Motivation to work out.. 81 days to go!

best motivation for me was I recently took a picture of myself, then found one I had taken about 13 years ago... The difference was so dramatic that I had to get back to working out. I don't even look like the same person anymore.

 

Thanks for that, much appreciated. has given me some real ideas.

 

After pulling this 13 hour shift I'm running my first 5k in 20 years in the morning. I still have 6 weeks to get into marathon conditioning.

 

I've done that.... it made me cry

 

Ow, just got back. Middle of the pack which was better than I expected. Now I have a primer at least to know where I need to go from here.

 

I used to race marathons, half marathons 10k road races. i have plenty of advice, experience, routines and tips if you feel you need any help. Best time for
5k 14mins 49 secs
10K 32mins 55 secs
10 miles 57 mins 22 secs
Half marathon 1hour 14mins 45 secs
Marathon 2hours 41 mins 15 secs

 

Wow, that amazing, I think they give you 7 to 7 1/2 hours to finish the marathon and I'm expecting to probably need every minute of it. I'm just trying to do this one last thing before I hit 30 so I'm not expecting miracles. My pace is slow but I can maintain it. The only problem I've been noticing and I don't know why is a sharp pain in one of my sides after the 3 mile mark and it's can be pretty persistant. Thanks for any tips.

 

Stitch is all down to some or all of the following

1.Weak abdominal muscles,

2. Don't run cold, keep your upper body warm,

3. do not run too soon after meals and

4. learn "abdominal breathing".

the theory behind it is to synchronise your breathing pattern with your running, and exhale/inhale when the foot on the non hurting side strikes the ground.
For example: if you have stitch in your right hand side, change your breathing pattern so you exhale/inhale as your left foot strikes the ground.
If you do get stitch then always slow right down or stop until it has gone.

For more suggestions see this page
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081107165838AA3t7ak
Hope some of this helps.

 

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to try the breathing idea. I've been doing treadmills and I can go almost two hours but now that I'm trying to acclimate myself to street running I'm notcing the difference. It probably doesn't help that I'm doing this after 12 or 13 hour shifts so I think I'll try to warm up more than just walking around the block a couple of times first.

 

Also plenty of stretching to legs and arms will help to loosen up muscles before a run. There is a type of running which benefits those training for road races called fartlek. It is a swedish term which basically means fast and slow running. For instance after warming up and then running your first mile at a slow and even pace, run fast for one minute striding out and using your arms and legs to really propel you. The speed should be fast enough to get you out of breath but not so fast that you have to stop at the end of the minute.
At the end of the minute slow down to a gentle jog for two minutes to enable you to get your breath back. Then after the two minutes recovery set off fast again for another minute.
As you progress with this type of running you can extend the fast sections and /or reduce the slow sections. This builds stamina and endurance in your legs and arms. Once you become used to this repetition work you can try a hilly route and run fast up the hills and slowly down the other side. Then during a race you will find you can run straight through hills where others struggle.