The Four Stages of Marathon Training:
Stage 1) I’m really doing this!
Stage 2) I suppose I’d better do this.
Stage 3) Do I really have to do this?
Stage 4) Time to finish this.
There’s one universally acknowledged rule all marathon runners adhere to: never do anything new or different on race day.
During training, though, it’s good to experiment and learn from your trials and errors, especially when those experiments are conducted during a long run — the bedrock of all marathon training programs that often becomes a dress rehearsal for the main event.
But what if a long run experiment is so radical that failure could jeopardize the program and threaten success on the big day?
46 days to go. The intensity of the training is ramping up. Two 16-mile long runs are already behind me, and my tune-up half marathon is in the books. I am still healthy and, for the most part, running fast and pain free, but fatigue levels are high, and the upcoming weather — unseasonably hot and humid until the end of September — does not bode well for future training.
So does that mean I’ve got those little town blues? Let’s hear the tune those long runs are singing. Continue reading
Hard to believe, but it’s now less than 80 days until the 2017 New York City Marathon. I’m back on the Hanson’s Training Method once again (with a few alterations, which I’ll explain below). It’s still early yet, of course, but I am encouraged by the current results that I can achieve my twin goals of (1) running under four hours and (2) enjoying every minute by running without pain or suffering too much.
As usual, though, training has become that delicate dance between intensity and protecting an ever-aging body. Which makes this post for week five a tale of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
C’mon. You know the words. Sing along with me. Betcha end up sounding like Ol’ Blue Eyes by the end …
Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today.
I want to be a part of it, New York, New York.
These vagabond shoes are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it, New York, New York.
I wanna wake up, in a city that doesn’t sleep.
And find I’m king of the hill, top of the heap.
These little town blues, are melting away.
I’ll make a brand new start of it, in old New York.
If I can make it there,
I’ll make it anywhere.
It’s up to you, New York, New York.
New York, New York.
I want to wake up, in a city that never sleeps.
And find I’m A-number-1, top of the list, king of the hill, A-number-1…
These little town blues, are melting away.
I’m gonna make a brand new start of it,
In old New York
and…
If I can make it there, I’m gone make it anywhere.
It’s up to you, New York, New York!
I’ve documented my love affair with the Utica Boilermaker extensively in these pages. I’ve written about my 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 runs in various posts, devoted entire posts to my participation in 2015, and 2016‘s races, and even written the locally viral 15(K) Reasons to Love the Utica Boilermaker to celebrate my favorite road race.
Usually, I run the 9.3 miles with a smile on my face, high-fiving little kids, exchanging banter with spectators and fellow runners, and profusely thanking the first responders all the way round the course.
But don’t let the photo — taken before this year’s run — fool you.
For me, the 2017 Boilermaker run was all business.
It wasn’t until the third song of Iron Maiden’s set on Saturday night that it finally dawned on me what I had taken for granted for so long about this band.
It started the moment I zeroed in on Steve Harris as he began the bass intro to “Wrathchild.” I’d heard the song a million times, so I wasn’t super excited to hear it again. I’m pretty sure he’s played it several millions more, yet here he was, running round the stage playing it with the hunger of the twenty-something man he was when he first recorded it.
In 1981. Continue reading
