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NYC 2003 - My First Marathon
by Chris Lear

Chris Lear

Over the next 11 weeks, Chris Lear, a Colorado-based full-time sales representative and freelance writer, will be sharing his training diary as he prepares to run in this year's edition of the ING New York City Marathon — his marathon debut. Lear, like the vast majority of this year's entrants, is not a full-time runner. Yet, as for most of the competitors running this year's event, November 2 will nonetheless represent the culmination of months of hard work and planning. Each finisher, in the end, will have his or her own story to tell. In coming weeks, Lear will share with you his story: his goals, dreams, triumphs, and disappointments as he prepares to tackle the 26.2-mile behemoth for the first time. He hopes you'll enjoy the ride…

Entry #1, August 14, 2003

Well here we are, only 11 weeks out from what I'm calling "NYC 2003," or the 2003 edition of the ING New York City Marathon. Like thousands of others in this year's race, NYC 2003 will be my first attempt at the marathon. Chances are, most of these rookies are now in the midst of their training regimens.

I (gulp) am not.

I hadn't intended for this to be the case. Like many of this year's marathoners, I first conceptualized competing in NYC 2003 many months ago, and in early spring I even embarked on a crash training program to try to gain an automatic qualifier for this year's race. That training block culminated in late April, when I drove from my apartment in Boulder, Colorado, to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, in hopes of running under 1:16 for the half-marathon and securing my entry into this year's field. I entered the race feeling as though a 1:16 was within my reach. Alas, I fell less than a minute short of the automatic standard, running 1:16:50.

I took a few days off to lick my wounds, resigned as I was to be relegated to the lottery. And as I waited to learn whether or not I had gained entry to NYC 2003, I contemplated the longstanding relationship I had with the New York City Marathon. That relationship began in 1987, when as knobby-kneed, buck-toothed, mullet-sporting 13-year-old I made the quick commute from North Jersey to New York City to watch my mother run the New York City Marathon, her first marathon, for the first time. Though I'd been to New York City on other occasions, it never seemed as alive to me as it did on that day. The thousands of runners and hordes of spectators created an electric atmosphere the likes of which I had never before witnessed. Though I would return to watch the New York City Marathon in years to come, it was on that day that I first told myself that one day I would run this too.

After a lucky roll of the dice, this year I learned my time would be now. I was chomping at the bit then to commence a 16-week marathon training program come July. Alas, as is often the case, life got in the way of my best intentions. I was hit with a triple whammy: a new job (in pharmaceuticals), a new home (my first), in a new town (Colorado Springs), that effectively put a monkey wrench in my plans.

Finally, just over a week ago, as I prepared to return to northern New Jersey for job training, I began my marathon training program in earnest. As I write, my quads ache from the mere act of running every day. And the sheer malleability of my muscles makes me cringe at the thought of running for 26.2 miles. I can only hope my muscles sufficiently harden to the task over the next 11 weeks.

I took my first big step in that direction yesterday, when in I trotted through the streets of Madison, New Jersey, for 90 minutes, my longest run since late April. I finished drenched in sweat, a feeling I'm somewhat unaccustomed to now after having spent the last five years in the dry climate of Colorado, and I finished knowing right now I'd be hard pressed to merely finish the marathon on November 2. But I finished nonetheless.

For now, that's my goal on November 2: to finish. Should my training regimen progress according to plan in coming weeks, I may set my sights higher and think in terms of a desired time. But I'd be kidding myself if I even speculated a time right now.

One step at a time.

Yours in running,
Chris
     
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