3 Days Until the ING Miami Marathon

In 3 days I, along with 14999 other people, will be halfway across the MacArthur Causeway. The sun will be peering between the cruise ships in the port of Miami and my head will likely have exploded. I am sick. I have the sort of head cold that makes Kleenex & SinuTab stockholders very rich people. I am confident that my leaky, on the verge of exploding head syndrome will magically disappear by race morning, so no worries.

More importantly; I have designed a fairly unconventional training program for this particular race and have had three devoted and highly skilled runners volunteer to play guinea pig for the last 12 weeks. Christi, Mary and Amy, thank you very much for having faith in my program and I am extremely confident that you will all run a great race!! You have worked very hard and it will all pay off in 3 days. Good luck, run smart, run fast and we'll see you at the finish line!

Here are a couple of marathon tips that have come to my attention either through experience, reading or the rumor-mill. I am feeling particularly generous this morning:

1. Nothing new on race day, with a couple of exceptions: a. compression calf guards b. well, that's all really.

2. Stay hydrated. Along with the potential risk of being rushed to the hospital, dehydration poses other risks: a. 2% dehydration results in 8-33% decrease in endurance performance. b. horrifying muscle cramps.

3. Tip from unnamed ultra-marathoner: if you can feel (or hear) water sloshing around in your stomach you may need electrolytes & slow down on the H2O intake.

4. Warm-up by running fast but short. Warming up with a couple of pickups will not only loosen you up but it will make your marathon pace seem comfortable.

5. Don't let the excitement of the start dictate your pace. Almost everyone starts the marathon a little fast. Hold back a little, it's a lot more fun to pass those fools when they're gasping for air than it is to keep up with them at the start. Be confident in your pacing strategy, 26.2 (and 13.1) is a long way.

6. Keep a PMA. That's right, I said it, Positive Mental Attitude. But seriously, only positive thoughts while racing. Whenever you're having a negative thought, smile and replace it with something positive. Try repeating "I'm strong, I'm fast and I'm gonna kick your . . .", you get the idea. Only positives on race day. You've trained hard, you're prepared, RACE THAT WAY.

There are roughly 468,00 marathon tips out there. It is fairly likely that at least 3 of them should have made this list.


Good luck to my loyal training partners! Your competition will RUE the DAY!

ING Miami Marathon: Half Empty or Full

Albert Einstein once said "The true measure of a man is the degree to which he has managed to subjugate his ego." I know this, because I was there. It was a Sunday afternoon in 1903 in a Swiss Patent Office. True story.

Back to the task at hand; after learning the definition of 'manage' I was able to put his quote into context, and I came to a stark realization. That realization: I am confident I wouldn't register on Albert Einstein's Ego Subjugation Scale, aptly named The ASS. It was not until 1912 that the letter E became the most used letter in the English language. Go figure.

Last year during training for the Miami Marathon, I suffered a psoas injury. The psoas is a muscle that controls flexion in the hip, a muscle fairly integral to putting one foot in front of the other in an expedited fashion. By the time the marathon rolled around my persuasive mind had convinced my meek & feeble body that I was healed and completely ready for the impending 26.2. Around mile 11 my body had a few choice words for my mind. Precisely at that moment, Dr. Ego reared his ugly head, with his lavish pinstriped blazer, white-knuckling a rocks-glass of scotch, puffing on a Cuban, looking mighty dapper. Standing a foreboding 5ft 8in tall, he bellowed "Come on, you're fine, nothing a quick little stretch won't fix. Get movin', Sally." (Yes, that sorry looking character playing my ego is a doctor.)

Mesmerized by Dr. Ego's ability to make even an insult sound inspirational, I continued on. I will be no man' Sally today. Passing the exit to the finish line of the half, I heard that distinct evil laughter; Dr. Ego: 1, Eric: 0. Luckily, the pain took its time building, I only had to run the last 6 miles with a horrifyingly painful limp. I know, I know, you're probably saying to yourself, "Not you Eric, you exist clearly in an ego free zone". Well my friends, unbeknownst to you, I go toe to toe with Dr. Ego every day and he has a nasty right cross.

I sit here writing this, again, awe-inspiring post to mitigate my risk of a repeat performance. Although I am healthy this year, the marathon represents a likely over-training scenario for me. As I wrote that last sentence I can here that evil little voice in the bowels of my existence whispering "You'll be fine, you're a machine, a marathon won't have an adverse affect on you. Just don't taper as much and only take two days off afterward, no fitness lost and then you don't have to do 1/2 of what you said you would do. Remember Denzel Washington in John Q? Do you remember what he told his son who was on the verge of death? 'Always do what you say you are going to do,' have some damn integrity!!"

As I mentioned, I am writing this post to evoke a high degree of anonymous accountability for myself. There comes a point in every man's life when he reaches a fork in the road. My fork; a left turn to 13.1 or a right (it's actually straight, but for the sake of this analogy, we'll go with right) to 26.2 and all of its consequences. That sharp left turn leading to the finish under the 13.1 sign represents an ego-free zone for me. I think Zoolander said it best when he said 'I can't turn left'.

I don't think this post could have been any more convoluted, but I'll see what I can do next week.

Keep on keepin' on.

A New Year & 20 Days to ING Miami Marathon

It has been an interesting last couple of weeks to say the least. I can't decide which is stranger, running past two people 'physically' expressing their love to each other on the golf course or waking up one morning to be informed that I was sleep stretching, an interesting phenomenon that is exactly as the name suggests, actively stretching your muscles while sleeping. Christi brought to my intention that I had performed both the butterfly stretch and the knee to chest stretch while sleeping. I'm fairly confident that this warrants a generous research grant and it's own team of full time scientists.

In retrospect, the marathon training hasn't gone exactly as planned. First of all, I started the training program a mere 9 weeks ago with, be prepared for an understatement, mild back pain. I couldn't run 1 mile without my low back locking up and bringing me to a screeching halt. As time passed, and I implemented, finally, the program designed by the world's foremost expert in physical therapy, Steve Dischiavi, I began to feel better. Two weeks later, the Weston Rotary Half Marathon. 3rd place; respectable.

The 5 weeks since the 13.1 has been a tumultuous journey, both mentally and physically. Stress is an interesting thing, one day its a motivator, the next its debilitating. Stress is a dark, dangerous, and destructive beast. It's evil presents without logic or reason, preying on you during moments of weakness and vulnerability. The funny thing is, not so much funny, more sad, stress is completely internal. We create our own stress, it is merely a response to stimuli. Perception is everything.

In the last three Ironman training books I have read there is an impassioned 'warning' pertaining to an early triathlon season marathon. The warning heeds: marathons involve high volume, long distance, a big taper, and a fairly lengthy recovery period. Add all of those up and you are looking at a three week net loss in triathlon fitness. A staggeringly high opportunity cost; not exactly ideal.

I hadn't decided whether it was going to be the half or full for me in a little less than three weeks, until I wrote this gut wrenching and very moving post. Although I am confident I could have run my fastest marathon ever this year, 'could have' being the operative words, I have chosen to downgrade my marathon to a hopefully speedy and enjoyable 13.1. That leaves Christi and Mary in the A division, Justin, Victoria, Whitney, Carla, Rich, Roberto, Amy and I in the B division and Pat, Scott, Gord and Joe bringing up the rear in the S division (spectator that is;-).

See you on race morning, road.