26 Letters to Stephen: 3

June 15, 2013

Dear Stephen,

Week one of marathon training complete. One down, 17 to go.

At the beginning of the week, I had settled on doing one 3-mile run, one speed workout, one bike commute, one long run, and two strength training sessions each week. After this week, though, I might be changing my mind.

It was raining on Monday morning, so I did the elliptical instead. Then I did strength training Tuesday morning and ran with the Scouts Tuesday night. Wednesday I did strength training again.

The trouble started on Thursday. I went to the track workout with the Scouts. In the middle of my 4^th or 5^th 400-meter repeat, I got some cramping in my hamstrings. One of them was really, really sore all day Friday and still not great this morning. I had that really horrible feeling of not knowing whether or not I should run.

It didn’t hurt that much, but would running make it worse? It wouldn’t be a big deal to miss a 6-miler, but how could I skip my very first run with the training group?

In the end, I decided to run. I feel ok right now. I’m sore, but not alarmingly so. I just hope I don’t regret it tomorrow.

An injured hamstring isn’t a devil I’ve handled before. I hate the unknown. This is exactly what I didn’t want to feel this time around. Perhaps I skip speed training next week.

The good news is that I think I am really going to like running with CARA. The group leader and all the women in my group are really nice.

I thought of you this morning when the pace groups were working themselves out. How fast did you run, anyway? I know it was a hell-of-a-lot faster than me. Maybe 8-minute miles? Sorry I’m slowing you down. But maybe you would like running with all women, anyway.

I miss you buddy.

26 Letters to Stephen: 2

Letter #2

June 3, 2013

Dear Stephen,

On Saturday, I went to a marathon clinic. It was the official kickoff of my training program. I was really excited about it beforehand. In the end, I was rather underwhelmed.

There were two tracks for the clinic: novice and advanced. I certainly don’t consider myself an advanced marathoner, so I chose novice. That may have been a mistake. The novice track was, understandably, geared toward first-time marathoners. I figured the clinic would cover some things I already knew, but I thought that it wouldn’t hurt me to hear it again. Plus, I made so, so many mistakes last time. Surely these experts would tell me some new things that would help me along the way.

Instead, the clinic felt like a regurgitation of everything I read on the Internet when I trained by myself last time.

You must follow the training plan! Really? I tried to follow the training plan last time, and I was always injured. In the end, I realized that standardized beginning training plans just doesn’t work for me. They cover too many miles. So why are these experts insisting that following this plan to the letter is going to work for every single person in the room?

You should be drinking Gatorade at every aid station, not water! Really? Gatorade has always made me feel sick while I am running. After extensive experimentation, I have found that water and energy chews every five miles are what work for me. I’ve never had an issue with dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, or sodium deficiency. I choose the fueling method that doesn’t make my stomach cramp, thank you very much. I found the best thing for me, and it isn’t the thing you’re insisting is best for everyone.

Be careful of your posture, arm swing, and footstrike! You should be foam rolling! By all means, continue throwing out jargon without any clear explanation of what any of it means. Definitely show videos of poor running form without saying anything about how to correct poor running form. Tell us all about the physiological effects of foam rolling without demonstrating how to use a foam roller. That’s very helpful.

I admit that I’m being more than a little snarky, but I was very frustrated by the end. Instead of feeling like training with a group is going to make it easier this time, I walked out feeling like I need to gear myself up for a fight.

It’s going to be a summer of standing my ground. I can’t take everything they say as gospel. I know better. I am sure their plan will help a lot of people across the finish line. It’s just not my way across the finish line.

It made me sort of sad to come to the realization that the experts don’t know all the answers. It would be comforting to believe that there is someone who will always have a definitive answer about what to do. But the truth is, everyone is just making the best guesses that they can.

That includes me. I decided a long time ago that I was going to run this marathon for you, but I don’t really know if this is something you would have wanted. I’m just making my best guess.

It’s a guess. An 18-week, 26.2-mile guess. A gesture. An attempt to make a tribute to you.  

I hope you like it.