When I toe the start of the 2015 TCS NYC Marathon, I will be lined up for my 14th 26.2 mile race.
That’s an amazing feat.
According to Running USA, just over 12 million people have completed a marathon since 1976. According to Google, there are 7.125 billion people in the world. Using simple math, that means that just under 2% of the world’s population has run such a race. And that doesn’t take into account the folks that do multiples each year or year over year.
Either way, if you’re a marathoner, you’re in a pretty elite class.
But this post wasn’t started as a pat on the back for all of us who have completed the race. It’s about training. And if you’ve been a reader of this space, you know that since my son was born, I’ve been using him as an excuse as to why I haven’t been doing it as well or as consistently as I used to.
At the 12 week out mark, I decided that if I didn’t get my ass into gear, I wasn’t going to be able to run the 2015 NYC Marathon. So I signed up for the NYRR Virtual Trainer and started getting serious about running again.
I didn’t want a repeat of last year.
And last week, I feel like the efforts started to pay off. Not only was the weather perfect to run a 10 mile race through the Boogie Down, but at five weeks out from the Big Dance, it was a great way to determine fitness during a race followed by a seven mile chaser. And I felt great!
I used to be skeptical about a 10 mile race (thinking that we should just tag on the 5K and make it a 13.1) but I’ve come to appreciate it. And the course in The Bronx is a lot of fun starting and ending a few blocks north of Yankee Stadium. While the course is an out and back, it looks sort of a floppy T (or an arrow pointing north) and has gently rolling hills throughout.
As I mentioned the weather was perfect, the temps were cool and the humidity was low and it was the run I needed to boost my confidence. In past years I would have scoffed at the pace, but for where I am, I was PSYCHED. But even more than just the pace, it was how I felt.
Do you ever have those runs where you feel like someone is giving you a gentle push along the way? That’s what this felt like. My friends and I kept checking our watches and saying that we needed to slow down. And then finally at mile 6 or 7, we decided to embrace the pace and even kick it up a bit.
Running that fast for 10 miles definitely compromised my seven mile chaser, but I was thrilled with how I felt at the end of the race and I figured at the time that I still had a few weeks to make up the log run.
As usual, I carried the GoPro with me and made a fun little video from the race.
I love the determination I found on Instagram that I included at the end.
