My cousin Brad, a year younger than me, just ran the NYC Marathon. His dad (and my mom's brother), has always been a runner and has probably run close to 40 marathons and done an Iron Man. But Brad didn't start running until college I believe and I think it was a big life change for him. I need to ask him what his first marathon time was, but since then, he hasn't stopped running and improving. And when I say running, I don't mean jogging, I mean RUNNNNNING.
He just ran the NYC Marathon, with 40,000 entrants, and here is his ranking for men:
| 112 | 1632 | Brad ***** | 02:40:06 | NY | United States | USA |
Let me tell you what this means--he ranked 112th out of men and I believe 134th overall. Did you hear me say 40,000 runners??????
He ran this marathon in 2007 and the pic above is from that race--he finished in 3:18 then. That's a big difference, and still fast.
I'm floored. I've been floored with his results the past few years as he continues to get faster and faster and places higher and higher. I just heard that the NYC marathon is a tough one too. I'd love to see what he could do on the St. George course! Oh, and when I asked how he felt the next day he said a little sore, but not bad. Apparently he was very well conditioned. Yeah, I'd say.
Too bad this isn't a genetic thing, from the sounds of it, it's mostly just a ton of work. I don't know the mileage he puts in every week, but I do know that he never takes a single day off--the day after a marathon he still runs a couple of miles. Part of me says, "I wish I could run that fast" but then it's like with any other talent or big success, I'd have to be willing to put in all the hours of hard, hard work into it (and really, still wouldn't be that fast, just faster than usual).
Pretty stinkin awesome.
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Yeah--I keep thinking I want to run a marathon, and then I go run ten miles and think NO I DON'T. But you've already run three!!! Mostly it's just that I don't know how I could make the time. My brother-in-law gets up at 3:30 AM so he can run 20 miles before work--I don't think I could do that and still function the rest of the day.
I love speedwork. I'm still not very fast--an 8-minute mile is really good for me!!--but I have noticed a real difference in my "comfort pace" over the last couple of years as I've built in more speedwork and interval training.
I don't think I will ever be a competitive runner--actually, I KNOW I will never be a competitive runner because it's hard for me to fit in 30 miles a week, let alone two or three hundred--but I'm a lot faster and stronger than I was when I really started running 3 years ago, and that's enough for me. :-)
So are you ever going to blog about your half? And are you still running right now? I think I need to get a maternity running belt...any recommendations?
You can totally run a marathon without doing 20 miles before work and getting up at 3:30am!! I trained at a fairly beginners level from Hal Higdon for my first one, then more rigorous for my second one--rigorous for me, but definitely a small fraction of what elite athletes put in! Then I cut waaay back for my third and only ran on Tues/Thur mornings 4 miles each and then did the lowest mileage on beginners plans for the weekends and occasionally less. I think that was possible because I had a good foundation, but still, it's totally possible to do one without much mileage in the week. Even when I trained for my second one, I think my biggest mileage week was just under 50 miles.
I should write about my half, so I think I will now:). I haven't run a step, unless it's after my kids, since then though. I promptly put myself on a couch with morning sickness and now that I'm feeling better nausea wise, my body still aches from the growing pains, so I don't run. I've heard those belts really help though. If you get one, tell me!
Afton you're just as awesome.
Afton you're just as awesome.
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