Run a Marathon

Run a marathon. Yes, 26.2 miles. Run a marathon. It will change your life. Running a marathon is a breeze – compared to the training. If you are in good shape it will take approximately 26 weeks of training. If you are in terrible shape, plan on one full year to train.

There are plenty of resources to guide you. So many, I won’t even begin to discuss the “how to” part. What you need to know is that almost anyone with the right preparation can train and complete a marathon. You must be willing to master a new subject; acquire the proper equipment (shoes and clothes); devote the time and commit to the discipline.

Want to change how you look and feel? Run a marathon. Training for a marathon will cause you to lose weight in every part of your body from your face to our feet. You will look younger and feel stronger. My face was getting pudgy and my body was slowly turning pear-shaped. I started running and then trained for a marathon. My face lost 15 years in appearance and the pear shape was gone. To this day 17 years later, my face still looks different than when I started.

Training for; running in and finishing a marathon will change how you look at yourself. You will find out that it is possible to establish a lofty goal, commit to the discipline and finish something of great difficulty.

One of the biggest thrills of my life was when I ran 20 miles for the first time (without stopping or walking). Finishing your first marathon is even better. I went on to finish five marathons and have a wild thought now and then to run one last time.

Run a marathon.

I could see the appeal and overall life benefit of running a marathon.

But---not for me. I do run but only for about 3 miles, 9 minute pace. Long distance running and being 220 lbs are just not very compatible. I'd rather be stronger and more muscular than average and have reliable "get it done" cardio than be a skinny runner who looks down on all other forms of exercise (not saying that's you guys).

I find runners in general to be some of the most pretentious and fanatical active people around. They scoff at anything other than the most feeble strength training and tout the superiority of running, yet develop chronic stress conditions and beat their joints into dust from all that cyclic loading.

Colossus said:

I could see the appeal and overall life benefit of running a marathon.

But---not for me. I do run but only for about 3 miles, 9 minute pace. Long distance running and being 220 lbs are just not very compatible. I'd rather be stronger and more muscular than average and have reliable "get it done" cardio than be a skinny runner who looks down on all other forms of exercise (not saying that's you guys).

I find runners in general to be some of the most pretentious and fanatical active people around. They scoff at anything other than the most feeble strength training and tout the superiority of running, yet develop chronic stress conditions and beat their joints into dust from all that cyclic loading.

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This. Sure it might feel good conquering such a lofty goal but that's about the only benefit. Humans simply weren't meant to run that much. Short sprints are far more healthier and beneficial.

http://impossiblehq.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/MARATHONSPRINT.jpg

Some people are much better at distance running than others. I don't know if it's lung alveoli, or short/fast twitch muscle makeup or something else. Whatever it is, I don't have it. Most of the reason that I quit ROTC and did not go into the Army is that I almost always flunked the 2 mile run on the physical fitness test. Passing for me was I think about a little over 15 minutes. They were telling me that I would likely get assigned to an infantry unit and be required to run the two miles in twelve minutes. And that was just never going to happen.

Colossus said:

But---not for me. I do run but only for about 3 miles, 9 minute pace. Long distance running and being 220 lbs are just not very compatible. I'd rather be stronger and more muscular than average and have reliable "get it done" cardio than be a skinny runner who looks down on all other forms of exercise (not saying that's you guys).

I find runners in general to be some of the most pretentious and fanatical active people around. They scoff at anything other than the most feeble strength training and tout the superiority of running, yet develop chronic stress conditions and beat their joints into dust from all that cyclic loading.

Click to expand...

I'm 6'4 230; lift 4 days a week and run 3. Running a marathon won't change you into something else. Part of red-pill thinking is not getting your validation from others to include fanatical pretentious runners.

I ran my first Marathon back in 2010. It was quite the miserable experience and I finished just under 4 hours because I trained improperly and went out too quick. But I did learn that, while training for it, that I did have pretty good speed and decided to train for other events like the 800m, the mile, and 5Ks. I do 10K's races as training runs as well.

As a 30 year old, I had PRs of 4:45 for the mile and a 16:23 5K. I'm proud of my accomplishments.

A lot of runners are different. They are introverted, single-task oriented and CRAZY, and I found out that I didn't really enjoy the "recreational runner" crowd. So, I train on my own.

But yes, a marathon will challenge and change you. It's not the life-altering experience many claim it is...but it leads to a lot of healthy habits and the discipline you learn through training can easily be applied to other athletic endeavors.