My Personal Everest

m3llowship

Hi All,

This is my first post in this particular forum.

I am a 24 years old guy who is quite out of shape.

6'4 and 17 stone.

I quit smoking two months ago.

In my day I played basketball and swam very competitively, but its genuinely been a long time since I really trained for anything.

I want to run the Dublin City Marathon at the end of October this year.

*pauses for gasps and stiffled laughter*

This isnt a "new years fad of a fat guy" I have very little issue with my weight. Also, I am very dedicated to do this as I see it as the ultimate fitness goal.

I have read a lot of information about this and have decided to give it everything I have.

I am looking for two things.

Firstly, for someone who has ran marathons before to tell me am I completely insane, becuase at the heart of it I am a realist. I know that running a marathon is a mammoth task and it will take up most of my time for the next few months but I am willing to dedicate myself to it.

Secondly, to be pointed in the right direction because I am such a novice when it comes to running at all.

siochain

1st congrats on the smokes
2nd congrats on writing down and publicly declaring your intentions
3rd congrats on setting down a long term goal to keep you focused

Sorry long distance running is not my thing but with any fitness goals you have made good progress with the above already. Now you need to break it down into short term goals with the help of someone who knows what’s realistic in terms of marathon training. Perhaps find a running group or training partner with similar goals to keep you motivated. You could also start a training log in the sub forum or over in the Marathon forum.


10 months seems realistic for marathon training I look forward to hearing about your progress.

Good Luck

flywheel

have a read of some of the Marathon Watch articles written in the Sunday Business Post about 2 years ago, and read a first-timer as they went through their preperations:

http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/search/index.aspx
Search for "Marathon-Watch", give it a bit to search through the archive and list the results....


also might be worth looking into something like a gait-analysis to check your running capability and see if there is anything that can be improved or addressed... IrishFit based out in DunLaoghaire do it:
http://www.irishfit.eu/gaitlab.html

as stated by the Marathon organisers,

N. B. It is recommended that any potential participant not currently involved in physical sporting activity, should undertake a medical examination before taking part in the marathon.

all the best with your training and the event

adagio

I quit smoking two months ago

Good start and keep it up.

I want to run the Dublin City Marathon at the end of October this year.

Perfectly attainable goal if you train smart.

Firstly, for someone who has ran marathons before to tell me am I completely insane, because at the heart of it I am a realist. I know that running a marathon is a mammoth task and it will take up most of my time for the next few months but I am willing to dedicate myself to it.

I have one marathon under my belt (2006 in a time of 3:21:00) alot of road racing and some Mountain running. I'm looking forward to 2009 Dublin city marathon (possibly sub 3hrs if all goes well) and my Mountain Running season starts on the 18th of this month.
You are not insane. Your goal is perfectly reasonable. I have a friend who fits your profile exactly and he ran his first marathon in 2006 finishing in 3:45:00, so it is do-able.
But you have to train smart: The most important part is to take time out and make some key decisions, possibly the most important being footwear. Too many people just start running without thinking and inevitably suffer serious injuries. I would suggest that someone of your height and weight buys Asics Kayano for training and another lighter Asics for racing.
For training schedules see the many sites dedicated to the first time marathon runner.
And finally, have a little faith in yourself and well done, but beware if your running goes well it can become quite addictive.
Enjoy and keep us updated on your training.:D:rolleyes:

m3llowship

Guys,

Thanks for all the positive support. I have read a lot of the literature and to be honest I am as much scared about starting my training as I am excited.

I am talking to some people in running clubs and I will put up posts about my progress, along with a video diary.

Again thanks for the support.

mikemac

Best of luck

This site gets mentioned a lot, free training plans so you might find something
http://www.halhigdon.com/

Khannie

I've seen others mention this site. Very best of luck.

flywheel

and there's a Marathon / Triathlon forum on boards too...

m3llowship

Hi All,

I said I'd keep ye updated so here I am.

Unfortunately I have been scuppered from the word go. At the moment I am recovering from a nasty chest infection and pretty serious sinusitus. Though I was disheartened I am rearing to go again!

I have my new running shoes ordered they are arriving on Monday.

One thing I have realised too, before I begin actually running I am going to firstly concentrate on losing the extra weight I am carrying. My father has terrible problems with his knees and it all stems from his weight. So I figure its a good option.

In tow with my weight loss my diet has changed drastically. Though I have to take in big amounts of energy to burn while running, with the first phase I am on a major cut back. Lot of veg and lean meat, little carb and no fat. I will also be doing a lot of walking some cycling and possibly a little swimming too! The food part is not going to be the problem, I mean, on my gastronomical and static journey to becoming 17 stone 8 lbs I realised that I will actually eat anything. The quantity is where I am going to find the difficulty!

Anyway, thats what I am planning at the moment. I'll post agin in a week or so if anyone is interested in this post I guess!!

Thanks again

m3llowship

Juran

well done for getting in the right frame of mind .... thats a huge leap. I'm also starting a change of life ... I need to lose 4 stone (am female, 5'9") and i plan to do it by serious running & swimming training and gym session to tone other muscles. More so I want to get fit, and feel fit & healthy ... plus of course lose weight and look good.
Like you, I'm going to watch the diet ... reducing carbs, alcohol and nasties. I'm started lightly this week but going to kick up a gear starting this weekend ... I hate to start things on a monday!
I'd love to start a fit club (in Galway city) where people could meet after work or in the mornings and go for runs, cycles, swims, gyms etc.. and motivate each other ... the only group meetings are WW and similar ... I went to one meeting ... 100 people in a tiny room, no one spoke with each other, the leader who was really nice spoke for over 30 mins giving food tips ... but that was it .. nothing like I imagined .. I was expecting a small group who could support each other .... anyways i'm ranting on ...

Keep up the log ... good luck!

Zamboni

m3llowship wrote: »

One thing I have realised too, before I begin actually running I am going to firstly concentrate on losing the extra weight I am carrying. My father has terrible problems with his knees and it all stems from his weight. So I figure its a good option.

Hey mate,

Best of luck with the marathon.
Just a suggestion but would you be better off spending the next three months losing at least 2 stone of the wobbly stuff and then spend the next six months on the CV training you will require for the marathon?
As you said running with the best part of 17st on your kees, shins and ankles is just being mean to them
I would go with resistance training for the weight loss phase.

rainbow kirby

Zamboni wrote: »

Best of luck with the marathon.
Just a suggestion but would you be better off spending the next three months losing at least 2 stone of the wobbly stuff and then spend the next six months on the CV training you will require for the marathon?
As you said running with the best part of 17st on your kees, shins and ankles is just being mean to them
I would go with resistance training for the weight loss phase.

I disagree, I do think he should start running as soon as he can, possibly by following something like Couch to 5k. C25k isn't that demanding, and if he's watching his diet, he'll lose the weight while he's building up his running distance. He should probably consider lifting some weights too - Starting Strength would probably be a good starting point there.

I was pretty obese when I started running 6 months ago (just under 15 stone, I'm 5'6"), and I've already lost just under 3 stone and completed a 10k race. I am the same age as the OP, and also looking to possibly run the Dublin marathon this year.