So this is going to hurt
The cyclism is over, and now the running begins in earnest. I made a conscious decision not to look at any marathon training programs before my trip to France to follow the Tour because I had to focus on cycling and preparing for the Alps, and not the NY Marathon.
This morning I looked at the New York Road Runners 1st-time Marathoner training schedule and let out a blood-curdling scream. I'm supposed to run 13 miles tomorrow, and 3 miles Sunday. I'm already 83 miles behind in training, and that assumes a build off of a base of 15 miles a week. And this is the schedule they label the "bare-minimum" schedule.
After this morning, I've run a total of 3 miles in the last two months.
I arrived in Seattle last night, struggled to stay awake until 10pm. I hadn't slept in 22 hours since waking up at 8am London time in Kristin and Greg's flat. Despite that, jet lag pulled me out of bed at 4am this morning.
Jason has started his NY Marathon training, and he took me on a morning run around Queen Anne in the light Seattle rain. Rather, I held him back for half his run and then had to call it quits when he repeated the loop. I ran 3 miles at a glacial 9 minute/mile pace and nearly threw up a lung, confirming that cycling fitness translates into running fitness the way Babelfish translates German into English. Oh this marathon thing is going to be ugly, if it's even feasible.
In London, Kristin saw how flat my feet were, heard I was going to try and run the NY Marathon, and burst out into laughter. My body just wasn't built for long-distance running, as one doctor/runner told me after I had gone to him with pain in my knees, ankles, and shins. However, a positive mental outlook, rather than the sheer terror and disconsolation with which I'm approaching the marathon at this moment, is the first step. People on crutches have finished the NY Marathon, so I have no excuses.
This weekend I need to buy a pair of proper running shoes and some running clothes. I ran in a cotton shirt this morning, with an old pair of ratty tennis shoes with a hole where my right big toe could take in the views of Seattle. And so the first learning, besides the excruciating pain, is that cotton and ratty shoes are not ideal wet weather running gear.
This morning I looked at the New York Road Runners 1st-time Marathoner training schedule and let out a blood-curdling scream. I'm supposed to run 13 miles tomorrow, and 3 miles Sunday. I'm already 83 miles behind in training, and that assumes a build off of a base of 15 miles a week. And this is the schedule they label the "bare-minimum" schedule.
After this morning, I've run a total of 3 miles in the last two months.
I arrived in Seattle last night, struggled to stay awake until 10pm. I hadn't slept in 22 hours since waking up at 8am London time in Kristin and Greg's flat. Despite that, jet lag pulled me out of bed at 4am this morning.
Jason has started his NY Marathon training, and he took me on a morning run around Queen Anne in the light Seattle rain. Rather, I held him back for half his run and then had to call it quits when he repeated the loop. I ran 3 miles at a glacial 9 minute/mile pace and nearly threw up a lung, confirming that cycling fitness translates into running fitness the way Babelfish translates German into English. Oh this marathon thing is going to be ugly, if it's even feasible.
In London, Kristin saw how flat my feet were, heard I was going to try and run the NY Marathon, and burst out into laughter. My body just wasn't built for long-distance running, as one doctor/runner told me after I had gone to him with pain in my knees, ankles, and shins. However, a positive mental outlook, rather than the sheer terror and disconsolation with which I'm approaching the marathon at this moment, is the first step. People on crutches have finished the NY Marathon, so I have no excuses.
This weekend I need to buy a pair of proper running shoes and some running clothes. I ran in a cotton shirt this morning, with an old pair of ratty tennis shoes with a hole where my right big toe could take in the views of Seattle. And so the first learning, besides the excruciating pain, is that cotton and ratty shoes are not ideal wet weather running gear.