My running history:

Probably 6 years ago, when I used to post in here a lot more, I was in much better shape. 5'11" ~180. I could run a 5k in about 19:30 and I think my best 10k was 42ish. All of my in week training runs are all on a treadmill I have in my house (was an apartment gym 6 years ago) because I run late at night and don't want to die. I have no motivation to wake up and run and I have a wife and new kid and too many other things I refuse to give up to run at normal times during the day. I ran a half marathon 6 years ago and just kind of winged it. All I did to "train" was run 8 or so miles at an 8:45 pace 3 or 4 times. I actually couldn't keep up with the 8:45 guy so I ran to catch him, never found him, and finished in 1:47:01(which is an 8:09 pace).

Where I am now:

I've procrastinated and eaten for long enough and when I started running again, I weighed 232. I had no specific goal to run a marathon when I started 2 or so months ago, but now I do. I am (very) roughly following this: http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51...aining-Program Marathon is March 1st.

I don't plant to make this a log, but rather just a place to post random thoughts and questions and get feedback on certain things I'm doing.

Anyway, what prompted me to post this I suppose is I just ran 9 miles last night, and for the first time, felt like this thing is going to be a son of a btich. It took me 1:29 to finish and I had to take 2 walk breaks because my feet hurt really bad, because I thought it would be a good idea to run 9 miles on my second run in new shoes:

(slightly different and cooler color by the way).

So now, this morning, I feel slow and my feet hurt, but at least I can run 9 miles. Only 17 more to go I guess. The good news is I'm down to 217 lbs, my legs feel fine and my cardio was really pretty okay until the last half mile or so.

Anyone know why my feet hurt so damn bad? Just right in the balls of my feet (I'm a toe striker). Also, I've had some pain along the outside of my right foot, which I google diagnosed as minor "Peroneal Tendinosis" due to old shoes. I've rested enough to keep it from getting any worse and it's more of nuisance than anything at this point.

1th.

SS + GOMAD.

Your feet probably hurt because they're only conditioned to handle 180lbs of bodyweight.

Taking that weight off and occasional runs on softer surfaces like grass will help, IMO.

^^good point, you can't throw yourself back into a high impact activity like running being overweight and not expect to have some pains/injuries.

Run on softer ground and concentrate on losing some more weight before you get into the roads too much

Just running on a treadmill. Don't know if that's "soft" or not. 220 sounds like it's more than it is. I'm overweight but people think I weigh like 190. I think. Maybe I'm delusional fat guy.

If you were 180 at 5'11" and went up to 230 without putting on a significant amount of muscle then you're basically obese. And those extra 50 pounds are going to make a huge difference on your feet until you take the pounds off.

(I say this from experience. I'm 5'11" and 175 when fit but several time have ballooned up to around 230. People also say I'm not fat at that weight, but that's only because there are so many 300 pounders walking around these days.)

Just keep going. As you keep going, short of massive eating, you're going to continue to take weight off. Running is one of those sports where the lighter you are, the easier it is. Not only are you going to continue to increase your conditioning, but your weight decrease will also allow you to go further distance and/or faster.

You could also be having some pains from running on new/not broken in all the way shoes. I haven't ran seriously in years, but back in the day when I was running heavy, the best advice someone ever gave me on the subject was to buy my new shoes before I actually needed them, and then wear them on lighter days to break them in, before my old ones were toast. YMMV, but it worked for me.

You can keep going, but start slower imo. 9 miles is likely too much too soon, and the most likely result is that you're going to get injured and have to take time off which might sap your motivation. (Let the sore feet be a fair warning: You don't want a fractured foot.)

There are some good rules-of-thumb out there for how many miles it's safe to ramp up on a weekly basis. Do a little Googling.

Yeah, my new revised strategy for a while is: New shoes on runs <5 miles. Old shoes for runs >5 miles. At least until I have absolutely 0 pain issues on the new shoes.

Yes. I am trying to play this very smart and am taking more rest days than my stubborn self usually would. It's really though to tell if the sore feet is new shoes or bad feet. I know 9 miles sounds like a lot, but I have always been active (golf/regular pickup basketball), been a pretty naturally good long distance runner, have a lot of running miles behind me, and have about 3 or so months in of running regularly already. I'm also running extremely slow (9:45/mile). I do know how easy it is to get stress fractures and I know that's an ender, so I'm trying to not push through too much.

After my 9 miler on Thursday, took Friday off. Feet hurt still, but no soreness or fatigue issues at all with the rest of my body. Took Saturday off as well as I had a very long & draining day outside.

Yesterday played 18 holes of golf walking and last night ran 3 miles/8:06 in the new shoes. Just some slight foot pain, no big deal though. New trick that totally works: I'm usually someone who likes to count every tenth of a mile as I run, but it makes it really hard on long runs. So I've been throwing a towel over the treadmill display and just running x amount of "songs" before I look. Ran 6 songs, looked at the display and was 30 seconds from finishing. Figured I'd be about 2.2 miles in. Sweet bonus. Felt like I could've easily gone 5 miles.

Monday: 2.5 hours of full court pickup basketball.wore my new asics running socks and slid around a lot. No pain or blisters though. Lost about 4 pounds of water weight, so has to be a decent workout. Didn't get tired but didn't feel great either.

Tuesday: 2nd run after the 9 miler is supposed to be a five miler. Felt good the other day so ran it at 8:06. Very good progress imo...felt great, feet only hurt towards very end. A bit concerned with pace. It's very hard for me not to increase speed if I feel great, but I'm trying to run a marathon, not increase my 5k time.

last month has been pretty crappy overall. Not consistently increasing my miles like I need to, had two times where I only ran once or twice in a whole week. Once mainly due to travel, and once because of extreme work fatigue. Got to pick it up. Part of my problem is that I am choosing not to sacrifice much to do this. I still want to play basketball every monday, play golf on the weekends, and hang out with my kid. It makes it tough to get the runs in.

That being said, did a 9 miler yesterday at 9:45. That's a super slow pace, but no walking, feet felt good, and other than the Chipotle I ate 2 hours before running, felt pretty good overall. Maybe a bit dehydrated at the end which I've really never felt before. The goal is to run an 11 miler next weekend, then a 13 miler the week after that and I'll be rocking along pretty good. Would love to run this thing at like 8:45 but I'm trying to focus on finishing it. Something about the long runs, even though they truly aren't that physically taxing is just the mental barrier of spending so much goddamn time on the treadmill.

subbing

glgl

Having a good week so far. Good run at bball on Monday, wind felt good, legs a bit heavy from 9 miler the day before.

Tues: planned day off
Wed: 3 miles @8:27. Was a little bit tough but was super tired before starting so no big deal.
Thurs: 5 miles@8:27. Tough run...had to channel all of the haters about 3.5 miles in, but proud that I pushed through the pain. I've been motivated to run bit have been a bit of a pussy when it starts to hurt.

By the way, not losing much weight if any. My diet is okay, but basically a Starbucks, a 20oz coke, and a 12 oz coke at night pretty much sabotages y good eating. I've got to do better as I know 200 instead of 220. Would instantly make me faster.

I just read this log and I'm curious what motivates you to run a marathon. You have a wife and kid you want to spend time with, two hobbies you seem to prefer to running, no motivation to run in the mornings and seemingly a dislike for long runs. What am I missing here? I'm someone who likes a challenge just for the sake of the challenge but I still have no idea why you're doing this. Training for a marathon is really demanding and has no health benefits you won't from a less time consuming ************ goal. I don't mean this as a slight of any kind, but can you really rationalize this decision for yourself?

No worries. The best way I can explain my motivation, which may make sense to me but maybe not anyone else, is that I was looking for a long term fitness goal to get me on a path of consistency, and the marathon is a life goal and a perfect fit, because for me to finish a marathon with any semblance of a respectable time, I am forced to train for it.

And while I don't necessarily need to become an "elite" runner, I would love to be someone one day who can run sub 40 10ks and sub 3 hour marathons. I may be putting off the wrong vibe here with regards to my motivation because I really do enjoy running. It's just been frustrating how long it has and continues to take me to get in shape. I used to cruise 19:30 5ks and feel like a million bucks. I just don't get that feeling of being a real athlete very often, although these last run and the 9 miler are starting to get there.

Why not train for 5ks? Your body will thank you for it. I don't understand people who train for marathons unless they're some freak of nature athlete whose body won't break down from all those miles. Normal people will lose a bunch of muscle and have joint pain for dayzzz. And lose their toenails. Bodies aren't meant to be trained to that extent.

It's not like you can't get in world-class conditioning and aesthetic shape while training for 5ks. Plus you'll be putting less stress on your joints and ligaments. And you can even gain substantial muscle mass at the same time if you choose to. Also leaves you with more free time to hang out with family, play bball, and golf.

I can understand the challenge a marathon represents for a one-time thing, but to aspire to be great at marathons in general seems nuts unless you're a professional marathoner. There are too many health drawbacks for my taste.

Also, might want to alternate swim training to get your weight down, and take some impact off your joints/body.

Knocked out an 11 miler today at 9:45 pace. Felt great...way better than last weeks 9-miler actually. 22 mile week. No chafing, no pain of any kind except feet soreness. But nothing like the pain in the OP.

It's almost like running in the afternoon instead of starting at 1:00 am is preferable. Who would have figured.

So I'm very loosely following this: http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51...aining-Program

I see he has weeks where you are supposed to taper...is that really necessary? I don't see any reason why I can't knock out a half next weekend. I'll certainly listen to my body, but I wasn't out of breath, no muscle issues, and knees/shins are fine. (In the past I've had shin issues or knee arthritis if I run too much too fast.

are you talking about tapering before a race or about a recovery week during training? anyway: yes, you should taper before a race. and yes, you should use recovery weeks to give your body time to adapt. (even if you don't have any injuries / problems atm)

Have you looked at the program he linked? I think he refers to the way the long runs increase:

6
7
5
9
10
7
12
13
10
15
16
etc

I don't really have an opinion, except that if you follow the program but skip the low distance week you'll progress way too quickly.

Update:

Have been doing pretty well for the last few weeks. Kind of straying from the plan, but trying to stick with the general idea.

I did a 5k at 7:21 pace and a 10k at 8:27 pace the last couple of weeks. Also just for fun ran the Turkey Trot 5k in like 38 minutes with my wife and pushing the baby stroller. Last week, for my long run I ran an 11-miler at 9:49 that was super hard. I had to walk a bit at 9.7 miles and couldn't get going again and noodle legged it until 11.

This week I did basketball/off/3/6/off/off/13.1 @9:49 pace. Started running it at 12:00 am. Felt good to knock out a half. Legs/lungs felt pretty good the whole time...a few times I felt heavy legged and unmotivated, but nothing that yelling at myself couldn't fix. Thought there was no way I'd finish at 5 miles, then knew I was good to go at about 9 miles. Hope this kind of "2nd wind" thing keeps happening as I try and increase miles.

Feet hurt. Almost **** myself the last 2 miles. Don't know what to do to fix that...hadn't even eaten in like 8 hours. Totally feel for those people have done that in the race. I get it now. You aren't goddamn stopping no matter what.

Weight back down to like 220. Weighed 214 after the long run.

All of this on the treadmill still?

Since it snowed here a month ago I've been having to run all my intervals and 5ks on the treadmill and I feel like killing myself out of boredom. Don't know if I'll survive the winter. Good luck to you.

your long run shouldn't be 60% of your weekly distance if possible... and your long runs also shouldn't be THAT hard. (not saying it should be easy)
try to get more easy miles in during the week. and reduce the pace slightly in the long run if it's too hard. the long run is mainly about "time on your feet", pace is secondary.

Yes, it's not easy. And my wife won't let me mount a TV on the wall. I should have more scene control, but I don't. I tried to watch netflix on my phone at the beginning but I couldn't do it. I try and think of it kind of like training. If I can run 20 miles on an f'ing treadmill, it should be a breeze with pretty things to look at like NATURE.

I think part of what makes it hard is the treadmill thing. 2 hours is an awfully long time to be on the goddamn treadmill. You have nothing to think about at times other than how you feel.

The Higdon thing I'm following had 3/6/3 as the short runs before the half. I didn't do one of the threes but did basketball which is basically more than a 3, so I figured, close enough.

This week is supposed to be 3/7/4/10. Sounds kind of easy actually.

Bumping this because I have a specific issue.

Was supposed to do a 3/7/4/15 this week. Instead did a 3, and then did a 4 (started running at like 1:00 am...just not into it), and that was it.

Problem was I woke up the next morning and had random shooting pain in my shin/high ankle. There will literally be like 0 pain for a while, and then it just comes out of nowhere. I have had this before at times, but it's like a one time thing and no big deal, but this lasted consistently all day long.

Don't think it's shin splints because it's just localized in basically one spot, it isn't tender to the touch or anything, and came completely out of the blue. I worry that it's a stress fracture, but it seems to worse in the morning and I had no trouble with the "hop test"...I can hop on the leg as long as the pain doesn't happen to come while I'm doing that.

It actually feels like a high ankle sprain, but how can you sprain your ankle while sleeping? Any ideas?