First time marathon runner wondering whether or not to go ahead

Lone Shark

Hi Folks,

As with most newbies, I come looking for the advice of sagacious types!

I was training for the Longford Marathon (next Sunday) and everything was pretty much according to schedule up until two weeks ago. I was doing maybe 2-3 short runs a week (8-10k) and one longer one, the most recent being 18 miles. My plan was to run 21 miles last weekend, back down to fifteen this weekend just gone and then be ready for next Sunday. (This is my first marathon by the way - I turned 30 this year and it was my way of dealing with the emotional trauma)

The problem is that I got hammered with a bad dose of a chest infection about a week and a half ago, and while I'm just about through it now, I've done nothing for two weeks and running for my car through the rain for about 300 yards left me seriously breathless at the weekend. I know my lungs will be fine again by next Sunday so I don't think that this is a medical issue, but my training is nowhere near where it needs to be now, and to be honest once i got to the end of my longer runs (15 miles plus) i was running out of stubborn-ness rather than fitness anyway.

Would I have any chance of completing this Sunday? My problem is that the Dublin City one coincides with the American Football in Wembley which i'm simply not missing, and I don't want to just lapse back into bad habits by leaving it till 2009.

Any suggestions? Everyone I know is telling me to pull out of it, but I really want to do this and go on from here - I don't want to be the guy who said he was going to do a marathon and then it didn't happen. I have faith in my willpower - i will drag my body over the line if it's remotely possible.

Any thoughts?

hunnymonster

Lone Shark wrote: »

and while I'm just about through it now, I've done nothing for two weeks and running for my car through the rain for about 300 yards left me seriously breathless at the weekend.

it doesn't sound like your chest has cleared up yet and it may well not by Sunday. This would be my deciding factor rather than the training. In training, you have most of the hard work done, you've just had a longer taper than normal. The chest is another matter. You don;t want to make yourself more ill so I would let the state of your breathing decide.


If you don't do Longford there are other marathons out there besides Dublin. Autumn is marathon season. For a newbie, I would recommend the Nottingham marathon. Good course, good support and not a long haul flight. It's mid September. Other races between now and Dublin include

Jungfrau (not for beginners)
Medoc !! Famous, but again not for beginners, or irish runners with a drink problem!
Kent Coastal marathon - Thinking of doing this one myself.
Wolverhampton - Don't know anything about this.
In Flanders Fields
Moscow
Groningen
New Forest
Geneva
Warsaw
Budapest
Budapest
Cologne - will do this one of these years

Seres

have you talked to your doctor ? i mean the last thing you want is to get worse again and a professional med opinion can help put closure on the issue, also i understand how you feel about wanting to do it and everyone that is telling you to pull out just doesnt understand the amount of effort you have put in , i would just ignore them , could you maybe try the half marathon ?

Sorry i am not much help , good luck on sunday though if you do go for it

Peckham

+1 to above. Sounds like your illness hasn't cleared up, and if I were you I would certainly seek professional medical advice before deciding to run. Maybe start to think about another race (from the list provided by Hunnymonster), and then train up for that when things have cleared up.

If you go out on Sunday to run the full marathon, you run the risk of your illness meaning you have a totally miserable race that you may not even finish. This would be worse than not starting the race at all, as a miserable experience may discourage you from trying again.

No shame in not starting based on medical advice, and will make it all the sweeter when you do eventually finish a marathon.

Lone Shark

Thanks folks.

To be honest whatever about hopping over to Nottingham or something like that, I won't be going any further afield. I've changed jobs this year and wouldn't have a huge amount of money to spare, my NFL trip will be my only foreign "holiday" so to speak for the year. If the Dublin marathon was any other date I'd go ahead with it instead, so I might look into Nottingham. I'm thinking I'll go for a light run on Thursday evening, maybe just 8k or so, and see how I feel after that. If I come through that without any bother, then I might just have a go.

I don't expect the doctor to tell me anything in the sense that if i felt even the slightest bit phlegmy I'd pull out in a heart beat. It's more the being out of practice that's the issue - one thign about this new found "maturity" is that you can lose fitness in a matter of weeks, something I never had to deal with before.

Still, I do know that people like yourselves and the good lady are talking some sense when ye say that these things need to be given time to clear up properly. It's just a big pity when I had put so much focus on to thsi date.

Thanks for the help - very much appreciated.

hunnymonster

Lone Shark, ryanair have Nottingham return from Dublin for €30 including all taxes etc for the dates of the marathon and igloo hotel for €20. The marathon entry is £27 (€34) to give total of €84 and Dublin entries currently €70. Make your mates buy you 3 pints for finishing and you're quids in

Don't say I don't help you lot out!

HardyEustace

LS, I'd be very careful about undertaking a marathon if you have problems.

To put it in perspective last Friday week I had a bit of head cold and a tiny cough, I stupidly went ahead and did an Olympic distance triathlon on Saturday. I'd a rubbish race and almost fainted/got sick on the run. I ended up really sick as a result. I've spent the whole of last week either sleeping or sweating. I haven't been so sick in a long time. I've missed two long runs and am still not running yet (a week and a half later) even though Berlin is approaching rapidly.

A race, particularly a marathon puts your body under a huge amount of strain and if you're not 100% then you're risking your health undertaking it.

I'm so sorry I did that race now. I probably could've gotten away with just a few days rest and been back to normal. Instead I've set myself back weeks and managed to batter my poor body about the place. My immune system was so low I even had a yeast infection in my mouth when I went to the doctor on Tuesday.

It's just not worth it, particularly if you've any trouble below the neck, i.e. respiratory. That said, I'd try and get a doctor who runs themselves, they'll be able to give you a realistic answer.

One of the guys in work today was telling me that he had a big race years ago and did it with a cold/cough. He got fluid in his heart and was very sick. He said that i was lucky I didn't catch pleuresy.

This might all sound very scare mongery but I have to say that I'm just so shocked at just how sick you can make yourself by doing events when you're not well. I guess it's because you're racing for such a long time in the marathon that makes it all the more dodgy.

Lone Shark

HardyEustace wrote: »

This might all sound very scare mongery....

It does, but it's the genuine experience of people who have been through the mill before, which is why I was keen to get that kind of opinion. I don't really have a doctor I know, while the girlfriend is cut from completely different cloth to me - loads of sporting talent, so never had to dig very deep in anything she took part in. She doesn't understand what it's like for talentless schmucks like me, so when she sees me going past the pain barrier in a way she never would, then she thinks it's crazy behaviour altogether. Basically that's a long way of saying it's hard to take her urgings not to take part seriously.

However this stuff is more the kind of real potential damage that I want to avoid - so methinks I'm going to step back from Longford and see if Nottingham will work.

Hunnymonster, Hardy Eustace, again I'm very grateful - this is exactly the kind of clarity I was looking for by posting on here.

Wally Runs

I am guessing that you have you put aside the weekend for the Longford Marathon (which I assume you will hold off on compteing), why waste it?

If you could bear it why not volunteer to help out on the day. I am sure a quick call to the orgainsers would sort that out. I mean you will still get to share in the vibe, get in some good karma for when you run later in the year and get to appreciate what goes on behind the scenes at these events to make them happen.

Longford is certainly one of the more inclusive marathons and I am sure they will be delighted with any help. Nike and Athena would look down with favour on you (the Gods not the shoes) for your input.

MarieC

I injured myself in preparation for Connemara this year and had to pull out. Was totally devastated. Still I had a friend training for it so I went up to support her and for the day out. I must say it was a fantastic day out. I sat on a rock in the cold and rain for 3 hours cheering people on. Fair enough I started crying when the first runner went past me, but I got over it. As a runner you never get to be a spectator so perhaps turn this to your advantage, and go and have a nice day out. Dont worry about what other people think about you "pulling out" from Longford, unless they are runners they wont understand. I've come to learn that the only people that understand me and my running are ye so to hell with what others may say!!

It is hard I know, but listen to your body and take care of it. You will still get to do your marathon that way, just perhaps not the one you'd originally hoped for.