2:18....It's really quite simple. Here's how YOU can do it.

You know pal,

I never left my fave make-your-back-straight headpillow even when I went to Busan. It helps you A LOT. There's one time I left it when I went back to Indo for a month, and I ran sux bigtime there.

Jason -

Thank YOU for the unsolicited advice on how I can be like YOU! Here I'd been thinking that there was more than one way to achieve success, but no - there is only one way that I can achieve a 2:18 marathon - YOUr way! I was also wrong in my thinking that it took some talent to run a 2:18. Anyone can do it! All one needs to do is be highly motivated and do what YOU did. Because YOU obviously have no talent and got there simply on hard work. YOU started from absolute scratch and can only credit yourself for YOUr results. Just think, as it's only hard work that matters, eventually YOU'll just run faster and faster until it takes YOU no time at all to run a marathon. Good luck, and please keep me updated and what I need to do to be like YOU.

Eternally grateful,

BDG

BDG = Troll

Jason,

Fuckin' awesome!!! I love the simplicity of it all. Glad it worked for ya. The "Keep It Simple, Stupid" approach is the the way to go. All the techno bullshit just gets in the way. Balls out!!!!

Keep pushin' and smashin' those limits. 2:15 is next!!! Take it from there.

Why would anyone want to train to run 2:18?

That is no man's land.

Jason,

Have you tried taking less rest between the 1000s (not jogging 400s) and doing more of them?

What is the purpose of the sunflower oil. It seems that would be totally messy?

Thanks for the notes on your training.

Jason,

Do you use coffee before your marathons to take advantage of it's ergogenic effects. If yes, do you find this to be more effective than caffeine pills?

Well, first of all you need to be able to "get some", and in order to do that it would help if you quit living with your parents and got rid of the parrot. Jealousy will just eat you alive. You're right about one thing, you don't have the talent. Jason was speaking to those who do.

OK. I'm hurt. So apparently I touched a nerve with a Jason disciple or two. I bet you can't wait 'til Jasoninwherever posts his next "I'm great 'cause I have no talent but work my ass off training plan that will work for YOU" message. Nothing like tooting your own horn but making it sound like "I'm a humble, blue collar, hard-working runner who just wants to help people."

But you did make an interesting reply to me, "truthfulness". I guess I could be jealous in a sense, as I would like to run 2:18 or faster. But I'm still trying to figure out the parrot reference....? Let me know what that's all about.

Answers:

I am speaking to EVERYONE who wants to improve...EVERYONE no matter if your PR is 2:05 or 5:05. I doubt that Khalid would follow my advice, but the my basic principles are solid: Get strong and go like hell.

(1) Tempo Runs: In the earlier part of your build up, you will not be as fit, so you are probably not going to be able to do 25km at 3;20 per km. Just do the run INTENSELY...in other words, go F***ING HOSTILE for 20km-25km (12-16miles).

(2) Coffee: I love coffee, the taste, the ritual of the aroma, the milk and sugar and all that. I often rate towns and cities by the quality of coffee available. One of the serious detractions of Lijiang is the lack of great coffee. China is Tea Country. The best cuppajoe that I have ever had was in Madrid.

(2) Intervals: 3 minutes rest between 1000s seems to work for me. I have tried doing 1 minute rests, but it did not work for me.

ANOTHER BASIC PRINCIPLE that I highly advise you to use is EXPERIMENTATION. Experiment with various workouts and see what works for you. This is very important. I know that my program is quite different from that of many athletes, but I know what works for me.

During the next 6 months, about the only thing that I am going to add is a 6 week period of 2x per week hill repeats. However, I got to my 2:18 without any serious hill training.

Sunflower oil seems to work the best for massage.

My routine for getting the legs ready for a hard workout is as follows:

(1) Wake up about 8am, take it easy, read the paper, drink coffee.

(2) Take a hot bath about 10am, then do the massage, then take a hot shower to get the oil off the legs. Eat a light breakfast, mainly fruit and rice.

(3) Stretch, drink about 2 liters of water.

(4) About noon, take a nap for about an hour.

(5) About 3pm or 4pm, depending on the weather and the available sunlight left in the day, go do the hard workout. Today I will do a long run of 32 or more km's, so I will start about 3pm since it gets dark about 6;30pm here in Lijiang.

Jason

Jason, I've read a lot of your posts. You seem to be hopping around Asia quite often, and living it up while you do your training. My question is, how do you fund your excursions? Do you have a sponsorship, are you independently wealthy, did you work and save up so now you're spending your savings? I'd love to be able to travel around Asia and train at altitude, but it's just not something that seems feasible.

He sits in his parents' house in Reno, NV and posts lies.

Could you give some guidance on 2:15. I prefer to run faster than the women.

You mention coffee, but never explained how it ties into the rest!

i get high 1 hour after cofee but then felt EXTREMELY sleepy around 2 pm. usually i take afternoon nap around 3-5pm.

jason is 1 hour enough?

i read once about Szabo, she eats 2 slices of bread and 15 minutes later she's on the couch for 2 hours nap b4 a 35km ride.

karangasem.

Lies about WHAT?

Yo're wrong about that. He's a real dude, and he posts his real lifestyle here.

i always believe you.

karangasem.