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In Which We Run Our Last Long Run Before the Marathon, and the Lessons That We Learned From It Last Saturday, September 25, was not a good day in the Scherowitz household. We were both utterly defeated by a terrible day of running. We met up with the Team in Training crew in Union Square for a scheduled run along the waterfront of Manhattan, a run which gets more beautiful every year. The sun was shining and it was a pretty day, at least for those not trying to run 16 miles. Our friend Ian came to run alongside us, to keep us company and to train for an upcoming half marathon. Rachel was only a mile or two in when she had to drop out, suffering from spasms in her hip, among other things. I didn’t start actively sucking until about mile 7, and from then until I gave up at 15.5 miles, poor Ian had to wait while I took walk break after walk break, apologizing profusely and beating myself up for my lameness. I had no injuries to speak of; just no energy, and no will power to push me through it. A week later, it was another sunny Saturday morning, and it was to be our last long run before the “taper,” our cutting back on mileage leading up to the big race, now only three weeks away. We left from Prospect Park in Brooklyn, ran across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, fought our way through the already busy streets of Chinatown to the Williamsburg Bridge, ran to Brooklyn and back, ran back through Chinatown to the Manhattan Bridge, back to Brooklyn and the park, where I had to do an extra loop of the park to get to 18 miles. And you know what? I felt pretty damn good, considering. Rachel did an amazing job, too, and her physical therapy plus a nice, slow pace helped her finish her 15 miles with no major pain. One week, I figured I’d reached my limit. I would never be able to run a marathon. The next, I realized I could have kept going, if I had to. What were the differences? Nothing new here, advice-wise, but some lessons you can only learn through making mistakes. There’s intellectually knowing what you should and shouldn’t do, and then there’s having to live through doing it the wrong way. Temperature matters. That’s the one difference that I had no control over. Both days were sunny, and neither were exactly hot, by a normal pedestrian’s standards, but this Saturday was almost chilly, at least at the start. A fifteen-degree difference makes all the difference. Sleep matters. The previous week, I went to a birthday party and a get-together of old co-workers. Knocked back a couple of beers, got home at midnight or so. Not cool. This past Friday, Rachel and I made ourselves go to bed at ten. Ten! For most of us without kids, this is early. Beer bad. Water good. Duh, right? This past week I drank water all day long. It really does help. Nutrition matters. Not only did I try to eat starchy food the day before, but I really made myself choke down all those GUs and jelly beans and whatnot during the run at regular intervals. I’m pretty sure it made a difference. Run at your own damn pace. We love Ian, and he really was trying to slow down for us. But he’s a skinny guy with long legs that looks as if he were genetically engineered to run. His slow was still faster than my fast, and I couldn’t help but try to keep up with him. Ironically, my slow, steady pace this past week was not THAT much faster than my pace the previous week including the miles of walk breaks. If you go out too fast, your body will find a way to slow you down. Will power, self-image and momentum go hand in hand in hand. Every athlete probably knows this already. When you start to suck, you think about how much you suck, and you make yourself suck more. When you feel good about yourself, your performance improves. A week ago, I was a terrible runner who couldn’t do anything right. This Saturday, I just pushed through. How many hills did I go up without stopping to walk? If I can do this, I kept saying, I can do anything.  So that’s that. All stuff I should know already, but now I know it. These next few weeks will be about good habits, maybe some actual cross-training, and getting ready for the upcoming time zone change. (Rachel wants us to start getting up at four in the morning. I cannot imagine this.) Dublin, here we come!

In Which We Run Our Last Long Run Before the Marathon, and the Lessons That We Learned From It

Last Saturday, September 25, was not a good day in the Scherowitz household. We were both utterly defeated by a terrible day of running. We met up with the Team in Training crew in Union Square for a scheduled run along the waterfront of Manhattan, a run which gets more beautiful every year. The sun was shining and it was a pretty day, at least for those not trying to run 16 miles. Our friend Ian came to run alongside us, to keep us company and to train for an upcoming half marathon.

Rachel was only a mile or two in when she had to drop out, suffering from spasms in her hip, among other things. I didn’t start actively sucking until about mile 7, and from then until I gave up at 15.5 miles, poor Ian had to wait while I took walk break after walk break, apologizing profusely and beating myself up for my lameness. I had no injuries to speak of; just no energy, and no will power to push me through it.

A week later, it was another sunny Saturday morning, and it was to be our last long run before the “taper,” our cutting back on mileage leading up to the big race, now only three weeks away. We left from Prospect Park in Brooklyn, ran across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, fought our way through the already busy streets of Chinatown to the Williamsburg Bridge, ran to Brooklyn and back, ran back through Chinatown to the Manhattan Bridge, back to Brooklyn and the park, where I had to do an extra loop of the park to get to 18 miles. And you know what? I felt pretty damn good, considering. Rachel did an amazing job, too, and her physical therapy plus a nice, slow pace helped her finish her 15 miles with no major pain.

One week, I figured I’d reached my limit. I would never be able to run a marathon. The next, I realized I could have kept going, if I had to. What were the differences? Nothing new here, advice-wise, but some lessons you can only learn through making mistakes. There’s intellectually knowing what you should and shouldn’t do, and then there’s having to live through doing it the wrong way.

  1. Temperature matters. That’s the one difference that I had no control over. Both days were sunny, and neither were exactly hot, by a normal pedestrian’s standards, but this Saturday was almost chilly, at least at the start. A fifteen-degree difference makes all the difference.
  2. Sleep matters. The previous week, I went to a birthday party and a get-together of old co-workers. Knocked back a couple of beers, got home at midnight or so. Not cool. This past Friday, Rachel and I made ourselves go to bed at ten. Ten! For most of us without kids, this is early.
  3. Beer bad. Water good. Duh, right? This past week I drank water all day long. It really does help.
  4. Nutrition matters. Not only did I try to eat starchy food the day before, but I really made myself choke down all those GUs and jelly beans and whatnot during the run at regular intervals. I’m pretty sure it made a difference.
  5. Run at your own damn pace. We love Ian, and he really was trying to slow down for us. But he’s a skinny guy with long legs that looks as if he were genetically engineered to run. His slow was still faster than my fast, and I couldn’t help but try to keep up with him. Ironically, my slow, steady pace this past week was not THAT much faster than my pace the previous week including the miles of walk breaks. If you go out too fast, your body will find a way to slow you down.
  6. Will power, self-image and momentum go hand in hand in hand. Every athlete probably knows this already. When you start to suck, you think about how much you suck, and you make yourself suck more. When you feel good about yourself, your performance improves. A week ago, I was a terrible runner who couldn’t do anything right. This Saturday, I just pushed through. How many hills did I go up without stopping to walk? If I can do this, I kept saying, I can do anything. 

So that’s that. All stuff I should know already, but now I know it. These next few weeks will be about good habits, maybe some actual cross-training, and getting ready for the upcoming time zone change. (Rachel wants us to start getting up at four in the morning. I cannot imagine this.) Dublin, here we come!

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