Sunday, November 05, 2006

Lance's Newfound Respect ...

for runners. He finished today's NYC Marathon in 2:59:35. An admirable effort, though he had hoped for a faster time. But he was humbled by both the physical and mental rigors of running 26.2 miles. This, from today's New York Times (bold italics mine):

Earlier, Armstrong had said that he could possibly have run a sub-2:30 if he had trained, but now he was quite sure that another marathon was out of the question. Nothing in cycling ever came close to three hours of activity at this level, he said.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said that I’ve never felt this bad, ever,” he said. “My legs are killing me. My back doesn’t feel that great ... I’m really suffering.”

Olympian runners such as Joan Benoit Samuelson and Alberto Salazar paced him. Don't you wish you had that kind of help?!

Congrats: Go to my friend, P., who paced me in last week's MCM, and who finished NYC in 3:52:34. A PR!

5 comments:

  1. Yeah, I wish I could be driven from the race finish to the hot tub too :)

    Tell P I said congrats on his PR!

    And, yes, Coach Bex, I will be tapping into your brain for all the help I can get ;) Stay tuned.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good for P. He looked ready.

    I noticed Lance never had to pull over for a drink. His posse got it for him. I'm sure I would have broken five hours at MCM with that kind of help.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Please pass on congrats to P. from me, too. Well done:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I gotta be honest, I was kind of cheering against Lance to break the 3 hours barrier. And I'm a big fan of his. But I felt he had approached the marathon way too casually. He's guilty of three big mistakes: (1) insufficient training; (2) gaining 15 lbs; and (3) hubris. I realize Lance is the man when it comes to cycling, but--having done 100+ mile bike rides and run 7 marathons--I can tell you that running is harder. There's no coasting, no drafting, no lightweight carbon fiber frames. It's just you and the pavement. I.I.T.S.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am *so* glad that he is feeling the pain. Sorry, but it's true. And, yes, he had the best of help.

    I am glad we get a little respect for what we do.

    I don't believe that he won't be back though. Watch, he will.

    ReplyDelete