marathons

Getting caught up on all the blogs I wasn’t able to keep up with during my time in New Zealand. I’ve been following California newsmen Ken Ottmar and Jon Segal’s journal of their training for the Big Sur Marathon — but was mildly alarmed that Ken just took two weeks off from his training with just two months to go.

Marathons have humbled me quite a few times — whenever I’ve gotten cocky and haven’t paid them sufficient respect, in fact. It’s not that you get tired (although you do) — it’s that physically, running 26.2 miles is awful taxing on your quads and hamstrings. Unless you’ve prepared well by doing several long training runs of 18-20 miles, you can expect a great deal of leg pain toward the end of the race. (I’ve been forced to walk in several marathons, a humiliating experience). Thankfully, Ken seems to have realized he needs to be more diligent about his training and has some time left.

Also, Army Captain Frank Myers, who is serving a year in Iraq, has registered for the San Francisco Marathon, which will be his first.

By the way — I realize a lot of people would not want to run a marathon — but not much patience for those who say, “Oh, I could never do that.” So much b.s.

Y’know — I’ve written about a torture victim with one leg who ran the New York Marathon. Over 100 guys in their 70s — and nine in their 80s — completed the last NYC Marathon. Fifteen women in their 70s did it too. And there’s a guy in his 90s who runs them. I reckon just about anyone who wants to put in the miles in training could do one.