August 50 Mile Challenge

Howdy Gents! You are once again invited to participate in our exercise challenge for August. It doesn't matter whether you're pre-op or post-op, there's no better time to get into an exercise routine that will quickly become a healthy habit. Now, we've got some guys on here who started off not being able to walk more than a few miles per month who are now training for iron man competitions and running marathons. We've got guys who log 500 miles a month on their bicycles and who lift weights to really bring out muscle definition. PLEASE do know that even if you're just starting out that we all had to start somewhere and nobody thinks any less of you if you aren't making huge mileage challenges for yourself. This is simply meant to be a fun way to keep track of your progress and hold yourself accountable to the other guys on the board. So, are you in? It doesn't matter whether you walk or run or bike or swim or canoe. We're encouraging people to shoot to get in at least 50 miles of exercise this month. I shot past my personal goal of 120 miles last month thanks to adding some spinning classes to the routine. I'm going to shoot for 120 again this month. I start training for the Race for the Cure on August 20th and it wll be more about minutes than miles at that point. Do me a favor and reply to this post if you're up to the challenge. Also send me a private message with your email address if you are interested in a spreadsheet to track your progress. Stronger everyday. -Dan

sounds great.  I'd love to try it. Scott

Excellent. You have mail.

I am in for August.  If all goes as planned I will have runs of 16, 18, and 20  miles in August.  That will goal long way to getting to goal. My goal for the month will be 115 miles as I would like to get in enough miles to actually run all the way in my October marathon.  I have bonked in the last two.  I run/walk anyway so hopefully I can.  It doesn't matter how quickly you run the first 20 miles if it takes two hours for the last six.  See you at the mid way point.

Wow. Running that long of a distance all at once has got to be an amazing thrill. Have fun training Scott.

I'd be lying if I said that it was not a thrill.  It is very emotional for some reason.  Perhaps just because it was impossible a few years ago.  The word that I would most associate with it is - Hurt!

Where is the marathon you are running in Oct? How do I get psyched to get from 10K to marathons? (,...u gonna say just do  it??) Anything specific drive you to go to longer distances rather than what the heck am I doing this for? Anything spcial you did to transisiton to the longer distances? Warnings I should know about before I kill myself prematurely?? I'm thinking if I can get to more than 10K distances in training, the 10K will be even easier to accomplish, but I'm not sure about my sanity at times. The 26 mi marathon in Richmond VA in Nov seems an inhuman distance but there are so many doing it, it does play with my emotions.  As does your disney effort. I even catch myself contemplating a local route I might consider without getting to far from exits, restrooms, getting run over in the middle of nowhere.  Brings to mind your previous advice about having money to feed and or call a cab.

Some of this is repeat stuff but I am going to save it for future use: My next marathon even though I have not signed up yet is the Hartford Marathon in October.  All marathons are 26.2 miles and obviously half marathons are 13.1.  If running a marathon is something that you are interested in then do two things.  Assuming that you are starting with a base of at least 3 miles, buy this book: http://www.amazon.com/Non-Runners-Marathon-Trainer-David-Whi tsett/dp/1570281823/ref=sr_1_3/002-3193143-5274442?ie=UTF8&s =books&qid=1186064764&sr=8-3 The first thing that it will tell you to do is sign up for one.  Most marathon training programs are 4 to 6 months.  This book was written by two college professors who teach a class called "The marathon class".   Finish a marathon and you get an A.  Don't finish and you get an F.  Pretty simple concept.  Out of a few hunderd people I think two didn't finish.  One was an injury and the other was a hydration issue I think. Almost all marathon training programs center around the long run.  This book will have you do two or three runs of 18 miles.  I know it sounds like a lot but you only increase by about two miles at a clip.   I cna't really think of any warnings.  I had to do physical therapy for a while to strengthen my knees and hips due to the increase in milage.  That may or may not happen to everyone.  Also, I started eating a lot during training.  I don't think that I added any fat weight but I did add weight.  That is something to be cautious of.  Eating more. Also, I had a big problem with getting far away from my house.  On my first six miler, I was scared that at one point I would be three miles out.  I took my cell phone and $20 just in case. On the long runs, I plan them so that I will pass a store every hour or so.  This way, I can run in and get some Gatorade/water/oatmeal cookie.  That or I can run by a park that has a fountain.  Keep a look out for construction sites.  They have porta-potties which come in handy too often.   After you have started your program, get the book http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/002-3193143-5274442?init ialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=mar athon+first That has peoples first marathon stories.  Some are awesome and will get you out the door on days that you don't want to. Feel free to ask anything.  I'll even tell you about the time I ate a half eaten pretzle stick off the ground diring a marathon.  It was awesome but the hard part was bending over.

You're great.  Its the pretzel type stuff that , espcially the bending over part, that is the raw honesty that I enjoy and allows me to know I can trust your advice.  You have been there.  I keep finding coins and I've come to wonder if it is a test to see if I can bend over and still restart.  Or whether I am still so broke that I need to stop to pickup any amount of money I find???? Thanks again.

Dan, I am in. Although I am going on vacation for 10 days i will do some running on vacation but it will be nice to track it. I had surgery on 10-23-06 at 323 lbs. Today I am 173. I joined the local ymca in Dec and have been running and lifting ever since than. I ran 3 5k's this summer with times of 28:52 to 27:30 to 27:15 and hoping to get under 27 minutes in the next one. Anyway I would love for you to email me the spreadsheet to [email protected] because I have tracked nothing to this point but like to. Thanks, Greg