Readers, I hope you're sitting down. If you aren't, please do so. I'll give you all some extra time, since I know many of you recently ran a long race.

Good? Good. Here, then, is today's bit of running advice:

If you intend to run a marathon, you should train for it first.

Sorry if I just blew your mind. And I apologize to Remy's World readers who could have used this information before Sunday's New York City Marathon.

Anyway, this news comes to us via Fox News's Fox & Friends, which aired a segment Saturday titled "Busting Marathon Myths." In it, cohosts Tucker Carlson and Clayton Morris lob assertions over a glass-top table toward a guy called Dr. Marc Siegel ("MEDICAL A-TEAM"), who proceeds to bat down the ones that are bunk and affirm the ones that are not. Also there's a recurring joke about Snickers bars.

Halfway through, we get to the bit where Mr. Morris asks, with an innocence that's endearing to watch, whether it's really necessary to, you know, actually prepare for a 26.2-mile footrace:

Clayton Morris: "I have never run in my life, and I'm thinking about just jumping in and doing the race tomorrow. Do you need to train for a marathon?"

Dr. Marc Siegel ("MEDICAL A-TEAM"): "Very-- you absolutely have to train for a marathon. Weekend warriors are in big trouble with marathons. You actually have to start about six months before, and start -- recommended is about 15 to 20 miles a week to start. ..."

Weekend warriors should note that this means 15 to 20 miles of running. Just to be crystal clear.

Other revelations follow. We learn that muscle cramps are not rare in marathon runners, for instance, and that hydration is important, and that Snickers bars are always good for a laugh. But the training advice is, far and away, the most useful.

Dr. Marc Siegel ("MEDICAL A-TEAM") seems to get this. Toward the end of the segment, he again urges listeners to not just hop in to a marathon on a lark, saying, "You can't get ready for [a marathon] the week before." In the final moments, he blurts out one last time: "Don't do it unless you're ready!"

The man really cannot stress this enough. You half expect him to turn directly to the camera, like Kyle Reese in The Terminator's interrogation scene, warning his blasé audience, "You still don't get it! If you're unprepared, the marathon will destroy you! That's what it does! ALL IT DOES!" before the producer frantically cuts to a commercial.

So, to sum up: Training for marathon, good; not training for marathon, bad. For some of you out there, I imagine that this news might come as a huge relief, explaining as it does any number of race-day conundrums, e.g.,

Race-day conundrum #1: You started your marathon feeling great, but "hit the wall" hard. At mile 4.

Explanation: You didn't train.

Race-day conundrum #2: You pulled up with a muscle cramp. In the starting corral.

Explanation: You didn't train.

Race-day conundrum #3: After covering the first 800 meters in 2 minutes, 56 seconds, you sat down on the curb to have a snack and never got back up.

Explanation: You didn't train.

Race-day conundrum #4: A race official pulled you off the course at the 10K timing mat, and you were secretly grateful, because you couldn't have run another step anyway.

Explanation: You weren't wearing a bib number. Also, you didn't train.

Happy running, everyone. And if you remember nothing else from this Fox & Friends segment, remember this:

Train. Also, Snickers.

Mark Remy Mark Remy has been with Runner’s World since January 2007—for the first 5 ½ years as executive editor of RunnersWorld.com, and currently as a writer at large.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io