I apologize that my last post was a bit long, but I thought you folks who know all about self-induced pain and suffering might feel better being reminded it’s universal. As Michael Stipe once said, ‘Everybody Hurts’. It sure would be funny if someday they played that tune at a Mile 25 marathon marker.
So I got all cranky about my marathon experience. I realize that I had expectations that were rather high, but this year I’ve managed to meet a few of them from time to time, and why not on a crisp fall day? So rather than write long, exhausting paragraphs about me, me, me and how I sucked, sucked, sucked, I’ll tell you in inter-office memo businessese:
Why my performance and finish time sucked in the NYC Marathon:
- I ran on hills that kicked my ass, hills I didn’t plan for but knew well despite previous experience.
- I didn’t carbo-load and hydrate as much as I should have during the days before the race.
- I had finished several speedy, shorter races over the summer that gave me over-confidence.
- I ran and survived the now-infamous ’07 Chicago Marathon with a 3:30 finish time, and thought I could do better in ‘good’ weather. And by doing better, I mean 10-15 minutes faster because it wasn’t 87 degrees in NYC. Is that too much to ask?
- I trained hard in the three months leading up to NYC, harder than ever.
Why I should get THE HELL over it:
- I ran Chicago four weeks before, f’Chrissakes!
- I NEVER finish NYC fast. It’s not a PR course.
- I didn’t take a break in the four weeks between the two marathons. I just rewound my training schedule to ‘four weeks out’ and re-started the tempo runs and long runs like I’d never come near Chicago. I had only two days off from running the entire month between marathons.
- I kept at my weight training workouts without taking any sort of break, either.
- Finishing in 3:35? What the hell is wrong with that? Get over yourself!
- And I’ll say it again, I already ran a marathon the month before!
So now I’m indeed pretty much over it. I ran NYC about five minutes slower than Chicago with all the heat, and in the end my legs had had enough of all the shit I was making them go through. I tried, as has been said by another scholar of the streets, to ‘Superman That Ho’. Like anyone else, my legs don’t like hearing the H word, so they waited until Mile 22 to turn on their Running Pimp. Yes, I’ve reduced myself to a Running Pimp.
I must be feeling better, because now I’m fantasizing about a whole line of running outfits based on pimp and ho archetypes. Running pal Mindy and I once jokingly discussed getting a ‘marathong’ in a race goody bag, so that would certainly fit, uh… nicely.
So what’s next? Well, some of us are truly insane, and by us I mean me. I am seriously contemplating showing up (and there’s really no better way to describe it) for this. If it happens, or doesn’t, who cares, I tried, right? That’s what I should always remember after every race. Learn this, my friends: disappointment may come your way, but in the end… you have to get over yourself. We’re all damn lucky to just be able to show up…
- Cranky
P.S. On behalf of all the folks who were out there running the NYC Marathon, I’d like to thank Mr. Lance Armstrong and Ms. Katie Holmes Cruise for not shoving their faces in front of cameras, hogging the limelight and generally making spectacles of themselves before the race. Lance did that last year and paid the price for all his hubris and lack of training. This year was a different story, and I’m happy that he ran much better this time around without creating a media circus. Long training runs help, too, don’t they, Lance?
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3 comments:
Richard,
I think we all get frustrated whether we're an elite runner or a ham and egger like myself.
Far be it for me to give you advice, you run a race I'm not familiar with ... But I feel your pain. I had the same thoughts as you did after my marathon... Second guessing myself, the whole did I train well enough? Then I think, I ran a marathon... Forget the time. We are the lucky ones.. Many people would trade places with us.
I'd kill to run a 3:30 marathon... And I'm sure other people would kill to run my time, (4:06:03).
I know this won't take the sting out of your disappointment, because it never works with me either. But it's just another view.
I also think being competitive is healthy. It's what makes us tick. So beat yourself up a little, but then go on, you have another race to run....
And I checked out "this" and this ain't happening with me.... 60k's, now that would be a cranky run... But I'm sure you could do it.
See ya on the road, runron.
Richard, ...wait, let me adjust my marathong. Ah, better. Runron said it perfectly. Nothing trips us up like stoopid runmath. And by runmath I mean all the freaking calculations one does in their head (including me) about "predicted race time" based on a some previous performance. Just by reading these posts and knowing you, I know how much you love NY and how much you love running - and when the twain can meet - it's a lovechild more fabulous than Shiloh Jolie Pitt. And whatever, it didn't happen - you sort of ended up with Rumer Willis. Even though you know what went wrong, it still bites. You were running like the freakin wind this summer. Healthy, training hard, blazing through that half in record time. You have every damn right to feel pissed about how things went based on your expectations. And you have every right to have those expectations based on what you had been gearing up for all summer. That's the drive that inspires others (me, for sure) and what is truly the fire of the human spirit (I'll resist the urge to suggest a FRNY t-shirt in the goody bag that says "Human Spirit" on the front and "Flame On!" on the back).
You're a class act, my friend - honest, gracious, and tenacious. Oh, and if you are seriously running 60K this weekend, I will drive down there and give you a good old fashioned wedgie.
Thank you both for understanding about disappointment without moralizing (and you'd have every right to do it) about being happy with my time. As you know, it's hard to train and not hit a mark, whatever that mark is, everybody's is different.
But as I said, we all get over it with time, and time is moving forward fast. (And I like that 'Flame On!' t-shirt idea!)
Thanks for being 'class acts' yourselves...
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