Race to Deliver

I'll be running the four-mile Race to Deliver (sponsored by God's Love We Deliver and the NY Road Runners) on Sunday. It is one of my nine "required" races for entry to the NY Marathon next year. And so, although my back has been bothering me tremendously this week, I plan to be out there. The pain started Sunday night after a day of watching youth football - I'm still not sure what I did to it. Interestingly, movement seems to help - I'm at my worst after I've been sitting or lying still for a long time. So maybe the four miles will be a big help!

I remember this race being fun when I last ran it two years ago. Because of the charity involved, there were lots of runners and Joan Rivers was at the podium at the start. So I'm looking forward to it.

Running at a Snail's Pace

I'm not a fast runner and never have been. I'm comfortable with my pace - my objective in running is not to win medals and awards, but to lose weight and stay fit. I don't get annoyed or embarrassed when other runners pass me when I'm out on my daily runs. I don't mind that I finish most races square in the middle of the pack for my age and gender. And I'm always amused by the "Penguin" columns in Runner's World magazine (tag line: "waddle on friends"). So I was surprised by the NY Times article about runners who are critical of slow pokes like me. Another Times article countered in favor of the snails - and the majority of online comments seem to favor us as well - but I'll have to admit that the entire argument caught me off-guard - it just never occurred to me that anyone (except maybe friends and family who wait for me at the finish line) would mind my slow pace.

On Saturday, I went running for the first time in a very long time with my twelve-year old son. I think the last time we were out running together was at some point this past spring. In the intervening months, he's gone from being able to run just short intervals of our 1.5 mile jaunt (I always do short distances with the kids which they can alternatively walk/run) to outrunning me the whole way. He's developed an easy, loping stride -- and I think if we had had more time, he could have quite comfortably run even further. I couldn't be more delighted!

While he's improved his running purely through the conditioning program that's incorporated into his tackle football practice, the quickness with which he's built up endurance and speed makes me wonder why more kids don't run distances regularly. Certainly most high schools and many middle schools have track programs -- and I often see the kids from these programs running the shorter races in Central Park -- but there is no question at all in my mind that if my son chose to, he could train for marathon-type distances. The NY Times featured an article some weeks ago about kids who have run the NY Marathon. But most of them did it many years ago -- it would be great to see some kids doing it now.

Can't Wait Until Next Year

I surprised myself with pangs of regret that I wasn't running the NYC Marathon yesterday. Memories of the pain of running a year ago are still relatively fresh (whenever I get even a little blister now, I am reminded of the golfball-sized blisters I got on marathon day -- and never even noticed because my knee hurt so badly until I got home and took off my shoes!). But when I woke up and heard the radio reports about street closures and the like, I remembered the excitement of the day and the feeling of invincibility when I finished ("if I can finish 26.2 miles in excruciating pain, I can do anything"). At a youth football game, a friend received email alerts as her loved ones passed critical milestones, and I was reminded clearly of how it felt to pass the 5K, 10K, 15K and 20 mile markers. I really am getting excited about running it again next year!