Comments on: How Not to Train for a Half-Marathon

By: TheHappyPhilosopher

TheHappyPhilosopher — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 22:56:50 +0000

In reply to wendy. Beer helps most situations, except driving and impressing people ;)

By: wendy

wendy — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 21:59:43 +0000

I did a 60mi charity walk and discovered what my ITBand was, and not in a good way… I always thought it was a knee issue when it would ‘tweak’ during downhills, carrying heavy boxes down stairs, etc…. that absolutely insane aggravating pain/discomfort/whatever thing that happens
The PT at my first event very quickly (metaphorically) smacked me upside the head and said it was IT Band, not the knee… My local PT back home prescribed cool stretches that help TREMENDOUSLY…
Of course I slack off for months at a time, but at least I know a method to help improve my resiliency and address the issue…
I did 3 events after that with no issues… now I’m doing a lot of hill hiking and running into issues because OF COURSE I slacked off the appropriate stretches again…
Imagine what we all could achieve if we could get that primitive brain to just obey…

Glad you did not collapse in an absolute heap! Hopefully you’re next experiment will be less painful, though I’m sure the beer helped!

By: TheHappyPhilosopher

TheHappyPhilosopher — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 04:30:02 +0000

In reply to BetweenTwoElephants. Haha, foam rolling and cold therapy are very helpful, although I have trouble doing them both. Cold exposure is actually a very interesting tool that I am exploring now.

By: BetweenTwoElephants

BetweenTwoElephants — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 00:56:26 +0000

Dude! You are brave. I’ve found that I have no business running a half unless I have done a couple 14ers the few weeks before. You have to overcome the foam roller pain. It is the absolute best thing I’ve found for recovery. That and jumping in my swimming pool in the winter from the waist down after a run. Both are probably the worst thing you can do to yourself beside running the 13.1 miles in the first place but I feel so much better in the days to come.

By: A Day of Running | The Happy Philosopher

A Day of Running | The Happy Philosopher — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 22:02:16 +0000

[…] a relatively high level of racing without actually doing much training. This worked up to a point…right up until it didn’t. I tried to train for a half-marathon by doing moderate strength work between playing video games. […]

By: TheHappyPhilosopher

TheHappyPhilosopher — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 17:34:30 +0000

In reply to MrsWow. I feel your pain, both literally and figuratively! The foam roller is great, but I just can't bring myself to rolling the ITB, which I equate with torture. I've found strengthening core and glutes are the best defense against this terrible and ruthless enemy.

By: MrsWow

MrsWow — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 17:00:34 +0000

Oh IT band, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways… This is what I should have been saying that fateful day 5 years ago I decided to do my first road race. Having never ran a race before and really not built for long distance running, I also should have started with a 5k, then done a 10k and then maybe considered a half. Nonsense I thought, why not just start with a half? I started running every other day and was doing crazy, bootcamp workouts 5x week, as well. I would surely be ready for this half. But little did I know, this ITB would rear its ugly head just one week before the race. I could barely move, let alone, bear weight on my left leg. My dream of doing that half ran on without me and I was left with excruciating knee pain. To this day, I still need to babysit my knee any time I run. Needless to say, not preparing for a race (like you) is just as bad as preparing the wrong way (eh hem, pointing finger at me). My tidbit of info, invest in a foam roller. Hurts like nothing I have every experienced before, but it is a game changer.

By: MrWow

MrWow — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 05:52:33 +0000

In reply to TheHappyPhilosopher.

Yeah, I can’t imagine doing that with a full. It would be awful, that wall you hit is horrendous. I would say even with proper training, it’s almost a guaranteed injury.

Thanks for the well wishes… I’m hoping to come in right ahead of the Cotton & Camelback crowd.

By: TheHappyPhilosopher

TheHappyPhilosopher — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 03:48:05 +0000

In reply to Vicki@M. Long walks are just as awesome. Racing is much more enjoyable with humor and when you don't take yourself too seriously :)

By: TheHappyPhilosopher

TheHappyPhilosopher — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 03:46:27 +0000

In reply to MrWoW.

Attempting this training plan for a full marathon is absolutely crazy – I would never consider it. Something terrible happens to the body right around mile 20 and the average mortal needs to be trained up for that. I would say trying to run a marathon without training is a guaranteed injury.

Good luck on your race, hopefully you have more common sense than me!

🙂