Running a marathon - First semester of law school

vrendonvasquez

I'm debating whether I should run a marathon during my first semester of law school.

Is it feasible? Would it interfere with my grades? For those of you who have done it, how did you manage?

Balkar Singh

Nope it wont, It will improve you grades.
Its a great form of meditation, I ran 1 last year and am planing on running 3 this year,
Every night, I run or ride spin bike for about 1.5 hour + 30 min stretch at least.
My energy levels have been higher than ever, i think about my classes/grades when i run and how i can improve something i am weak in.
I would encourage you to make time and do it !
Best of run . Go get it .

Seeking Perfection

@vrendonvasquez said:
I'm debating whether I should run a marathon during my first semester of law school.

Is it feasible? Would it interfere with my grades? For those of you who have done it, how did you manage?

I'm a 1l and know someone in my class training for one in the summer. They don't seem like they are being bothered.

I haven't trained for anything on that scale before, but my sense is that with any exercise in law school it is important to make it part of your routine or it just sort of gets lost.

And whether it's the marathon or not some sort of routine exercise is probably healthy for you and will help keep your mind sharp.

LSAT_Wrecker

While I've never done law school, I'm pretty experienced with long distance endurance events (6 Ironman triathlons, multiple marathons and ultra-marathons). I think you need to be careful that you find a healthy balance. I actually had to stop serious training during my LSAT studies because I found that my mental energy / focus was not ideal. Note - for me "stop serious training" meant going from 60-70 miles per week (mpw) running to ~35 mpw. In the endurance world, more is always better (its not, but people think it is). I would recommend finding an sustainable level of exercise that keeps you fit, but don't commit to qualifying for Boston unless you have an experience base and know how your body responds.

TL;DR - a reasonable daily exercise routine is great, over-committing to a new endurance sport during 1L probably less than ideal.

Good luck. Pictures of you at the finish line or it didn't happen!

vrendonvasquez

Thanks everyone for their comments!

I definitely think I need running to have some balance and stability in my life.

My concern though is the following: for anyone who has ran a marathon during their first semester of law school or some other more intensive training, it did jeopardize your grades? Would it be possible, with the minimum amount of training required, to both run a marathon and do well in law school during 1L?

I trained for my first marathon last year with 40-60 miles/week, but I would probably only put in 30 miles per week during law school. Since I ran a lot of races last year, I could claim an entry to the NYC marathon again this year. Otherwise I would only register for shorter races, including half marathons and such. I really loved running the NYC marathon last year. It was literally one of the best experiences of my life, and that's why I'm torn.

@LSAT_Wrecker , @"Seeking Perfection" and @"Balkar Singh" , any thoughts?

Bamboosprout

Hope you find a way to keep it going

LSAT_Wrecker

It sounds to me like you have a good handle on the demands of marathon training. As an 0L, I'm approaching any time demands "not class related" during my first year with caution since 1L grades have such an over-sized impact on everything else; however, maintaining physical fitness is one of the things I'm prioritizing, for both physical and mental health reasons. I think you are going to be the one that has to determine your level of time commitment to training and recovery and balance that with your definition of success during your 1L year.

I think joining a running group could be an excellent way to network, both within your class and in the community at large.

Ruffianx

Some good advice has already been posted. I'm not in law school (yet), but did race several 50ks and 50 milers while I was an engineering undergraduate. For me, full "training mode" consisted of 60-70 miles per week plus speed work, hill training, and cross training. This rigorous schedule become an all consuming affair, and I found it much harder to focus mentally and maintain good grades. As a compromise, I began running my maximum weekly mileage over the summer when I was out of school and could make time for a consistent 9+ hours of sleep per night.

A marathon is probably doable on roughly 30-40 miles per week, which really isn't that demanding if your body is adjusted to it. Keep in mind, it also depends on how competitive you want to be race day. Running a sub 3-hour marathon is a considerably larger task than just "finishing" a marathon is.