Monday, September 16, 2013

I get by with a LOT of help from my friends


With only six weeks left to go until the NYC Marathon, last week was time to step it into gear—more mileage, and a long run of 18 miles.

I was much more nervous than expected going into the 18-miler. In every other long run I had done (training for the Boston Marathon, the Marathon itself, and a 16-miler last month), I bonked out at Mile 14. I’d hit a wall where I just felt like there was nothing in the tank, and my legs would stop turning over quickly. I could get through the remaining miles through a combination of running, walking, and sheer determination, but it never felt good. Since I planned to do my 18 with one of my best friends biking for 14 and running the last four, I was rather embarrassed that she might see me struggling through the bonk.

I was in New England for the weekend for the Jewish holiday, and we chose a route around the Mystic lakes: a 7 mile loop that we would do twice, with Shannon joining for the first loop, then a 4 mile loop where Natalia would get off the bike and run with me. It started off perfectly—the weather was slightly cool, and I was so busy catching up with my friends that I barely noticed the first 5 miles go by.  We missed a turn that caused the loop to go from 7 miles to 5.4, but I knew I could easily make it up.

After we said goodbye to Shannon, we continued on for what felt like an hour. I checked the mileage, and we were only at 8.2. Not even halfway there. Ugh.

But then a funny thing happened. To correct the prior mistake, we started running down side streets…we’d go out half a mile or a mile, then come back. 8 became 9, 9 became 11, 11 became 13, and our pace was still sub-11 minute miles…then up Mystic Valley Parkway to the parking lot where Natalia would stash her bike, and we were at 14.5. Two out of three phases complete.

Natalia and I set out toward Bacon Street, and another funny thing happened: I felt okay. My quads felt a little worn, and I wasn’t going fast, but I felt like I had some fuel in the tank and was still doing sub 11 miles.  We rounded a cemetery, went through some side streets, then took a right back on Mystic Valley Parkway. As neared the end, Natalia started to sprint. And without thinking about it, I did too.  I am not sure if I was running off real energy or adrenaline, but it was a runner’s high better than any I had ever felt before.

I am not sure if my strength came from just having a good day, if years of training have just made me stronger, or if I finally figured out my nutritional issues. But I know that a large part of why I ran so well is that I was just having so much fun with Natalia and Shannon.

I have always thought of myself as a beginning runner. I took up running late in life, when I started a stressful law firm job and wanted an excuse to be outside more. Even after I ran my first marathon, I felt that running was a hobby I had only recently gotten into. But with the 5th anniversary of my first road race having occurred a few months ago, I recently realized, running is not a new hobby for me but a lifestyle. I love to always be training for something, to plan all my meals around fueling for a long weekend run, to get up on a Saturday morning and spend most of the day running or biking, and to be too tired to do anything else because I got up early for the activity.

A huge part of truly feeling like a runner is having become friends with an amazing group of women for whom endurance sports are a lifestyle.  These women, who I met through a now-defunct company called Boston Performance Coaching, made training not just something I did for an hour ever day, but the purpose of my days.  Even after having left Boston for New York, the women I met through BPC continue to offer me training advice and support (in both athletics and life) on a daily basis. Though many, including myself, have mixed emotions about the company itself, I will forever be grateful to the group for introducing me to these incredible women, who have helped me achieve things I never thought possible.

And also, they are responsible for me eating a lot of recovery bacon.