Friday, June 27, 2008

My Marathon & Beyond story is now out!

At last, my story on my experience at the 2007 Burning River 100 has appeared in the July/August, 2008 issue of Marathon & Beyond--just out. Plus, I got some nice cover ink with "Redemption at the Burning River 100" (the great Ryan Hall, who I predict will medal in Beijing, is pictured on the cover) and they ran my bio with a URL to this blog. Not bad for a day's work. In truth, this was far more than a day's work...far more.

As I previously wrote on this blog, I am extremely excited about the story running for many reasons, not the least of which is that it'll be good for the Burning River 100, which is entering its second year and is looking at drawing close to 200-plus entrants. My hope is that my story may inspire some to try the Burning River 100 or another 100-miler. For me, the BR100 was truly a life-changing event. I realized as I was making my way down Front Street in downtown Cuyahoga Falls, with the finish line in sight, that I'd never look at the world the same again. I just wish Mohican had been a little more enriching, as opposed to an epic struggle with my ailing knee and stomach the last 20 miles. That's 100s for you!

Also, I'm eager to have more of a writer's presence in the running world. This story, like this blog, is a step in that direction. Marathon & Beyond is a prestigious running publication. Every year it publishes a special Boston Marathon issue that the Boston Athletic Association distributes to runners and interested groups.

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In other news, my knee is definitely improving. It's still not great--far from it--but it's better. The pain has diminished markedly, but my leg now feels like of "weak," which means I'm still a few days from going on a test run of about a mile or so. I'm sticking with my doctor's appointment unless I wake up on Monday morning and feel like a million bucks.

Once my knee is 100%, I'm going to go back to my Cleveland Marathon training formula minus the two-a-days every day as I don't have time for that right now with Noah and all. I need to start preparing now for my fall marathon. My planned formula will be:

Monday: Easy/off (I always give myself the option of taking Monday off)
Tuesday: Mile repeats at the track
Wednesday: Easy
Thursday: Tempo run
Friday: Easy
Saturday: Long trail run
Sunday: Long road run

Previously, I was doing my intervals and tempo runs on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, since on Tuesdays I was still really tired from long mileage from the weekend and needed an extra day of recovery. I'm going to try to go to a Tuesday/Thursday quality workout schedule as I think it's nice to have Friday as an easy day. I'm going to try to hit at least 70 miles per week and then, when Noah's settled in and this colic is behind us, up the mileage to 80-100+.

Onward and upward!

4 comments:

  1. Wyatt,

    glad to hear your knee is 'on the mend.' You ran a pretty fast 100 miles at Mohican, so its not surprising your knee sustained some trauma. Congrats on your article in Marathon & Beyond! I'm looking forward to reading it. Say 'hi' to Anne.

    Barb

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  2. Congrats on the article in 'Marathon and Beyond'. I need to get a copy. How's the knee? Did you keep the appointment? What was the diagnosis?

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  3. I was thinking about your latest entry while I was running today. You're right, there are limits. It is inspiring to say, "There are no limits", but a more accurate phrase might be, "Push Your Limits." My point is that you if you don't put yourself out there, you will never find those limits. And the limits are always changing, you can push the limits further and further, as you have proven with everything you did building up to Mohican, and the actually running of the race.

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  4. Frank: I like that...push your limits. This knee injury has certainly taught me a lesson. I get injured like everyone and am not impervious to knee problems and the like. I need to take care of myself--even more so than before--and not over-race. This is tough when you're a SERC member, as you know. SERC goes at once pace--hard. We don't take breaks and we don't taper. The whole experience has been humbling, to say the least. But today things got better as I took my first steps in my running shoes after 12 days of not running at all.

    Wyatt

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