essjay76 Member

If you want to run fast, make sure you're sprinting all out all the time. People want to be impressed by your paces you post on MFP, DailyMile, Runkeeper, etc. Also, make sure you keep improving your pace by at least a minute. If you started running a week ago at an 11 minute mile, you're a loser if you're not running an 8…

For your first marathon, make sure you wear the race shirt they give you in your goodie bag. You want to make sure everyone knows you are running a marathon. Wondering what time to aim for for your first marathon? Easy! Just double your half marathon time! Sure, that 1:57 half guarantees that you'll come in at 3:59:59 for…

HA! Don't know if I would've compared it to marriage but good analogy I suppose. :-) I did my first marathon a few years after I started running. I had no idea what I was doing. I jumped from a 5k to full without knowing how to build up my base and run consistently. It was a miserable death march for me during the last 10…

This!

I started running in college to lose weight. That was back in 1997 and I've been running since. It was pretty consistent, just a few miles a day, a couple times a week. In 2011 I started getting serious about getting faster and improving my race times so I started training differently and running a lot more. When I'm not…

Ha! I think it's funny when people ask me that. I just tell them the standard stuff. :drinker: I haven't met anyone worth giving up my freedom for. I'm picky and think like a man when it comes to relationships. I have a fear of commitment and don't want to settle for anything less than spectacular. My biological clock…

I haven't. I sign up for the shorter races for fun, like if it's a Turkey Trot or some kind of themed 5k that centers around the social aspect. I like focusing on the longer distances like the half marathon or full, simply because I like keeping longer term goals in mind. I do want to battle the 5k and 10k next year - it's…

Chips and trail mix. :frown: I am no good with an entire bag!!!!

4'10" here. I maintained my weight of 103 pounds for about a year and a half eating at about 1800-2000 calories. I got down to 102 pounds in August and have been maintaining that weight since. I started marathon training in August, so it was probably the increase in activity that did it. When I wasn't marathon training I…

I don't. I figure it's better than spending money on booze and going out to eat all the time. :-) Plus it's extra incentive to go through with the training and commitment, because I don't like wasting registration fees.

My training pace has ranged from 30 seconds to 1:30 minutes slower than race pace for my most recent marathons. The biggest difference was 1:30 when I ran a 4:18 marathon (9:52 pace) and my training pace ranged from 10:30 to 11:15 for my long runs. My marathon PR pace was about 9:40, and I ran most of my training paces at…

I've been on both ends. I ended up running with some talkative pacers, which I'm not really a fan of. It might be for you if you feel you need to get your mind off of things, but if it's a pacer who also engages their group and encourages conversation, it might take up too much energy. I had a half pacer who tried to play…

Wow!! I really thought you could do the whole 4:46 mile! You were looking strong! I saw that Ryan Hall commercial and all the folks that harnessed up and took the challenge. I don't think I could even sustain that pace for 10 seconds. Hats off to others who join in on this challenge. :smile: :drinker:

Stay motivated? I remind myself of how hard I work and how long I've been maintaining and I don't want to throw it away. Plus I'm vain and love my skinny jeans. :-)

Congrats! Ahhh, the first marathon - you will either love or hate the experience, and while people usually say they won't do it again, they come back stronger and do it again with the experience under their belt. Very cool that you had your support system with you. It's so easy to throw in the towel when you're mentally…

I wish could pinpoint where things go wrong. I've had that happen to me at the later stages of longer races too :-( I tried all the usual suspects - the calf stretching, proper warm-up, etc. but it still happens. One thing that did make a difference was my sodium intake as well. I started taking salt tabs and that helped…

I have had the problem of gaining while training in the past! LOL! :-) But, the past few training cycles, I've lost and also maintained my weight. The first time around I lost about 9 pounds (a lot on my frame) and I lost that by eating about 1600 to 1700 gross. I eat a bit more than that now. I know we're all different…

Oh man. I'm not a 5k'er at all. I guess I don't know why I'm replying to this. LOL. No, seriously, I haven't full out raced a 5k since 2011. Seems I've always been training for longer distances (marathon, etc.) Last 5k I did in 2011 was about 25 minutes. I know I've gained fitness since then, because now I can run that…

I know there are studies done on how much slower one's pace becomes over the last half for each second you went out too fast in the first half, but you can look for yourself in race results. You'll see much slower second half split times are than the first half split times. Example, I looked at race results from my PR…

Just imagine what your half time would be now if you truly raced it!

It's not impossible, just highly unlikely. You've heard both sides here, so you know it is possible. But even in this small sample of runners, you could see the odds are stacked. (Only one person out of how many respondents) Congrats on quitting smoking and losing that weight! That is an awesome feat in itself. I'm sure…

I agree with what's been stated. I'm particularly interested in seeing how your sister's sub 4 attempt goes. My Half PR is also a 1:57 and my Full marathon PR shortly after that was a 4:13. I know it can be done by some, but I didn't feel ready for a sub 4 at that time. The marathon is a waaaay different beast than a half.…

Age aside, you're at a point where you'll be able to see big improvements in your race times and running in general. As someone stated, you can't PR every race, but you can certainly consistently improve. Best advice I ever took was just to slow down and run more. Keep the fast running for the days they matter - speedwork…

It's possible. One of the main reasons I joined MFP was to get rid of unwanted marathon pounds. I fell into that trap of thinking I could eat whatever I wanted. Since joining, I lost that weight and then some, and maintained my weight through 3 marathon training cycles. I lost the weight while marathon training by keeping…

If you're burning about 100 to 300 calories a day, then 1700 to 1800 may be too much for you. That may be your TDEE. Take a little off of that for a loss. Maybe 1400? Experiment with the numbers. Personally, I am 4'10" 103 pounds and I maintain on about 2000-2200 calories a day, but that's because I also run quite a bit.…

Both - lose excess weight and build strength. Run more. Get faster.

:laugh: Runners will chime in... it's not all that impossible to burn 1000 calories in a session. Maybe not in an hour, but something close to that. Smaller people obviously won't burn as much as the normal sized person. Example, I'm 4'10" 103 pounds. I burned about 1500 calories today running 20 miles. A 180 pound man…

I have, many times before! It works! :smile: But guess what? Each time I did, and started eating "normally" again, I gained it all back, and then some. Decided I never wanted to diet ever again, so I committed to a change in my lifestyle. I'm 4'10" and lost 9 pounds (that's a lot on a small frame like mine) by eating 1600…

Thanks! :-) Most calculators put me at 1200 for BMR and about 2000 for TDEE. I set my calorie goal to 2000 and typically don't eat my exercise calls back.

Thanks! Always good to hear about fellow shorties that aren't afraid to eat :-)