I used to say that 25 years of training for marathons and ultra-marathons helped prepare me to recover from Guillain-Barre Syndrome. I was okay with the concept of having a goal that was Beyond the Horizon. Now I can say that recovering from GBS prepared me to train for my next marathon.
Also, In the past 18 months I've lost over 25% of my body weight. I gained a lot of weight when I was sick but I would also admit that I was gaining weight before I got sick. I saw a weight loss MD, took a couple of medications and became self-aware of my eating habits.. (I honestly didn't know it was bad to eat 3 Bagels at a time)
To the left is to pictures of me. You can tell it to me because I'm wearing the same hat and I happened to be in the same park
So my ultimate goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon as a Mobility impaired athlete. That means breaking 6 hours. That means running 26.2 13.5 miles. I'm not there yet.
For now I want to get faster at the longer distances. Maybe get down to a 15 minute mile. That would give me a 7 hour marathon.
On Sunday I ran the virtual New York City Half Marathon. I went through the streets.... The scenic route with friends. We had fun but it was an ugly run. Lots of concrete. Random pedestrians... I did get to run by Trump's building on 5th Avenue and use the F-word three different ways in one sentence.
When I finished the ball of my right foot was killing me and I finally broke down and bought a Groupon for a random place that had a foot massage on Monday. I told the guy where it needed to be rubbed and he did things that made me see stars. But it worked. He moved my faccia around and I had a lot less pain today.
This morning I wanted to find out what I was made of. I did the math and calculated that if I ran 8 of the 1.58 mile Loops of the reservoir in Central Park and made two trips to the bathroom by the tennis center I would run just about 13.1 miles. I did this and stopped at the water fountain on every Loop. I started out just after 7 a.m. When it was just light and really cold. But I knew it would warm up and it became a perfect day to run. My first couple of Miles took 18 minutes each but then I got my rhythm. Without really pushing myself I ran my last Mile in 15 minutes flat.
My goal is to run a 7 hour marathon in the early summer or late spring. I think I can do it or come really close. I'm going to run 16 times around the reservoir and make 4 trips to the bathroom at the tennis center. The reservoir Loop is literally as flat as a pancake and that trip to the bathroom is like climbing a mountain. But it's only a tenth of a mile.
I plan on doing this as a fundraiser for the Brooklyn chapter of Achilles International. Watch this space so you know where to throw your money
Today mile 13 felt pretty good at 15 minutes per mile. I'm beginning with the fight with the insurance company to get custom-made ankle-foot Orthotics. They might help me. But in any case I think I can get my Marathon tell him down to 7 hours this year. That's a 15 minute per mile pace. For all the miles.
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