Bottom Of The Barrel

Last 20 is out of the way

This morning I ran my last 20 miler before the Chicago Marathon. It was a beautiful morning and I feel pretty good right now but I am glad that it is behind me and now I can focus on the BAA Half Marathon next weekend and the big one on the 22nd. Ironically I will be in Chicago [more specifically a hotel next to O'Hare Airport] this week but I'm pretty sure a trip downtown is not going to happen. Oh Well.

Not sure if anyone saw this, but Lance Armstrong is running the ING New York City Marathon on November 5th. There is a nice Q & A with Lance in Runners World magazine and here are a few things I took away from the article:

- "Literally years of no running and then running again regularly, it's been a little harder on my body than I thought." [Yeah it is]
- "I wouldn't say running is an obsession, but I run to stay fit and running the New York City Marathon is a big goal." [Completing a marathon IS the big goal for a runner]
- "New York is the biggest and greatest in the world." [I'll assume he was referring to the City not the Race because the NYC Marathon boasts 35,000 runners while Chicago has 40,000!!]
- "To me, music is a great enhancement to exercise." [Yeah it is - again]
- "I listen to a lot of music, a lot of it is pretty angry. Not metal, but high-energy like Linkin Park and bands like that." [I love the LP reference - I agree their music does the trick. Maybe he should check out Disturbed as well.]
- "you show up with a pair of shorts and running shoes and find the nearest trail or running loop and you're set." [plus you can run by yourself, no teams required]
- "I might just be that guy [about one running one marathon]. Most likely. But never say never." [Never say never. Boston has a pretty good marathon too you know]

Good luck Lance and yes I would agree, you might want to get for a couple long runs [say 20 miles] because, for me anyway, there is a significant difference between the first 14 and the next 6 miles.

posted by TheWino @ 12:38 PM