Run-Down Forums

[iKwak]

I will participate in the 2005 Los Angeles Marathon and want some advice from experienced runners.

1) How should I change my eating diet?
2) How often do you recommend changing the running shoes? And is a Nike/Adidas/etc. $50 dollar cross-training shoes good enough?

[Guest]

Oh and any advice and tips from an experienced runner will be appreciated. Thanks.

[Double]

As far as diets go, I always ate what was available and never got to wrapped up in it. Use a common sense approach. Eat a decent breakfast, lunch and dinner and try and snack on stuff that isn't real high on calories. To much attention to diet actually can drive you away from excercise. I generally take two days a week where I try and cut back on too much eating.

I'm always rotating 3-4 pair of shoes. I buy adidas at the outlet for about $30 a pair and after about 800 miles junk them, but everyone is different. The shoes you mentioned are probably fine for 2-3 miles, but I wouldn't go to long in them.

The best advice I can give you on getting ready for your first marathon is this. Get in the framework of doing at least some running or excercise daily. No matter what is in front of you, get out the door for at least 20-30 minutes. Also, just run. Spend the next couple years just learning how to run. Don't get into speedwork and tempos and all that other stuff. Gradually build up your miles or time on your feet weekly. Just running will help you get to the improvements the fastest.

After a 14 year layoff and at 210 pounds I started back off the couch in 1998. My first run was a half mile and I ran about 700 miles total for the year in 1998. My best time was a 45:58 10k on Thanksgiving. By 2000, I ran a 2:45 marathon at 39 and a 2:40 at Boston in 2002. Most of that fitness came off of high end ultra training at aerobic paces. Make every day count. If you can't run then bike or stretch or watch what you eat that day. Have fun with it. The most success you can have is learning to run a lot of easy miles at a pace that is comfortable for you. Run slow and run easy. Within a year your persistence will have paid off as you begin the 2005 LA marathon with confidence.

[Dan]

[Double]

Very little mileage of mine is on trails. I will turn my regular shoes into trail shoes after 600-700 miles and I also have a pair just for trails. Running on trails is fun and enjoyable, but I am a road runner at heart.

I don't have any pronation problems or any other abnormalities in terms of running form. Sure, I have problems, but my success has always been in the shoe rotation.

I'm not advocating you need to run a lot of miles in your shoes, but for me, like anything, it's what you train yourself to accept as normal.

[Dan]

How do you extend tread life that long? Most outsoles are running low by 300-400 miles, with anything light weight showing significant wear by 150-200. With no pronation issues, I would assume you're not into the ultra heavy trainers...

Dan
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[Indeurr]

[Double]

Dan,

I don't see any wear on the soles. I just usually figure the bounce has been worked out of them.

[Dan]

Are you sure you haven't worn them down to the nub, thus no "wear" to see?

I've had shoes lose all their bounce by 100 miles...

Dan
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[Adam]

1) How are you eating now? One thing is that heavy distance running increases protein requirements. If you're running every day, you'll need at least 0.8 g of protein per kg of body mass per day.

2) Change soft EVA midsole shoes about every 200 miles or sooner. Change PU midsole shoes about every 300 miles or sooner.

Buy running shoes. Cross-trainers are good for weightlifting and drinking beer.

[Dan]

I hear flip flops work equally well for the latter, which gives cross trainers the outright advantage in very few areas.

Dan
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[Micah Ward]

iKwak, Go to a specialty running store such as Fleet Feet or Phiddipedes and tell them how much you are running now and what your goals are. They will examine your foot plant and what not and recommend the proper shoes for you. They can also give you recommendations for how long the shoes should last. My experience (as a fat runner) is that most shoes are good for about 300 miles before needing to be replaced.

I am the last person who should give advice on eating but if you eat a well balanced diet with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and a reasonable amount of protien then you shouldn't have to worry about diet.

I also recommend flip flops for beer drinking.
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[Double]

I went and checked my shoes and I guess the correct answer is that they wear very evenly. I keep track of my shoes and the mileage on them. I ran Ice Age this year on a pair of shoes that already had 849 miles on them. I'll even put 800 miles on racing shoes. After a few hundred miles, I begin using them for sessions on the track or road tempos. I guess I'm luckier than most, or cheap. Probably both.

[Dan]

Even wear is a good sign. Means you're biomechanically efficient, or something like that.

Dan
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[Micah Ward]

Double, You are definetaly getting your money's worth out of the shoes. I never go over 500 miles and usually change at around 300. But then again I am a fat boy.

BTW, I just received the latest Ultrarunning and there are several pictures from Ice Age with groups of runners. You in there anywhere?
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