I think some people believe I am crazy. I mean, they’ve told me so as recently as this week. I’m not buying it, but for those who want to think so, the topic of this week’s crazy is my running journey. Less than 48 hours after arriving home from Antarctica, I ran my first ever half marathon. Then, a week later (this past Sunday), I ran a 10K in 18-degree weather. Ambitious? Yes. Crazy? No.
I mean, what’s wrong with pushing your body to its limits? After all, that’s what leads to progress. I have some experience with the alternative too. At another point in my life, I may have returned from Antarctica and rested for a week. The first day or two may have been necessary, but after that, it would just be inertia. Once our excursions ended on the cruise, I got rest and a massage to prepare my body for the upcoming race, and I even took three consecutive days off from working out before the half-marathon – the first time since April 2023 that I skipped three days in a row! Physically, I was ready to run the race. Even if I wasn’t, there were plenty of reasons why running my first half-marathon two days after Antarctica was anything but crazy.
Despite my warnings about the danger of goals, I have them. As you know, I intend to run the 2025 NY Marathon. I don’t know if I can do it. I can’t know that until November 2. But I do know that the best shot I have is by pushing my limits and doing everything in my power to be ready. It’s not just about knowing if I can run 26.2 miles. There are so many more variables. Will it be cold? Who knows? All I can do is get used to running in the cold. Almost certainly it won’t be 28 degrees like it was when I arrived for the half marathon, nor will it be 18 degrees like this past Sunday’s race, but running in these temperatures will prepare me for however cold it is. Will it rain? Again, who knows? But what that means is that on days when I wake up and see it’s raining, I say, “it’s time to go for a run.” Will I be tired? I have no idea. I do well at planning to get the right amount of sleep before races, but I’ve never had to try that with the excitement of running a marathon the next day. Plus, I could never know ahead of time how rested and ready I’ll be on a particular day so far away. All I can do is make sure to train when I’m tired. Doing all of this is making me more comfortable with running. After all, I really just started back at it a year ago.
But then there’s running in pain. I have no doubt whatsoever that the marathon will be painful even if I am rested, ready, and injury-free. If I am in any pain going in, it will be magnitudes worse, and I would, of course, have to consider the risks. But even in peak shape, there are risks. It will hurt. And pain is the body’s way of telling you to stop what you are doing that’s hurting it. That doesn’t automatically mean stop running. It could mean anything from running slower to hydrating more. But the experience of running in pain will teach me how to best address it when it happens. And it most certainly happened during the half marathon!
On Sunday January 26, I woke up totally refreshed and recovered. When it was time for the race in Central Park, I felt awesome. I typically go into any long race feeling nervous, but this time I was not the least bit anxious. I decided to give it all that I had. I wanted to run the race in under two and a half hours. As the race began, I ran comfortably at a much faster pace than expected, and I decided to see if I could break 11 minutes per mile. That would mean finishing in just over 2:24:00. I averaged around 10:45 per mile for the first 10 miles of the 13.1, although it was not easy keeping it up after a while. My longest run before this one was the 12-mile race I ran last August in Central Park. That was two laps around the park. I ran that race just trying to finish and took it easy throughout with plenty left in the tank to go harder at the finish. This time, I ran harder throughout, and I knew after my first six-mile lap around the park that it felt more challenging. Still, I kept going at my pace for another four miles before it truly got uncomfortable. At mile 10, I could no longer run as hard. Knowing that above all, I had to finish this race, I slowed to a pace of 11:19 for mile 10. Then 11:30 for mile 11. And then 12:05 for mile 12 which included a third time up Harlem Hill – the steepest and hardest part of running in the park. In fact, let me talk about that a bit more . . .
I see Harlem Hill as the challenge that defines running in Central Park. During my early running days when I weighed about 100 lbs. more than I do now, I couldn’t run the hill. I would inevitably have to walk part of it. It was too steep for me to carry that weight while running. This half-marathon’s course was particularly cruel in that it included three times up the hill, the last of which was during mile 13. The first run up Harlem Hill was less than a mile into the race and it was easy. I owned that hill! The next time up just shy of mile seven went even faster. I knew that it was harder than my second time up the hill during the 12-mile August race – the only other time I had run it twice – but it was supposed to be harder. This time, I was trying to set a time. Even so, I still owned that hill the second time up! Then came the third time up Harlem Hill at the point in the race when everything was hurting. This was unchartered territory in so many ways. I had less than a mile to go, and my tank was nearly empty. I was learning how to get comfortable with running uncomfortably, but the hill was painful, and it took me back to those early runs years ago. I felt like I was carrying an extra 100 lbs. again. Thoughts crept into my head that I should walk it like many others were doing at the time, but I refused. Deep down, I could not give in to anything that would bring me back to those running days. All I kept saying to myself up that hill was, “Don’t walk this, Aaron!” And I didn’t walk it! I may not have owned the hill that third time up, but it did not own me either!
The hill peaked just before I reached mile-13, and I was home-free for the last few tenths of a mile to the finish. I did it! Was I in pain? Yes! Was it the worst I ever felt from running? Far from it! I can put this pain in perspective because the pain I felt nearly 10 years ago was so bad that it made me quit running. This time, it was just growing pains. I had a few cramps during the day even with my proper hydration, and I was quite sore for another day. Given how confident I was going into this race, it humbled me. You see, deep down, I’ve already (dangerously) set a goal of finishing the NY Marathon in under five hours. Sure, my first goal is simply to finish. I believe I’ll accomplish that one. But as of right now, I feel like I have no chance of running a sub-five hour marathon. I finished this race in 2:27:27.
