on the iPod: "northern sky" -- nick drake
It's not uncommon for distance runners to be Type A personalities. Show up to any training run, race expo, or starting line and just try to swing a dead cat by the tail without hitting an ambitious, organized, impatient, multi-taking workaholic. You won't be able to do it. They're everywhere. When one stops to think, it makes total sense for runners to be Type A's. The persistence it takes to train four months out of the year and then run 26.2 miles is huge, and detail-oriented, proactive, time management gurus flock to it.
I tend to show some of these characteristics around running, but rarely outside of that; hence I don't think of myself as a Type A personality at all. I'm entirely too reflective, easy-going, and noncompetitive to qualify. But over the past three years i've found myself being drawn to aspects of distance running that i've never been interested in before. I love the scheduled regiment of training. I love the competition with self to go further. So I suppose it's fair to say that I'm a Type B personality with a few Type A leanings, particularly when I'm wearing running shoes.
The New York City Marathon is exactly one week away and the approximately 48,000 registered runners, a majority of them being Type A, are officially going nuts right now. Just like me, they've done their long runs since the beginning of July, they've made time for mid-week cross training, they've ingested copious amounts of protein and carbs, they've planned every single hour of their weekend in Gotham. I's have been dotted and T's have been crossed. All that's left to do is toe the starting line and head toward Central Park, which should be a piece of cake. But there's one single X Factor that no runner, regardless of how much of a Type A personality they are, can control. There is no plan for it. And, depending on how the running gods feel on any given Sunday morning, it can be your best friend or your worst enemy.
It's the weather.
I've blogged extensively over the years, including last week, about the weather. It's the one constant that almost always come up, from being blessed with the perfect morning for some long mileage to other times when the circumstances make me wish I was doing practically anything else. I can't count the number half marathons i've run in pristine conditions. In fact, the first half marathon I ever ran, in Little Rock, spoiled me with sunny skies and temps in the upper fifties. Like a novice, I immediately assumed all races were that way and was hooked on the spot. I've had my fair share of halfs that were less than ideal as well, notably Oklahoma City and Dallas in 2011 and the inaugural running of the Fayetteville Half. But by and large my half marathons have been ideal.
Weather for the three marathons i've run? That's a completely different story. Both times i've run Chicago, as well as Nashville last April, have been dangerously hot, leaving me exhausted but not broken, ready to lace up again and go the distance. All three times i've crossed the finish line with the mercury registering a temperature in the mid-80's, which is about 25 degrees off the ideal mark. The first time I ran Chicago I was so hot in the final few miles that I got confused and thought i'd been out there for 7 hours. In Nashville the cramping was so bad I convinced myself that invisible elves were shoving butcher knives into my thighs. And please don't forget the OKC marathon, which turned into a half-marathon about 30 minutes before the gun went off, as a torrential downpour of wind and rain soaked Mrs. Murie and I from head to toe. We were drenched before we ever crossed the starting line.
My track record with good weather and marathons is miserable. It's a running joke with Mrs. Murie, Jamie Huneycutt, and myself. Mrs. Murie has reminded me on more than one occasion that she never had bad weather in the 8 marathon she ran before I joined her. And Jamie all but begged me not to run Chicago this year, then lovingly thanked me when she got back with a medal around her neck from running 26.2 miles under the nicest, clearest Chicago skies imaginable. And now, after what's been a pleasant late summer and early fall for running, it looks as though my streak will continue in New York City, courtesy of a hurricane named Sandy.
Hurricane Sandy, which has also been dubbed Frankenstorm because it's going to collide with a winter storm from Canada, is supposed make landfall somewhere close to Manhattan on Halloween. It's currently a category one hurricane, but the forecasted damage is substantial: extensive flooding, power outages, airport closings, downed trees. It's going to be a damn mess. Currently the Weather Channel is calling for it to have come and gone by the weekend, but let's all be honest with ourselves and admit that those fools don't know what in the hell is going to happen. I've checked the website more times than I can count and i'm fairly certain that if I keep it up my refresh button is going to stop working.
So here's the deal, i'm not gonna mince words: this marathon is going to be the apex of my running career so far and i've trained entirely too long and hard to let weather get in the way. It's simply unacceptable and I will not stand for it. I'm putting you on notice, Hurricane Sandy, don't mess with the New York City Marathon or you'll be sorry you did, because this guy is lookin' for a fight and i've got you in arms reach. I'm not afraid to get sideways and I promise you i'll win. It might be ugly but I won't back down. Run and tell that!
Wait a minute, who am I trying to fool?? Strike that. I'm a lover, night a fighter. I've never thrown a punch in my life. I just want live to run another race, so have mercy on the runner's soul, Hurricane Sandy. We've done everything we know to do, and we just want to cross that finish line in Central Park. Is that too much to ask? Go ahead and do your thing, with lots of wind and rain, but don't hurt anybody on your way by. You stay out of our way and we'll stay out of yours. Deal? Done.
Rain or shine, it's time to run my fourth marathon and it's going to happen next weekend in the The Big Apple. I woke up this morning and felt the nerves kick in ever so slightly and fully expect them to amp up as the week progresses, but I know everything will be fine when the gun goes off, because i'll be doing what i'm supposed to do. I can't explain why, but I know it's true.
Run.
postscript. a great big thank you to all of my friends who have supported my fund raising efforts. your donations are helping fund education and health care initiatives in kenya, home to so many beautiful people. it's not too late to help out, i'm super close to meeting my goal! click the link below and give what you can. it will mean so much to me.
http://www.shoe4africa.org/charity/civicrm/contribute/pcp/info?reset=1&id=460
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