The Hartford Marathon

[severine]

Anybody ran this today or know someone who has? I've never watched a race on tv before but Brian turned it on and now I'm addicted. Feeling guilty, too. I keep getting chest colds that are derailing my training (because I have asthma, chest colds put me out of commission for a few weeks).

I think next year I'm going to try to do at least the 5K portion and then the half-marathon the following year. 2 years should be enough time to work up to 13 miles, right?

The race leader right now for the full marathon, Patrick Moulton (sp?), has a 6-minute lead and about 3 miles to go. Amazing! These guys are running a 5:20 pace even with the sustained distance!!!

 

[severine]

He won! 2nd time--2 years in a row!

2:25:20 5:33 pace

 

[MommaBear]

Just came from evening mass and overheard an older woman (early 60's?) talking to Father, saying she didn't see HIM on the course today as she proudly displayed her Hartford Marathon t-shirt. For a woman her age that ran a marathon today, she was looking pretty chipper!

I can't even sustain 1 mile at 5:20, never mind 26.

 

[drjeff]

I've run (and finished) the 1/2 there 3 times now (not this year though). It's really an awesome experience from the starting mile which is wall to wall spectators right through the center of Hartford from basically the Capital Building out to Constitution Plaza, then across the river and through East Hartford, before crossing back over the river and up through the North Meadows then back literally ALONG the CT river for a good mile down towards the South End of Hartford and then finally out past the Hartford Hospital area and looping back to Bushnell Park for the finish. A really fun course, close to the best of the 10 or so 1/2 Marathon courses I've run (A course along essentially the side of Lake Winnipesaukee in NH was my favorite).

The key, atleast for me, for any road race is to not look at it as the total distance, but as a multiple "comfortable" distance races within the race. Like when I'm running a 1/2 Marathon (21 kilometers), I look at it as basically 4 5k races, and by the time you've trained for a 1/2 marathon a 5k is just a short walk in the park. Much easier when you get to the 10 mile mark to tell yourself "just a 5k to go" then "3 MILES" left - atleast for me. Also, almost everytime I've trained and run a 1/2, towards the end of my training I usually get that "stupid" thought in my head "maybe someday I'll run the full 26.2" and everytime I've craossed the finished line in a 1/2, the 2nd thought in my head (the 1st one is "I did it") is pretty much "no f%^&ing way could I now do another 1/2" :lol:

Injuries do suck Sev (I've been saddled with a left foot injury pretty much since May myself), but having a goal and then reaching it is awesome, and I can honestly say (and my up until this summer non runner wife will agree) it's actually way tougher to train from a new runner upto a 5K than it is to go from 5K to 5 miles and even 10k. Once you get that 5k endurance, it's not nearly as difficult to build the endurance past that with much less effort than for that 1st 5k

 

[severine]

Thanks, drjeff. My goal is to continue training through the winter, there's a 2 mile race I want to open the season with, at least one 5K, and then a 5-mile race in August in my hometown... then go from there.

I know what you're saying about how once you get into a comfort zone, it makes it more manageable. Even now with redoing the couch to 5K once I got past 3 and 5 minute intervals, it made it easier with the 8, 10, and 20 because I could keep telling myself "Oh, it's only another 5 minutes" or "Oh, it's only another 3 minutes...I've done this before and I can do it again."

Now if only I could stop catching colds... :lol:

A girl I went to high school with ran the half today--she said she beat her goal by 4 minutes and last year's time as well. Sounds good to me!

 

[Trekchick]

Sev, You are nothing short of inspirational!

 

[severine]

You're making me blush!

 

[Grassi21]

Wifey did the 1/2 marathon twice. She loved it and wants to run it again in the future. I love how they have the finish line set up near the park. Great event.

 

[drjeff]

Wifey did the 1/2 marathon twice. She loved it and wants to run it again in the future. I love how they have the finish line set up near the park. Great event.

The last time I ran the 1/2 (which was the '08 version) my FAVORITE part about the finish area in the park was that literally less than 5 minutes after crossing the finishline I was in the post race tent drinking a freebie Harpoon IPA! Killed 2 birds with 1 stone - rehydration + restocking my depleted carb stores

 

[severine]

Beer tents rule!

I did a 2-mile race yesterday that had to be the least exciting one I've done yet. Very little turnout, very little motivation from those on the course (almost nobody on the course!), and the post-race was pretty lame. Still, it was pretty cold, I had a cold, and it was a miracle I even finished under the circumstances. I shouldn't complain.

Atmosphere makes a huge difference!

 

[bvibert]

Beer tents rule!

I did a 2-mile race yesterday that had to be the least exciting one I've done yet. Very little turnout, very little motivation from those on the course (almost nobody on the course!), and the post-race was pretty lame. Still, it was pretty cold, I had a cold, and it was a miracle I even finished under the circumstances. I shouldn't complain.

Atmosphere makes a huge difference!

Next time I'll sneak a few beers into my backpack for you to enjoy with your free post race banana pancakes.

 

[ctenidae]

...then finally out past the Hartford Hospital area and looping back to Bushnell Park for the finish.

I'd be best served just running straight to teh hospital. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

 

[drjeff]

I'd be best served just running straight to teh hospital. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

Especially since that part of the course is basically mile 11 to mile 12 and it's ALL uphill (granted it's maybe a 50ft elevation gain over the mile, but it seemed like it was about a 1000ft climb that lasted about 10 miles ). Plus about 1/2 way through that stretch, you run pretty close to the Bushnell Theater (which is very close to the finish line) and you then realize that your running AWAY from the finish line Then you hit roughly the mile 12 marker and you turn back towards the park, heading slightly downhill and you start to realize that the end isn't too far away and that you'll make it. Or the 2nd time I ran the Hartford 1/2, once I hit mile 12 (A slightly different course back then) I realized that I had 1 mile to go to get to the beer tent!

 

[severine]

I'm really appreciating these tips, doc! I think my plan may be accelerated. Seriously considering the 1/4 marathon in early April now which means I could be on track for the half marathon next Fall.

Hmmmmm....

 

[severine]

Next time I'll sneak a few beers into my backpack for you to enjoy with your free post race banana pancakes.

Please do!

 

[drjeff]

I'm really appreciating these tips, doc! I think my plan may be accelerated. Seriously considering the 1/4 marathon in early April now which means I could be on track for the half marathon next Fall.

Hmmmmm....

Go for it Sev! Just remember, the 1st 2 miles are the toughest (at least for me) after that the 'ol body finally starts loosening up, and the sounds of me huffing and puffing finally drown out the sounds of my bones and joints creeking and popping

 

[severine]

Go for it Sev! Just remember, the 1st 2 miles are the toughest (at least for me) after that the 'ol body finally starts loosening up, and the sounds of me huffing and puffing finally drown out the sounds of my bones and joints creeking and popping

Well, I'm now registered for the quarter marathon in April. No excuses!!!! MUST do this!

 

[Marc]

Well, I'm now registered for the quarter marathon in April. No excuses!!!! MUST do this!

Good for you. Visualize and attack

I honestly thought I had zero chance of finishing the double century I did this summer when I signed up for it, but I realized that signing up was probably the hardest part. Once you've committed, you know what you have to do, so just git busy doin it. The most important thing to do now is write up a training plan... something that starts of slow to build your base mileage and reduce your chance of injury.

It's easier when you've got a schedule to stick to. Feel free to post them here, we can give you feedback :beer:

 

[severine]

For the most part, committing helps. Like I said, there are 2 events that I missed already: the 5-mile race last summer when I was MTBing more than running and the sprint tri this summer because I tweaked my knee in March and it was still bothering me in June--couldn't bike or swim and didn't get back to running until July. So I'm really nervous about committing to this under those circumstances. But sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and just do it!

A great friend who came into running in the last few years and now does half-ironman tris and marathons suggested this site for training:
http://www.halhigdon.com/

I'm at 20 minutes/1.72 miles so I'm switching over to his 5K training instead of the couch-to-5K:
http://www.halhigdon.com/5K Training/5-Knovice.htm

From there, he has a 10K training plan for novices:
http://www.halhigdon.com/10ktraining/10knovice.htm

I like that he tells you what to do on in-between days. For some reason, I can never figure that out yet I'm afraid of over-training. When I was going to the gym 5 days/wk (and I'm working back up to that--had some problems finding time when school resumed), I just did elliptical and stationary bike on in between days. The weight machines at the gym still scare me. I guess I'm afraid of looking like an idiot so I avoid them. I will have to figure them out soon though. (The gym will have someone help you with them but you have to schedule time during one of their pre-scheduled time slots that don't coincide with my availability.)

Obviously I have a little extra length to cover after the 10K but if I stick to that schedule, that takes me out a total of 16 weeks from now which should leave me with over 1.5 months to work up to that last little bit--during which time I want to work on hills.

Thanks for the advice, Marc!

 

[Marc]

Regarding overtraining... the best way I've found to avoid that condition is to keep careful track of your gains! Plateaus are as normal as gains are, from what I've experienced, but it's extremely important to get rest when you feel you're starting a plateau. Beyond that, take a rest day or two when you're tired. I've worked with sore muscles before, but never more than two days of that and then a good rest after that. Cycles of a week work for me, I always try to make sure I'm 100% fully recovered at the start of a new training week.