ok nards… i did speak with them and they told me you should toughen up a bit… this is a workout site with men on these forums… toughen up…
This is just to add to bigquig’s statement.
Sometimes it takes too long to be right.
SPK: Not everybody has your goals. Some people talk shit and talk themselves into a stupid competition 10 weeks away. Would the right thing be to wait a year or 2 and do a marathon… YES… Do you have a year or two in 10 weeks . NO. So if a specialist wants to list the exact proper way to do it in 2 years, he’s just not going to help you.
No one is refuting your advice, but if he wasn’t a former 4:03 miler it might not work for him. In a way people on here are asking the experts. Other 200+lb guys who some how pulled it off when they weren’t supposed to. Did we win any awards? Maybe not, but if we completed the task and goal we’re damn proud of ourselves. I wish you the best in your Tour de France.
airtruth… nice shot there… wish i was 30 years younger and good enough to race the tour…
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
This is just to add to bigquig’s statement.
Sometimes it takes too long to be right.
SPK: Not everybody has your goals. Some people talk shit and talk themselves into a stupid competition 10 weeks away. Would the right thing be to wait a year or 2 and do a marathon… YES… Do you have a year or two in 10 weeks . NO. So if a specialist wants to list the exact proper way to do it in 2 years, he’s just not going to help you.
No one is refuting your advice, but if he wasn’t a former 4:03 miler it might not work for him. In a way people on here are asking the experts. Other 200+lb guys who some how pulled it off when they weren’t supposed to. Did we win any awards? Maybe not, but if we completed the task and goal we’re damn proud of ourselves. I wish you the best in your Tour de France.
[/quote]
Well said!
[quote]spk wrote:
not to offend anyone, but the advice given on any runnning subject on this forum over the years is pretty bad… guys run a half marathon or marathon on just a handful miles a week training seem to know it all. guys all of a sudden want to be a runner and start their first workout sprinting… terrible terrible advice given and very bad training advice on most posts…there is one guy that coaches elite runners. he knows his stuff…other than him, consult a running web site.this web site is big lifters and arnold wanna be’s giving running advice…nice they give advice, but 99% of the time, its the wrong advice…i’m nobody, a former 4:03 miler, who knows a little about training for running…enough to know most these running posts are bad!!!this stuff i read is horrible… 15 miles a week training for a half marathon… wtf!! you’re walking it basically… just surviving barley… 9-10 - 11 minute miles… getting in the way of actual runners… wanna be good at running, run… run a lot, and consult a running web page…[/quote]
I ran my half marathon at about 245 pounds. I finished in a very pedestrian 2:06. I was within the top 27% of all finishers, top 43% of all men and top 45% in my division. There are a lot of people running halfs and marathons that are doing it much, much slower than a 245 pound powerlifter. That in and of itself it kinda sad. But, I’m pretty sure I didn’t get in the way of any of the other runners around me that had chosen the 9:30 pace section…
I actually waited till most everyone had started, then I started since they have those cumputer chips you stcik on your shoe and records your time for you anyway…and I passed people all the time. These were Asian people too, as I’m in Taiwan. I mean a 250lb, 40 year-old guy should not pass a 150lb, 23 year-old!
Ok I guess I am one of those idiota talked into a marathon. Now i have about 2 months of time and no prior running experience. Altho i do have some prior sports experience playing soccer and then gym. I actually dislike running. But anyways to the point. I ran about 9-10 miles last week in 1½ hour and about 12½ miles in 2 hours this week.
I think that’s decent given my no running backround. I was thinking of doing 1 longer run of about 2 hours and one lighter about an hour or 1½hours for starters. Then ramp up the volume weekly from there. How would that sound? I am actually shooting to run it in 4-4½ hours.
Well,before you’re told you don’t stand a chance I’ll say I think you can do it.
Soccer must have given you some pretty good stamina in your legs, and you said you did a 9-10 mile run and a 12 mile one already, so I think you’ve got enough under your belt to do a full marathon in two months.
I’ll say again that all I’ve ever done is 4 half marathons in my life, but all at a weight of about 230 to 250 lbs. The last one was 2 hours and 51 minutes. My excuse was a nagging back and it was rather hot and humid that day here in Taiwan.
My advice that is in no way backed by enough experience is to continue with a long run each week that can slowly increase in length and the other runs need not be much more than 3 to 7 miles, and only 2 or 3 of those in a week
As a former cyclist (and very occasional runner) for over 20 years who recently changed directions in life and gave up the bike to switch to lifting, I’ve found this thread to be really fascinating. I don’t want to offer any advice about how to balance running and lifting because I’m just a beginner lifter and a FNG on T-Nation. Just want to wish the very best of luck to the OP and anyone else who’s contemplating something similar.
[quote]Nards wrote:
Well,before you’re told you don’t stand a chance I’ll say I think you can do it.
Soccer must have given you some pretty good stamina in your legs, and you said you did a 9-10 mile run and a 12 mile one already, so I think you’ve got enough under your belt to do a full marathon in two months.
I’ll say again that all I’ve ever done is 4 half marathons in my life, but all at a weight of about 230 to 250 lbs. The last one was 2 hours and 51 minutes. My excuse was a nagging back and it was rather hot and humid that day here in Taiwan.
My advice that is in no way backed by enough experience is to continue with a long run each week that can slowly increase in length and the other runs need not be much more than 3 to 7 miles, and only 2 or 3 of those in a week[/quote]
Cheers. I weight about 175 at around 5 feet 8-9 inches. Unfortunately my soccer days are looong gone. But it appears that I still have a pretty solid base. I’ve been doing some conditioning work in my regular gym program so that’s a plus too.
Biggest issue so far has been legs not being used to this kind of stuff. Also my upper back, rear delts and arms get crazy exhausted too soon. My groin has been a real bitch, it starts to kinda cramp at some point, but it’s getting better and better every run I make so that’s good.
I was thinking of tackling this somewhat like this:
starting off with 2-3 runs a week. I’ll focus on quality. Trying to keep my pace at 4 hour target time. I’ll increase workload every week. I’ll work up to doing am run something like 1 hour and pm run around 2 hours to condition my legs for marathon. Since I understood biggest issue first timers have it their legs cramping and quitting on them, so I hope working up to 2 sessions a day will help that. Obviously I’ll have to stretch and foam roll a lot in order to avoid injuries. My work capacity is good, so recovery wise I should be able to pull that off.
So I’ll start with 2 runs a week. Ramp up the milage each week, but I wont go past 2 hours per run. I’ll just add more run workouts, working maybe up to 4 times a week then a week off before the event. Just a scheme, I’ll adjust as necessary.
I understand this is pretty much a win or crash and burn type of situation. I absolutely will have to progress each week to get to my goal.
I’ll tell if I made it or not then 
Go to a running site and get there templates.
Fr the love of everything, do not make your own program…
Or better yet, join a run club.
[quote]JFG wrote:
Go to a running site and get there templates.
Fr the love of everything, do not make your own program…
Or better yet, join a run club.[/quote]
This seems like pretty good advice. Everything I read on the subject when I was getting ready for my half suggested the long run was key. If you haven’t hit an 18+ miler before you do the marathon, I suspect you’re in for a world of pain. Though, you did say this was a potential crash and burn situation.
I think most of the points are moot points until OP defines what “training for a marathon” is to him. Many people say they are “training for ____”, wanting to be competent in said endeavor, but not proficient. There has been advice throughout the thread at both ends of the spectrum.
If making it through the marathon and having a decent first effort is the goal, definitely go on a running website and get a template. Many of the first marathon templates will have you doing low mileage throughout the week and a very high mileage day. Many also do not include lifting, but this also doesn’t mean you have to EXCLUDE it either, and probably, you shouldn’t.
If training to become a good marathoner is your goal, then your first step probably isn’t to be running a marathon without previous 5k, 10k, half marathon, etc experience anyway.
What I took from OP’s post was that he was simply trying to put out a decent effort in the marathon without losing considerable muscle. For that, refer to the intelligent posts about not going with a high carb- low protein diet, following a sensible marathon training template, continuing to lift regularly, and consuming enough calories to support your newfound higher mileage than usual training.