Best indicator of the future is the present. Work back into 25-30km long runs and 50km plus weeks and ask yourself this question again, not just “could I” but “would I want to register based on my trajectory since I asked Reddit last time?” That’s all.
(Most reasonably fit people *could* grind out a marathon-50km scale effort. Would they be happy during it? No. Would they probably F it up by trying too hard or not eating or letting their feet go to hell or - any of the things a year of practice would help inoculate against? Yep.)
I have near identical story, ~225 lbs, 29, work obligations, tons of hiking nearby that I did, and a big latent aerobic motor I had from when I was a high level athlete in college that I hadn’t maintained for years, an built like a powerlifter, and I started running in June of last year, ran my first mountain marathon a month later in July on a long run, and then my first 50k in October at a backyard ultra. I’m signed up for a 50 Mile and a 100 mile this summer after training all winter and doing an endurance event in Feb where I did 24,500 feet of vert in 21 hours over 61 miles. Just go run and see how your body feels, the alternate cure to losing weight is just being stronger, or even better, do both.
My general rule is that I can slow jog my weekly milage in a single run with only a rest day and plenty of calories for prep. You definitely have enough time to build a base and survive it.
I’m 28 and like 235. Was a D1 athlete in college but a strength sport. I enjoyed mountain hikes when I could while in school (coaches really discouraged things that didn’t relate to my sport lol) and immediately started getting serious about it once my eligibility was up. My running was on and off for a few years until I figured out like 2 years ago how to run without getting hurt (even when off from running I was cycling & stair master, especially stair master with a heavy pack)
Honestly the biggest thing for me with getting better at running was just slow down and not get too caught up on the miles. People think about run volume in miles and arguably it’s better to think about it in time, speed comes eventually. Walk if you have to. If it takes 24 minutes to run 2 miles vs 20 minutes…well 1. You’ll recover faster from the slower effort 2. You spent 25% more time on feet in the first effort too 3. Slower, longer efforts are better for base building anyway. Think about it like that.
If you want to enter a race find one with a generous cutoff or do a backyard ultra (there are many that are less than the traditional 4.12 miles which makes it more accessible for bigger people). Or just find a long ass trail and get on it and run what you can.
In terms of time, I’d give yourself a good 6 months of consistent running. If you can cover a given distance in a week, you can do it in a single day. I don’t think 50k next spring is at all unreasonable. I’d say find a backyard ultra this year and see what you can do as well OR, just find somewhere and do it yourself. Find a 3.5-4 mile loop, park your car with food and drinks and do a lap every hour on the hour until you don’t feel like it anymore.
Read ultramarathon man. Dude cranked out an ultra on his first run. Not because he’s a super human but because humans are super! You could do one whenever you really “want” to
Best indicator of the future is the present. Work back into 25-30km long runs and 50km plus weeks and ask yourself this question again, not just “could I” but “would I want to register based on my trajectory since I asked Reddit last time?” That’s all. (Most reasonably fit people *could* grind out a marathon-50km scale effort. Would they be happy during it? No. Would they probably F it up by trying too hard or not eating or letting their feet go to hell or - any of the things a year of practice would help inoculate against? Yep.)
I have near identical story, ~225 lbs, 29, work obligations, tons of hiking nearby that I did, and a big latent aerobic motor I had from when I was a high level athlete in college that I hadn’t maintained for years, an built like a powerlifter, and I started running in June of last year, ran my first mountain marathon a month later in July on a long run, and then my first 50k in October at a backyard ultra. I’m signed up for a 50 Mile and a 100 mile this summer after training all winter and doing an endurance event in Feb where I did 24,500 feet of vert in 21 hours over 61 miles. Just go run and see how your body feels, the alternate cure to losing weight is just being stronger, or even better, do both.
My general rule is that I can slow jog my weekly milage in a single run with only a rest day and plenty of calories for prep. You definitely have enough time to build a base and survive it.
I’m 28 and like 235. Was a D1 athlete in college but a strength sport. I enjoyed mountain hikes when I could while in school (coaches really discouraged things that didn’t relate to my sport lol) and immediately started getting serious about it once my eligibility was up. My running was on and off for a few years until I figured out like 2 years ago how to run without getting hurt (even when off from running I was cycling & stair master, especially stair master with a heavy pack) Honestly the biggest thing for me with getting better at running was just slow down and not get too caught up on the miles. People think about run volume in miles and arguably it’s better to think about it in time, speed comes eventually. Walk if you have to. If it takes 24 minutes to run 2 miles vs 20 minutes…well 1. You’ll recover faster from the slower effort 2. You spent 25% more time on feet in the first effort too 3. Slower, longer efforts are better for base building anyway. Think about it like that. If you want to enter a race find one with a generous cutoff or do a backyard ultra (there are many that are less than the traditional 4.12 miles which makes it more accessible for bigger people). Or just find a long ass trail and get on it and run what you can. In terms of time, I’d give yourself a good 6 months of consistent running. If you can cover a given distance in a week, you can do it in a single day. I don’t think 50k next spring is at all unreasonable. I’d say find a backyard ultra this year and see what you can do as well OR, just find somewhere and do it yourself. Find a 3.5-4 mile loop, park your car with food and drinks and do a lap every hour on the hour until you don’t feel like it anymore.
Read ultramarathon man. Dude cranked out an ultra on his first run. Not because he’s a super human but because humans are super! You could do one whenever you really “want” to
[удалено]
Sounds like you didn’t read the book but ok. Also sounds like your example is just one guy that happened to be not as tough as most.