drsd wrote:pepe1991 wrote:Funfact: 1996 Olympic marathon winner weighted below 100 pounds
Josia Thugwane was 5'2" 99lbs. for that run.
One thing interesting for me about marathon runners and their weight, even the weight of the food they eat effects the distance they can run. That is the eat exactly the amount of calories required to run 26.2 miles, and not a step further. This is why sometimes the marathon runners "battery" runs out 50-100 meters before the finish line; not enough calories were consumed.
p.s. when Paula Radcliffe was elite, I calculated that she ran her marathon pace faster than I can sprint full out. That's wild!
(she AVERAGED about 11.2 mph over a whole marathon, which is a 20 second split of a 100 meter dash. That's insane!)
EDIT: a reporter once asked Usain Bolt how fast he can run a mile. Answer: he has no idea as he never ran that far.)
Yea, marathon running and sprinting are two different worlds, sprinters are thick and strong and jacked and majority of their preparation is about weight training . It's all about fast twitch muscle fibre and craeting that instant pop.
Portion of their preparation is pure gym - squats, clean jerks etc.
I watched some documentaries with some marathon runners, from what i could gather, majority of their preparation is just- running a lot, streaching, rest, picking food that has great nutritive value but low calory intake in general and running some more.
