Welcome! I'm another "slow" runner. It's all relative. My fastest HM is 2:23, set last month. It was also my 9th one. I plan to improve at my next one in about a month. I just work at getting a little faster as I continue running through the years.

That is definitely true. Congrats on finishing!

nicolejo143 wrote: »

I was slow but I finished...and thats all that matters to me.

I also want to add that us slow runners deserve respect because we have to run for more hours!

It was a very warm race, indeed.

Congratulations. Remember, you've done something that most people won't or can't do because it is "too hard."

A friend of mine did the one in Anchorage a number of years ago. She didn't respect the training required and she suffered through it. But she still completed it and they gave plenty of time to complete the course.

Of course, there you might get a little concerned because you aren't the top of the food chain when you meet up with an Alaskan Brown Bear.

Are you looking forward to another one?

STrooper wrote: »

It was a very warm race, indeed.

Congratulations. Remember, you've done something that most people won't or can't do because it is "too hard."

A friend of mine did the one in Anchorage a number of years ago. She didn't respect the training required and she suffered through it. But she still completed it and they gave plenty of time to complete the course.

Of course, there you might get a little concerned because you aren't the top of the food chain when you meet up with an Alaskan Brown Bear.

Are you looking forward to another one?

Thanks, did you run it too?

That is pretty scary after watching The Revenant. Lol. Luckily in LA there are no bears.

It is hard to even think about running right now when I'm still really sore. I'm thinking I might stick to shorter races for now and work on speed. Maybe just half marathons and some shorter races.

Thanks, did you run it too?

That is pretty scary after watching The Revenant. Lol. Luckily in LA there are no bears.

It is hard to even think about running right now when I'm still really sore. I'm thinking I might stick to shorter races for now and work on speed. Maybe just half marathons and some shorter races.

No, I was watching the Olympic time trials the day before and knew how hot the weather was for both runs on Saturday and Sunday.


Like the joke goes about the two people trying to outrun a bear..."I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you!"


The soreness will go away. Some people are satisfied having done the marathon distance once and stick to shorter distances. Others, like me, embrace the whole experience and want more out of their running life.

I injured my Achilles tendon in my very first marathon in early November 2013 (and at age 60), but by Thanksgiving 2013, I was mostly recovered and ready to give it another try. I signed up for the inaugural marathon in Hilton Head, SC (February 2014). Ran that one in a cold rain. My recovery from that one was pretty fast compared to the first one.

Ran my third marathon just a few months later (the inaugural Rock n Roll Raleigh Marathon). After that, I ran several half-marathons (progressively getting faster at that distance) before committing to a repeat of my first marathon (in November 2014). With each race, the recovery period has felt like it has gotten shorter for this old guy.

I also signed up to repeat the Hilton Head marathon on February 7, 2015. Then I did something really crazy. I got a comp entry for the Myrtle Beach Marathon on Valentine's Day 2015 and entered and ran that one, too.

Found the "wall" at mile 23 in Hilton Head. Soldiered on to finish okay. With seven days between the two marathons, I ran three miles one day (Wednesday) and six miles the next (Thursday) before the race, just to turn the legs over a bit.

PR'd Myrtle Beach on Valentine's Day (seven days after Hilton Head) in 25°F temperatures (19°F wind chill) at race start (high of 41°F when I finished) and 25-35 mph headwinds from Mile 17 to the finish. Go figure. Beat the previous weekend time by more than 16 minutes and my previous PR from a few months before by 7:55. Those two races, by themselves, qualified me for Marathon Maniacs.

Finally, I got a huge discount on the 2nd RnR Raleigh marathon in April 2015 and signed up for that one. I hadn't planned on running it but the discount was too good to pass up. I injured my right hip flexor in a relatively high-speed, mid-distance training run just two weeks out from that marathon. Realizing I was hurt, couldn't really run, and that running faster wasn't in the cards, I sat out the final 10 days before that marathon. I got through the marathon though the hip flexor was starting to scream at me around mile 18. This race also qualified me for Marathon Maniacs.

I ran a 10-miler shortly after that, took a full month off from running to heal my hip flexor and resumed a running routine at the end of May 2015 to build up my base mileage to around 30 miles per week.

I haven't run another marathon since April 2015. I was going to run Myrtle Beach again (this year it has been moved to March), but my heart really wasn't in to it when I realized that I wasn't quite ready to attempt to qualify for Boston on that course. Then, my back spasmed last Monday and I've been sidelined all this week. My legs are rested and restless.

I am, however, signed up to run the third RnR Raleigh Marathon (my eighth marathon and just confirmed that today) and am fairly excited about it. Not because I will make a qualification attempt in Raleigh, but because it will be third one in this series and (assuming I am uninjured this year) I should do much better than last year or the inaugural one.

April will be a busy running month for me because I'll run a 10k, a 5K, a marathon, and a 10-miler all in the same month. Running, and running long distances, has become a matter of routine for me.

It's the next marathon that I plan to run late in 2016 that light me up...Venice, Italy; assuming we can get it all together.


Once again, congratulations!

nicolejo143 wrote: »

I wanted to post an update. Finished my first marathon. My time was over 7hrs. 7:14...well about 12 of those minutes were me waiting for the bathroom at mile 2, but still a pretty really slow time. XD

It hurt a lot more than I thought. There were hills and it was hot, I'm used to training on flat ground with a sea breeze. I avoided hills during training because I struggled with hip pain, so the hills really wore me out and hurt my hips. I also still had sniffles from the cold I caught the week before but that didn't interfere too much. I was slow but I finished...and thats all that matters to me.

I also want to add that us slow runners deserve respect because we have to run for more hours!

I just saw your update, congrats on your finish!! Well done!

I just joined MFB and I'm a slow runner, much like you. My short runs (6-8 miles) are around 10:40 min/mile. My longer runs are 11:20ish. Five years ago I was closer to 9:00 min/mile. I don't know if I can make it back there, but maybe if I get back to the same weight I will. In the meantime, I'm a happy slower runner.

About the running while maintaining a calorie deficit, I would recommend not running with a deficit. Have all the energy you can so you can work your best on each run. Even eat a snack before the run (hour to half hour). Time your eating so that the whole day is a deficit, but definitely run fueled up. And don't forget to refuel within the first half hour after the run to prepare for tomorrow's run. Hope that helps.

I'm a slow runner as well (at least for a little while). I've been doing a Garmin Beginner Marathon Training Plan for the past 5 weeks, so far it has been good, and I have not had any over use injuries as when I push myself too hard too fast. I am running around 10:30 pace, but hope to run both faster and longer.

I run about 10:30 for more than 2 miles, but try to do at least 1 mile at 9:30 on shorter days in hopes to get a little faster. I'm hoping to do a marathon 12/11/16, but am having a hard time fitting training into my schedule as a nurse working 12-hour shifts and also wanting to continue strength training.

eldamiano wrote: »

Sorry. I think I am probably way too fast for this forum....

jog on then.