I thank you for your interest and kind regards. We finally have a "local" half here in the general vicinty. It is the inaugural running of the Battlefield Half, in Winchester, VA. We have some pretty good runners in our club. A recent 2:38 at Boston, among other nice achievements.
Thanks again...I am looking forward to the race. I have to ease my nerves, and realize that the "hay is in the barn." Time now to go out for my long run...
5 thons 7 ultras wrote:
PTO wrote:First you feel the need to brag you did 5 marathons and 7 ultras and then you call the dude a chump for no reason. I already don't like you !
Anything can happen in a marathon Big shot.
I don't come around these parts to enter a popularity contest. I don't tell you what you want to hear. I tell you what you need to hear. What you HAVE to hear to become the person that deep down inside you know you want to become.
Would you be happy living the rest of your life as a nonthoner? I don't think so and you don't think so either.
Obviously you are confused.
Edward Teach wrote:
The obsession with marathons came about with the US Olympic Trials. Wait, hear me out. Anyone can qualify for the trials, its open to anyone who hits a time standard, whereas they sometimes/often take a descending order list for the track trials. 200 people could run the OT marathon when maybe 30 run the track trials. Everyone wants to be like the best, so it dropped down from there. Back when 2:22 got into the trials, guys with 2:30 potential moved to the marathon to try to get down to that, the 2:40 guys who wish they could beat them moved to the marathon. Soon all their friends and family members wanted to complete a marathon too. Only for them, it wasn't about pr'ing or running fast, they weren't willing to put in the work to train adequately, so it became about completing it, when the marathon was 40-60% of their average weekly mileage.
It goes way further down the line that the 2:40 guys. Hobby joggers have a time goal to shoot for (BQ), and it is attainable for an average talent with reasonable amount of work. There is nothing comparable in 5k, 10k or half. So there is no easy way to know if your 40min 10k or 1:30 half is a respectable time for your age and gender. And hitting that mark won't give you any medal, sticker or jacket.
Typical runner or sockpuppet wrote:
I don't believe that. Most hobby joggers run a 5k in about 30 minutes give or take. You tell them you run it in 15 and they're impressed. I think the correct answer is that they are more puzzled: here is this really good runner and yet he hasn't dedicated himself to the marathon.
I think you're so so right about this. Puzzled is the word.
A co-worker recently asked me about my PR's and she was obviously impressed that I can run a 5k almost twice as fast as her. She then makes the usual excuses for why she's so slow (talent and lack of time), I tell her 'well my PB's come at a rate of tough prioritizing and 80-100mpw over a period of a few years',
she looks even more puzzled and asks me 'you run that much? Why don't you do a marathon?'
I then tried to explain to her that the training is quite different for a 3-10k runner compared to a marathoner,
I then looked at her face, could tell she had no idea what I was on about, and just thought "oh fck it" and started typing on my computer.
So now I just don't bother chatting to joggers about running. Who cares what people think. People know nothing!
"We have some pretty good runners in our club. A recent 2:38 at Boston, among other nice achievements."
See, you've unwittingly fed into the marathon obsession. You say your club has some nice talent and you offer a marathon time as an example. Certainly there could have been some 5k and 10k times given, and being LRC, we certainly would have appreciated those times, but you subconsciously went with a marathon time.
Good point. The best runner in our club put up a 14:48 in a road 5k last year. I was in the race, and I was pretty amazed.
I believe he has clocked 2:32 at Boston...oops, I did it again. :-)
My coach's PR, also at Boston, is 2:32:35.
I must somehow kick this habit...
Lauren Fleshman addressed this issue very well in RW last May:http://www.runnersworld.com/5k-training-plans/10-reasons-the-5k-is-freaking-awesome
[The] Dude [next to me on the plane] is wearing Brooks Adrenalines, so I figure there's a 90 percent chance he's a runner. I myself am in heavy disguise with my pajamas, slippers, and baby on. Dude would never guess I was a professional who just competed in an international 5-K at the Sydney Track Classic. I strike up a conversation. He tells me about his marathons, his injuries, his struggles maintaining motivation, his goals. I chime in, and Dude's eyes light up with excitement. "You know a lot about this stuff! You run marathons, too?"
"Well, not really. Once. I race 5-Ks mostly."
Wah-wah.
Mr. Onplane is visibly less impressed. Fair enough. Anyone can run 3.1 miles. "I started out running 5-Ks, too," he says. "Keep at it, you'll get there."
Great story. Thanks for sharing it.
outsiderunner wrote:
Good point. The best runner in our club put up a 14:48 in a road 5k last year. I was in the race, and I was pretty amazed.
I believe he has clocked 2:32 at Boston...oops, I did it again. :-)
Only 2:32?! My friend ran 2:30 at Boston and consistently does 15:25 on the road.
I know what you mean. The better runners in our club seem to be particularly good in the 5k and 10k. We do have some good marathoners, but not with such eye-popping times as, say, a 14:48 on the road. I like this, and it has taught me to value the shorter distances, and the work that is involved in fast 5k and 10k times. Perhaps some of this has to do with the terrain here--lots of hills, and a fair amount of gravel and dirt. I gather this makes for good training for the longer distances, too, but it would seem to be even more useful in the shorter races.