Marathon Advice from the Best

Happy Memorial Day to All.

As I was slowly waking up this morning by reading through the news and having a cup of coffee, I came across this article with advice from some of the world's all-time best marathoners. Thinking, "HEY! I am going to run a marathon in the next year," I was quite delighted to read what those from Deana Kastor to Frank Shorter had to offer as advice. These bits of wisdom are fantastic for all of those who perhaps haven't figured out the many nuances of this immensely popular distance and also for those of us who will be attempting, for the first time, the 26.2 in the near future.

So here you are from Universal Sports.com: enjoy!

http://www.universalsports.com/news/article/newsid=475360.html

Looking Back III: A Negative Split Kind of Day

Starts of races are an interesting thing. There's sweating, spitting, striding, stretching, ... You are completely surrounded by this hyper mass of beings and noise and sometimes crazy weather and warm-up clothing flying off to the sides and to the person observing all of this - it could seem maddening, chaotic, and entirely unappealing.

On more occasions than I'd like to admit, this external pandemonium exists in my mind, but not on May 8, 2010.

All of the above was happening around me, nerves were flying high and yet, I was quiet, ready, and my mind was calm. I could take a deep breath of the cold Michigan air and I was completely settled.

The start gun went off and we charged off like wild horses breaking free. Energy and excitement was running through me; I couldn't believe I was running in a national championship, I couldn't believe there were almost 20,000 people behind me, and I couldn't resist smiling and simply enjoying. I was experiencing it all and loving it fully.

I settled in with a small group of women that were moving at comfortable pace. My coach and I had set a very conservative race plan, because neither one of us were sure what would happen after my very wild spring and hectic spring.

Around mile six or so, I was ready to get moving. About this time, a group of guys had caught up with us and were passing us, so I jumped in - and found a spot right in the middle of them! Miles eight through 12 were supposed to be rolling and apparently where the wind would be waiting for all of us, so I was quite happy to sit in the middle of the fellows who seemed to be moving at a pretty good clip.

Settling in with my new group, I was cruising and still loving every minute of it (I had goosebumps for the entire race - and not because it was 40 degrees). The plan was to pick it up for the last half of the race if I felt like I could. Feeling so comfortable and thinking we were staying around the same range, I looked down to check my mile splits and we had moved flawlessly and easily into the sub-6's. Oh man! How good it felt!

And everything just clicked, on the hills - I felt powerful, on the downhills - I felt smooth and quick, ... and then around mile 12 someone shouted "You are the 10th Female!" Electricity shot right through me. I hadn't expected to be anywhere near 'placing' - and again, I was overcome with thankfulness.

As we neared the finish, I separated from the group and was alone for probably the last five kilometers. Yet at this point, there were crowds of people lining the streets - screaming and shouting and cheering - and it made me smile and I could not help but inhale a deep breath, to try and take it all in, and never forget the feeling.

Entering back into downtown Grand Rapids -- this time ALL of the noise came flooding in and I welcomed it, the finish line was straight ahead and as I crossed it, I was overcome with an inexplicable gratitude for so many things. It felt as though the burden of the madness of the past few months was just lifted off of me and gone forever.

I had finished as the 10th female overall and the 8th American in my first National Race.

Looking Back Part II: Running for the Thrill of It

"Um, folks, you are probably wondering why we have not moved forward for takeoff. We are currently experiencing a technical difficulty with the left engine. We have tried several times to start it and have now called the mechanic who is on his way to manually start the left engine. He should be here shortly and we will be on our way to Michigan." - Your Captain

MANUALLY?

I had been up since quite early on the particular morning that I was to fly to Michigan and was in somewhat of a mildly caffeinated but more so drowsy stupor while this was happening. We sat there, and waited...and waited. And it was not until about an hour passed, that I started to be concerned about making my flight out of Detroit to Grand Rapids. And then, RRRRRVVVRRRRROOOOOOOMMMMMMM.....the engine started. (I knew this WELL because I was sitting in the seat right next to it and could feel, hear, ...and thank it for getting going.)

Now, I was leaving a very humid, hot and sunny place and heading to Michigan where it was 40 degrees, raining, and windy. And although, I was still trying to put the memory of this past winter to rest... a day-break from the stickiness could be nice, I thought.

When we landed in Detroit, landed...it was 10:55am. My next flight was at 11:05am...I had met a girl who was also traveling to Grand Rapids and was in the same situation as myself. Once they opened the gate...WE TOOK OFF and quickly realized that we were at Gate A1 and we needed to be at A63. Needless to say, this was my 'shake-out' run/sprint/don't choke yourself with your bags swinging from your neck/rush the day before the race.

Thoroughly sweaty, we arrived to the gate only to find that our flight had been delayed a bit....and relief sat in. We eventually got on the plane for the 25 minute ride to Grand Rapids and when I arrived to the airport, there was a person from the race waiting to pick up athletes that had arrived at that time. I met two ladies from Massachusetts and enjoyed chatting with them on the ride over to the hotel.

The rest are boring details. Summary: The hotel was amazing, like something you would see in the movies with gigantic chandeliers, old shiny wood everything, fluffy sofas, etc. And the best part was that the start line was RIGHT outside the front door. That evening, we were taken to the race expo, fed pasta, then my roommate and I settled in for the evening...both curious about the weather forecast of 42 degrees 'feels like 32', winds up to 26mph 'gusts up to 40mph', and rain....Hmmm....and adventure? I'D SAY SO!

The next morning, it appeared to be somewhat frigid outside...but the rain was holding off as was the wind! As I looked out our window, high above the start line, I could already see so many people below ...it was so exciting. I had this one song stuck in my head the entire weekend; "Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun. Some of the lyrics summed it up pretty well.

To be honest, I really wasn't sure what was going to happen that day. I was still very in shock that I was actually going to be running with these amazing runners, in a race with 20,000 people, and it was a 'National Championship.' It seemed quite surreal and I can honestly say, I just set back - in awe - and enjoyed the entire journey.

And then we were called to the start line...

(to be continued).

Looking Back Part I: Michigan and Blocked.

I am not sure whether to say that I have avoided writing, that I have had the proverbial writer's block, or that I just haven't wanted to talk about where I've been physically, emotionally, and mentally in the past two months plus.

In a sense, I have felt lost. Instead of life coming at me fast, I have gone AT life fast. But, why?

Beginning with 'most recently' and working backwards in this series of what I would like to call simply 'Looking Back,' I hope that maybe I can understand, too, why everything sometimes comes all at once...and it is not always bad or good things, just things. It is a start, nonetheless, and yet even as I begin...I struggle... because it is truly challenging to explain this method of head first- 150mph-sprintastic life for the last few months...and the sometimes very necessary breaks.

So here we go: This present week, I took off from... everything - MBA classes are on a break, coaching has ended, and I took the week off from my job (well, it worked out nicely because I am moving from part-time to full-time) - for an 'in-house vacation. A WHOLE WEEK with nowhere to be, nothing to be done, and no particular time to wake up. It has been none other than - refreshing.

But let's move back a little further. Just a week and a half ago, I was in Grand Rapids, Michigan for my first national race - the USA 25k/Fifth Third River Bank Run. Earlier this spring, I had found out the USATF had a program to help develop elite athletes across the country and provides funding for distance runners to compete at the national level. I had an extremely pleasant surprise one afternoon when an email from the USATF Women's Distance Director arrived saying that I had been selected as one of those to go and compete!

At first, I sat back with this inexplicable electric pulse running through my body - I was in awe, amazed, and incredibly excited. I had to read the email again and again and again to make sure that there wasn't some mistake ... and then I JUMPED....up from my office chair, ran into the hall, and JUMPED again. Oh, the feeling!! Somewhere between the moment when a jet first lifts off the ground and the first bite of a really rich, glorious chocolate dessert was the feeling...ah.

It was real. Then, holy cow, I realized I needed a plane ticket, a day off, and to get my mind in order. The farthest distance I had raced was a half-marathon...could I up it safely to 2.4 miles more? And could I race that distance? ...well, I really had no idea. Wow, let's go. Let's have fun, let's experience! But it would be no easy task to get to to May 8, 2010. Nope.

The spring has been riddled with some major challenges including some big UPS and steep DOWNS. The week of the race was a large hurdle in itself; there was a case study due on Monday, a final Quantitative Methods II exam also on Monday, a track meet to coach on Tuesday, a final Economics exam on Wednesday, a meeting to discuss a full-time position on Thursday, and a flight on early Friday morning to top it off. Yes, just surviving the weekdays would be challenging! And so when I got on the plane Friday morning, I took a deep --- deep breath. I was off to Michigan to compete along side professional distance runners and run in my first national road race championship!!! ...And I was going to enjoy the peaceful, quiet hours on the plane ride there,... fully.




....And then the left engine of the plane wouldn't start.

(to be continued)