TITLE: A Legend Learns to Respect the Distance
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: November 07, 2006  4:37 PM
DESC: 
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   <EM>... that was without a doubt  <BR/>
   the hardest physical thing <BR/>
   I have ever done.  <BR/><BR/>
   -- Lance Armstrong</EM>  </P>

"That" was the
<A HREF="http://www.nycmarathon.org/">
   New York City Marathon</A>,
which Armstrong ran last Sunday.  He is, of course,
world-renown as a seven-time winner of the Tour de France,
which is among the most grueling and physically-challenging
feat of athletic endurance.  I have long admired Armstrong's
accomplishments on the Tour, overcoming the vicissitudes of
competition, the annual challenges from new and younger riders,
and the wear and tear of such a demanding event -- and winning,
not once, not just seven times, but seven <EM>consecutive</EM>
times.  And all this after overcoming a metastasized case of
testicular cancer.

But the marathon offered him a new sort of challenge.  If you
have read much of my writing on
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/cat_5.html">
   running</A>,
then you have seen me say more than once that you have to
"respect the distance".  Running a marathon goes beyond what
the human body is typically configured to do.  It stresses
the body in ways that other physical feats don't often.  I've
never cycled for the distances or remarkable inclines that the
Tour de France requires, but I've cycled enough to know that
it does not stress the joints like running does.  Armstrong
found this out:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
"I think I bit off more than I could chew.  I thought the marathon
would be easier," he said.  "(My shins) started to hurt in the
second half, especially the right one.  I could barely walk up
here, because the calves are completely knotted up."
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

So, all of you fellow runners out there, take heart that even
the greatest athletes find running at the edges of their
endurance and speed daunting.  I take heart, too, that they
fight through the same pain as I, because I know then that I
can do the same.

To be fair to Armstrong, the quote I opened with above starts
with an ellipsis.  The portion of the quote omitted by me --
and most newspapers that highlighted this statement -- is
"For the level of condition that I have now".  So he may be
able to run a faster and more comfortable marathon in the
future, if he reaches a different level of fitness.  I've seen
reports that Armstrong had never previously run more than 16
miles at once, and that he dod no particular speed training
before attempting NYC.

This explains some of Armstrong's struggle, but it raises
another question.  Why didn't he train (better) for the
marathon?  I guess he didn't realize just how much respect
we all have to show the distance.  Perhaps he could learn
something from our old friend Santiago Botero, who
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2005-07.html#e2005-07-04T20_03_04.htm">
   once learned something from Lance</A>:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
His smile said to me, 'I was training while you were sleeping,
Santiago'.  It also said, 'I won this tour four months ago,
while you were deciding what bike frame to use in the Tour.  I
trained harder than you did, Santiago.  I don't know if I
am better than you, but I have outworked you and right now, you
cannot do anything about it.  Enjoy your ride, Santiago. See you
in Paris.'
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

When Armstrong first publicly discussed the possibility of
running a marathon a few years ago, there were two schools
of thought.  Some folks thought that he would be think he
would be a good but not great marathoner -- running something
like the 3:00 race he ran in New York.  Others thought that,
given his great aerobic base and mental toughness, with only
a little training he could run a 2:20 marathon better.  I was
in the second camp -- and still am.  This race only highlighted
the importance of that little bit of training.

And of course, Armstrong's time was still faster than my best
time by 45 minutes.  I have a lot of work yet to do!
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