If you don't mind me asking, what were your PRs? I got lapped on a mile in high school (the guy ran a sub-5!)
Have you read Once a Runner? Was that what your training life was like?
Interesting offshoot - The whole point of training 20 hours a week for the Ironman triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile marathon) is so that the body never goes anaerobic during the actual Ironman race. When the body goes anaerobic (lactic acid buildup), everything goes downhill rapidly - it goes from racing a PR (personal record) to whether you will finish the race.
And then there are the Marathon Monks of Tendai:
> The ultimate achievement is the completion of the 1,000-day challenge, which must surely be the most demanding physical and mental challenge in the world. Forget ultra-marathons and so-called iron-man events, this endurance challenge surpasses all others.
Only 46 men have completed the 1,000-day challenge since 1885. It takes seven years to complete, as the monks must undergo other Buddhist training in meditation and calligraphy, and perform general duties within the temple.
I've read Once a Runner a long time ago. Training life is similar - it's all consuming really. In many ways it's like a job and a way of life.
Since I gave up running and got on with my life, I still train and compete competitively - even low key competition is enough to keep things interesting and motivating even though it's not the way of life it used to be.
I don't recommend that people do marathons actually. I've done 3 and they take such a tremendous effort to recover from that a lot of people just stay on the couch and don't start running again.
Elite runners can take enough out of themselves that the recovery is much longer. Recreational runners--well, I used to be able to do two or three every fall. Hell, I knew a guy who would run one a week. He drove race directors crazy, because he expected the gates open and the tee shirt ready when he got to the line in 5:30 or 6:00.
Oh, I have. It's crazy that I would be intrigued by the idea of spending seven years running, fasting, and generally starving my physical body, especially when I don't particularly have any spiritual reasons for doing it.
If you don't mind me asking, what were your PRs? I got lapped on a mile in high school (the guy ran a sub-5!)
Have you read Once a Runner? Was that what your training life was like?
Interesting offshoot - The whole point of training 20 hours a week for the Ironman triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile marathon) is so that the body never goes anaerobic during the actual Ironman race. When the body goes anaerobic (lactic acid buildup), everything goes downhill rapidly - it goes from racing a PR (personal record) to whether you will finish the race.
And then there are the Marathon Monks of Tendai:
> The ultimate achievement is the completion of the 1,000-day challenge, which must surely be the most demanding physical and mental challenge in the world. Forget ultra-marathons and so-called iron-man events, this endurance challenge surpasses all others.
Only 46 men have completed the 1,000-day challenge since 1885. It takes seven years to complete, as the monks must undergo other Buddhist training in meditation and calligraphy, and perform general duties within the temple.
http://www.howtobefit.com/tendai-marathon-monks.htm