How Not to Train for a Marathon, T-12 Weeks
By Patrick Chang 
August 25, 2010 
26 Comments
Week of August 15 – August 21
Summary
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| Rest day | 5 miles | 0 miles stuck at work past 1am | 5 miles | 5 miles | 6,000m rowing | 15 miles |
Total: 30 miles + rowing 6,000 meters
After my long run on Saturday (8/14/2010) with my super cool new phone app, I really wish I could run outside everyday and track it accurately. I seriously think that either the treadmill is wrong or I’m just mentally out of it when I run on the treadmill… it’s just SO BORING! Anyways, this is week 2 of my recap! Aren’t y’all excited? What ridiculous things will Patrick eat next?
Only 12 weeks until the ING NYC Marathon! Many people have asked why my pictures aren’t as high quality as they usually are. This is more like a recap of my training regime for the marathon and surprisingly, I do not carry my Nikon DSLR around with me at all times! *GASP* I know I know! But my unreliable trusty Palm Pre’s 5 megapixel camera is perfectly able to document my training.
A quick update: my charity fundraising effort for StreetWise Partners has been great. Thank you very much for the donations! I am now at $2,120 – only $880 away from my $3,000 goal and getting back my ~$1,000 deposit. I am begging anyone out there to help me 
Please support my marathon fundraising campaign for StreetWise Partners! Every $1 donated to StreetWise Partners is multiplied by 4, leveraged by the volunteer hours and in-kind resources mobilized.
- 3 months after graduation, over 71% of StreetWise Partners graduates attained a new job, improved their position and responsibilities, achieved higher pay/benefits, or started college/career advancing education
- 100% of graduates expanded their professional networks
- 97% of graduates learned the skills to get a good job, raise in pay, or increased responsibilities
Training and Diet Recap
Well, this week started off great! Just got back from a work trip that lasted all weekend, which brings me to Sunday (8/15/2010)! I’ve been waiting for this day for a while. It’s been months in the planning. Shockingly, I made the journey outside of NYC. This is extremely rare! Not because I’m a Manhattan snob, but mainly out of pure laziness. But are you dying to know what this is?!?!
BBQ SUNDAY!
Here’s a laundry list of my weekly activity and diet. Notice the new water and banana tallies? I noticed this last week that I’ve been drinking a lot of water and eating an insane amount of bananas. Even though the week started off great, it was probably one of the most exhausting weeks I’ve had in a while at work! Never got out before 11pm! Getting out of the gym at 1am – 3am is tough!
Sunday – 8/15/2010
Appetite for Good Barbecue in Long Island!
Lunch: I was on BBQ duty! My specialty! Huge thanks to ilili’s Chef Philippe and Liza de Guia (@skeeternyc) of Food Curated for some burger recommendations!
The menu for the BBQ included:
- Salad – like I was going to touch this…
- Bruschetta – Sherry’s famous secret recipe (maybe she’ll share one day)
- 3 pounds of ground beef for burgers. We made burgers recommended by Chef Philippe of ilili and @skeeternyc)
- 3 pounds of pork spareribs made with a triple spice rub
- 1 pound of shrimp rolled in maple bacon
- 5 pounds of drumsticks marinated and rubbed with some Indian spices
- 3 pounds of skirt steak for my secret Patrick fajitas!
- My special cheesy home fries
- Chinese spring rolls
- Corn on the cob
- …and don’t forget the WATERMELON! The best part about a BBQ!
We did some serious damage; finished practically everything except a few fajitas!! BBQ took all day long and we ate consistently so this kind of went over to dinner. I was pretty hungry when dinner time came around though.
Dinner: Came back on the LIRR to Penn Station and I was already hungry! Thought man if only today was a 5, 15, or 25th I’d definitely stop by GoGo Curry! It’s right around the corner from Penn Station! O wait it was! I stopped in and got my usual Triple chicken with an extra side of chicken. I discovered the triple is actually larger than the Grand Slam. A Grand Slam is actually only a double with extra toppings.
Midnight Snack: A bundle of grapes while working the night away from home.
Banana Count: 
Workout: Nada. Picking up sticks? And flipping burgers? Working all night?
Mileage: Zero.
Monday – 8/16/2010
Breakfast: Total cereal.
Lunch: Two leftover burgers from the BBQ.
Dinner: Cheap sushi from Sushi by Bento Nouveau. I was so busy at work I only had time to run down for a quick bite. It was not desirable. Really cheap sushi for 50% off after 5pm is just not right… However this didn’t stop me from eating 3 boxes of these. I got the same 3 boxes so it’s kind of pointless to show it three times.
Banana Count:
Water Count: 
Workout: Chest and tri’s.
Mileage: 5 miles.
Tuesday – 8/17/2010
Breakfast: Meze Grill chicken bowl and falafel (I had this delivered to my doorman but never ate it from the night before thinking I was going to be home in time…)
Lunch: Still some leftover BBQ. Hamburger with bacon. Grilled meatballs with Alfredo sauce (I made some pasta to go with the extra meat).
Dinner: Chicken and broccoli and an order of dry fried string beans (my favorite) from Ho Yip! Super greasy but delicious!
Banana Count:
Water Count:
Mileage: 0.
Workout: None. Didn’t get out of work till past 1:30am… Wasn’t in the mood to work out.
Wednesday – 8/18/2010
Breakfast: 2 bananas and a much needed cup of coffee!
Lunch: Fajita and spaghetti in marinara sauce and spaghetti in alfredo sauce.
Dinner: DINKY LITTLE Italian sandwich with prosciutto, mozzarella, and arugula. Honestly Sandwiches and Salads should NOT be considered a meal! How is ANYONE suppose to get full of of this….
Post Workout: Chicken Parmesan wrap with a blueberry muffin! I was so hungry after my tiny meal I HAD to eat something afterwords. THANK GOD the gym has a juice/snack bar!
Banana Count:
Water Count:
Workout: Back and bi’s – great workout
Mileage: 5 miles – one of my best runs yet somehow my time wasn’t that great… weird.
Thursday – 8/19/2010
Breakfast: Inspired by last night’s post workout meal I stopped by Variety Café and guess what! They had chicken parmesan wrap! They must have thought I was weird ordering it at 10am! I also got a cinnamon chocolate muffin. It was HUGE! Weird breakfast combo but it hit the spot!
Lunch: Double bahn mi from Baoguette with co-workers. Got a catfish one and BBQ chicken. One regret is asking for extra spicy… woo wee was this hot! These bad boys in Houston are only $2.50-$3.50 each. I’ll never get use to the $10 salad and sandwiches in NYC.
Dinner: Double taco salads from Qdoba. I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture of the before it was all gone!
Banana Count: ZERO all out 
Water Count:
Workout: Legs – I’m so lazy when I work out my legs. I try to push myself to do squats and etc but I just don’t have the motivation. I also know I should be doing my hamstrings but why is it so hard to get motivated? I just don’t know!!
Mileage: 5 miles almost zero incline the entire way till the end. I tried to do a fast run to increase my speed. It’s always RIDICULOUSLY hard to run after legs work out. They feel like jello! I also biked for 2 minutes at a 15 degree of difficulty as hard and fast as I could. The run was an extreme challenge today.
Friday – 8/20/2010
Breakfast: Egg white wrap with spinach and tomatoes.
Lunch: Mushroom and swiss burger from Whopper Bar. Definitely getting the pizza burger next time!
Lunch #2: Sophie’s Cuban, pulled turkey rice platter with a chicken patty.
Dinner: Pork chop over rice from Excellent Porkchop House. These ARE EXCELLENT This is one of my staples in Chinatown. It’s not the most authentic Taiwanese pork chop over rice but it gets the job done. I remember back in the day when a bowl was only $4.50 or less.
Workout: Chest and tri’s. Decent chest workout. I’m sad that all this running has broken down all my strength and muscle mass I am no longer anywhere near my 275lb bench.
Mileage: None – cross trained today, long run tomorrow! I rowed 5 sets of 5 minutes. I wanted to get a picture of each set but after taking this one picture (below) I realized how difficult it was to take a picture and row at the same time… (This took me 5 tries!) The machine shuts off immediately after you stop rowing. So I have to try to take a picture while rowing… didn’t work out too well. So I leave you with this!
Saturday – 8/21/2010
Long day at work
Breakfast: Bowl of total cereal mixed with Great Grain Raisin, Dates, and Pecans.
Breakfast #2: MCD sausage egg with biscuit value meal with an iced coffee.
Lunch: Meze Grill chicken sandwich and rice pudding, I usually save this as a post run but felt I should try this out today for lunch instead.
Dinner: This boring quick and easy Meatball sub. I didn’t have an appetite after my long run. More on why after the jump.
Workout: None.
Mileage: 15 miles. My phone GPS tracker only logged 0.7 miles out of my 15-mile run! I completed it in 2 hours because I pushed myself to try to get a decent time on my tracker! But unfortunately, it didn’t work! I really hate my Palm Pre sometimes! Below is a Google Gmap pedometer summary. I dont think this is accurate though. I feel like it is more than 15 miles. I will try again this weekend with my GPS tracker.
Lesson of the week
Last week’s lesson was don’t run on a treadmill after eating two large pizzas. I like to learn my lessons the incredibly hard way. Either it’s me being incredibly stubborn, lazy, egotistical, or a little bit of all, but I must drink some water on my long runs! After my 15+ mile run, I came home and chugged 32 ounces of Powerade and then some water but I was exhausted and broke out into cold sweats and started to shiver and shake! I realized I was also developing a fever!!! I Googled the symptoms (with my shakey hands) and many websites mentioned dehydration. From now on, I’m going to properly hydrate! Lesson to everyone! Don’t be stubborn and stupid! DRINK AND PROPERLY HYDRATE. Running 15+ miles without anything to drink is NOT SAFE!
On a side note, I finally get my energy gels and new running clothes next week
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Wow, so much food! What you had in this one week would last me closer to 2 or 3. =p
at least you eat more than daniel! that would be 4-5 weeks for him!
No way could I ever do a marathon! My neighbor is training for a tri… you guys are amazing!
I still think that tho. every time after my long runs im always like how am i ever going to do this?!?
Important lesson. Yeah, I learned hydration the hard way too. That BBQ looks awesome!
thanks! the bbq was SUPER delicious
You rock for doing this! A half is still a bit of a dream…love your banana count. Isn’t it great to love eating while training so hard?
haha yea but i think i eat more than i train hahaha im always wondering hmmm why am i still gaining weight :p haha
Hi, this is interesting reading.. or rather ‘scary’ reading. Please do check out my blog as I have some race reviews and training reviews and ‘Rules of Running’ and other crazy stuff. I must tell you that your bananas and water are not enough fuel for your runs. Any runs of more than six miles you must take some gels or powerade to replace electrolytes as well as lost water. This is why you got the shakes .. You should also be eating some (healthy) protein as soon as possible after your exercise as this will aid your recovery. You will get so much more out of your training and consequently your race if you ‘feed’ properly both before and after your training sessions.
All the best. Kooky Girl
Thanks for the tip
Yea ive been so stubborn cause ive done 19 miles before without drinking or eating but i think i was lucky. I finally got some energy gels and will be using those!
awesome. one of the great benefits when training for a marathon….food, food, and more food!
have they improved on the energy gel flavors, i wonder?
and as annoying as it is, you’ll have to carry a water bottle on the longer training runs.
I know i hate carrying stuff. i always run with nothing more than shorts and music player. Not even a t shirt. now i have to add an extra thing to run in
Yes, you have been lucky I think. The important things about the nutrition side is to find a gel or food that works for you when trainingm because then you know it will work on race day. Sometimes those gels can play havoc with your tum and then you need the bathroom and that’s SO not what you need before a marathon. Also, look into carb loading. Many marathon runners lighten off the carbs in the days leading up to the race having already carb loaded in the previous week. The aim is for your muscles to be stoked with glycogen from the carbs but not your gut… You’re lucky as you still have a good few weeks to fine tune all of this. o:) All the best, KG.
PS> I am about to do a review of compression tights you should give it a look if you get chance, they may be a good training aid for you…
thanks! hopefully i get my gels in the mail soon
i just cant imagine sucking down chocolate tho 
i bought the chocolate flavored ones! what are your favorite flavors?
5×5′ eh? Around a 2:08 it looks like? Not bad! If you want to train anaerobically on the erg, try :20/:40 on/off x30. I promise it’ll hurt more than the 5×5′.
haha that damn erg stayed on for 3 seconds or so the first time … i was like DAMN It and had to take a picture on #2 WHILE rowing… it took a good 5 seconds to get a picture down. haha nooo i was doing much better tahn 2:08! once 5 minutes hit i got lazy and just tugged it to keep it moving while attempting to take a picture.
You know what, chocolate would be the last flavour I would want to gulp down when I’m sweating hot and thirsty. The consistency of most gels is like a thick jam, and they really are quite ‘claggy’ – I would say you need water to ‘wash’ them down. I tend to open one as I near an aid station, take the whole gel and then drink the water that the kind volunteer gives me.. and then I’m ready to carry on running being refuelled and rehydrated. I tend to go for orange or raspberry flavour. Jelly beans are also good on a marathon for immediate sugar and they’re easy to carry. There are even specialist beans now called ‘Sports beans’ which are beans ‘with extras’. I just wrote my new blog post about compression calf supports – I really would recommend a pair – you’ve got time to get some good training use out of them. Here’s the link: http://alwaystri-ingmybest.blogspot.com/2010/08/compressport-review.html
Which marathon are you running ? KG
sounds like id have to carry so much stuff while running! i only have a little tiny pocket in my shorts haha
Duh – I just saw that you are running NYC marathon ! Wow ! You’re so lucky I have always said that is the one I would like to run one day, rather than London.
Awesome. KG
yea its such a blessing but raising the $3,000 for Charity is extremely tough!
Great running and good eats. I could never eat pizza the night before a long run. It has to be plain, dull, bland food for this runners tum.
Good luck in the ING – would LOVE to run that. Maybe next year. This year will be my first Marathon, Oct 3, the WineGlass – supposed to be fast… the course, not me.
Thanks! haha yea i really shouldnt be eating pizzas and all this junk either
but theyre just sooo good and i cant help it 
LOL. I run about 50 miles a week at times and I appreciate your banana count. I’m on my 2nd today. There just so cheap and perfect for runners.
haha so true! damn 50 miles! thats impressive. I wish i had more time. but i always do my week day runs after work
What a post! I’m not training for a marathon (doubt I ever will — too scared!), but this is still inspiring. Something tells me you do more in one day than most people do all week.
aww thanks! Im just a regular average joe
with a fulltime job but trying to make a difference and raise money for StreetWise Partners! I’ve always wanted to run a marathon too 
finally have some motivation to!