Comments on: Rookie Marathon Mistakes

By: Paul Whitcomb

Paul Whitcomb — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:39:43 +0000

I probably did my first marathon too fast. I did the Indianapolis Marathon last year and came in under four hours. Since then, I have had chills, fatigue and asthma. I am narrowing it down to adrenal burnout. I have my first appointment with an endocrineologist on next tuesday, but my entire running year is shot, including Amica Newport.

By: Rev. Run

Rev. Run — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:39:18 +0000

How about this: if you stop for a bathroom break, don’t try to catch up with your friends too quickly. I did that in my first marathon; after the break I had so much energy that I caught them in 3 miles. Oops.

Also: don’t try new things on the marathon. I tied my shoes differently… to tightly. By the time I realized that, it was too late, and the shoelaces were biting into my feet.

By: Gayle

Gayle — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:56:04 +0000

Don’t let the Zombies after 18 grab a hold of you. I someone who was struggling, glassy eyed, reach out and grab the girl running next to me and he would not let her go. Very unsettling.

By: admin

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:17:08 +0000

thanks Kevin. It took me a many years to get over “putting in the miles” and putting in quality workouts. My times have improved dramatically now.

@Kent: wow! that would cause me lots of anxiety. thanks for sharing.

By: Kent

Kent — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:54:07 +0000

Here’s one: be careful with crimped/form fitting jacket sleeves and running watches. In my first marathon, I removed a throw-away jacket with tight sleeves while running, about five miles into the race. I didn’t notice it at the time, but in the process removing the jacket, the sleeve stopped the chrono function on my watch. When I finally figured out what had happened, my exact elapsed time became a bit of an unknown. I eventually got a pretty good bead on where my chip-time stood compared to the mile marker timers on the course based on my estimation of the gap between the official beginning of the race and my beginning when I crossed the starting mats. The incident injected an unplanned period of anxiety into my race and I wasn’t sure of my actual finishing time until results were posted.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:58:24 +0000

Great tips. Here’s another. Vary your training. One season I didn’t do any track, tempo or hill work. Just “put in the miles”. I figured getting the long runs in would do the trick. Wrong. Next season I swapped mindless miles for quality ones and shaved tons of time off the next marathon. No more time or sessions required, just the quality of my work outs.