Marathon Effort Not Needed to Train for One

So you want to run a marathon? OK then, it’s time to start planning for the long run.

The Pacific Shoreline Marathon in Huntington Beach is Jan. 28, less than five months away, which is just enough time to prepare for a 26-mile 385-yard run, training experts say.

More time is better--one local training program recommends you run 15-20 miles a week for six months to a year before even thinking of a marathon--but even people “right off the couch” can complete the distance with only a few months of training, said John Loeschhorn, a longtime Orange County running coach.

“Usually, I ask for five months but I’ve done it in as little as three,” Loeschhorn said. “Five is much better because you can bring them along slower and they’re less likely to get injured.

“My philosophy is virtually anybody who wants to can do it if they start slow enough. Most people undo themselves by doing too much too soon.”

Too often that leads to overuse injuries--pain in the shins, knees and lower back, extreme fatigue and collapsed arches--that can knock wannabe marathoners back onto the couch.

To avoid that problem, Richard Scott, who leads the training program for A Snail’s Pace Running Shop in Fountain Valley, says he counsels beginning runners to master shorter distances before tackling a marathon.

Running a relatively painless marathon, requires a base of about 40 miles a week, Scott said, and it takes time to build up to that.

“You get there injury free,” said Scott, “and you get to the starting line without breaking yourself down. If people just start now and try to build up their miles real fast from a zero base, it’s real difficult to get to the mileage level that you need.”

Currently, 60 people--many of them beginners--are enrolled in the running shop’s training program for the Long Beach Marathon in November. The runners meet on Sundays for long runs--they ran 18 this week; in two weeks they’ll run 20.

Last summer, Terry Baisz of Long Beach could barely run down the block. Then Baisz, a forensic scientist with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, joined a basic fitness class offered by A Snail’s Pace. She started slowly, walking as much as she ran.

“I remember the first time I went for 20 minutes, I was so sore and I needed a nap afterward,” Baisz said. “It was so sad.”

She stuck with it however, and in January she finished a half-marathon. Now she’s well on her way to taking the next step, much to her surprise.

“I would never have thought I could do this,” she said. “That was not in my head at all. I thought if I could run three miles, that would be great.”

RUNNING HELPERS

A Snail’s Pace, which since 1992 has helped more than 900 people run their first marathon, is expanding its training program. Starting Oct. 1, the program will offer separate training for 5 and 10Ks, half-marathons and marathons and will also offer racing programs at each of the distances.

An orientation meeting is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Sept. 23 at Edison Community Park at the corner of Magnolia Street and Hamilton Avenue in Huntington Beach. Costs range from $10 to $125. For more information, (714) 969-5899.

Loeschhorn, who trains about 400 marathoners annually for the Leukemia Society’s Team in Training program, also offers group training sessions. For details call (714) 765-1539 or click on https://www.mtnrnr.com/

SAFARI UPDATE

More than halfway through their They Will Surf Again pledge drive, James Pribram and Seth Elmer Wednesday checked in from “kind of a secret spot” in Big Sur.

They said they had surfed 52 spots and between them ridden more than 700 waves. Pribram, of Laguna Beach, said they expect to raise $20,000 in pledges to help people with ocean-related spinal injuries.

Saturday, the pair started their quest to surf in a week all the ridable breaks between Imperial Beach in San Diego and Ocean Beach in San Francisco. For more information call (310) 745-1039 or click on https://curtisbirch.com.

ECO-CHALLENGE UPDATE

The Salomon Eco-Internet team crossed the finish line of the Eco-Challenge in Borneo on Monday and as of early Thursday 21 other teams had finished the 320-mile adventure race and 24 ranked teams were still on the course.

Thirty of the 76 four-person teams that started the race have either dropped out or have been disqualified. Team Bax Global, which includes Huntington Beach couple Josh and Veronica Williams, is in 44th place. The remaining teams have until noon Friday to finish the race.