Self-Transcendence Marathon: 5:35:40 (PR)

Photo by Carl Cox

Going into this past Tuesday's Self-Transcendence Marathon, I didn't have high hopes for breaking six hours. My training has been really lacking for a couple of months due to loss-of-motivation over the unexplained decrease in performance that has started in March and has gradually gotten worse with very little to show for it. Add to that the fact that I've literally not done a long run since May, and I knew I was screwed.

Also doing this race were my friends and coworkers Cathy and Scott. It was to be their first marathon.

Tony wisely advised that I go out and do a cycle of 8 minutes running and 2 minutes walking from the very start of the race, and I took that advice. I am familiar with that strategy and know it produces results, but have never tried it because I simply prefer to run. However, I knew that I had to do something in this race or else I'll struggle through the second half of the race in an epic suffer-fest that I normally don't experience until after 40 miles as opposed to 14.

As it happened, I was able to keep up the run/walk cycle all the way until half-way through lap 7 (out of 9), averaging between 11:30 and 13:00 per mile for the first 22 miles or so. At about mile 22, I simply didn't start running again when I was supposed to, and walked the next 1.5 miles. Just before the start of my last lap, Cathy was finishing hers and I ran with her and watched her finish. I then resumed walking for about a mile, and then put on some music and ran most of the last two miles.

By the halfway point it was apparent that if I didn't crash too hard (which was a big if), I was destined to PR (Previous PR was 5:43:59) and was actually on pace to break 5:30, perhaps even 5:25. This was either really good news or really bad news - it could have meant that I went out too fast and might pay for it later. As it happened, we split the difference - I didn't break 5:30 (mostly because of walking that eighth lap), but also picked up a new PR with over 8 minutes to spare.

I've gotta wonder - what kind of time would I have produced in a marathon if I tried running 8/2s back when 10 minutes per mile felt like 12 minutes per mile does now?

Steve is taking a break from writing regular updates to this blog.

Race Preview - Self Transcendence Marathon

On Tuesday morning I will once again run the Self-Transcendence Marathon.

It will be my third time running this particular race, and my 22nd marathon or ultramarathon finish. This is the only marathon held in the county that I live in, and not produced by the local running club, but rather an eastern religious organization based in Queens. It's so logistically easy that I can't help but run it. In fact, like both of the previous two times I've run it, I intend this year to go to work in the afternoon after running the marathon in the morning.

The course, which is all asphalt and completely flat, consists of nine laps around Rockland Lake. People sometimes comment that it sounds unimaginably boring, but I never thought so. Over the years, I've probably run around Rockland Lake several hundred times, and I still enjoy going for runs there. For some reason, like a big bowl of macaroni with garlic and butter, I just find running the 2.96 mile course very comfortable. And a lot healthier.

My first time going around Rockland Lake, in 2005, with 1-year-old joey in the backpack.

Anyway, my marathon PR (5:43:59) was set at this race last year. I'm kind of out of shape, so I don't expect to get another PR this year, but who knows. I plan to do 8 minutes running/2 minutes walking routine for as long as I can maintain it. I've never taken a run/walk strategy in a race, so perhaps it'll work well, and I'll surprise myself and do better than my conditioning would normally allow.

However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention one of the most exciting aspects of Tuesday's race - my friend Cathy is running it, too - it's her first marathon! And she's going to smoke me.. (:


Steve is taking a break from regular updates to this blog

Yes, something like that..

When I complain about the problems I've had lately, I imagine my ultrarunning friends thinking,

Greets to the daily what (pardon my french, by the way)

and in retrospect, if they were really thinking that, they were right.

I still can't explain the problems I was having, but despair and loss of motivation were not the answer.


Reminds me of a quote I pulled off the ultra list:

Q: How do you prepare for a 100-miler? A: Be the toughest person you can be. If you've had the worlds shittiest day and its now 100 degrees out and everything sucks...go for a 20 miler and show the world who's boss. - Mike

New entries for Steve's blog are published on Mondays and Thursdays at 10:00am NY time