Why can't am i getting worse at running

i just want to build my endurance up so i can run longer.. i noticed when i run slow i can keep going and my body won't get tired but my head is always telling me to walk but i know my body can keep going?? lol hard to explain

Why not just use the same plan that got you to a marathon before? It's already worked for you...

my coach for the marathon was a spanish teacher who can just run long distances.. she just told us to run x miles on this day x miles on that day and i couldn't even run up to 7 miles consistently and we only went up to 16 miles when she said it was 23.. idk the spanish teacher was really clueless and a lot of people made fun of her. i just did this for college

So you were told to go run a distance and you did it up to 16 miles ... but now you can't run four miles?

One other question ... when did 23 miles become the standard for a marathon?

Obviously has never coached high school XC. No offence, but they are completely clueless. I've helped coach a girl who ran a 5:15 mile as a sophomore in high school. She could only run 15-20 miles a week max.. Out of season she refused to run at all. She hated running. She said it was boring.

However, she really wanted to go to state. So she did what she was told.

He Probably really wanted to run the marathon, so he did what he was told.



His problem is motivation.

By him saying a marathon was 23 miles, also not surprised.

Same said athlete was getting ready for her third 4k race in cross country the following fall. Before the race she actually said, "how far is a 4k anyways? Like 2 miles?" She had no idea. It was insane to me that she didn't know. BUT what you have to remember is they taught to compete against the OTHER athletes, the OTHER teams, the OTHER schools. Most of the kids don't wear a stop watch to race. The only "watch" they have is a stop watch. Most of them don't know any different.

So instead of being rude to the OP with comments such as "since when is a marathon 23 miles" maybe just don't say anything because you clearly don't understand the problem at hand.

OP- like I said before, find a running partner, find a run club, sign up for a road race. You are the type the enjoy the running community & team aspect of running. I don't doubt that you could go run 8 miles right now.

Words have meanings ... a marathon is not 23 miles, hasn't been since Pheidippides made the run around 490 BC. For the OP to redefine a term with over two millennia of history is telling. Your rush to defend him in a rambling, non-sequential diatribe is as well. Neither is telling in a good way.

I have to disagree. She's really been the only one to understand what the OP was going thru. The OP isn't doing himself any favors with the way he's dribbling out information but she's getting thru to him anyway. And as much enjoyment as I have had poking fun at this thread it's really about helping the OP get his run game back, not how many miles a marathon is.

Incoherent responses by one to incoherent posts by the other ... it is a rather synergistic relationship they are developing here.

Actually I think it makes quite a lot of sense at this point... much more than it did in the beginning and I think that's because the OP has been offering information in bits and pieces... The gal who understood what he was trying to say "got it" because she coaches high schoolers- so that also makes a lot of sense.

Here's what I'm gathering- OP ran XC through high school coached by someone whose abilities he and his teammates apparently questioned... ie She said go run 18 miles and my watch or my app or whatever said 12... how many did I run? OP decided to run a marathon, why? Not for the challenge of 26.2 miles, but for a cool jacket and a week off of practice... He probably didn't know or care how long the race was, it was a "marathon" and he was just going to run until he saw the finish line and that was that.

Now, he graduated in June (?), and has never had to train himself... he did what the coach told him to do (and it seems he was never really sure what he was doing... the 18 miles or 12 miles thing. Add to it, losing his teammates- no more camaraderie.. it's just him and he doesn't know how to do anything but run... it doesn't really sound like too much fun to make that transition to be honest, and I enjoy running by myself. Maybe he took a month or two off after graduation so his endurance came down some. He tried slowing down like everyone told him... he can finish the miles but he's getting bored and wants to stop. I think the advice to try to find a running club to join or to try another activity if he finds that running isn't really for him (and that's ok) is good advice.

OP-- am I close?