Collectively there is a lot of experience and knowledge here so hopefully your post will provide some good advice. Personally I have been running for 20 years and completed 28 marathon. I have picked up a few things during that time. Some of them may even be true!

Here are a few general things I would provide.

1 - we are all an experiment of one. Meaning something that works for one person may not work for another.

2 - listen to your body. Pain is an indication something is wrong. It can be transitory, flaring up and disappearing quickly. Or it can be chronic. The hard thing to know is when a nagging pain can be ignored and when you it's more serious and you need to stop training. Probably every runner that has been at it for awhile will tell you they have tried to train through the pain only to make it worse so that they cannot run at all.

3 - be conservative with your training when you are building up milage and intensity. Specially if you have never trained as much in the past. Rest days and and an easy week after two harder weeks is a good way to allow your body to adapt to the stresses of training for a marathon.

A big part of the reward for completing a marathon is the successful training leading up to it. Train smart and you can do it.

Kevin

I am not a great athlete like a lot of the Edenites, just your basic "hobby" runner. In the past year my running partner and I trained for our first two marathons, going from running about 20 miles a week to 40. In that time I've gotten much better at paying attention to my body's clues: can't sleep at night, hurt all over, aches and pains. It's taken us a while to figure out what to pay attention to. Lots of runs start with aches or tightness that evaporates after 3 miles when you are increasing your mileage. In the past I probably would have stopped before I found that out. But twitchy legs and not being able to sleep are my emergency warning signs to take a day off. It takes a long time to get used to increased mileage. After a year, I finally feel like I can have 2 40 mile weeks in a row. That's frustratingly slow when you're reading about other people running 50-100 miles a week. But it's worth being patient because an injury can put you back at the beginning. Good luck. It is worth it!!

Not that I follow all the rules by any means. However, new running shoes do wonders (300 to 500 miles max.). I replace at or before 300 miles because of my tendencies for injuries. Next, from listening to Judson and from personal experience, take a good ice bath for about 15 min., if you can stand it. I like to bring a hot cup of coffee and something to read to distract my mind. If you have a problem area (ex.- archilles, knee) you can just ice down that area versus a whole bath. But if you do a hard run (tempo, repeats) or a long run, I'd suggest a lower body full emersion.

Just a couple of suggestions. Good luck.

Keep running!

First of all, you are not a dork, you are a runner...soon to be a marathoner! All of the above advice comes from people who have been running a lot longer than me, and I only wish I had this huge font of experience from which to draw when I first started out. Training for your first marathon is like entering another whole world, in which you learn so much about yourself, both physically and psychologically. THE most important thing you can do is to pay attention to your body, as everyone has advised above. You are guaranteed to have some ache or pain somewhere almost as a matter of course. My rule is that if worsens the more I run, or if it forces me to change my gait, I worry about it and back off. Most things I've encountered will nag for a few days, then slowly ebb to nothingness. And in the "do as I say not as I do" department: s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g helps almost anything.

Are you training for Sugarloaf?

I appreciate the advice! I had a serious injury around 4 ½ years ago so I have gotten pertty good at knowing what injuries I can run through and which ones are deal breakers. I recently started the ice baths and they are helping quite a bit.

I love running and am very greatful to be doing it!

Yes Chris, my posse and I are training for Sugarloaf. We are a group of ladies that you frequently see on the carriage paths who run with their dogs. I am usually tethered to 2 black labs.

Thanks again
Marion

anyone would ask about how to stay injury-free. But I'm learning that the basic idea is that (a) our bodies are very fragile and (b) that means we have to be very nice to them.

Marion, First and most important, STOP CALLING YOURSELF A DORK. You have put in many miles and run just fine. Maybe some self comfindence would do you good. All the pounds you've dropped and all the miles you've run and all the time you take to train. Reward yourself with some kind words and love. you deserve it. The only other advice would be to not overtrain. Love you, Britt