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Operation Marathon: Under Way
I’ve decided to run a marathon. Well, I’ve been contemplation it for a while really, but as of now I’m officially participating in Copenhagen Marathon on May 19th. Though I have been running on and off again the last few years, I’ve never actually trained for anything. It was more a thing I did when I had the time and energy.
Here’s a picture. Bitches love pictures.
After coming back home from my dad’s where I spent Christmas, I went on my first run in nearly three months. I just about managed to do 6 kilometers before coming back completely exhausted. I know for a fact that my thighs will be aching more than I care to think about tomorrow. It still went better than expected though, and I’m pleasantly surprised about my time.
I suppose this is as good a time as any to share some background on myself. I’m 26 years old and currently studying software engineering at Technical University of Denmark (DTU). So the next 5 months I’ll be trying to juggle busy studies with running multiple times a week. And who knows, I might even drink slightly less beer. Or I might not…
It’s supposed to be blurry like that. Really, it is.
Anyway, I’ll be documenting my preparations, partly to motivate myself and partly due to popular demand (or rather, one demand). I’ll update every major milestone in my preparations, and otherwise whenever I feel like I have something to tell.
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Long-distance running is pretty bad for your health actually... But by all means do it for the challenge.
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On December 29 2012 06:39 eu-gogo wrote:
Long-distance running is pretty bad for your health actually... But by all means do it for the challenge.
According to whom?
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On December 29 2012 06:55 jrkirby wrote:Show nested quote +On December 29 2012 06:39 eu-gogo wrote:
Long-distance running is pretty bad for your health actually... But by all means do it for the challenge. According to whom?
Google and my own personal experience and encounters.
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On December 29 2012 06:39 eu-gogo wrote:
Long-distance running is pretty bad for your health actually... But by all means do it for the challenge.
What an absurd comment to make without facts or anything to back it up.
edit: after some googling sure when taken to the extreme like anything in life you can go overboard, but to say long-distance running in general is "pretty bad" for your health I totally disagree with.
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On December 29 2012 06:39 eu-gogo wrote:
Long-distance running is pretty bad for your health actually... But by all means do it for the challenge.
I'm sure it's much better than what 90% of what the rest of the world do in their past times.
But seriously congratulations on your decision!
Often times, the race itself is just an icing on the cake. Most of the challenge of the marathon comes 18weeks before the actual race where you need to prepare. The daily runs, the LONG runs on weekends that you could've slept in. But in the end crossing the finish line of your first marathon is AMAZING. You'll feel like you're in the clouds for days while your legs gnaws you from the microtears resulting from the race.
I have ran 2 marathons, and signed up for 2 more for the upcoming 2013 year. I know it's not much but if you want to know some of my experiences and advices on nutrition and training i'll be more than willing to give you my 2 cents.  Just pm me or ask away on your blog.
People who choose to run marathons, ironman 70.3's, or full ironmans, or even decide to get off the couch and sign up for a 5k always get's me excited because of their motivation and their attitude of taking a risk and jumping balls to the walls for the sake of goal achieving for a more fulfilling lifestyle.
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Calgary26004 Posts
I hope you stick with this and moreso I hope you keep updating the blogs. Please use consistent titles so I don't miss the updates gl!
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On December 29 2012 06:39 eu-gogo wrote:
Long-distance running is pretty bad for your health actually... But by all means do it for the challenge.
Lol. Alrighty then.
I actually don't even have anything to say, as that comment is so horrifically nonsensical.
Intense, serious elite level training isn't shown to be any better for ones health (and some studies do indicate it could have some negative effects) than a moderate amount of running (15-30 mpw) but there is little evidence to suggest that running is in any way bad for your health. You'd really have to back up your rational significantly for anyone to even begin to address what your comment.
@OP - Good luck! If you ever have training questions feel free to come say hi to us over at the running thread which can be found here: The Running Thread
What's your current training plan look like, and are you training to complete the marathon or to race the marathon?
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The whole 'running is bad for you' rumour is only as widespread as it is because people will look for any and every excuse to avoid getting off their couches. Of course it's dangerous if you do it carelessly and run too far, too fast; but as long as you build your distance up correctly, it's a great thing to do.
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On December 29 2012 09:31 Salazarz wrote:
The whole 'running is bad for you' rumour is only as widespread as it is because people will look for any and every excuse to avoid getting off their couches. Of course it's dangerous if you do it carelessly and run too far, too fast; but as long as you build your distance up correctly, it's a great thing to do.
Pretty much this.
If running was so bad for you we should have an army of elite runners left as beaten up, warn-down, and sickly from their 100-150 miles per week of running they have been doing for the past 20+ years. Inconveniently, they don't exist. Of course you can find examples of some who are, but for every example you can find another guy who is still running sub 16/31/2:30.
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Long-distance running burns muscle. Are we agreed on that? When I said bad to your health I meant in comparison to weigthlifting and some sports. Also much more prone to injury than weightlifting. I don't know what your definition of health is but long-distance running means death to most muscle groups your body is composed of.
Now I myself trained for long-distance running, only entering half marathons though, but could never recommend it to anyone, again, for health interests, Still better than doing nothing of course.
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On December 29 2012 09:46 eu-gogo wrote:
Long-distance running burns muscle. Are we agreed on that? When I said bad to your health I meant in comparison to weigthlifting and some sports. Also much more prone to injury than weightlifting. I don't know what your definition of health is but long-distance running means death to most muscle groups your body is composed of.
Now I myself trained for long-distance running, only entering half marathons though, but could never recommend it to anyone, again, for health interests, Still better than doing nothing of course.
No, I don't agree with you there
What makes you think running burns muscle?
Most of the energy used in running comes from stored muscle glycogen, which isn't muscle. People typically store about 2000 kcal worth of energy as glycogen in their legs, which tends to be good for 17-23 or so miles (this is part of where the so called "wall" in the marathon comes from).
Now, if you leave yourself in a catabolic state by not eating much after, then sure you can lose muscle, but that's because your in a catabolic state as a result of your diet, just the same as if I sat on my coach and ate 500 kcal each day.
When I said bad to your health I meant in comparison to weigthlifting and some sports.
Ah, well that clears it up some. I do tend to agree that for overall "general" fitness and a classically good physique a crossfit type program is probably the best option.
I don't know what your definition of health is
To me it's a few things:
1) Basic healthy medical levels: i.e. blood pressure, HR, glucose level, iron, etc.
2) Strength
3 Aerobic Conditioning
Running is very good for 1,3; not so much for 2. As a person that values my aerobic conditioning far, far more than strength I'm predisposed to prefer a primarily running program over a primarily strength training program.
PERSONAL BIAS SECTION: This is totally a person thing, but I feel much more "in shape" when I can go for an easy jog at 6:45 pace and feel "energetic" and "refreshed" from an 8 mile run than when I can pick up and put down a 185 bar 8 times. To me that's not nearly as useful of a fitness as high level aerobic fitness
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On December 29 2012 09:46 eu-gogo wrote:
Long-distance running burns muscle. Are we agreed on that? When I said bad to your health I meant in comparison to weigthlifting and some sports. Also much more prone to injury than weightlifting. I don't know what your definition of health is but long-distance running means death to most muscle groups your body is composed of.
Now I myself trained for long-distance running, only entering half marathons though, but could never recommend it to anyone, again, for health interests, Still better than doing nothing of course.
If you're smart about increasing your mileage, you can save yourself a lot of injuries. But I agree it there are still more injuries involved with running than weight lifting even if people are concerend with how they increase their mileage. However, long-distance running DOES NOT mean death to most muscle groups. It only seems that way for top marathoners because they need to get rid of any small nonuseful muscle that isn't used for running in order to go as fast as possible.
Long distance running use MOSTLY your stored body fats when you go at an aerobic pace, and if you push hard enough, you will begin burning your stored glycogen.
However, if you look at top triathletes like craig alexander + Show Spoiler +
Or tj tollakson + Show Spoiler +
Or even lance armstrong
+ Show Spoiler +
These guys can run 2:40 marathons coming out of a 2.4mile swim, and 112mile bike. I'm pretty sure that they have more muscle than your regular joe, even though they have insane amount of aerobic training.
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On December 29 2012 09:28 L_Master wrote:@OP - Good luck! If you ever have training questions feel free to come say hi to us over at the running thread which can be found here: The Running ThreadWhat's your current training plan look like, and are you training to complete the marathon or to race the marathon?
I don't have a set goal, but I know that if I do it in 4 hour30min It's probably not the most fun thing in the world. I'd like to beat 4 hours, but I'll probably set myself a time to beat when I'm closer to the race.
With regards to training, for now I'm just focussing on actually getting out there 3 times a week to get my body used to running (I haven't been running in a while), while slowly adding in some longer trips.
Thanks for the heads up on the running thread. I'll be dropping by.
On December 29 2012 09:01 Chill wrote:I hope you stick with this and moreso I hope you keep updating the blogs. Please use consistent titles so I don't miss the updates gl!
I'll be keeping the Operation Marathon: for as long as I can keep comming up with subtitles that make sense
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