Who out there is actually hand on heart going to try and make 2012

I am in a very similar situation to the above poster. I am also 35, have just two kids (4 and 2), a full time job and a wife in medical school. Everyday life is very demanding and time consuming, but I've been able to find a way to average 80 miles per week for the nearly three years I have been training seriously again, and I'm enjoying the journey. Qualifying for the marathon trials is a goal, but the ultimate goal is to feel like I gave the best effort I could manage to find out what I can do in the sport. I have been a runner all my life, and it has given me so much. If I don't get the best out of myself, I know I will regret it the rest of my life. If I make the trials, great. If I don't, it will have been a hell of an enjoyable attempt.

OneW wrote:

If not then why would we stay in the sport.

I'm sure other replies already say this, but your thinking here is pretty immature.

You really think the rest of us who run daily and/or semi-competitively are just wasting our time?

Some of us realize that contributing to the real world is more important than futile attempts like yours at becoming an olympian.

I'll be shooting for trials. I'll be old then, but it's my last shot.

Is there where we share our dreams and fail in front of all the gloating naysayers? Is this our thread of doom? If so, count me in!

unless you are willing to devote 90-120 mpw and 2 hard workouts per week, run twice a day, run a 10k close to 30 minutes and a 1/2 marathon in 106, (if you are shooting for a 2:19 marathon), then forget it.

I'm going to try to make the marathon trials. I'm getting close to 2:47 (will they change the women's standard?) now, but like some others I'm in my mid-30s already and don't have kids. Which means I need to have a kid or two then get back to training to make the standard.

I should have run the first women's marathon trials in'84, but life happened and I watched Joanie in LA while I was very pregnant with my first kid. I decided to train seriously again in '88 and made it to the '92 trials and had a hell of a lot of fun in the process, traveling, picking up a few bucks on the road etc. Sometimes dreams can be deferred. sometimes they can't. If I hadn't given it a second try, I would have regretted it the rest of my life. I say go for it. I have two great kids, and I got to run a bit along the way.

Thanks runamook. That's good to hear!

I wish that I had started training more seriously when I was younger, but I don't really wish that I had had kids when I was younger. I think I can do both, but we'll see what happens!

bonzo wrote:

OneW wrote:

If not then why would we stay in the sport.

I'm sure other replies already say this, but your thinking here is pretty immature.

You really think the rest of us who run daily and/or semi-competitively are just wasting our time?

Some of us realize that contributing to the real world is more important than futile attempts like yours at becoming an olympian.

My comment was not aimed at people in the sport as a hobby or for personal goals it was aimed at the lets run posters who are staying in the sport competitively who talk a lot but dont actually commit themselves to a real goal. If you are committed in college and competitive when you get out of college there aren't a huge amount of goals if you want to stay competitive.

I'd get PPV to see Satch in the Trials.

I was thinking about the lax rules and recent cases of individuals of certain ethnic backgrounds competing for their "home" countries...

I plan to present a plan to the Philippine government offering to represent them in all of the men's track and field events, dressage, and canoing. I will be the lovable loser of the Orient, ala Eddie the Eagle and that random Moroccan nordic skier.

OneW wrote:

If not then why would we stay in the sport.

You can always sign up for a 100-miler, and try to break the course record. Its tougher than what you think.

I've got a 2:33 marathon PR. But I get beat by 3+ hour marathoners in 100 milers. I am still trying to figure out why.

ultra fan wrote:

I've got a 2:33 marathon PR. But I get beat by 3+ hour marathoners in 100 milers. I am still trying to figure out why.

I'm looking to break 7h for 50M. Unless you can get ~6h for a flat 50, those 100M course records are outta reach. Plus, most of them are hilly as all get out.

I think the long stuff is a lot different than the young guns think it is. It's one thing to do 2-a-days and schedule your life around hammering 3 hard w/os a week. It's another to spend all of Friday night running overnights on the trails as training. You've got to have a lot of faith in your body and your mind.

A shout out that Malmo should give it ONE MORE SHOT .... come on Malms, you can do it .......

OneW wrote:

So many of us post on here as competitive runners with opinions on everything but how many of us are gonna lay it on the line and go try make the next team in 2012?

Or at least the trials?

If not then why would we stay in the sport.

I'm going to try make the marathon team. I'm going to sacrifice four years of potential baby making and career paving to make running my priority.

The Brian Sell way (lots of miles) (although he did make a baby).

Good luck to you and others who are taking this path!

The "why would we stay in this sport" question has been been dealt with by others--for most of us, the Olympics or even the Trials aren't realistic goals, so really we can't speak of not staying in the sport if we're not going for the Olympics, and the OP acknowledges that.

But I can see a logic behind the question--having a goal is motivating, whether the goal is a certain benchmark time in a race or a personal best or an age group best (for some of us of a certain age).

Yes, I enjoy running for its own sake--but there are days when I don't want to take another step... and yet there's that training/racing goal, and I know if I want it, I have to get out and do the work for it. I have no illusions that my training even begins to be comparable to what people put in for making the Olympics. But it is held together on the tougher days by having something to shoot for.

At 57, I haven't PR'd in anything for a while, and sometimes think what am I doing this for? So in addition to the goals, I like to remember that there are some intangibles that make it all worth it, whether or not I reach specific goals. But the goals definitely add to the "thrill of the chase" even if I have to re-set/redefine them.

I was in Eugene for the entire trials (my career allows me to watch sports) and I can't stop thinking about 2012.

I've gained 70lbs since I last competed -- but gonna give it a try -- targeting an indoor race in February as my first step back. I'm down 18 lbs since trials already!

Why can't we have more 'real' threads like this on this board!?

thinking about Eugene 2012 wrote:

I was in Eugene for the entire trials (my career allows me to watch sports) and I can't stop thinking about 2012.

I've gained 70lbs since I last competed -- but gonna give it a try -- targeting an indoor race in February as my first step back. I'm down 18 lbs since trials already!

Why can't we have more 'real' threads like this on this board!?

you are a nutcase.

OneW asked a very simple question and there was not one simple answer for hand on heart and going to try and make 2012.Why do you all feel who don't have intentions need to respond.Who cares about your reasons.Answer the question or don't respond.

Anybody else?

Look at some of the bios of the women who ran the marathon on Sunday.

http://www.iaaf.org/oly08/results/eventCode=3659/racedate=08-17-2008/sex=W/discCode=MAR/combCode=hash/roundCode=f/results.html#det

Some haven't run PB's since 2005 or 2003. Sometimes an Olympics or World Championships doesn't allow you to run your fastest, but you can still compete and on the right day with the right training and right strategy you can pull off a win like Tomescu.

I have many under my tutelage that will be in the 2012 Marathon Trials.