The Adventures of Cowboy Hazel

It is so ridiculously hot, I can’t stand it. I met with Antonio at 7:30 this morning to go for a run along the East River, trying to beat the heat, but it was already 86 degrees and 61% humidity. By the time I finished stretching and walking the block-and-a-half to the FDR from my house, I was sweating like a greased pig. We started slowly, figuring that the heat would take its toll, but that wasn’t enough. We didn’t hit the halfway turn-around point until 14:44, (Usually I get there around 13:55) and then coming back I completely lost all my steam. He was doing better than me and ran ahead. I had to slow down considerably, but somehow found managed to get back to 116th Street on fumes. I finished the 4.1 miles in 29:31 which was 7 minute 11 second pace. That doesn’t sound too bad, but this is my almost daily run, it has only one small hill, and I have been running it near 6 minute, 40 second miles lately. So, dropping a full half minute per mile on the one route that I always do well on seemed like a big step backwards.

But, then, as I was back home standing in my shower, hoping that the frigid water would at some point cause me to stop sweating, it hit me — there’s actually more positive to take out of this morning’s run than anything. First of all, I kept running for two miles after I felt that it was no longer humanly possible for me to keep running. I didn’t quit. I know that running is as much mental as physical and one of my biggest worries about my upcoming marathon is that I’m not mentally prepared to deal with the pain. Today’s run was a good sign that I’m moving in the right direction. My second thought was that, running just over 7 minute miles really isn’t bad at all. I went back through my running log and found that I was running slower than today at the beginning of March. Today’s horrible pace was early March’s average. I went back a little further to September ‘07, and the first time that I ran these 4.1 miles along the East River. The time? 33:20, a 8:07 pace. I’ve dropped almost a minute-and-a-half of my pace in 9 months! True, I was in horrible shape back in September, but still, that’s an insane improvement.

Thinking of all that helps reaffirm in my mind my training method — run as hard as you can every time you run. Every time I do these 4.1 miles along the East River, or a loop of Park Drive, I’m looking to break my personal record for that route. I know there are a lot of people out there who will say that that’s not the proper way to train, but I am sticking to my guns, so to speak. I mean, it’s working, so why change it? (Plus, I’m obsessed by stats, so intentionally easing up on the pace is out of the question…)

Well, this past week, they held the lotteries for the NYC Marathon and Half-Marathon. I got picked for the half, but not the full marathon. That half is on July 27th and should be a good race (as long as it’s not so fucking hot that day). It’ll be the longest timed race I’ve ever ran, but I’m confident going into it that I’ll be able to do well. The course is great: a loop of Central Park then down towards Battery Park on city streets. I was super disappointed that I didn’t get picked to run the marathon though. I had really wanted to run my first marathon here in the city. I contemplated just waiting and re-entering the lottery next year, but after thinking it over, I feel like I need to just get this whole first marathon thing out of the way now that I have momentum on my side. So, I registered for Philadelphia. It’s two weeks after NYC, so I’ll be on a similar training schedule as all those runners, and it’s close enough that I can take the train instead of having to fly. So, now, the countdown begins: 167 days until my first marathon…

They asked me while registering what my projected time was. I took a minute to mull that one over, but finally just went ahead and put down the 3 hours and 10 minute goal that I’m setting for myself. And, yes, that’s the magic number that would get me qualified for Boston next April. It seems almost greedy to be trying to qualify for Boston on my first marathon, but nobody ever said, “Go little or go home,” right? I know that there’s a huge amount of ground to cover (both literally and figuratively) between now and November to get myself into good enough shape to sustain a 7:15 pace for an entire 26.2 miles, but I plan on somehow making it happen. Wish me luck!