re: Official Running Log/Marathon Training Thread

Thank you baw.

I’m considering the MS Gulf Coast Marathon. It would be homefield advantage for me. The problem with that race is there is about a 40% chance you’re gonna have a strong SE wind in your face the entire race as all 26 miles are run west to east down the beach into Biloxi. If the wind is bad, there’s nowhere to hide from it.

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I still came in the top third of all male finishers though.

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Congrats!!!

Impressive times by some of the posters. Congrats to all (especially the 2:39, that's unreal).

This was my first full large-scale marathon weekend experience. I've been to the LA Marathon weekend a few times (last in '19) and have run the 1/4 there, but that pales in comparison to what I saw over the weekend.

I qualified for the A coral in the 5K and ran a 25:46. Goal was sub 25:00, but legs and hips were still tight from a combination of workouts at my CrossFit gym on Thursday and Friday and also running 11 miles on the trails between Wednesday and Thursday with my running "coach" whom is much faster than me. It was also windy which I believe some have referenced.

My girlfriend ran the half yesterday. Her PR there is 1:44, but she's not that fast anymore. She was in coral B and I walked to the start area with her, but kept on walking since I wanted to be at the start to watch the elite runners take off. Unfortunately got trapped at an intersection at A as a spectator and couldn't advance toward the start line, so decided to stick it out there. I people watched corals A-D advance to start at that point since I was already committed.

At that point it was closer to 7:45, so decided to walk towards the finish line (which was about a 15 minute walk) to watch the finish of the half. Within 5 minutes of me getting to a spot just past mile 13 on the left side of the route, the elite runners were starting to finish. It was incredible seeing them basically sprint across the finish after running 13 miles. People started to stack up around me, so I decided to hold my ground since it appeared I had a primo spot near finish. Got to see the elite marathoners finish and every half marathon finisher up until 2:18 when my girlfriend finished. It was enjoyable hearing the announcer say where some of the finishers were from, which was a pretty broad national and international area.

Overall fun and motivational experience. Girlfriend said I could run the half there under or around 2:00 based on my fitness level and trail times at similar distances, but obviously only one way to find out. Not much desire to ever run a half on the pavement at any point, but if I do bite the bullet, Houston would likely be my first.

Congrats again to all finishers.

I’ve been at this a long time. My previous PR was a 2:41 set in 2014 and I’ve been going after sub 2:40 with blow up after blow up. A lot of very painful experiences in there! I put in a few 60+ mile weeks this time around when normally I mostly do lower mileage triathlon training and running in Alphaflys makes a massive difference.

I felt amazing at mile 15 and started to push a bit and I think that was a mistake given I was in the wind at point and running at the front of our little pack. I thought I would have a better group right around 2:40 pace but it was pretty disorganized, which is a killer in the wind. You really need a good pack that works together. Started to ugly but held on in the last 5k. Was a great day!

For those that ran on Sunday, did anyone hear anything about a LSU athlete running?

My girlfriend was in line Sunday after the half for pickups and heard a group of guys behind her talking about "that LSU athlete that ran". She was disappointed I did not know who that was (she went to TAMUCC) and not sure I have any idea of how to find out.

I am taking a few days off. My legs are still a little sore.

I plan to do an easy 3 - 4 miles tomorrow morning just to loosen up.

Then, I'll start 100-mile ride training. I'll probably keep posting in this thread though.

Which marathon are you running next month? I'm running my first as well next month in Birmingham. Looks like we are at about the same fitness level and goal.

3 in 23:32 on the treadmill. I wanted to go fast!

Came down with some illness on Thursday night. Not sure if it's COVID but I don't give a shite enough to get tested.

Felt like shite yesterday, felt better today but not 100% or close to it. But still did my 12 mile run today. It was tough, 25 second slower per mile pace than my usual pace for a run of that distance. Was not fun but I powered through and got it done.

Haven't eaten since Thursday afternoon, I have no appetite at all and the thought of food makes me nauseous.