What has been the difference between my first and second marathons?

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Thomas Powell
  1. Mileage – up to 60 miles early, March Triple Crown (a real pain at the time, but kept me in tune with my capable speed).
  2. Weight – I weighed between 15 and 20 lbs heavier last marathon.
  3. Pacing – Learned to pace towards even run, pushing negative splits for races up to 13.1.
  4. Light taper – I ran hard up to 3 days prior, but did reduce mileage the last 2-3 weeks.
  5. NOT RECOMMENDED… Running a half-marathon the week before. However, it did happen to be a good tune-up and confidence boost.
  6. Ran a course with early hills– like KDF, Pig, or the like — preferably without significant hills the back stretch. The hills kept me on my pace target instead of beyond it like the OBX marathon.
  7. Run my PR marathon badly, by going out way too fast and crapping out at mile 15.
  8. Kept a meticulous calorie log to maintain/lose weight.
  9. Shoes – The new pair of Saucony Trigon Ride 5s really helped… I bought a 3rd pair of these and ran 10 miles or so just before the race. My previous shoe–Mizuno Wave Rider 9s–felt like it lacked cushioning past 20 miles in the marathon.
Be Sociable, Share!
Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts
  • I ran 15 miles at sub-9 pace the hard way #running #twit2fit (and on the treadmill at 11pm) I decided that I'd do a progressive workout, starting @ 6.0 mph (10'00") and going to 7.4 mph (8'06"?), by 0.1 mph increments per mile.  I have the speed to run 6'30" intervals, but I'm still hesitant to push for a sub-9 pace long......
  • Switching focus away from the marathon for a little while I've had a combination of really good marathon experiences and really bad marathon experiences at this point. The race day experience doesn't bother me too much. The marathon is a challenging distance to run well, because little problems early on (and even 24 hours before) multiply over the 26 mile......
  • Help... I'm working on a 70-mile week, with a goal marathon on 11/8... #running Ok, clarification...  the help I seek is with my plan, not with my sanity. Working on a 70-mile week, goal marathon 11/8. [Training log summary] Should I push through to 80 miles over the next 4 weeks or down to the 50-60 mile range and work on pacing?  Currently, my......
  • Treadmill 20 mile MP run in 2:38:39 (7'57" avg) I ran a marathon pacing interval set (5 miles on, 5 minute recovery, 4, 3, 2, 1) on the treadmill. I haven't had what I've felt was a satisfactory workout since the November marathon in Indianapolis. This workout took care of that void. No gels, just 96 ounces of Gatorade......
  • Post- fall marathon & turkey training run #twit2fit 7.1 miles in 65 minutes... that's good for 9'10" per mile.Training Begins AgainI ran a day after Thanksgiving Day run last week downtown, but this is the second day of the start of my recovery and build-up to the next marathon, some time in the spring. Goal time: sub-3:30. That......
  • Ran for the first time. 2.16 mi in 18:18 #twit2fit I intended to go outside to walk 2 miles, despite my back being pretty tight still.  Leaving the gym, I had to decide whether I wanted to bring my iPod Classic (arm band) and phone with me (no pockets).  Doing so would have guaranteed that I wouldn't have run.  However,......
Blog Traffic Exchange Blog Traffic Exchange
This entry was posted in workout commentary. Bookmark the permalink.