Last year, I couldn’t wait to start training for the New York City Marathon. Each time someone asked me how I was feeling, I’d say something along the lines of, “I just spent hundreds of dollars on shoes, energy gels, and compression socks! I’m so excited for the first 20-mile long run!”
This past Monday, I woke up with lower back pain and briefly considered taking a sick day. When I realized it was the first day of marathon training, I thought of at least three dozen things I would have preferred doing. Among them were activities such as renewing my driver’s license, building IKEA furniture, and hailing a cab in Midtown Manhattan on a Friday night.
Since then, I’ve gotten over that feeling of dread. I’m even kind of excited about marathon training now! But I’m also turning 32 this summer, and if I’m not careful about how I train, I’ll probably rue the day that I took up long-distance running as a hobby. Here’s how I plan (or, hope) to keep things fun.
What I’m Doing Differently This Year
The thought of running a marathon gave me the heebie-jeebies last year. I picked a very basic training plan, and since I had no idea what I was doing, I went out for every run with the goal of running 8-minute miles for as long as I could tolerate it.
This time around, I’m going to take recovery and “easy” days more seriously. Easy miles instead of all-out sprints in the dead of summer? Sit on my butt and let my body rest the day before a long run? Fine by me!
Also, I know I need to do a better job of hydrating. I learned this lesson the hard way after what Joe and I dubbed the “18-mile tune-up disaster.” If I could go back and edit the tweet below, I’d add, “Even though I definitely felt like I was about to die.”
In a surprising turn of events, someone took a photo of me running in which I don’t look like I’m about to die. pic.twitter.com/gZfzXhDyZm
— Rich Moy (@rich_moy) September 18, 2017
Dehydration didn’t just affect my running. In fact, I’d argue that I was basically useless after any workout that lasted more than 60 minutes. As a result, Jess did most (OK, all) of the cooking and cleaning as I ramped up for the marathon.
That must have really sucked. I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t write up an actual contract. But I guess this is my promise to stay hydrated this summer and actually be helpful around the apartment.
The Plan (at Least for Now)
I joined a running club last summer, and since then, I’ve basically done everything that their weekly training emails say to do. I even tried in vain to keep up during vacation.
This year, the coaches rolled out marathon training plans on the VDOT O2 app. It’s neato-burrito, but it’s also very, uh, optimistic. After entering my time from the 2018 Brooklyn Half, it said that I should run a 36-minute personal record in the marathon. I think a PR is totally doable this year, but 36 minutes? If you’re a betting person, I’d suggest picking the Cleveland Browns to win the Super Bowl instead.
Here’s a rough outline of my plan, with a few modifications that I think will keep me out of the hospital.
- Sunday: 30 minutes easy (or rest if I’m feeling gross)
- Monday: 5-ish easy miles
- Tuesday: Some kind of long-ish speed workout
- Wednesday: Cross-training, because my physical therapist would probably roll her eyes if I skipped this
- Thursday: Track workouts in Queens (join us for these if you want!)
- Friday: All the ice cream
- Saturday: Long run
Of course, times and distances will vary/increase over the next few months, but this should give you a rough idea of the torture (er, marathon training) that I’m bracing myself for this summer.
Marathon Training Still Sucks for Everyone, Right?
You’d probably look at photos like the one below and say, “Marathon training is totally worth it. Look at how happy you are!”
But there are also a lot of stories that this photo doesn’t tell. Like the time when I learned the hard way that I should avoid energy gels with caffeine. Or those three weeks when I was convinced that I had a stress fracture in my foot.
Is the payoff worth it? Of course. But before we can all lie to ourselves (and to Instagram) about how we enjoyed the entire process, we’ll all probably need to make an emergency pit stop in a disgusting public bathroom.
The good news? You’re not alone. At the very least, I’ll be right there with you through whatever gross things happen to mortals during marathon training.
Are you training for a marathon this year too? Think this all sounds nuts? Let me know in the comments below, and subscribe to the newsletter to stay up-to-date on how much pain I’m in!
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