going so well before the injury. I think that is what is
making this decision so hard. All I've been thinking about for 6 months is
running a marathon...something that wouldn't have even seemed possible
before that.

Like one of you said, I have to decide what would be more
satisfying....running a good half or just finishing the full. Since I've
not been over 20 miles before I don't know what that last 6.2 is like
mentally....especially with a lapse in training. Hopefully adrenaline and
the excitement of the race will help.

Regards,
WH

On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 00:00:12 GMT, "WH" <[email hidden]> wrote:
....

Quoted message said:

Like one of you said, I have to decide what would be more
satisfying....running a good half or just finishing the full. Since I've
not been over 20 miles before I don't know what that last 6.2 is like
mentally....especially with a lapse in training. Hopefully adrenaline and
the excitement of the race will help.

you'll do fine. just go a bit slower. when you finish
this one, you can think about what to do next. but
first, get one under your belt. join the fraternity
instead of talking about it.
....thehick

"WH" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've been training for a May 1 marathon. Training had been going very

good.

Quoted message said:

I felt fine even after a 20 miler but 11 weeks into a 16 week training
schedule, got an IT band injury. It happened 17 miles into a 22 mile
training run (the longest in the schedule). Prior to that I had completed
runs of 20, a couple 18, a couple 16, etc. . I pretty much missed the

next

Quoted message said:

3 weeks (12, 13, & 14) except for maybe 8 miles per week, lots of

swimming,

Quoted message said:

and some elliptical machine. Finally, after some physical therapy and a
cortisone shot I was able to ramp up the training again but it was week 15
(time to taper according to my schedule). Since then I've done a 12, a 9,
and several shorter runs.

The marathon is this coming Sunday. My injury doesn't bother me any more.
I was so mentally prepared to do the full it seems like a failure to drop
back to the half. On the other hand, have I lost enough conditioning that
the full will be too much? I've already prepared to give up on my goal of

4

Quoted message said:

hours if I run the full.

Has anyone had a similar training outage? Able to still run the full?

Thanks,
WH

Just wanted to thank you all again for the responses and let you know that I
went ahead and tried the full marathon today. The injury held up fine and I
ran 3:45 (15 minutes better than my goal). The amosphere of race day was a
real pick-me-up. Thanks again everyone!
-WH

Congrats!

"WH" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Just wanted to thank you all again for the responses and let you know that
I
went ahead and tried the full marathon today. The injury held up fine and
I
ran 3:45 (15 minutes better than my goal). The amosphere of race day was
a
real pick-me-up. Thanks again everyone!

Excellent job!

Amazing how long training persists, isn't it? I've read that you lose only
1% if you take 5 days completely off.

-- Dan

Quoted message said:

Excellent job!

I'll second that.

Quoted message said:

Amazing how long training persists, isn't it? I've read that you lose
only 1% if you take 5 days completely off.

I think a lot of it confidence.

--
Phil M.

Don't quit when the hill is steepest,
For your goal is almost nigh;
Don't quit, for you're not a failure
Uuntil you fail to try."

--Jill Wolf

Some of my best times (various distances) have followed rest periods of
up to a week. Goes to show that there is not much you can do to improve
in the week prior to a race (apart from staying loose and assuming
you are already reasonably well trained).

Dan Stumpus said:

Amazing how long training persists, isn't it? I've read that you lose only
1% if you take 5 days completely off.

-- Dan

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Inspection can only confirm quality or reveal deficiencies.
In no case, can quality be inspected into anything.