First day of training

 

Here it is - the NYC Marathon map.  If you have a subscription to the New York Times, here’s a great article about what to expect on the course.

The article emphasizes the neighborhoods you pass through, and weirdly, the changes in elevation.  Representative quote from the story:

Look, this is New York.  If it were an easy place to exist, everyone would live here and run uphill on Mile 26 across Central Park South.  That’s not how we roll.  If you don’t like it, there’s a quiet, flat marathon somewhere else that will have you. Have fun running in silence for four hours (or more).  

He’s right - there are some long stretches where you just seem to be on an unrelenting five degree slope for miles, not to mention the bridges you have to cross.  But it’s not a California or Hawaii marathon with mountainous terrain - the elevation changes are just a little spice to make the distance slightly more interesting.

This can be somewhat difficult to replicate here in Houston.  Memorial Park, the ground zero for building your mileage, is flat and the granite paths are easy on your joints.  As far as I know, if you want long stretches of incline, you have to leave Houston for the bay bridges.

Art may know better - he’s run everywhere here and probably knows a hilly park somewhere in town.  But that’s for another day.  My training starts slow and level.  

Today.

______________________

The first step

This is me at 4:13 p.m. about to head out for my first official training walk.  When I asked my wife to take the picture to commemorate the initiation of my NYC Marathon training, she did a double take.

“You’re doing a half-marathon?”

“Full.”

“Hmmmm.”  I sensed some skepticism.  “When is the race?”

“Didn’t you read my blog?”

“No, did you send me a link?”

“Yes!”  I said, a little perturbed.  

I went on. “The race is in November of next year.”

“Oh!  Next year!”  She had apparently been under the impression that I was planning to run in a couple of months, so she cheered up. “Good!”

We went outside and took the picture.  I then turned on my earbuds, started my audiobook, and strode off.  

I had originally intended to mix some short sprints amid the long walk, but when Art called me this afternoon to check on me, he steered me away from any running today.  “Get used to the distance first,” he said.

So it was just a pleasant walk through my neighborhood in an unseasonably warm (82 degrees) November afternoon. My shoes (Hokas) were mostly comfortable, but about three miles in, I started feeling a muscle pull in my left quadriceps. Nothing really bad, but just kind of uncomfortable. I need to find out why is this happening.

When I got home, I was feeling parched and more tired than I thought I’d be.  But after some cold water, a spaghetti dinner, and family time, I felt fine.

See you tomorrow!