When I started training for a half-marathon this summer, I knew I'd need a running schedule, but I had no idea how to create one on my own. I googled half-marathon, and basically used the first one I found. It was written by a guy named Jeff Galloway, but I knew nothing about him. I really enjoyed his schedule, and it got me to exactly where I wanted to be by race day.
Now, as I look to run a full marathon, I need another training schedule. The first one I found online was unrealistically aggressive. It is just plain not possible for me to do that much running. I've been doing about every other run on the schedule (never skipping the critical Sunday runs), and I've been feeling tremendously guilty about the runs I've missed.
A good buddy from b-school suggested I read this book that helped him train for his first marathon. Wouldn't you know it: it's written by Jeff Galloway. I read about 75% of it on a recent flight, and I love several things about it:
- It's written for someone who's right at the point I'm at with running. Not a total beginner, but in serious need of education.
- The format of the book makes it very readable: lots of pictures, lots of illustrative side-stories from his personal experience, a lot of examples from people he has helped train to run their first marathon, etc.
- He doesn't just suggest walking breaks during long runs, he insists on them. He argues that they actually improve your time on race day, that they dramatically reduce the risk of injury, and that they make running a lot more enjoyable.
- He talks about what a runner should wear to run depending on what the weather is outside. This seems like the kind of decision an adult should be able to make on his own, but I've actually had a lot of trouble deciding what to wear for a long run in the unpredictable New England weather. It's funny that his suggestions go all the way down to -15º (e.g. "rub Vaseline on any exposed skin"). If I'm ever running outside when it's that cold, I've lot my mind and you should just shoot me.
- He has different running schedules depending on what your time goal is in the marathon. This is important for me. I think it makes sense that I would train differently for a 4-hour marathon than someone who's trying to finish in 5 or in 3. Those are completely different athletic endeavors.
- He has great advice for what to do during a run when your brain starts telling you to stop. He basically says that it's your left brain talking to you, and you combat this problem by engaging your right brain. This means thinking of ridiculous, imaginative scenarios, like where aliens would land if they were on your running path, or what your shoelace would get caught on if it were infinitely long. These sound silly, and they are, until you're tired and you need something to distract you from how tired you are.
If you've ever thought of getting into running, I'd start with a half-marathon. Galloway's got a book for that. If that goes well, get his full-marathon book, and give it a shot. I hope it goes as well for you as it has, so far, for me.
So why did we hear rhat the bomb/flashlight was powerful enough to kill a person and creat large amount of damage. I bet the Barista is feeling a little ambaressed but they did the right thing by reporting it. Hey and I bet they well get alot of bussiness.
Posted by: viagra online | September 21, 2010 at 06:31 PM