The Qwer Old Fella's Marathon Method

May 16, 2024

15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Tralee,Ireland

Member Since:

Oct 01, 2011

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

I've never worn compression socks.

Short-Term Running Goals:

To do a race.

Long-Term Running Goals:

1. Break the world record for the marathon in the 50+ age group, when I'm 50 in 2015.

2. Never wear compression socks.

Personal:

Married with two girls (6 and 10).

The Qwer Old Fella's Marathon Method is a four year experiment.

The first year (2012) was about getting back into running, staying off the smokes and booze, while sticking to a healthy eating plan and shedding mountains of lard. All boxes ticked.

Year two (2013 - age: 48) Injured Jan through March. Build back up and work on my 5k speed. Goal 15:45.

Year three (2014) will be about doing my first marathon in the spring. (Just for the experience and on a tough course - maybe Tralee; goal time, 2:30ish.) Then begins the prep work for Berlin 2015

Year four (2015) is all about breaking the world record for the marathon in the 50+ age group - it's only 2:19 :).

The above might sound nuts; it is, but then I'm nuts. Please do not copy any of the training I do: if you do, you are likely to end up running like me - not a good idea.

The idea is to have a laugh along the way. If I fail, I don't know what I'll do - my whole belief system will crumble and I suspect that this little rock might just stop spinning for a couple of seconds. Jakers, I better not fail for all our sakes. That's some burden, even for SuperBam.

Favorite Blogs:

Click to donate

to Ukraine's Armed Forces

Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Mon, Nov 28, 2011

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.10	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.10

5:30 a.m. - 160m[ish] jog - no good: hamstring is kaput. What's worse, I know (even without getting on the scales) that I'm putting on poundage. It's Jake's fault that I'm putting on weight: all his chat about ice cream sent me off on one. Every night I've been scoffing Ben&Jerry's caramel Chew Chew - I can't stop chewing the Chew Chew. Okay, so it's not Jake's fault. It's my weak will. Ho hum.

Not all bad news. I did a bit of an ACornesque workout this morning. I set out to test the leg and could feel it twinging like a curse word, from the off. Got back and sat on the sofa and thought, what shall I do? Go back to bed would've been the wise thing to do. But your old fella isn't so wise. Didn't do that. Went to the freezer to fetch some ice for the leg and nearly had a breakdown. Chew Chew everywhere I looked. Caramel taste filled my mouth. No one will know, I thought. Go on, get in there lad; wolf it down. One day isn't going to make a difference. 5:45 a.m. and my right hand's frozen to one of the many tubs of Chew Chew.

And then it happened. On each of my shoulders a little Bam appeared - one with horns and one with a halo.

'Go on,' Horny said. 'Get in there, you know you wanna, lad.'

'Don't do it,' Halo said. 'Do some strength work instead.'

This went on for a while. So, anyway, I sated my desire for Chew Chew and did some strength work - nothing too exciting: scooped ice cream from tub to mouth several times @ 2 second recovery. What a hero. Monster session. Bleeding from the eyes. Eyeballs out. One serious VO2 max blast.

Anyway, I think I'll be out for a couple of weeks with the old leg and then it'll be Christmas. The big test will be if I can stay off the booze and get back 'running' again. A nice tub of Chew Chew followed by a glass of merlot and a Marlboro Light sounds perfect right now.

I'll fight it. I must: I've set a goal of winning the 2013 Cork Marathon and then I mentioned something about a sub 2:20 aged 50. Why do I say and do these stupid things? Okay, I'll be good and stick to the comeback. No smokes. No booze. But there has to be one last tub of Chew Chew. Oh baby, Daddy's on his way to chew chew you. Toodles, lads...

Night Sleep Time: 0.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 0.00	Weight: 0.00

Comments

From Russ on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 17:07:58 from 74.114.3.253

Fight it! No good going back to those habits. And the ol' hammy's just fighting you a bit but it will calm down when you ease back into running.

From Jake K on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 17:38:27 from 155.100.226.53

I feel bad that I didn't tell you the secret to our ice cream consumption - you can't go for the premium brands! You have to find the flavors that taste ALMOST as good, but have about half the calories. If there was a Kroger across the ocean, I'd tell you exactly where to look. Stay away from Ben & jerry's... its too expensive, anyways.

Andrea battled a hamstring strain for the majority of her marathon buildup. Here's what she wrote on how she kept it from becoming a season-ender: http://wasatchandbeyond.blogspot.com/2011/10/quick-fix-for-hamstring-strain.html

From Bam on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 18:23:25 from 86.40.0.19

Russ, thanks for the shout. I think the hammy will calm down, if I take my time.

Jake, now you tell me (about the ice cream) - puts half the tub back in the freezer.

I had a look at the link to Andrea's hamstring strain (I remember her mentioning it before the marathon)- thanks. It sounds identical to my problem, although mine's compounded by the lard issue. I'm doing most of what Andrea did, I'll add in the cross training. I'm taking NSAID's at the moment, just until the tenderness goes - hopefully in the next day or two. Once it settles I'll try and jog. The info Andrea suggeted about running form when struggling with a hamstring strain is interesting and I think her suggestions will help when I try again in a few days. Thanks again. You've saved me from the ice cream and the booze. Maybe I shouldn't be thanking you:)I've just sussed the smiley face thing for a joke - people might get me now, when I'm joking.

From Kam on Thu, Dec 01, 2011 at 14:14:00 from 68.66.163.179

Ice cream is a fickle mistress. My flavor of the month is Strawberry with crushed oreos on it. There are times when I pound ice cream every day without fail. Currently, it doesn't attract me. I must be getting plenty of sugar elsewhere.

Add Your Comment.

Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.

Debt Reduction Calculator

Featured Announcements

Most Recent Entries:

New Kids on the Blog
(need a welcome):

Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):