Tapering for Marathon #10

Yes folks, it's been a while. Sorry I've been way from the blogging scene for a bit, but aside from the obvious (which is that my work and running life hasn't left me time enough to collect my thoughts...much less write a semi-literate halfway-decent about them), I haven't been so inclined to review my training or think about my race goals for Chicago on 10/10. Up to this point, I've been having so much fun completing workouts and training in accordance with my daily schedule that I always imagined race day as an occasion that will happen in the future. In my mind, it was always something that will be dealt with in due time...just not right now.

But ever since I received the registration packet with my bib number (#527) and corral (A) information in the mail last week and my multitude of friends asking about my plans for race weekend, I realized that I can no longer escape that marathon #10 will soon be at hand. Yes, my friends, the day of reckoning is now less than two weeks away and training for all intents and purposes is over. My body which through months of high mileage and high intensity training was transformed to an aerobically efficient running machine, must now give way to a shadow of my running self in a nondescript process called tapering.

Just in case you missed my tweet earlier today, let me repeat my personal feelings about tapering - "Runners who say they enjoy tapering either didn't train very hard or are big fat LIARS!" Consciously, we all know that the taper is important because it allows damaged body parts to heal, the liver to replenish nutrients and the mind to rest and relax before the big race. But emotionally, the taper just doesn't make sense. It not only forces you to pull back the reins at a time when you're just rearing to go, it also throws off the running rhythm you've developed through the long hard weeks of training. As a result, you feel out of sorts, you eat constantly, and the sleep and rest you know you're supposed to get just doesn't come as easily. At times, I'm not sure if I'm more thrown off by the lack of running or the nerves and anxiety I'm feeling towards Chicago. I don't know about anyone else who's in the same boat, but it's definitely a conundrum for me. I much rather continue training right now than stopping and worrying if I've done enough to prepare for this race. Maybe I have, maybe I haven't. In the end, I doubt it will even matter. I will race and let the chips fall as they may.

I just have to find some way to get through this two week torture taper first! God help me. God help us all. Uggh!

Counting down to Race Day:Self Infliction with A Nonmedical Infection

After conquering my fear of impending dread all weekend and rocking out a 13.1 mile run in the late afternoon yesterday in a steady 7:05 min/mi pace, I think I'm finally ready to activate myself off the disabled list. So, that's the good news. The bad news is that I'm starting to show signs and symptoms of an acute infection. Now, before you start sending your get-well comments or flood my e-mail with coupons for Emergent-C, let me tell you that the etiology of this infection is strictly nonmedical. It is not caused by a bacterial agent, a parasite, a virus, or fungi or yeast. It is not even caused by anything that can be visible to the naked or magnified eye. Rather it is an infection that is well-known to most runners in the week leading up to their goal event. Perhaps you've heard of it, it's called taperitis.

Now, for those of not in the know, taperitis is the nonmedical condition where the prospective runner cannot stop thinking, obsessing and detailing every aspect of their goal event. It is totally unnecessarily but it is the right of passage for every aspiring marathoner. For example, I've already checked the course map 4 times, the weather forecast 6 times and visualizing every mile of the 26.2 mile course twice just today. This is rather excessive, even for a worried wart such as myself.

I know the prevailing opinion is to trust the training, trust the run, relax and just let the body do what it's meant to do on race day. But that strategy doesn't quite work for me because apparently I haven't quite learned how not to give up in the later miles of the marathon. Every time out in the recent past, I've lost the battle and given up precious minutes and seconds just trying to make it through to the finish line. That's why this time, I'm hoping to arrive at mile 20 a little more prepared, both physically (from a little higher mileage in training) and psychologically (from practicing a positive mental visualization). Emotionally too, I'm trying to remember a few key quotes, sayings, songs and names that will keep me fighting hard until the end. (Because they are still in formulation, there are no specific details yet but come back later in the week and maybe things will change!)

To be honest, I didn't expect this onslaught of taperitis given that New Jersey will be my 10th marathon and all. But given that I've never had such an aggressive time goal before and had never trained so hard for it, I think it may be justifiable. Because after all, the head and the legs will carry me through 20 miles, but I'll need some heart to make it through the final 10K.

Did I mention I'm getting new Saucony shoes to use for this marathon? My regular trainers has 250+ miles on it already and I don't think it'd be smart for me to run this marathon in racing flats either (since they place such a heavy strain on my knees and Achilles). So it's just another thing for me to freak out and be excited about as the week progresses. Oh man, if it's anything like it was today, it's gonna be a doozie.

After Boston, one year later...

Okay, so this feels a bit wierd.

While the rest of the running world (at least to me) is making plans and getting excited for race day, Boston Marathon style, I'm trying to stay as far away from running and racing as possible as I prepare to enter my taper for the New Jersey Marathon coming up in 2 weeks. It's hard to believe that it was only one short year ago when I boarded that yellow school bus in the wee hours of the morning for the ride out to Hopkinton. It's even harder for me to believe that that was the last time I ran a "good" marathon with a 3:02:21 (you can re-read my race report here), 1 second off my PR from New York six months earlier.

When I compare how I'm training now (for NJ) as compared to how I trained for Boston, it's easy to see how much I've grown as a runner. For example, back then, in 16 weeks of training, I ran 4 days a week at an average of 42 miles-per-week, with one peak week of 60.4 miles and one other week with 55.7 miles. This spring, in 14 weeks of training so far, I ran 5 days a week at an average of 51.1 miles-per-week, with a peak week of 62 miles and multiple others in the high 50s. Most of my runs last spring were done pretty fast as my average training pace for all my runs was 7:04 min/mi. This spring, I've adhered to the specificity of training and slowed down my general and recovery runs significantly so that my overall average pace is only 7:25 min/mi. Although I know I still have more work to do over the summer/fall as I would like to train myself to run 6 days a week with an average of 60+ miles-per-week, I'm encouraged that I am making some progress in adjusting to higher mileage training. It is surprising to me though that despite the low mileage, I was able to run pretty well in Boston and if it hadn't for a big hamstring cramp at mile 19, I likely would have PR'd if not go sub-3 right there and then. Therefore. I'm thinking that with more training, more endurance, and a flatter course, sub-3 should be attainable for me at NJ in two weeks.

Unfortunately, with all the good that the extra mileage has given me, there is also some bad as well. Along with mental fatigue and general lack of interest to run, my right knee has also been acting up of late, making me somewhat concerned that it won't hold up for the full duration of the 26.2. I've never as yet DNF'ed a race, much less a marathon, but if it's blown up by the first half and I find myself limping or running in all kinds of pain, I might opt to drop out after the first lap. I'm hoping it won't come to be but I'm making contingency plans just in case it does. It's funny to me how injury just never came to mind while tapering and preparing for Boston last year and now it's all I can think about even though I know nothing will be settled until race day. Have I really become even more of a hypochondriac than I already was just in this one year alone?

Forget this. I really should not think about this. Instead, as I prepare to watch the race unfold online, in between patients, tomorrow, I will pretend I'm just that kid again, taking that crowded yellow school bus, embarking on a mysteriously wonderful journey, unaware yet full of hope for what the future may bring.

Getting Set for NYC:The Marathon in 2 Days!!

My, oh, my! I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be this way. For the past 24-48 hours, I’ve been stuck in an emotional roller coaster of excitement, anxiousness, exhilaration and dread without a beginning or at an end. I get snappy at the slightest perceived insult and can’t stay on a non-running related conversation for more than 5 seconds. What has gotten into me? I’m not sure. I’ve done 7 marathons (including 3 New York) before and yet today feel as if I’m a newbie about to run his first on Sunday. All I know is that I’m turning into the taper monster a day short of Halloween.

Just a few thoughts from me as I make final preparations for the big day…

I had dinner with Brian Sell yesterday. Well…not exactly me singularly, but he did come to speak to my running group, the NY Flyers, and share in our traditional pre-marathon pasta dinner with us last night. He has been training hard for the NYC marathon and is a contender for the podium on Sunday. For me, It was so thrilling to hear from someone who considers a 2:16 marathon “a bad race”. What I took away most from his speech, besides his ringing endorsement of Red Bull (mixed with some Gatorade) as a good energy drink in the middle of a race, was how he didn’t rest on the laurels of his Olympic experience, but continued training for and chasing his goals. In his own words, “I continued running because I had some unfinished business with the marathon distance (having run a 2:16 in the Beijing Games)." In my mind, I’m replaying those words and wondering if he’s speaking to me directly…

The joke around the office the last couple of days was how I was going to get graded for my race on Sunday. Eventually, they came up with some race goals for me. If I run sub-3, there would be no obese kids for me to see next week (because everyone knows they take the most time and are the most frustrating patients to manage). 3:00-3:05 means I get my usual share. 3:05-3:10 means I get more than my share, including some who are already diabetic. And if I should come in over 3:10, well, their suggestion is for me to not even bother coming in….I had to laugh at these because these race goals are so perfect for me!

I went with my friend M to the expo and the Flyer pasta dinner. She is an old friend but a new runner who I “coached” this year from a self-described recreational runner to a soon-to-be marathoner. She will be running her first in NYC on Sunday and I am so thrilled for her. Ordinarily, bib pickup for NYC is so mundane for me because the expo is small and a bit out of the way but it became such a fun adventure this year with M. As we strolled through the booths, I reminded her to live it up because you never get a second chance to run a first marathon. In between, we also reminisced about how she once thought there was no need ever to drink water on a training run and how she attempted her first 20 miler without GUs or gels and felt so sick mid-run that she had to cab it home! (Okay, it was more me reminiscing and her telling me to shut up!) Somehow she recovered and now is so psyched to run her first marathon. Woohoo! Because she’s starting in the second Wave and is expecting to come in about an hour and fifteen to an hour and twenty minutes behind me, I’m thinking of finishing my race, grabbing my stuff, and hopefully catch her as she comes into the park at mile 23-24. It will all depend on how my legs feel after the 26.2 and how chaotic the finishing area is. If I somehow pull it off, it would be so exhilarating to see her as she comes in towards the finish.

Speaking of the race expo, is it just me or does the Asic store get bigger every year while all the other booths get fewer and smaller? For the first time, I also left an expo without any freebies. Boo, and double Boo! Actually, all I wanted was an ID badge holder, the kind that you can wear around your neck, with the insignia of the ING New York City Marathon on it. I want this so I can wear my ID around the hospital and be identified as a marathoner without being too obnoxious about it. But for the fourth year in a row, those Asics people told me they didn’t have any for sale. You are dead to me Asics. I refuse to buy any of your overpriced running merchandise until you either lose your sponsorship with the NYC marathon or you make one of those ID badge holders available for sale to me!

Finally, a lot of peeps say they want to track my progress in the marathon on Sunday. Really? I am flattered people, I really am, but haven’t we learned our lesson the last time we tried to track me for sub-3? As I recall, it didn’t work out so well for me that time. I am embarrassed that you all would not rather be doing something else than track little old me for close to three hours on a beautiful Sunday. But if you insist, the stalking, er…I mean…tracking website is here. (Register quick though because it is almost closed!) Bib number is 7444 and I’m starting out in Blue, Wave 1. I ask only if you do track me that you refrain from commenting in foul language if I should breakdown in Mile 22 or yelling too loudly in jubilation if I should somehow come in under 3. The spouse, kids, neighbors and pets might not like that...Hahaha…

In all seriousness, thanks to everyone for all their kind words and encouragements throughout my training. They all have meant a lot and I will take them with me out on the race course. In the meantime, Happy Halloween, and eat an extra piece of candy for me, won’t ya!

Fifteen Days To Go: My Biggest Worries

It’s getting close; I can feel it. By the time I get this up, it will be fifteen days to race day. Fifteen days to find out if I’ve got what it takes to be a sub 3 hour marathoner runner. Ironically, fifteen is also a poignant number for the marathon because that is the mile right before the onslaught of four hills culminating in Heartbreak Hill is set to begin. In a way, it is the calm before the storm, a time for all the runners to assess their physical and mental state before tackling the toughest part of the race.

So where am I physically, emotionally, and psychologically with the race now just fifteen days away?

Well, physically, I feel fine, or as well as I could hope for given all the heavy mileage (for me) that I’ve asked this body to train through. I’ve suffered many injury scares over the past several weeks, a pulled hamstring here, an Achilles’ tendonitis there, but they’ve all subsided to the point where it’s not noticeable or only barely so even as I’m running at marathon pace. As long as I don’t push hard and remember to run constructive miles (which builds confidence) rather than destructive miles (which break down muscle) I should make it through the taper with a realistic change to physically run a great race.

Emotionally and psychologically however, it is somewhat of a different story. For one reason or another, I’ve been having a hard time visualizing my personal success in the Boston Marathon. Maybe it’s from the lack of support from those closest to me (like my parents who only recently found out I’m heading to Boston to run a marathon and isn’t so pleased with my decision) or just my own inability to see myself as a good athlete, but I’m having a hard time coming to terms with what I’m hoping to do on April 20^th. In a weird way, I feel like a career minor leaguer suddenly getting the call to pitch Game 7 of the World Series. Does this even make sense?

In an effort to “build up ammo” and strategize my attack on all the frailties of the mind that will threatening my chances on Marathon Monday, I’m going to confront my fears and list the ten biggest psychological stumbling blocks I have heading into race day. I figure if I know what I’m dealing with now, I have a few days to prepare mentally to put up a good realistic fight.

In no particular order then, my biggest worries for the Boston Marathon are:

1. I’ll forget my underwear come race day. Not really, but wearing inappropriate clothing is always a concern.
2. I don’t run well away from home. It’s not a coincidence that in the last four marathons that I’ve run, I’ve averaged 3:05 at home, and 3:12 away.
3. Weather is always a crapshoot in Boston. If it’s rainy, windy, snowy, hot or humid, I can forget about sub-3 and just hope that I don’t break an ankle or end up in the hospital.
4. Catching speedsters. Did you hear Kara is running the race. And so is Ryan Hall. And so is this guy and this guy. If I find myself running with any of them at the start, I’m. So. Dead.
5. Hills and me: not such BFFs? Like the setting sun, hills have been a constant companion on all my training runs. But what if on race day, those treacherous speed bumps along Miles 16-21 decide out of the blue to pick a fight with me? Will I have the mental fortitude not to be flustered by the dispute?
6. I will meander off the course or meander off the pace. Ooh, look at that pretty statue there…or ooh, look at those beautiful houses…Hey, hey, where did everyone else go? Or…6:49, 6:45, 6:50, 7:30…hey, where did that come from? You get the picture.
7. I will forget why I’m running. It always happens. Somewhere in mile 21,22, or sometimes 23. I start to lose focus and forget why the hell I’m running. So, why am I running this race anyway?
8. I can’t say no to a kiss. If some pretty lady offers, can I not oblige? And if I just happen to fall off my pace by twenty seconds running through Wellesley, can you really blame me?
9. I will be emotional…at mile 2. Again, if I have the sniffles even before my first water stop, I am not sick nor will I have tears of joy at mile 26.
10. To spite me, they’ll cancel the race when I reach Boston. Who knows? It might happen.

Hope you all are having a good weekend.

Running: Physiologically SpeakingThe Marathon and Hormones Edition

At times during the day, when I’m busy attending to patient affairs and practicing clinical medicine, I sometimes feel as if I’m Clark Kent, because hidden behind my long white coat and the stethoscope that adorns my shoulders like a Christmas ornament is a speed-crazed super runner that is unknown to anyone within the confines of the hospital. This suits me just fine because contrary to what someone might think, when I’m at work, I generally do not like to think about running because not only does it distract attention away from the patient at hand, but also because no one could or would understand my passion for it anyway. So as a general rule, running and clinical medicine don’t mix, at least for me.

But like they teach all the students in medical school, patients don’t read textbooks and there are exceptions to every rule. True to form, every once in a while, especially when I’m at the peak of marathon training, some running thoughts inexplicably force their way into my head even as I’m seeing patients and dealing with issues that have nothing to do with running. Below is a sampling of the random thoughts that flowed through my head this week as I was working. Some of it will be beneficial to you all, some not very much so. Read ‘em at your own risk.

Weighing In

Some kid came in early last week for evaluation of poor weight gain. He was a scrawny looking prebuscent kid who’s only abnormality I found after performing all the necessary tests, was having O.C.D. parents. As I was explaining to both mom and dad that their boy didn’t have malaria or parasites living within him, the boy said something that completely surprised me. “I’m okay. I’m not weak, or sick, or anything. I work out everyday. I can probably bench-press the doctor if I wanted to.” It would have been funny if it wasn’t so blatantly obvious. After some mild chuckling and further assurance that everything was indeed fine, I shooed the whole family out of my office and went to weigh myself. Sure enough, another 3 pounds lost since the beginning of the month. All together that makes 10 since the beginning of January! No wonder the kid picked up on it. I was turning into a stick figure faster than Haile Gebrselassie running a marathon!

Okay, I know for most of the population, this would be a cause for celebration, but for me, this is anything but since I’m already underweight for my size as it is. Unlike most everyone who have problems losing weight, I find it extremely difficult to keep the pounds that I have. Marathon training I’ve found is the worse for me since I tend to eat less even as I’m running more. Friends and patients have asked me how I lose weight so easily and I reply by asking them how they gain weight so easily (No I don't, but I so want to!). Last month, I was in contact with a nutritionist in my department who advocated many small meals for me throughout the day instead of the three large ones I’ve habitually consumed. It worked for a while, until I couldn’t find time anymore to have my seven meals and so now, instead of the three big meals that I started out with, I’m having only about three small snacks a day. So not good.

I’m hoping to get back to eating more regularly and eating healthy and gaining back my 10 pounds after the marathon. Ideally I want to gain 20, but that’s as likely as me running a 2:30 marathon so yeah, maybe in the next lifetime. I’m saying after the marathon too not because I think I want to keep my weight down to maintain top efficiency for the big race (as some friends have suggested), but rather it is because I think it’ll take me not running for an extended period to gain the weight back. It is not funny how many times I’ve wished that some of the obese kids I see in clinic everyday could just lend me an extra twenty pounds or so…

A Cure For Childhood Obesity

Speaking of obesity, Mr. Petes at Runner Write wrote an interesting article last week on how to solve the traffic problems in big cities like New York. He proposes the elimination of roads for cars and the construction of running routes to encourage people to run to work everyday. Not only so, but instead of parking lots, there’d be showers and lockers for each employee to change and clean up after their run.

I thought this was a brilliant idea, but thought it could be further extended down to children commuting to school. Instead of school buses picking up kids everyday, we can have coaches lead walking and running groups to school every morning. Given the lack of physical education and playground time in schools these days (most of the kids I see on average report only 2 gym sessions in school per week), they need all the exercise they can get. Traveling to school on one’s two feet (like they do in other parts of the world) would be a pivotal start. I’m sure the rates of childhood obesity would plummet if we could somehow implement that strategy.

Menstruation and Marathons

I don’t know if many of you know, but as part of my job description, I help young women deal with their menstrual problems on a daily basis. Whether it is a problem of frequency, irregularity or pain, I’m often the one that’s called upon to perform the detective work necessary to determine if there’s a hormonal basis for the abnormality. Most of the time, within the first fifteen minutes of the interview, I can tell that the issue is psychological or social and not hormonal. Yet I still find myself listening to the stories, hoping to nail down the root cause of the concern. In a perverse sort of way, I find the menstrual cycle very intellectually stimulating, similar in many respects to a marathon training cycle. The interplay of the rise and fall of different hormones at different times within the menstrual cycle parallels the synchronous nature in which different types of runs complement each other in a marathon training program. Not only so, but just as emotional stress can create havoc in a woman’s inherent cycle, so too can physical or psychological stress interfere with the success of marathon training.

Exercise May Be Dangerous During Pregnancy

I don’t want people to freak out over this because it is only one paper, and it’s from Europe no less. (Apologies to Xenia and whoever reads this from across the pond) According to this study (pages 12-13 here), exercise, even as little as 30 minutes per day, can dramatically increase the risk of pre-eclampsia during pregnancy. Really? Now I’ve already spoken to several colleagues about this, and they seem to think that this study only applies to a selective population that is already at high risk but still I am at least a little worried. More confirmatory studies are on the way.

I guess if this were proven true, it’d be just one more excuse to be lazy...considering you are pregnant of course. So from now on, if I hear that a female runner all of a sudden loses motivation and is sitting on the couch all day eating Doritos, rumors are going to start to fly. Just sayin’.

Hormone Doctor or Performance Enhancement Guru

Almost on a weekly basis, one of my patients, or their parents will ask if stopping some medication that I’ve prescribed for them previously will interfere with their athletic performance. Most of the time, I’m somewhat perplexed by the question because enhancing performance on the court or the ball field or track was never discussed as a potential positive side effect when starting the medication in the first place. And then it hit me late last week, as I was working at the office while ordering the Boston Marathon jacket online. Because I’m a hormone doctor, practically every medication I prescribe can be considered performance-enhancing. Seriously. Almost every single one. A partial list of common medications I write for include testosterone, estrogen, androstenedione, insulin, growth hormone, and IGF-1, and every single one has been banned by the I.O.C. and M.L.B. I wrote a tongue-in-cheek essay on this when the Mitchell report came out a couple years back, but I seriously hadn’t realize how prevalent my involvement in this arena was, or could be. So in essence I could be called a performance enhancing guru and be responsible for a whole generation of dopers out there. This is somewhat of a frightening proposition.

On the flip side, I wonder if people are getting suspicious of me running such great times recently. After all, I might not be so “clean” either. As I’m writing this, I’m wondering how long it would take for the Boston Marathon race officials to e-mail or call and ask me for a urine sample. If they don’t, and I end up running a sub-3 in three weeks, I wonder if I can voluntarily drop trough right at the finish line and ask the race officials to take my pee and run some tests. I’m sure they’d appreciate the honesty.

That’s all from me today folks. Can you tell I’ve got marathon fever up in the head? Hope you all are enjoying your weekend. I’ll be back later to recap the week of marathon training, which will the last for me before the taper. Wahoo!

A Letter to the Running Gods

Dear Sirs (or Madaams),

Are you trying to get my attention? Are you trying to convince me that running the New York City Marathon next week may not be such a great idea for me? Or are you sending me through the gauntlet to test my will and fortitude before you give me your blessings for a good race on Sunday? Hmmm…how will I know?

To say I’ve had a tough taper week would be an understatement. First there was the hospital workload, which has been more intense and exhausting than I’ve ever remembered. Then there was the sudden cold temperatures which has thwarted my efforts from even getting a run in during the mornings (I am deathly afraid of running in cold temperatures!). Oh yeah, there is the issue of pain at the bottom of my right foot, which although isn’t excruciating anymore, is still quite mysterious in its onset and disappearance during my runs this week. And as if that weren’t enough to worry me, I banged my left kneecap hard against some metal theaters seats when I went to the movies last night. Now it’s bruised, a bit swollen, and somewhat noticeable to those around me. Yikes! I thought about going outside for a short purgatory run to flush out the negativity and retest the engine, but of course, it’s raining and wet outside, so it’s a no go for that. All I’m left with is writing you this letter to help me decide whether this marathon gig really was meant to be for me.

Can you please help me figure it all out? Can you send me an ephemeral sign of some sort or maybe one of your running angel messengers because I’m totally confused. Was it all not just yesterday when you woke me up and got me out the door before the sun did and convinced me to run my 5 mile tempo run at a blistering 6:19 min/mi even as I was doubting my abilities to run in the cold? I felt so reinvigorated by that run when I found out afterwards that it was the fastest Central Park loop I’d ever run in training. And did you not guide my hand in picking the perfect marathon shoes (blazer blue Asics GT-2140) at the running store afterwards? Both the salesman and my friend who I met on the street afterwards said it looked so perfect for me. I had thought it was a sign from you that everything was starting to come together. Now, after injure myself further and watching the raindrops pitter patter against the same pavement that I'm supposed to be running on, I'm not so sure anymore.

So if you really do want me not to run, I only ask that you deliver your sentence as swiftly as possible. There’s plenty of pre-marathon festivities planned for this week and I’d hate to waste my time on those if I’m not lining up at the start in Staten Island on Sunday. Thanks so much in advance. And even if it doesn’t work out for me, I hope you continue to bless those who will be running and give them quick feet and good running weather all the way through the five boroughs.

Yours,

Laminator

P.S. If I don’t hear from anyone who claims to be a running god, or in lieu of one, is it safe to assume that it’s okay for me to run? Cool. Just checking.

Pre-Marathon Jitters?

Maybe it’s the bad weather we’ve been getting lately. Maybe it’s the frustratingly short and infrequent miles I’ve been logging this past week. I’m not sure why, but I haven’t been feeling as strong and focused as I thought I would be heading into the final weekend before the marathon. It’s weird. In my head, I know I’ve trained well and have no major injury concerns yet my heart isn’t so set on running 26.2. It wants to train for a couple more months before we head out there for the real thing. [Are you crazy?! Umm, heart…you better run that by the lower body parts before you utter aloud such ridiculousness!]

When it comes down to it, my body is tense because it’s never been asked to perform with a finishing time goal before. During the past two marathons, I’ve started the race with only the goal of running well and finishing. Now, all I can think about is 3:10. If I make it, I’ll receive a hero’s welcome. If I don’t, I’ll waste another year of training, and all those half-marathon PRs and training records I’ve set this year will be for naught. Okay, it’s not that bad, but I can’t help feeling this way, and it’s a lot of pressure. I just hope my two running buddies are enjoying their pre-race taper and having butterflies in their stomachs because they’re nervous for their first NYCM, not because they’re sick.

Hopefully, I’ll feel better after my 8 mile run in the park tomorrow. I hear they’ve put up the bleachers by the finish at Tavern on the Green already. It’s always a thrill to run by that side of the park in the days leading up to race day. I always try to imagine what I’ll feel in the moments right before and right after crossing the finish line. This year it’s especially exciting since the Olympic trials will finish there the day before the NYC marathon. If I see any of these elite runners on my run tomorrow, I’m going to stop them to ask for advice on dealing with the pressures and expectations from a world-class athlete. They obviously are the only people who know what I’m going through right now.

[Okay, you can stop laughing so hard, you might break something!]

Marathon Madness

Something totally unexpected happened this morning. Something weird and bizarre that has never happened to me in my three years of running. Oh sure, I’ve heard it happened to other runners before. I’ve heard that if it happens to you, you’re suppose to embellish it, embrace it, and share it amongst your friends, and have them analyze it and tell it back to you so you can pick the version of the story you like best and retell it to new people when someone asks about it in the future. So what happened this morning? You really want to know, don’t you? Okay, I’ll let you, my loyal blog readers, know, but only if you promise to analyze it and tell me what it all means.

I woke up this morning to the realization that I had my first ever running dream. A few moments before I found myself drenched in sweat, sitting on my bed, I was blazing down Fifth Avenue in the 22nd mile of the New York City Marathon. There were tons of runner all around on both sides of the street, but for some reason, they were all shouting out my name, “Laminator! Laminator!” My body was sore at this point, but I used the energy of the crowd to forge ahead. I checked my Garmin at the 23th mile and realized that I had about 14 minutes to run the last 3.2 miles to qualify for Boston. “This is it,” I told myself as I ran through the entrance to the Park. “If I want to make it, I’m going to have to run the fastest 5K of my life!” I gritted my feet and kicked it up a notch; telling my feet to move as fast as it could and daring the rest of my body. At the 24th mile mark, I slowed momentarily, pushing my way to the side to grab the last cup of Gatorade from an unsuspecting volunteer. “Sorry!” I shouted in between breaths. “Boston is waiting!” Gatorade in hand, I was panting too hard to even take a full gulp. Half of it went up my nostrils, and I poured the other half over my head. I picked up the pace. I’m running faster now than I’ve ever ran before. I’m passing runners on my left and right like the 4 train pulling away from Grand Central Station at rush hour. Now I’m at the 25th mile, 1.2 to go, 7 minutes left. “C’mon Laminator, almost there!” Someone’s shouting at me from behind. I dare not look. I make the final turn and see Tavern on the Green and the finish line in the distance. I quicken my pace and feel my lungs burn like an abandoned inferno. 800…then 400 meters left. I have so much sweat pouring down my face I couldn’t make out the digits above the finish line. No matter, just run. Ten more paces…nine, eight, seven…”Am I going to make it? Just run. Damn it.”…six, five, four…

BBBBBBBRRRRRIIIIINNNNGGG!!!! Next thing I know, I’m in my bed. No, no, no. I hit the snooze and slip back under the covers, trying to coax my mind back to the finish line. But it’s over, I’m shut out. So now, I’m here, a whole day later, still trying to figure out if I made it or not, and what it all means for my race in two weeks.