Dear Courier-Journal. 5k is a distance. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s 5 kilometers, which is roughly 3.1 miles.
Marathon also refers to a distance. At present, that distance is 26 miles, 385 yards or 42.195 kilometers.
In history, the distance has been as short as 24.85 miles. However, it has never been remotely close to 5k. The last finisher of the Anthem 5k finished 30 minutes sooner than the world record marathon time.
I do not expect the average person to understand the distinction; however, in order to report on a basketball game, you wouldn’t allow the terms “extra innings” and “overtime” to be confused. ”Home runs” vs. “Touchdowns?”
Tags: 5kmarathon
No, I don’t mean that, do I? Ok, then, as long as you just read it for the pictures, it’s okay to keep it.
Actually, I have nothing against the popular running hobbyist magazines. However, you must realize what a magazine is. Magazines have several new messages every issue. Otherwise, why would you need the next issue?
While some may even take issue with some of the advice presented in the articles, I think there’s a greater danger: lack of consistency. Just like you can’t chase every mutual fund that a money magazine recommends, or go with the diet that you’ve obeyed the best that day, you can’t change training plans on a weekly or monthly basis.
Yet, that is just what will happen if you take the articles to heart: you’ll switch plans. You’ll switch because the first thing that will happen is the doubt that you can pull this off, that this plan is right for you. It happens on term papers, on novels, on investments, and certainly on a 16 week training plan. To compound the psychological effects, your body will be giving you feedback through all of the tough workouts, through all the pushing yourself a little further. Your body has to restructure itself to grow, and while that process should not cause excruciating pain, it will probably cause some discomfort.
Whether you’re going from couch to 5k, training for your first half-marathon, or taking the plunge for your first marathon, stretching your limits is not comfortable. Stepping out of your comfort zone is how you grow. Revisiting that feeling, again and again, is how you excel.
If you’re doing you first training for a specific distance, any plan that increases weekly mileage an average of 5% per week and mixes in different speed runs will work. Go fast once per week, go long once per week, and enjoy all of your runs.
Good luck.
Added from an @runtowin comment:
Some runner’s magazines concentrate on local stories and are way better than the national ones anyway (New England Runner)
Tags: motivation, training
Flying Pig '08 was + 1/4 mile
How long was your marathon? It’s a question that annoys the slightly-less-than-novice marathoner. There’s an air of offense that comes in response to the question: “How dare you not know how far I ran? It’s a marathon. Worship me.”
But there’s not that much that is special about finishing a marathon, because in reality, many marathons have a 14 1/2 minute- to 17 minute- mile cutoff for finishing–often easily within a walkers’ ability.
I’m almost to the point where I would rather just be left alone to train and run my marathon in peace than answer questions about my running. I still want acknowledgment of my accomplishments, but I don’t want to answer the same question over and over, nor do I want to hear admonitions about my knees.
All this being said, I find it a little annoying that someone would attempt to make money off of participants in a sport without knowing enough to represent the official distance. (A half-marathon is 13.1 miles, not 13.3.) But that’s not a running thing–that’s a ignorant profiteering thing.
The story behind the image in my post? The 2008 Flying Pig Marathon was diverted at around mile 22 due to a large structure fire along the course, adding an extra 1/4 mile. It’s still my best marathon time by 50 minutes, out of 4 marathons in the last 14 months.
There *have* been badly measured marathon routes, up to a mile too long (Lakeshore Marathon).
Tags: annoyances, marathon, races
If you’re talking on a cell phone (at 7 am, even) so intently that you cannot see what is in front of you and cannot remember your turn signal… Hang up, or park your car.
And don’t park your car on or across the sidewalk. It’s for pedestrians, not cars.
If you cannot see the area you’re about to drive into, whether from sun, rain, snow, or dirty windshield, do NOT proceed. These are not excuses for a hitting cyclist or pedestrian.
I understand that the American driving public is unfamiliar with the purpose of a crosswalk, but they are not to be used for target practice. Especially in a parking lot.
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