Nova Special - Training for the Boston Marathon

Applaud anyone who attempts to change from an unhealthy, sedentary life. Criticize any boob who tells a sedentary, obese individual that the first order of business is 'running' a marathon. One of the participants probably has a lifelong knee injury. How about first a program of walking or swimming with proper diet, maybe shoot for a 5k or 10k.

Have we so lost the language that it is snobbery to insist that hiking the most grueling events not be called running? Would crossing the English Channel with a life preserver and fins be lauded as swimming the channel?

Applaud

If you had bothered to watch the program, you would have noticed that the researchers and coach working with the runners are at Tufts University in Boston, and Nova is produced at WGBH in Boston. So for logistical purposes, and because they are not working with an unlimited budget, what would be the logical marathon to run?

mmaaa wrote:

cmass coach wrote:

ok, this is for you mmaaa, My wife just got home from the showing at WGBH. So, i can give you the numbers.

All but 2 are still running, 7 are signed up to run Boston next year with the Tuft's Presidents Marathon Challenge.

Not too shabby, don't ya think?

Great, why are they running Boston? Do they have have a clue how hard others work, or in some cases how many years, just to get the qualifying time or not run at all?

all the women were clinically obese at the start! not overweight but overfat. that was surprising.

I could've done without the grandiose, "triumph of the human spirit" music at the end. a bit hacky there.

I got to the sport somewhat late. I didn't run in HS or college, and really only got serious at 30. I once ran a BQ at Disney with no more preparation than a six week build up with my longest run being 13 miles two weeks before the race (a friend asked me to run with her - I obliged at the last minute). Granted, I had one marathon under my belt (a year before in just under 4 hours, and prior to that one, my longest run was 15 miles), I was already running about 25 mpw at the time (I wasn't starting from ground zero), and my time was only within one minute of the BQ cut-off. Some time after that, I took a good four years off (have more children, other reasons), and got back into it on a New Year's resolution. Within 9 months, I ran a marathon (this time with much more preparation), got a BQ, and found myself running Boston within a year and half of that resolution. There are people who will run more miles and work just as hard (if not harder) than me just to finish a marathon in five hours. I trained with my sister for that comeback marathon, and we did the exact same training plan, and even did our long runs together (I ran my runs during the week at a faster pace than she did). I finished ahead of her by over an hour and half (and she had been running for awhile, already did a 1/2 marathon, etc). It appears to me I have a genetic advantage the slower runners don't have, and that is what helps me get to the line faster. To me, that is something to be humble about, not boastful. I got it by luck of the draw. So, i appreciate what the NOVA runners did. P.S. I have since worked harder at the sport and have dropped over 30 minutes from my very first marathon time, but that's it. My genes (coupled with some hard work, but hindered by advancing age!) is only going to take me so far. I can only do what I can do.

Adam Smith wrote:

Ok, lets give them credit for finishing the marathon and doing something they never really thought was possible. However, these people all looked under-trained and still out of shape when they started the race. It makes you wonder how much running they actually did during the week when they were not running with a group. Part of the benefits and rewards of a marathon is the high level of fitness one achieves if they train for a marathon properly. You can have crappy weather or a bad race on the day of the marathon but you still have that level of fitness that makes you want to keep going. I didn't see that with the Nova runners.

Sub6 wrote:

I thought it was very good, very real. Often us not-elite but not-penguin letsrunners seem to forget the JOY that can be running. I've yet to run a marathon (10 days away), but this helped me remember what can be so pure about the sport.

I agree. This documentary helped to put things in perspective and enjoy my upcoming(NYC first-timer) marathon experience. I still have what I believe are respectable time goals for my age but, I don't want to lose sight of the fact that the streets of NYC are shut down for me (and 40,000 other people) to work hard and ENJOY the experience.

That being said; People who cannot meet the qualifying standards for Boston should not be allowed to run. There are many other "high profile" marathons that would have been just as good a setting for the documentary.

Encourage healthy lifestyles and running for the masses but don't take away from those who dedicate a large portion of their life to acheiving more specific time goals and faster performances.

Words mean something wrote:

Applaud anyone who attempts to change from an unhealthy, sedentary life. Criticize any boob who tells a sedentary, obese individual that the first order of business is 'running' a marathon.

Nobody tells a sedentary obese individual that the first order of business is running a marathon.

Average_Joe wrote:

[quote]Words mean something wrote:

Nobody tells a sedentary obese individual that the first order of business is running a marathon.

Really? What was the premise of this program?

I was pretty impressed with the fat red-headed chick. She came a long way.

Uta's got some major crow's feet. She can't be over 45 but that what the women look like who live in Colorado for a long time and run.

Ok, I ran Boston my senior year in college. I had never run a marathon before, but i was a member of the BAA. They wanted me to run for them so they gave me a number without qualifying. This was 1979, didn't actually have to qualify back then either i guess.

vell Idont tink so wrote:

Really? What was the premise of this program?

It was not that the first order of business for a runner is running a marathon.

These people, like so many first time runners, WANTED to run a marathon. In this program they saw that opportunity, again like so many other first time runners. So they took it.

cmass coach wrote:

Ok, I ran Boston my senior year in college. I had never run a marathon before, but i was a member of the BAA. They wanted me to run for them so they gave me a number without qualifying. This was 1979, didn't actually have to qualify back then either i guess.

So you (and your wife) are advocating beginner runners should stampede straight for the marathon?

Yeah, I know, a 10k doesn't sound so impressive at dinner parties. By the way, this has nothing to do with snobbery, and a lot to do with substantial knowledge of running.

cmass coach wrote:

Hey Mr. i wish i had not watched. Go to bed and cry yourself to sleep. The people that were part of the Nova team went from 0- to a marathon in less than 9 months. They took a chance and accomplished something they never thought possible. They will inspire others to do the same.

Not everyone can be a great athlete like yourself, did you actually win Boston? You are just jealous that you have trained 90-100 per week and can't run a time worthy of TV coverage. Listening to people like you makes me sick,

They didn't run the marathon. If they all ran the entire race, my hat goes off to them. Anyone can walk 26.2 miles.

Burbot wrote:

Part of the mystic and glamour of this race in the past ....

The race is in New England, but it never comes anywhere near Mystic, Connecticut (glamourous though it may be). Maybe that's part of the mystique.

Accountability? wrote:

If you had bothered to watch the program, you would have noticed that the researchers and coach working with the runners are at Tufts University in Boston, and Nova is produced at WGBH in Boston. So for logistical purposes, and because they are not working with an unlimited budget, what would be the logical marathon to run?

your question assumes the premise of the show, taking sedentary non-runners and having them complete a marathon less than a year later, is valid. In my opinion, it isn't. Just because they all completed the distance (don't call it a race because for them it wasn't) doesn't justify it or make it a good idea. A program based on a more gradual introduction to running as a part of lifestyle changes to improve one's health would seem like a better idea. The group could have taken part in any one of dozens (hundreds?) of shorter races that are offered in the greater Boston area. In fact, they could have done a different 5k every weekend and enjoyed the camaraderie of that experience and being part of the recreational runner crowd. But that doesn't make for as good a tv show I guess.

cmass coach was so eager to namecheck Steve DeOssie, there's no way he's running anymore and he'd be the first one to tell you. Nor should he be--he's spectacularly unsuited for marathoning, both due to body type and past wear on tear on his weight-bearing joints as an NFL player. Not that there aren't other ways to stay fit that he could (and should) look into. He kept right on smoking cigars through the training as well, and probably smoked a few during the 5 and a half hours it took him to hike the marathon course. When the camera wasn't rolling, of course. How inspirational.

Color me unimpressed by the whole enterprise. And let me make it clear I don't begrudge the recreational segment of the running community their fun, in fact it's their participation that keeps the road race scene alive. As a faster runner, I'm grateful to them for that. But going from zero to marathon in under a year is just dumb.

cmass coach wrote:

ok, this is for you mmaaa, My wife just got home from the showing at WGBH. So, i can give you the numbers.

All but 2 are still running, 7 are signed up to run Boston next year with the Tuft's Presidents Marathon Challenge.

Not too shabby, don't ya think?

If 7 of them train and run another Boston that will be the most impressive achievement for this group. Think about all of the support they had in training for their first marathon: personal coaches, doctors, trainers, a former elite runner and a camera crew at each and every long run. My guess is that any person (regardless of fitness level)who was offered that kind of support would say yes to training for a marathon. Most of us are not that fortunate. Yes they still ran the miles themselves but I have much more respect for the average runner who is getting up at 5:00 am every day in the winter to run by him or herself and doesn't have a coach calling them every time they miss a workout.

Hey Adam, They ran with the group one day per week, the rest was on their own. most are still running 11 out of 13, that alone is worth it. Now there are 7 traing for next years Boston and you still find fault.

And how many runners out there belong to clubs and train with a group, or do workouts together.

The point of this project was to show the average couch potato that they can change their lives, it seems to have worked. I'd call that a success.

And no, i don't think anyone or everyone should be given a number to run a marathon, but i did run a 2:23 in my first Boston with a free number, so it can't be that hard.

cmass coach wrote:

Hey Adam, They ran with the group one day per week, the rest was on their own. most are still running 11 out of 13, that alone is worth it. Now there are 7 traing for next years Boston and you still find fault.

And how many runners out there belong to clubs and train with a group, or do workouts together.

The point of this project was to show the average couch potato that they can change their lives, it seems to have worked. I'd call that a success.

And no, i don't think anyone or everyone should be given a number to run a marathon, but i did run a 2:23 in my first Boston with a free number, so it can't be that hard.

Hey coach,

Take it easy. First of all, I'm not finding fault with what they did. What I said was that the support they received to run the marathon was far greater than most runners get the first time out. Yes, most of us do run in groups but most of us do not have personal trainers, coaches, and doctors for a constant 9 months while training.

I agree with you, I find it very impressive that 7 of them plan on running another marathon next Spring. That's great if they do it because I'm assuming their support team won't be the same. As a side note, if you can't handle criticism or a perspective that doesn't fit your own view, you shouldn't be on this website. Go try Runners World or Cool Running where everybody is a bobble head. You should be thanking people for all of the ideas they have shared on this topic - the good and the bad.

desert rodent wrote:

Yeah, I know, a 10k doesn't sound so impressive at dinner parties.

Quote of the day.

Runningart2004 wrote:

I represent something they want to be.

This is by far the scariest thing I've ever heard on Halloween.