How Not to Train for a Marathon, T-10 & T-9 Weeks
By Patrick Chang 
September 24, 2010 
6 Comments
As promised everyone! Back to Back recaps. This will be a double header T-10 and T-9 weeks! It’s like Christmas in September 
Summary T-10 Weeks
Week of August 29 – September 4
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| Rest day | 5 miles | SUSHI OF GARI TUESDAY! | 5 miles | 5 miles | 5 miles | 10.74 miles |
Total: ~30 miles again. This was the first time ever to be disappointed at my long run. Funny thing is that it wasn’t because of my time or physical condition; it was because I wish I could have ran MORE! But there was this HUGE fire on the Westside Highway by 57th Street and 12th Ave. Whew, luckily I didn’t start by going north or I’d be a burnt crisp!
I am still experiencing the disaster that my beef stew cooking extravaganza. It’s lasting me into this week!
Fundraising Update
My charity fundraising effort for StreetWise Partners is oh-so-close to the goal!! I am so close to the finish line I can taste it! I need some more help, though, to reach my goal and support such an effective organization as treetWise Partners (and also to get my deposit back)! I am extremely fortunate for such supportive colleagues and friends who have helped me raised $2,894 of $3,000 as of 9/21/2010. Just $106 more!
The new cycle for StreetWise Partners is started this past Saturday! It’s not too late to sign up to be a new mentor, though. I didn’t know exactly what to expect on my first day as a mentor of the 14-week Saturday program but in the end, the experience was extremely rewarding. It was amazing to see volunteers give their time over a 3-month period to people less fortunate. We should all find more time to help out. The best thing about being a StreetWise Partners volunteer is the direct impact I’m making on the individuals. As a mentor, not only did I help them in the short term but also taught them necessary skills to excel in life in the long term.
We started off with computer skills to help them advance in their careers and also worked on soft skills such as interviewing, elevator pitches, public presentation, and etc. I believe the wise words “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime†are very fitting in this case. I saw the amazing progress in the short 14 weeks that these individuals have. They built amazing self confidence and were ready to take on the world after graduation!
Please support my marathon fundraising campaign for StreetWise Partners! If your’e interested in learning more about the programs at StreetWise Partners or would like to be a volunteer, you can email Laura Maltz for more information!
Training and Diet Recap
Sunday – 8/29/2010
Lunch: Boston Market Family Meal for 6. Yes, I ate most of this in one sitting.
Dinner: I made some delicious spinach dip! My first attempt wasn’t too shabby. Ok but I was kidding – I ate the rest of the Boston Market for dinner. However, not bad – Meal for 6 in two meals!
NO MORE BANANA COUNT! I can’t eat another banana!
Workout: Rest
Mileage: Zero.
Monday – 8/30/2010
Lunch: Are you surprised that I am still eating this beef stew? So am I… so am I… Not exactly sure when this will end but it tastes like cardboard to me! I am trying my best to finish this off! My biggest pet peeve is wasting food so HAVE FAITH I WILL FINISH ALLL THIS!
Dinner: Bon Chon Fried Chicken! If only these weren’t $3 for a piece I would eat 50 of them! They are so delicious!!! But of course it didn’t fill me up so I got myself some burger and fries! Look how thin these patties are on this burger. Is this seriously a burger?
Workout: Chest and Tris. Few experienced marathoners have told me that I should stop lifting while I train for the marathon but I’ve already experienced so much muscle and strength loss that it’s discouraging to lose even more!
Mileage: 5 miles.
Tuesday – 8/31/2010
Today was a rough day… To save me from my week long beef stew, I was pleasantly surprised with a Sushi of Gari dinner! I haven’t been here in ages and forgot how delicious it was! This was probably one of the best surprises of the year – definitely made my horrible day much better!
Lunch: Nothing. Not a good day.
Dinner: SUSHI OF GARI! We ate over 30 pieces! WHAT AN AWESOME SURPRISE! I wish this awesome surprise could have made the beginning of the day super awesome too but this definitely helped clear my thoughts. I didn’t even have to pay for it! Thank you to a very special friend!
Mileage: 0
Workout:None. Chomping on sushi!
There were way to many pictures to make a collage so mid entry photo gallery (the pictures are in order of how they were served!)! After we stopped around 21 piece, we requested 2nds of all the ones we loved! My personal favorite was the salmon topped with the tomato! They asked if we had any dietary restrictions, our response NO BLUE FIN TUNA! It’s an endangered species! There needs to be more awareness raised about Blue Fin Tuna.
Wednesday – 9/1/2010
Breakfast: Egg and ham sandwich on wheat bread. I know, I know: this is SO HEALTHY! What’s wrong with me?
Lunch: Beef stew. Hopefully the end… I had to buy some Ho Yip to add to the beef stew to change up the flavor.
Dinner: Some delicious homemade chicken pot pie and green bean casserole. They were extremely simple to make but why is cream of mushroom so expensive? And why does it taste so good! Yum! But how does one fry up onions without having them stick together?
Workout: Back and Bi’s
Mileage: 5 miles
Thursday – 9/2/2010
Breakfast: I found some old snacks in my cabinet at work – these Chinese corn thingies. Surprisingly they were still good and not stale.
Lunch: Curry. I think I can seriously eat Japanese curry all day long every single day!
Dinner: Two Taco Salads from Qdoba right before working out. Why don’t I ever learn! I should never eat right before working out. As you can guess this was another painful run – OUCH!
Workout: Legs and Shoulders
Mileage: 5 miles. Wooo wee, side stitches at mile 1 are definitely not a good sign! Powered through it though, yippie!
Friday – 9/3/2010
Unfortunately this Friday was not as awesome as last Friday’s with the endless pasta bowl.
Lunch 1: Two Fish Sandwiches from Burger King. Again, for some reason I was really craving these fish sandwiches but after eating them I always regret it. One day, I will learn… one day!
Dinner: Au Bon Pain is awesome after 8:00pm. Everything is 50% off! I was lucky to get these two chicken and rice bowls for 50% off and also a few bagels and oatmeal raisin cookies. I give myself any excuse to carb load with some bagels and oatmeal cookies!
Workout: Chest and Tri’s
Mileage: Another 5 miles. This was a really good week for me in terms of dedication. However, I am still stuck at 5 miles on the treadmill, how do yall run long distance on a treadmill? I would love to find out how. It is extremely rare for me to go over 5 miles.
Saturday – 9/4/2010
I should call Saturdays Meze Grill Saturdays!
Lunch: Meze Grill again! If you haven’t been here yet, you should definitely check them out. I decided to get Bulgur Wheat today. I read about the health benefits of Bulgur Wheat and its amazing. I know right? Me, eating something healthy? What has the world come to! But I also accompanied it with a bag of these awesome Burger King chips! Have you ever seen these before?!?
Dinner: It’s so hard to find good Mexican food in NYC. But look at all this food! *drool*
Workout: None.
Mileage: 10.74 Miles. I was aiming for 15+ miles but unfortunately there was a big fire on the Westside as I explained earlier. I had no idea how big it was until I saw the news! This is HUGE! Sad part about all this is that this was the first week I finally used a powerbar gel pack and I could really feel the difference.
Lesson of the Week
Have an alternative to your run. I took the easy way out and noticed since running north was closed above 57th street I decided to just go home despite having a lot of energy left to continue. Also, it gets DARK EARLY NOW! It’s another good thing I didn’t continue to run or else I would have been running in the dark. I have to start running earlier. KEEP READING FOR T-9 weeks right after this!
Summary T-9 Weeks
Week of August 5 – September 11
Quick Summary: I DID NOTHING!!!! Work was crazy!
Lesson of the Week
This is a TRUE HOW NOT TO TRAIN FOR A MARATHON. I could not believe I did not have any time at all to train for the marathon. I got out of work every night after 3am and was unable to make it to the gym. Please do not try this at home! Wow!
After an entire week I decided to make it all up on Saturday for a long run! BIG MISTAKE. I cant believe how far back you get after just one week of not running! It’s insane! But DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. I feel like im back at square one. Stay tuned to see how I battle back to my prime shape! I ran with Team Appetite for Good at the Komen Race for the Cure 5K!
Questions of the Week
Do yall stop lifting while training for a Marathon?
How do yall fry onion strings? Mine always stick together.
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So you eat the same amount as a family of 6 eh?
hahaha well i guess if you say it like that :p
Hi crazy running-and-eating boy ! Firstly, don’t beat yourself up about taking a week off the running. If nothing else you have given your muscles and your body a rest – this is good. Very good. You will not have lost any fitness in a week, however you will probably have been feeling rubbish from your general lack of sleep. Rest up and start back in with a few miles and build up again. It will come back quickly as long as you also get enough rest and eat properly.
Am not sure what onion strings are…. are these fried in oil ?? Maybe the oil is too hot ? Just a guess…
Your weight training is fine. If anything it gives you a strong core and is complimentary to your running. Don’t forget to rest and feed appropriately though. I’m with you on the banana front – if anything for me they repeat. Not good on a run. Sushi is your go-to exercise food. Pure low-fat protein in the fish and readily digestible carb – next time if you have to eat before you run, eat sushi – it will sit a lot easier in your gut. What else ? Try your most favourite funky tunes on your i-pod to get you through the miles, watch TV on a screen if there is one in your gym… otherwise get outside if at all possible… Times goes a lot quicker outside, and it’s better for your fitness, ankle and leg muscles etc..
Good luck with the training, try and take on quality calories and likewise get some good quality miles in – and don’t forget to REST ! KG
hahaha thanks! I know i try to run outside as much as possible but that only happens to be once a week since i never get out of work before the sun is down ;(
I always love your advices so insight ful
i look forward to more!
Yay! More training updates.
I hear you on the week 9. Sometimes work just pushes everything else out of the way.
As for week 10, yikes on the fire. Bravo on the indoor workouts!!! I hate treadmill work. I was at our mini gym last night, almost 100 degrees in there, trying to eke out just two measly miles on a slight incline.
That spinach dip looks excellent. Good luck! Hang in there.
Hey, it was great meeting you at the POM event! This was a very fun post. I definitely have had those weeks where I’m like AHH I don’t want to think about this anymore!
I would def NOT stop lifting while you’re training. Otherwise you will have zero muscle mass when it’s all over. Thanks for the tip about Au Bon Pain. I like this 50% off business.