Adarq.org

im all for AOA .. but like coges/lbss said, (as far as running goes) make some progress in shorter distances before you basically limp 26 miles. I witnessed this in person when I went to that social run meetup a few months ago.. This guy who was basically near-death after 2 miles, was talking about how he has a 50 mile Ultra in January or whatever.. I was just thinking wtf? I guess for some people it's bragging rights (he was kind-of coming off like a badass)... or perhaps it does give them a great sense of accomplishment.... or both. Just seems like there's definitely a large component of ego/bragging rights to me.

It does seem like people have a checklist of marathons they want to complete, even if it takes them well over 3 hours.. Completed: Chicago, Boston, NY, SF ..... They love to travel and add these marathons to their checklist. It's cool, but it does seem like alot of people rush into it.

As far as ones body goes.. if you plan to take running seriously, there's absolutely no excuse to be fat (eventually). It's like saying I want to be a free-solo climber (from the doc i watched yesterday), and here I am in the obese category. Makes no sense -> Imminent death. I imagine those joints are going to take much more of a pounding with all of that excess bodyweight - especially if they are doing marathons .. It can't be too great as one ages.

The crazy thing is.. if people who balloon up while training for marathons, just had more self control.. They'd probably have enjoyed running soooo much more. It's generally easier when you're lighter, form improves, you can go faster, times improve, you look "better", you can run more, you recover faster, you'd probably get injured less, eating like a pig makes you feel sluggish, you'd probably be healthier overall etc.

Being fat sucks. I became fat once in my life due to ~3 years of detraining and unhealthy eating habits, so I speak from experience. Crazy to think I can speak from experience about being fat....... wtf? mind blown.

I'm not for fat shaming.. BUT, I am also not for condoning excessive levels of fat from eating "crap/junk" & excessive alcohol consumption. Seems like it's becoming more acceptable lately. But that's just my opinion on it. On the flipside, i've been skinny shamed alot in my life.. lmfao.

pc!!

@lbss & @adarqui
Agree on fat shaming. If someone is out there trying to improve themselves then fantastic and good on then. Like adarqui I've been skinny shamed for most of my life although it never really bothered me.

I'm not sure if I sound like a douche when I say this but my main issue with anyone entering an athletic endeavour is settling for mediocrity. We can't all be world beaters but we should understand where we stand in the grand scheme of things and be comfortable using ourselves as our main source of competition to be better every day. This is the issue with AOA. There are two running groups in my area (predominately women in their 30's and 40's) who celebrate their mediocrity and shame those who strive to be better. They're also the first ones to call themselves athletes and marathoners even if they finish in 5-6 hours. Just because you can run doesn't make you a runner.

bolded is the only part that matters, to me. if they want to call themselves athletes and celebrate their mediocrity, who cares? if they want to slag on other people for trying harder then fuck them.

just run more.

i eat alot, but running negates it.

i think gaining lots of fat while training for a marathon, would mean you are putting in low mileage weeks, with one long run, and eating everything in sight. that's definitely a problem. lol.

also, in my experience, if you do a long run, you mostly just want sugar/water after -> hard to eat a big meal. ie, i'll run 2-3 hours then crave a milkshake, or grapefruit, etc.. but not some massive meal. So you'll remain positive in calories burned to calories ingested, at least for that effort.