Marathon Week

I ran the Poland Spring Marathon Kick-off this morning - and despite feeling a bit groggy and having some ipod troubles, achieved my best pace so far this year (other than for the Fifth Ave. Mile). It felt good to be out on a crisp, sunny day.

Lots of Marathon talk in the air... more to come on this topic soon!

Now and Then

Runners' World magazine recently had some interesting stats about how much the NYC Marathon has changed since it began in 1970:

Then: about 100 spectators
Now: more than 2 million spectators

Then: course was four 6-mile loops around Central Park
Now: course is an exciting 26.2 miles through neighborhoods in all 5 boroughs of NYC

Then: winner received recycled bowling trophy
Now: $600,000 total prize purse

Then: entry fee was $1 and registration was available on race day
Now: entry fee is $171 and a lottery is held in June to determine who's lucky enough to run

Then: 127 runners
Now: 40,000 runners (and there would be more if there were space for them!)

Then: all runners from US
Now: runners from 105 different countries around the world

Rainy Days Ahead

I just checked the weather forecast and found it is supposed to rain every day through Sunday. I am trying to increase my mileage now that the cool temperatures are here (and before the really cold winds blow) so I must run several more times this week... how nasty that I'm going to have to do it in bad weather!

The Wall Street Journal had an article today about "The Fleeting Benefits of Marathons." Much of it rang true for me -- I am one of the many that not only didn't lose weight during my training but gained weight afterward, when my weekly mileage decreased, but my food intake did not. And I have no doubt that it is my regular running of short distances that keeps me cardiovascularly fit, rather than the few long training runs I ran in preparation for the marathon. Perhaps I am in the minority because running one marathon ultimately made me want to be better prepared to run another. But even if I weren't planning to run again, I believe the psychological, emotional and social benefits of marathon running - especially having a huge goal and reaching it - make the upsurge in marathon running a big benefit for Americans, even if we aren't seeing corresponding improvements in health and fitness.

The Magic of Abracadabra

Whenever I get a bit discouraged about my strength and my shape, I try to remind myself that back in college, even though I fit into a much smaller size, I could hardly make it through a 45-minute aerobic dance class, but now I can run for well over an hour without stopping. I keep Sugar Ray's remake of Abracadabra on my ipod to help make this point (the Steve Miller Band original was a bit hit in the class).