Lance, Lance, Lance, if I had access to your cellphone number I would have called and told you myself… 26.2-miles is no walk in the park. Even after others warned you—you still didn’t follow their advice. Now, you feel like dying. I don’t blame you. I’ve been there myself.
If you haven’t already heard, Lance Armstrong crossed the finish line at today’s New York Marathon in less than “peak” condition. In fact, news reports are saying that the seven-time Tour de France champion has categorized the marathon as “without a doubt the hardest physical thing I have ever done.”
The reason I am devoting yet another blog to Armstrong’s debut as a marathoner (I posted a preview piece yesterday) is summed up best in this comment made by the pro biker on Friday:
“I’ve been training some, but I wouldn’t call it serious,” he told reporters. “It’s just something to fill a void in my life after I quit competing as a professional cyclist.”
As a four-time marathoner myself (that’s nothing compared to what others have accomplished) I took umbrage with his somewhat lax attitude regarding training. As I wrote in my prior blog:
“I realize that Armstrong is an incredible professional athlete and has accomplished things that put him in the realm of “super human,” but I don’t know anyone who has completed a sub three-hour marathon without “seriously” training for it (I guess “serious” could be a relative term). And his comment about filling “a void”… my word, when I prepared for all four of my marathons, training was my life. But, like I said Armstrong is in a league of his own.”
Well, the race wrapped up hours ago and now I’m back to weigh in on Armstrong’s performance. For starters, Armstrong did finish the race (that in and of itself is a major accomplishment) and he did succeed in meeting his personal goal of running a sub 3-hour race (his official time was 2 hours, 59 minutes and 36 seconds). Again, a major feat. However, it came at a price and Armstrong was the first to admit it. He shuffled into the post-race news conference with his leg wrapped and immediately told reporters that no Alpine climb on his bicycle had ever been as tough as Sunday’s New York City Marathon.
“For the level of condition that I have now, that was without a doubt the hardest physical thing I have ever done,” said Armstrong, who finished 856th. “I never felt a point where I hit the wall, it was really a gradual progression of fatigue and soreness.”
But, wait there’s more. A clearly humbled Armstrong went on to say:
“I think I bit off more than I could chew, I thought the marathon would be easier,” he said. “(My shins) started to hurt in the second half, especially the right one. I could barely walk up here, because the calves are completely knotted up.”
I’m not writing to say I told you so… or to belittle Armstrong’s accomplishements (he did an outstanding job for his first time out), I thought it was refreshing that he didn’t put on a front and “pretend” that running for 26.2-miles straight is a piece of cake. I personally know the pain that comes from completing a marathon. However, it pales in comparison to the agony that comes from training for a marathon (the early morning runs—day after day after day, the weight training, the regimented diet, etc.). After training for 4 months, the race is almost easy. That was the reason I took offense to Armstrong’s attitude about training.
But now he knows better. So will he be back?
“Now’s not the time to ask that question,” Armstrong told reporters. “The answer now is no, I’ll never be back.”
Hey, Lance give it a few days. I said the same thing after I crossed the finish line.
By the way, Armstrong wasn’t the only celebrity who finished today’s marathon, former Olympic gold-medal gymnast Shannon Miller finished in 4:17:47, model Kim Alexis in 4:39:49 and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee 5:33:43.