Another Marathon
It’s that time of year again when I convince myself that life is not interesting unless I double down and commit to running another marathon this coming November. I finished the Athens marathon a few years back and left that experience knowing I could do better. That experience should’ve been good enough, so why can’t I just leave “good enough” alone and move on with my life? The simple answer is I’m human and humans are an inherently dumb and seriously flawed species. Why don’t I just join everyone playing golf and pickleball like my socio-economic status demands of me? Instead, I’m choosing to go against the grain bobbing and weaving around town for the next seven months.
Which Marathon?
I entered the lottery for the NYC Marathon. With the odds stacked against me, I was not selected. This year the number of applicants vying for a bib increased from 160K to over 200K from the previous year. I knew the NYC Marathon was a bit out of reach and was looking for a miracly when I applied. At $315, it’s also a bit pricey. I started to search for an alternative and found the Philadelphia Marathon and the Madison marathons could fill my runners void. Both have their pros and cons. My criteria is based solely on external factors nothing to do with running the actual marathon.
If I Choose Philadelphia
I can stay with my cousin for the weekend and run up the steps at the art museum like Rocky. There’s an Irish Pub below his condo at Love Park and a Wawa nearby. I can drink one of those 9.5% abv Golden Monkey beers he turned me on to a few years back. If I choose Philadelphia it’s possible to come home with a black eye from getting beat up from any one of the 17,000 participants and/or countless spectators before, during or after the marathon.
If I Choose Madison
I could persuade someone to give me a ride to/from Milwaukee if I sweeten the deal with a gyro at The Pathenon and a few rounds of post marathon drinks and pinball at The Plaza. In Madison, you only get to enjoy one Michelob Ultra – 95 calories, 2.6g carbs, 4.6% abv – after finishing the race during the bonding ritual with fellow runners. Also, I get to use my pronouns when I introduce myself to my fellow runners. Anecdotally, I know many participants in the Madison marathon drive a Subaru so my personal safety is greatly mitigated.
What has changed?
First of all, my resolve is very strong this time around even though everyone says this in week one of any resolution. Quitting drinking and dieting are no different in terms of the spiritual connectivity to the ether. After completing the Athens marathon, I created a whole list of lessons learned only after enduring these painful experiences to truly appreciate them. The one thing that I chose to ignore for Athens was incorporating cross training and it showed. In my mind, a marathon is a pretty simple event where you run 26.2 miles. I put the emphasis on running as opposed to training. Even though every running program put cross-training in all CAPS, bold, italics, I chose to ignore the signs because of hubris. Now that I know better, it’s time to learn to love the burpee, the push up, the squat, and the plank for this go around.
The Training Program
Which training program do I use? My brother Niko gave me his Garmin Vivoactive 4 so I am naturally drawn to use a Garmin running program. I used Garmin Connect for the Athens Marathon so I figured if it’s not broke don’t fix it. After a week of running this time with Garmin’s Coach Greg Galloway, I remembered how boring the plan was. I really need something new this time around, because I didn’t want to suffer through another marathon. Finishing a marathon with a respectable time is my goal. After doing a little research, I settled on the Nike Run Club (NRC) app. I fired Coach Greg from Garmin and hired Coach Bennett from Nike. To be honest, I don’t even need the Garmin Vivoactive anymore. The NRC app is downloaded to my Iphone, synched to my Spotify, and enjoyed through my Ray-ban Meta glasses.
The NRC App
So far, the NRC app has been great because it incorporates audio guidance from Coach Bennett. Within seconds of hitting the start button on the NRC app, Coach Bennett greets me with a welcoming message. Subsequent follow up messaging encouraged me to forge forward and finish strong. During the second run, Coach Bennett engaged me to think about time, space, and distance. It felt like this was another building block and tool that I will need to develop for this marathon go around. Today is a rest day, which gives me the opportunity to reflect and write about this encouraging experience. I’m currently on an eight week 10K run plan that finishes on May 20th. This lines up perfectly with my trip to the US on May 23rd where I plan to transition to the full marathon plan.
In conclusion, I don’t have any delusions to think switching running apps and feeling good about the first two runs is going to get me across the finish line. I’m going to have to power through all of this in spite of all the curve balls life has in store for me. I haven’t even reached the hot days in Summer where running outside is brutal. There haven’t been any days yet where I just don’t want to get off my lazy ass and run. Either way, this year’s marathon is going to be in the US. The first marathon was in Athens and akin to an Odyssey and focussed on the journey. This theme for this marathon is nostos, or the triumphant journey home.