Yesterday, before an increase in registration fee –  I mentally weighed my training thus far and concluded that it was time to take the plunge and register for the marathon.   Therefore I committed myself last night by registering online for the SunTrust National Marathon, in Washington, D.C. on March 26, 2010.   I hope my training and especially my knees keep up!

To qualify for the marathon – I used my time for the half-marathon I did in 2009.   On the registration form they also ask what time do I think I will finish the Marathon in.    I really don’t know, all I want to do is go the distance.    So – I put in 4 hours and 30 minutes, but who knows – maybe I’ll do better.  

Here are some of the times I found for ‘famous’ people which completed a Marathon:

• Governor Mike Huckabee – (4:38:31)    
• Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, Humpy’s Marathon 2005 (3:59:36)
• George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States, Houston Marathon 1993 (3:44:52)
• Al Gore, Vice President of the United States at the time, Marine Corps Marathon 1997 (4:58:25)
• Oprah Winfrey, Marine Corps Marathon 1994 (4:29:20)
• Meredith Baxter, Family Ties, New York City Marathon 1982 (4:08:30)
• Clarence Thomas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Marine Corps Marathon (3:11:xx) 1979
• Kirri Strug, Gymnast (4:12:06)

Note: This last week has been a little difficult running at home and at work.  We had a blizzard up to 2 feet of snow, which has made finding a place to run tough.  The problem wasn’t the snow – but all the ice water which soaked into my sneakers & socks!  Burrrrr, that was cold.  

 And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before. (Joshua 4:18)

 
A picture taken by me on the West-side of Manhattan (looking downtown), on the bikers path.
The building at the end of the road, with the cranes on it – is the Freedom Tower (replacing the Twin Towers).

I do my shorter runs in the city – but my long runs are done near my home.  This is a link to my favorite runs close to my house or home town.   I love this online tool where you can create runs which show distance, elevation, etc…

I’ve done all of them except the 15 mile run – that one I didn’t get to do because of an injury. 
I’ll have two 9 mile runs to chose from this Saturday, I leaning towards the Whippany Run.   Yaaaa Whippany!!     

Note: Missed a day – but I tried to make up the miles on Wednesday, I’ll do a mile on friday to make up the remaining difference.

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. (Psalm 19:5)

My running during the weekdays have been on my lunch hour, which means these runs are in NYC, where I work.   Gratefully I have a GPS watch, the make; Garmin Forerunner 305, which tracks my distance and time.   It allows me to run where I will without worrying about the distance.  While not the latest model this watch does the trick.  My runs have been up the western side of Manhattan which allows me to enjoy the waterside view.   This is a map which was generated by the watch’s data.

Note: The temperature the last two days has been extremely cold and co-workers have commented about the determination that I have been showing.    But only time will tell, if I’m going to preservere through the cold and distance.   Burrrrr it was like needles against my skin.  An electronic billboard indicated that the wind chill made it feel like 2 degrees!

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. (Psalm 119:2)

My schedule so far:

 
Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.  (Psalm 55:22)

If I increase my long runs on each Saturday by two miles, I will see 26 miles in 12 week (I have 17 weeks total).   This is good because that allows me to taper down on the
last weeks before the race. 

Note about Tapering: ‘Tapering‘ is a term used in endurance sports and basically means to reduce an athlete’s training load before a major race. Personal experience and scientific research have both come to the conclusion that a period of enforced rest before racing significantly increases the athlete’s level of fitness and boosts his performance by an average of 3%. For marathon runners three per cent boils down to being about 5-10 minutes faster over their racing distance. (From Running Advice)

Point:  Less running (in this case) can mean – better performance.

I’m still need to publish my entire running schedule – but I don’t think I’m going to do so immediately.  The first few weeks I want to listen to
my body so I don’t over do it and injure myself. 

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

My long runs are going to be on Saturday evening – after I’ve done all my fixing up around the house.  This Saturday I had to drive my daughter to and from a SAT test center (she thought she did well), go to the hardware store, replace a toilet seat, remove the sand from our sandbox to our local beach, and fix a leaking faucet.   The only thing which did not get done fully was the leaking faucet.  I thought if I replace the washers it would stop leaking – but it did not help.   So next week I’ll have to replace the entire faucet.  Bummer!

Anyway the purpose of telling you this is because of the problem fixing the sink – I set out on my run later then I should have.  Basically I was running at night, with dim lighting and wearing black of all things.   Half of the run was on sidewalk – but the other half I had to run on the street.  It’s a bit nerve racking waiting for a car to hit you and also irritating having people throw on their high beams and blind you (before hitting you).   Anyway not the smartest thing – and I will seek to be better prepared (reflextive vest, wear bright colors, run in better lite areas, etc…) in the future.   It was a four mile run and I felt very good.   It’s amazing how the miles are going to build on Saturdays in the upcoming weeks.  

Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. Psalm 139:12

Yesterday my running schedule calls for an easy 3 miles and since the best time I have to run is during my lunch hour, I changed from shirt and tie to my running attire.  A co-worker was surprised to see me dressed for running and started asking me a dozen questions about where I run and if I have any races in mind.  I’m sure this is going to happen again and again in the upcoming months.

For me, Yesterday was the first day of winter.   It was cold – and the sun was out in defiance of the temperature- but with no avail. (Note to self: Which reminds me I need to pick up some gloves!) Even though it was cold it was quite a beautiful day running along side the Hudson – a little surreal.   Any tension that I was feeling was gone – and I was just living in the moment – feeling very alive.

I took the above picture – while I was running up and down one of the piers.  To the left are some buildings next to the World Financial Center and to the right (almost dots on this photo) is the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.   That dot close to the sun – is not a dot – but is a bird.    While not a great picture – I think you can an idea of how lovely it was running yesterday. 

“Thou hast made summer and winter.”—Psalm 74:17.

Any runner knows that a good pair of shoes can make a big difference. 

I learnt the hard way last year when I started running greater then 10 miles - 

my toes were sore and afterward my left toe nail turned black. Yuck! 

After that I bought myself a good pair of running shoes. 

So in preparation of my upcoming run I went to Modells. To my surprise I 

found a pair of New Balance 520 Cushion Running Shoe Mens which were 

11.5 and wide (2E)! Exactly my size - so I bought them. There is nothing like happy feet when you run!

"Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years." (Deut 8:4)

Getting started with a project like this is never easy.  You don’t want to start something that you quit on.  So once you announce something like this, and register for the race (something I still need to do) you need to be committed.   Part of being committed is creating a schedule and keeping it up to date.  Also with only 16 weeks to train – I’ll need to challenge myself to move from 4 miles to 26.2 miles.

Just to get me going quickly put together my first two weeks of running.  I will put together a longer schedule in the next week.

The point for this schedule is to get me off the starting line – without any injuries.   To this end I’ll be doing additional warm-up exercises before running,
knee exercises to strenghen my knees and be wearing a brace on my left knee (which was injuried with my last attempt at doing a marathon). 

Much of my training from Monday to Friday will be done during my lunch breaks at work.   This will be ran in NYC (lower Manhattan) and during the winter months will be very cold (mostly because of the wind).   I would love to join a gym and run on a treadmill – but treadmill running is not equal exercise to running on the pavement and not to forget running outside is lot cheaper.

 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. (Ecclesiastes 7:8)