Local Coverage of Boston

I was asked to provide an interview about my Boston Marathon experience to my local town newspaper, the Carlisle Mosquito, a couple of weeks ago. I spoke with the reporter for about 45 minutes; she seemed intrigued by a lot of what I was talking with her about regarding the science of the sport.

Anyway, attached is what ended up in the paper a week ago for my neighbors to read, in case you're interested. Nothing profound for all of you as veterans of the sport, for sure. Some of the thoughts seem a little "clipped." Not misquoted, but meaning that more context was provided that ended up on the cutting room floor. But, all in all, I'm happy with what she chose to include, within the limitations of the column inches, especially the thought that Boston is a "community event on a world stage." Now that I live here, that really is an apt description for how it feels. Maybe residents in the cities that host the other Marathon Majors feel the same way, I don't know.

If you're wondering about the name of the newspaper, well, by way of explanation, we're about to break ground on a reno to fully enclose our screened porch. They're THAT bad here.

“I had seen an article in the Wall Street Journal about being able to run a marathon on 35-40 miles a week. I was 6’5” and over 200 pounds at the time, so I wasn’t the typical marathoner. I did it as part of an overall campaign to increase my fitness. I’ve been specifically training for this one since 2009. This is my last.

I ran Chicago in 2010 as a qualifying race on a hot day, so I went into this one with a tremendous advantage. I already knew how my body would react to the heat. I ran my plan based on my heart rate, not on the clock. It’s actually the downhills that present the greatest challenge. Eccentric breaking force puts pressure on your quadriceps. You won’t feel it until you hit the uphill…it catches up to you at the 20-mile mark—it’s called the Wall. The Wall is the point where your body switches over to burning mostly fat for fuel. It happens about three hours into a run, once you’ve exhausted your muscle glycogen. You can train yourself to learn to make that transition easier by going on longer training runs. I had gone 26 miles on a training run.

A large part of preparing is to anticipate all those things so they don’t come as a surprise to you on race day. I have a 12-year-old son, and I wanted to show him that you have to finish what you start. I wanted to quit after one mile. It’s mental anguish…it’s not possible to feel good while you’re running a marathon if you’re doing it anywhere near your race pace. I kept thinking about not wanting to give in to set an example for my son. I did end up in the medical tent. My legs cramped up after I finished. They gave me ice and Gatorade and I was back on my feet in ten minutes. It took everything I had. It’s taken a week for it to sink in…the level of accomplishment I had. It’s hard to walk away satisfied when the numbers clicking when you go by that final clock are not what you expect them to be.

The feeling of running the Boston Marathon is unique. It has a nickname of the people’s Olympics. You’re there with a level of crowd support, and the enthusiasm that the Boston crowd brings to the event is unequalled. It’s a huge community event on a world stage.

It’s never too late to push yourself outside your comfort zone. It doesn’t have to be physical. Just stretch your capabilities outside the place you might otherwise be comfortable. Running is not a sport that rewards you with instant gratification. It takes a lot of time to train your body.”

Full article is here

http://www.carlislemosquito.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2413

That was a really well done article! Really cool profiles on each of them, including you. I thought your quotes, even if shortened, were really good. The concluding paragraph of yours was excellent:

It’s never too late to push yourself outside your comfort zone. It doesn’t have to be physical. Just stretch your capabilities outside the place you might otherwise be comfortable. Running is not a sport that rewards you with instant gratification. It takes a lot of time to train your body.”

Ok, but how much does it suck that Keegan Skidmore got you by 2 minutes!?! You could have been Carlisle's winner! Find that guy at the next local race and dust him!

And 39 Bostons in a row for that other guy? Whoa. I'm at 3 and would like to keep running it every year but that's off in another universe!

Chris M wrote:Ok, but how much does it suck that Keegan Skidmore got you by 2 minutes!?! You could have been Carlisle's winner! Find that guy at the next local race and dust him!

Not likely. He's 29 and ran a 2:51 in Boston last year. Followed that witha 2:49 in NYC. Meaning, he was off by 33 - 35 minutes in his time. I figure I was off by less than he was even though he has 25 years on me.

In the words of Eminem, "I'm the second best I can deal with that."

Nice article, Martin. I think she caught the gist of it all. And I'm with Chris, you need to dust that Keegan guy.

For some reason, I thought you lived west of the city, not to the north. My bad. Maybe the mosquitos in Carlisle are bad, but not like here . Glad to see you around these parts.

Congrats on the article, Martin! As the others have said, it seemed to be well written and if it reflected the gist of what you were trying to say that's about all you could have hoped for. Very cool!

I too am glad to see you posting here. Now if you could simply transfer to me some of your natural speed.....