My Sister vs Pigdog

The incomparable (and mustachioed) Steve Prefontaine owns one of the best running quotes: "A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more." That's what make running so great. But there are tougher challenges I'll never face. I'm proud to say my sister Jean really faced down the Pigdog this week in a 24-hour ordeal. But as the picture shows, the outcome was worth it: my newest nephew, Jack Stamatis. Awesome job. I also expect his genes mean he'll be an endurance athlete.

When Pigs Fly

I made the commitment: I'm running the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati. It was hard to decide which Spring marathon to run -- or even whether to do one -- but a few things made the Pig a good place to face down the Internal Pigdog. 1) My friend Tom is running the race with me. After nearly two years of visiting Indiana but not going to see him in Kentucky, I'll see this nirvana that goes by the name of Lexington. 2) The date. The Pig is on May 4, pretty late in the Spring marathon season. Other races I mulled took place in late March. My training is just not there yet. 3) Early start. The race starts at an eye-popping 6:30am. I might have to get up at 4am to eat, but I probably won't crumple that early.

Training is going well. This week, I ran 36+ miles. My back and ITB are both sore. Guess it's inevitable.

4.75 miles, 33:30

Inside Nike Running

I've always been frustrated by running publications and sites. Runner's World seems all about "five ways to great abs" articles, while most of the sites are race databases or training tools. For a little while, I subscribed to "Marathon and Beyond," an ultra-focused magazine/journal that arrived in a brown paper envelope, a la 1950s porn. I was interested by a post today from Twitter friend David Armano, pointing to Inside Nike Running, an attempt by Nike to capitalize on the success of the Nike+ system with some content. Only problem is, as I told David, the content blows. It's still very marketing-like, and there's no easy way for runners to connect. That's too bad. I think Nike's doing some interesting things supporting running through "brand utilities." One of the best is the Nike Runner's Station, a stand along the Hudson, just south of Chelsea Piers. There, runners can stop for water, Gatorade, gels, bandages, whatever. There are Nike products, but it's more about supporting running. This came in very handy over the weekend, when I needed somewhere to get Gatorade during a long run. Since the vending machines tend to be sketchy, the Runner's Station was a very welcome sight. Nike needs to find a way to take that model online.

6.2 miles, 42:44

Why Run Long?

Four years ago, I went to Brooklyn with Stroh of Arabia for a harebrained adventure: The Cirulnick-Inamarato 50k. It turned out to be a great day. Not only did I handily defeat Stroh on the last lap of a very, very long race, but I got my only running trophy, for third place. The day was also notable because we met Ted Corbitt. I didn't know much about him at the time, but he was a legendary runner. He completed in 199 marathons (including the Olympics) and ultras, only dropping out one time, when he was 75. He would run a mind-boggling 200 miles a week and compete in six-day races. Last week, he died at 88. Frank Litsky's got a great obit, including this great summation from Ted of why to run long.

The marathon demands patience and a willingness to stay with it. You must be willing to suffer and keep on suffering. Running is something you just do. You don’t need a goal. You don’t need a race. You don’t need the hype of a so-called fitness craze. All you need is a cheap pair of shoes and some time. The rest will follow.

5.2 miles, 35:43

Central Park

The hardest part of running a fast marathon is training hard. The temptation is always there to take it easy some days. Central Park can cure that. Maybe it's because there are always people ahead of me that I want to reel in, but I end up running harder there. Not too fast, but at a good pace. I went back there tonight during a 5-mile run at 7:04 pace. Not bad. My near-term goal is to start adding in a long run, with the idea of doing the Manhattan Half Marathon on Jan. 27. Goal: sub-1:30.

5.2 miles, 36:49

Facing Down Unleashed Dogs

I don't hate dogs, but I do dislike dog owners in NYC. Oh, I'm sure most are considerate, but there are so many of them that the minority -- the ones that leave crap all over the UES -- kinda stand out. As a runner, I have a particular uneasiness around the canines. They're dumb and friendly, or they could be amped up and dangerous. I have no clue, but it's impossible to tell when a big down comes lunging at you. Tonight, two big dogs were with their owner -- not pet parent, owner -- and of course they were unleashed. Now, I work, which sadly requires several hours a day. This leaves me evening/night hours to run. All signs in the Riverside Park say "dogs on leash at all times," yet dog owners continue to believe in this myth they can ignore the law when it's dark or early. It's crap. I have a right to run in the park without having unleashed dogs lunge at me. It seems like simple courtesy. What's worse, the owner tonight seemed to find it amusing that I'd be forced to stop to avoid her/him (it was one of those bundled-up androgynous types the UWS specializes in). That made an annoyance into a full-on scrap. The good part is the extra adrenaline helped the final part of the run.

5 miles, 37:20

Not So Slow

I dig my regular Riverside Park running route, but it's bad for telling how fast I'm running. The lights throw me off, and I'm not even sure of the exact distance. Central Park is a great way to tell pace because it has set mileage. My post-marathon plan has been relatively short runs (5 miles) at a pretty good pace. Tonight, I went to Central Park to see how fast I'm going. Because I have to run to the park, I only got an accurate read during the four-mile loop: 28:24, about 7:06 per mile. Not so bad. Of course, to run a 2:59 marathon, I'd need to run over 15 seconds faster per mile for 22 extra miles. Whatever. It's early.

5.25, 36:50

Running for President

Which of the presidential candidates is fittest? Judging by the White House's current occupant, an impressive athletic resume shouldn't exactly be a deciding factor. Still, I can't stand when people like NYT's Gail Collins writes op-ed articles that equate pursuing exercise to wasting time. Anyway, of the current crop of contenders, the most accomplished Republican runner appears to be Mike Huckabee, who turned to running after becoming utterly gargantuan and diabetic. He has three marathons under his belt and is oddly enough planning to run Boston in April. (I can't imagine running for president and training for a marathon at the same time.) The other Republicans are a sorry lot. Giuliani spent his time in NY hurtling through the city in an SUV, not pounding out miles. Romney probably plays squash. McCain has too many injuries from being in a cage for years, so I'll give him a pass. Fred Thompson seems to have a very low resting heart rate, but not from running. Ron Paul's strange enough to be an ultra guy. For the Democrats, John Edwards is by far the most Pre-like. He's a longtime runner and self-described 'addict" who has done five marathons, including one in the respectable neighborhood of 3:30. Probably something about keeping the hair looking nice. I would think Obama would be a runner because of his lanky physique. It turns out he's a smoker. Hillary takes walks. Richardson doesn't look like he's doing many miles.

It might do some good for Transatlantic relations if we do have a runner in the White House. French president Nicholas Sarkozy is fond of going for runs, and so too is Italian prime minister Romano Prodi.

5 miles, 36:40

Recovery Month

I have a bad post-marathon habit: getting hurt. The way it usually goes, I do fine recovering from the race, then start to feel completely out of shape. That's the strange part about marathons: other than the race itself, there's disturbingly little running for about six weeks, considering a three-week taper and three-week recovery. When I finally do start running, naturally it ends up being too much, too soon. I'm trying not to repeat this with low mileage but moderate intensity. Taking into account lights and stuff, my pace is probably at 7:20. But I'm only doing five miles at a clip with no real long runs. I hope to keep it this way through the holidays, aiming for 10-11 days every two weeks. We'll see. My hamstring's a little tight and I get creeping hints of ITB syndrome.

5 miles, 38:20

Back in the Swing

This week, I ran six days for the first time in a while. It reinforced an oddity of training. The fifth straight day running for me is easier because my body is used to it. I'm not running far -- mostly, five miles a go -- but the pace is getting better: today's run was at about 7:20 per mile. My goal for the rest of the year is to do 30 miles per week regularly, which isn't so easy with holiday parties and work obligations. My secondary goal is to stay at 160, another thing that's not as easy when you're out at parties with lots of food and drink. Come the New Year, training starts for real.

5 miles, 36:45.

The 2:59 Project

Watching marathons leads people to make rash vows. Next year, that'll be me. Maybe it was yesterday's race, or more likely the incredible racing and human drama from Saturday's trials, but it got me thinking about what's next for me and running. (Actually, it came up in a very loud, awful bar on the Upper East Side, but it was after a marathon party.) I've now run 10 regular marathons and two 50Ks. I'd like to move up to a 50-miler, eventually run Comrades. But there's something I need to try: running under 3:00. Two years ago, I had my shot. I ran a 1:28 in the first half of the race, and stayed strong. I did a 6:47 mile 22. In my head, I was there. The last few miles are always hard mentally, and I relaxed. There was a twinge in my calf, so why push it and risk a cramp. In the end, it wasn't until after mile 25 that I realized my math was off: the marathon is 26.2, not 26. I finished in 3:01:04 and pissed. My mom actually remarked that I didn't look that exhausted, and she was right. I had more, and I blew it. It's time to fix that, I think. My goal for 2008 is to do 2:59. It's going to be super hard. I'm about 10 pounds heavier than when I ran Philly in 2005. I'll need to lose a couple of those, add more strength to stay strong, and run a lot. This will also give the Pigdog a mission: documenting what could be a yearlong quest to run sub 6:50 miles for 26.2 straight miles. Right now, I'm not even close, but I know I can get there.

Ryan Shay

This morning, Ryan Shay lined up for what might have been the biggest race of his life, a moment he's been working toward for years. Less than an hour and a half later, after collapsing outside the Boathouse, he was dead at 28. Any untimely death is senseless, but I can't help feeling this one is particularly so. His wife and in-laws were there for what could have been a life-defining moment: making an Olympic marathon team. There will be an autopsy, and I'm sure it'll find the same thing that felled Jason Collier and Reggie Lewis: an undetected heart defect. What I can't get over is the timing. Why today? Before idiots start claiming this just proves running marathons is "nuts," remember he was one of the fittest people on the planet, an elite athlete. He was running at a pace that, for him, wasn't all that stressful even. He'd done it so many times before, so why today? We'll never know, of course. I liked what Ryan Hall's coach, who briefly coached Shay, said about him: "If you probably asked him if there was any way he wanted to go, it was out on the race course."