I am 18. Am I too young to start focusing on marathons?

jamin wrote:

That would be impossible, since a sub-2:20:00 marathon has to include at least 1 5k stretch under 00:17:00.

I know, that's my point.

you should run track in hs and go to an NAIA college. In the NAIA, the marathon is an event at track & field nationals. If you don't excel, you're on a team and can go down to the 10k or something. If you go to an NCAA college, and don't join the team to become a marathoner, if you find longer distances aren't your forte, youll have a miserable 4 years running on your own.

Do you feel you don't progress anymore? I guess you can progress a lot in 5k before moving up. If you don't like 5k you should move up.

This is actually very common. Many long distance runners who feel they are not fast enough for a fast 5k, move up to the 10k, and then feel there are too many good runners better, so they move to road races like the 10 mile, half marathon, and then the marathon.

The marathon takes a long time for recovery. The marathon takes a long time for preparation.

Like my coach once said "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.."

Just Anothert Hobby Jogger wrote:

Then he was a hobby jogger, although a very good one. I also consider Yuki Kawauchi a hobby jogger. There is nothing wrong with it. I enjoy being a hobby jogger.

I suppose it comes down to defining your terms. I would use "hobby jogger" to describe people who use races more as social occasions than competitive ones. Kawauchi routinely runs himself into the medical tent so I don't think he's socializing much at races.

Anyway, I think Foster proved that doing what you like in training can take you a long way.