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January 22, 2005
Patience
Matt teases me about sticking to Hal Higdon's novice training program for marathoners, with only a little extra cross training. Hal writes advice like, "Don't be embarrassed to stop and walk briefly. You may need to do so in the marathon." Matt was retelling me the story of Tyler Hamilton who broke his collarbone, but didn't want to let the other riders know he had a weakness, so he just dealt with it. At the end of the ride, on which he did okay, he had to have reconstructive dental surgery because he'd ground his teeth to stubs biting down the pain. Matt says although I'm a first time marathoner, I shouldn't be following a program for grannies with heart conditions.
Part of the why I'm doing a marathon is because I'm not competitive. I plod along, more of a tortise than a hare, even if I'm an excitable tortise. Another reason I'm doing a marathon is that it's a long run event, not a mad dash. The longer you want to maintain it, the more you can win with strategy and persistence rather than tricks and attitude.
Of course you shouldn't believe me. I haven't even run a marathon yet. But you might be willing to consider Tor Aanensen. No teeth ground to stubs, just plenty of patient training. When he first ran at about age 30, he was no great shakes. His first race six years later was a 15 km affair that Tor ran in 1:07. But by age 48, he ran a personal best of 2:27:38 in the 1987 Berlin Marathon.
If you're not sure what 2:27:38 means, try it. That's a sub 3:30/km (5:38/mi) pace. Don't be embarrassed to stop and walk. You may need to do so.
Posted by Mark at January 22, 2005 11:42 AM