Posted by Leif Irgens on December 30, 2004 at 14:05:48:
In Reply to: First Marathon posted by sarge srj on December 30, 2004 at 13:11:09:
Wow!! You're a brave soul to consider that.
I'm so injury-prone that I wouldn't even think about it. People who are more mechanically sound may be able to survive. I think the key factor would be how much you've been running over the last 3-5 months. To paraphrase TRFKAFBM, a "general" rule is that if you can run half the race distance in training, you should be able to complete the full race distance. So, if you've been doing some long runs in the 12-15 mile range, you can probably make it to the finish line as long as you take it slow and easy. Granted, you'll probably be so sore for the week after the race that you won't be able to walk normally, much less run, but I think that would be the most likely consequence of running a marathon without the proper preparations. However, it is also possible that, if you try to push through the pain of the last few miles, you could end up with an injury that might take weeks to heal. I've known more than one runner who's wrecked an entire season (or more) by trying to run a marathon and ending up with a significant over-use injury.
Be careful,
Leif