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