No, there is nothing more to it. I was pretty much a sloth, and had too many oung children to do much exercise for the years before. I’m just naturally very skinny, which gives me less to haul uphill, and less pounding on the downhill. In fact, I gained 5 lbs the first year I ran regularly. The Pikes Peak Marathon is run on a trail, so it is not nearly as hard on your joints as running down a road. I’ve heard some have problems with knee pain on their descent, but not as many who don’t run much. I seem to have been blessed with good joints, enough slow twitch fiber to move, and minimal body weight, all of which makes running easy for me. I suck at other things, like gymnastics.
Read “Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All Night Runner”. IIRC, Dean claims to have run 35 miles in street shoes after not having run in about 20 years, and spending the first part of the night drinking.
Go for it PriceGuy. I would suggest that you experiment with eating certain foods really early in the day, or drinking plenty of calories. You need to get something in your system.
Heh. Well of course, my posting was a semi-humorous attempt to show my rationalization for avoiding training for and running a marathon. I know the story is a legend, and no, I wasn’t actually suggesting that the goal of every marathon runner is to drop dead in a glorious gesture at the finish line.
Nevertheless, if pseudo-historical accuracy is a goal, then surely Pheidippides or whoever would have shed his armor before running… But what was he wearing on his feet? Sandals? And knowing the Ancient Greeks, was he nekkid but for those sandals?
Naah, the guy who is inhuman is Anthony Krupicka. Some of the women runners around here call him Jesus 'cause with his long hair he looks like one famous painting of Jesus. He’s a bit of a hippy. He mostly runs shoeless (and shirtless) - for hundreds of miles on trails here in the Rockies. See, for example this thread about a recent Running Times article on him: Tone
(“Tone’s” first ultra was the first Leadville 100 that Dean finished. Dean was midpack. Tone not only won, he is the only person to be anywhere near Matt Carpenter’s record.)
PriceGuy, if you need advice, your enthusiasm wanes at some point, or you get discouraged, be sure to post. I know you can do this.
