I am going to make a slight detour out of the pool for this blog post. Just recently, I completed running the NYC Marathon. To start let me describe my marathon history.
The 2017 NYC Marathon was my fourth overall and third NYC Marathon. I did 2 marathons (Vermont and NYC) back in 2004 and vowed to never again to do one. I stupidly did not even come close to training appropriately. Essentially, I finished (did not run most of either) them by probably training with a few 3-5 mile runs in the months beforehand. That is no way to prepare one's self for a 26.2 mile race. I survived alone on being younger and still in semi-decent shape from being a swimmer. Fast forward to the day of the NYC Marathon in November 2015. I had done some running that summer to prepare for my first triathlon. I kept running afterwards to add some variety to my exercise routine. A fellow swim coach (who was much more of a runner than I) messages me that she was watching the marathon on TV and decided to run next year (2016) with a charity. She suggested that I might want to run it in 2016 too. My first reaction was no way, that is crazy and I said never again. I gathered some more information and thought some more about it and eventually decided that I would like to try again. I think I realized how I left things just did not sit well with me. I had not given my best effort and that still bothered me over a decade later. I actually started real training and did okay with that. My training was not that good as I did not follow a structured plan (even though I had one available to me). I competed and finished in 2016, breaking my previous best by almost 1 hour. However, I still felt there was more I wanted to accomplish. I also wanted to complete this marathon experience with my friend that suggested doing it. She missed out due to injuries and had to defer until 2017. I was even more focused on proper training for 2017. I was much more consistent and felt much better about things. I set 4 goals for myself. One was a very aggressive goal (break 4 hours) that I may never achieve, but I like to set that one goal that seems unattainable. The other 3 were to actually run the entire race, have a time of 4 hours and something, and lastly make the NY Times results section (they cut it off usually around 5 hours -- too many names to print all 50,000+ finishers). Well, I achieved those 3 goals when I finished in 4:45:56 this past Sunday in the 2017 NYC Marathon. I had come a long way from struggling to be the last official finisher back in my first marathon in Vermont.
So, how does this marathon experience relate to swimming and coaching. There are so many things. I will touch on a few.
- TRAINING: You have to put in the work to succeed. There are no shortcuts. With each marathon I have completed, I have gotten better in my training and as a result I have done better. The same is true in swimming. If you take the time to train smarter and better, the more likely you will succeed.
- GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE: As coaches we often tell our swimmers to get used to feeling uncomfortable. You can only improve if you get out of your comfort zone. I truly believe that, but swimming has been a part of my life for so long that I think I have become comfortable feeling uncomfortable. It was getting hard for me to relate to younger swimmers and what they experience regarding this. I hope that makes some sense. Being a relative newbie to marathons, I have found again what it means to feel discomfort as I try to improve my marathon running.
- MENTAL TOUGHNESS: Again another thing I have just become too comfortable with. I really re-learned what it means to be mentally tough. While I have improved my physical conditioning with each marathon, the aspect that made the most impact was becoming more mentally strong. My body hurt just as much, if not more, this year as the miles added up, but I forced myself to keep running. My body was going to hurt whatever I did, but I had to train my mind to set aside that feeling and keep running. My friend and I talked about this before and after the race. We were in total agreement how it was going to hurt and it did hurt, but fighting through the hurt was so important. This is something that all swimmers struggle with to varying degrees. I think I can understand better what young swimmers are feeling as they are being asked to try and expand their skill sets as swimmers.
- PACE YOURSELF: As a distance swimmer, I am very aware of the ins and outs of pacing. Running marathons just added a whole new level to my knowledge set. Last year, I got caught up in the crowds of NYC and went out too fast and paid the price later on. That was a good mistake and one I actually encourage my swimmers to make. Finding out how much you can handle is important. This year I was much more controlled in my early pace. Early on I wanted to go faster and keep up with my friend, but I knew it was not the right strategy for me. It paid off for me as I felt better towards the end. I actually was able to speed up at the end. My friend admitted afterwards that she probably went out too fast feeding too much off the crowds. That was the exact thing I experienced the prior year. We even talked a bit about that prior to the race, but until you actually experience it it is hard to make the adjustment.
- TECHNIQUE: It is so important to maintain proper technique. When you are tired, it is normal to lose some control over your technique and get sloppy. It may feel better in the moment, but you will become less efficient. And less efficient means you will get more tired, more quickly. As the miles added up, I could feel the soreness of my leg muscles with every stride. I knew I had to maintain a proper stride and rhythm with my legs and arms. This is the same thing in swimming as you must maintain a good efficient pull and steady kick. Even breathing is important. Just like your coach probably tells you to maintain a breathing pattern, this is true in running as I had to breath normally.
Hopefully, this was a useful detour down my marathon running experience and you can see how it relates to the development of a swimmer. Just as important I hope I can take this knowledge to continue improving as a coach. And yes, I am intending to go for 3 in a row and run the NYC Marathon in 2018.
