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For me (so far) each marathon has gotten a little easier. The distance doesn't intimidate me though I have worried about how well the training has prepared me if I've not followed my training plan well. When my wife was recovering from knee replacement surgery and I couldn't get out for as many runs and longer runs as I…

Although I've never run the NYC marathon, you definitely won't "be alone" at any stretch of the race. Five hours is a nice pace and for someone who has run other races, the basics around the start and things like "don't go out too fast" will seem familiar. I've run eight marathons, all since turning age 60 in 2013 and am…

Should the caveat be that you have to be mental to run a marathon?

My two cents worth. If 10:00/mile feels comfortable at 10 miles (and if that is consistent over that distance), in the absence of other data, holding that for another 3.1 miles is probably realistic. You probably can't go out at an 8:45 pace and expect to "hang-on" at the end if it is that "hilly" unless you've practiced…

When training for my first race in many, many years (a marathon), the 10-mile run and then the subsequent 12-mile run two weeks later were great. It was the 14-miler that really did me in and made me think twice about the marathon distance (I was struggling in the heat and humidity at mile 13). But two weeks later I made…

To the OP: It does work. While theoretically, your weight loss will slow to a crawl as you get closer and closer to your goal weight, in practice there are far too many daily variables to keep you from losing to your goal or beyond. First, is the accuracy and precision of your calorie intake. Second, is the daily change in…

au naturel

Yes, we did!

I've only done two 10K's in recent years and the times were so dramatically different because of where I was in my training and fitness. But this year I did quite well in a 10K race just a week before a 5K and a marathon on the following weekend. I set PRs in the 10K and the 5K (52:56 in the 10K which would have been…

I just finished putting the 18/70 plan into the runningahead.com training plan schedule starting in November 2016 just so I could get a visual view of it. To be honest, at my current level, I'm not sure I could sustain it (particularly with a single rest day per week). Yes, the short recovery runs are quite a nice touch…

Keep in mind that you'll be training over the summer, so maintaining fast paces on those long runs could be counter-productive in the heat. The speed will come by itself (trust me, from a person who ran his first marathon at age 60 after not training/running sine 1985) if you view the long run as an endurance builder and…

I gave it a serious look for the next training cycle (which starts on 6/20). It is a SERIOUS running schedule. My experience with Pfitzinger's 18/55 plan was good even though I lost a couple of weeks (total) due to weather, Christmas holidays, and a back spasm (not related to running). I ran the strongest marathon (missed…

Looking at my runningahead account, it looks like about 32 miles per week (varies between 30-35), but one run of between 8-10 miles is really pretty intense (as in tempo or lactate threshold runs). Like @pobalita above, I like to run anything from a 4K to half marathon on a whim (though to be honest I could just about do a…

Build a consistent base of training of at least 30-35 miles per week of mostly easy running before your next training cycle with maybe one day per week of a faster paced run. Then, when you are ready to start your next training cycle, you'll be able to take greater advantage of the training cycle. Also, experiment with…

@ekat120: Still...in hot and humid conditions, quite impressive. Congratulations!

@apullum: Congratulations on your first half-marathon. Hopefully, the conditions were not as hot (being in the mountains and all).

I ran the RACE13.1 Raleigh Midtown Spring Half Marathon on Saturday June 4th. The conditions were tough with the temperature at the beginning of the race at 71°F and a dewpoint of 69°F. By the time I finished, the temperature had risen to 81°F and the dewpoint went up to 74°F. Really quite tropically humid. My goal was to…

In the inaugural Rock'n'Roll Raleigh half and full marathon there were two deaths (both half-marathon participants). One collapsed at the finish line where there was plenty of medical personnel and the other died between mile 11 and 12. I happen to run a race with some people who were running along with the second guy and…

Which raises the all important question: Is there sex after death?

One more voice to the choir. I actually bought an HRM before I started running. I was more interested in what my heart rate was doing when I was walking, hiking, backpacking and other cardio-strenuous activities. Except for a few runs, I have a fairly complete data set since 2013. I started out with a Zephyr HRM (chest…

I'm running an "unscheduled" race (well, unscheduled for me, initially) in Raleigh...Midtown Raleigh Race 13.1 Half-Marathon. On a new course from when I ran this two years ago. Weather may be really, really ugly. Goal is to break 2:00:00 for the very first time.

Good luck! Hope the weather is cool for you!

I, too, started with a run/walk program in 2013 once I started going for distance (although I could go about 6-miles, albeit it relatively slowly). Before that I just walked/hiked to build up my endurance over the three years from 2010 until 2013. Seven months later, I did my first marathon..ran/walked the entire way.

Usually an english muffin with honey. Coffee, sugar and half and half. About two hours before the race. One gel 15-minutes before the race. Usually don't worry about fueling during a half-marathon or shorter.

I used to train and practice fueling on all my runs of 8 miles or longer. After reading Fitzgerald's books (where he does advocate training on the slow runs without the dependence on fuel up to a certain point), I tried it. It wasn't easy at first, but I don't do any fueling for most runs of 16 miles or less. I will do an…

No coach, though I've thought about it. It feels terribly unnatural to slow down, particularly on the long runs. I did start out with a run/walk/run program (and you alter your run/walk ratios to control overall pace on the long runs). An advantage is that when running, you are running at a fast enough pace that your…

@nikkiwolf You may change what is displayed on the two smaller numbers on the display with your TomTom. I typically display my overall average pace as the main number with total distance on the lower left and heart rate on the lower right.

I ran the last of my currently scheduled spring races on Saturday: the Tar Heel 10-Miler. This year was the ninth year of this race and it has grown and sold out in recent years. I have run this race three consecutive years. I limped through it last year after surviving the Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh Marathon with an injured…

Matt Fitzgerald in his books on nutrition and training recommends losing the weight before you get into the heart of the training. While in maintenance, base building mode, you may find the consistency of the training a little easier to deal with.

HR is a good indicator. I just completed a 10-mile race this weekend that had a significant downhill portion between mile-6 and mile-7. As mentioned above, what you really want to do is "flow" down the hill and that means getting just a little lower in stance to allow the legs to just roll underneath of you without…