outsiderunner wrote:
You bet this guy is real.
If outsiderunner is a troll, he is the most patient and experienced troll that this board has ever seen. He has maintained a consistent, believable story since several years back. He's more like Rodney Dangerfield than a troll -- he's just looking for a little respect!
I recall when I first met outsiderunner a couple years ago. He was lamenting in a post on this board that his non-running friends gave no credit for his fast times in the shorter races. Can't recall, but maybe it was 10ks or 5ks or whatever. Impressive times, of course, but everyone would bring up the old "Oh, you're a runner? Well, so-and-so that I know runs 5 marathons [in 6 hours] per year...and..". He was sick and tired of that crap, and tired of his accomplishments being so readily discounted by those who thought that walking a marathon was the pinnacle of running achievement.
It was in response to that very post that I came to his aid and dropped the science: if you want others to respect you, you have to respect yourself first, and any self-respecting runner who considers themselves a runner owes it to themselves to experience the marathon. I told outsiderunner that he needed to grow a pair, face his fears, and RUN a marathon. THAT, I said, would shut those fools up.
So, here we are, a couple of years and miles of training and several hard run marathons later, and outsiderunner is still fighting for respect. Not the kind of respect that wows the water cooler crowd, but the kind of respect that comes from the running diehards who know what it takes to run a sub-3 marathon.
Let me say to you, outsiderunner, as a fellow aging yet relentlessly and maniacally devoted runner, that you have already earned my respect. However, this 3-week-between back-to-back marathon fiasco is sheer madness! I should have responded to this thread much earlier, but, last I checked, I thought the voices of reason had already convinced you to hibernate for the winter and see what you could do in the spring.
I can see that you have not heeded the sound advice of others, and, as the original source of your inspiration, I feel somewhat responsible for creating this monster. I don't want to encourage you further, but I have had some success with a semi-back-to-back marathon. I missed a BQ by 10 seconds (3:15:10) and then ran 3:10:19 or 3:10:21 (can't remember exactly atm) 6 weeks later. I remember thinking afterward taht it was just enough time to recover a little bit and actually gain a little fitness in the process. I finished the first week of recovery with a long run of 15 miles, and then I banged out 20 milers on the weekend 4 or 5 more times between. If you're really serious about this, I can vouch that it is possible to make a modest improvement and recovery in 6 weeks, but within 3 weeks? I don't know...
All I can say is that if you pull this off, I will be extremely impressed. And, as the original source of your marathon inspiration, I am willing to take full credit for any and all achievements you have made or will make in future marathons.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU!
Sincerely,
Toadlips