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thanks tenfold to edward, and to salon for printing the truly inconvenient truth about American marathoning. he's absolutely correct about marathoning being appropriated by the whole self help community. i belonged to a running club in the mid 80s (when running clubs were about 'running faster', not 'finding a soulmate - or is that 'solemate'). to the serious recreational runner, turning a sub 16 minute 5ooo on the track is a far more serious endeavour than merely 'finishing' the marathon. you need both endurance AND speed to do the former. thing is, and i've given a lot of thought about this over the years, not everyone is built to be a runner. and even if you do have 'the build' (as i ONCE did), nagging injuries - $150 shoes be damned - will derail the best intentions. right now, i'm on my fourth pair of orthotics to 'cure' planatar fasciitis - the runner's true 'achilles heel.' no amount of cycling or pool running will give back the benefits of a good, hard 90 minute run with hills etc. i have personally only run two marathons - the first a sub 3 hour effort in British Columbia (Victoria International, for you running geeks out there). my pal and i went to NYC in 89 to attempt to crack 2:40 but we both - cocky in our natural speed, and competing all fall - sadly neglected the 'long' 3 hour plus training runs, and failed spectacularly - just over the 3 hour mark in 3:05. i have NEVER hurt like that in my life - cramps, puking, the whole gong-show.
edward's other points, though, about American marathoning are interesting but - here's where i hope i don't lose anyone - this is simply a race that americans cannot win. whether it's the altitude, their tribal culture, or whatever, to see kenyans, tanzanians, or other 120 lb African subcontinent superstars in action is to simply give up. (watch the opening five minutes of the documentary on Haile Gebraselassie - ENDURANCE - sadly, not in DVD yet, and you will see what i mean). i competed in races where top Americans and Brits were in the field - running their tight, focused, and compact styles. the africans would run all akimbo - arms flying, chests out, but from the waist down they were sheer poetry. in the same way that african football, er, soccer players are beginning to dominate the beautiful game, africans dominate running now in virtually all categories. is it genetics/race? given the fact that running is one of the 'simplest' physical tasks that we humans do, you have to wonder. and marvel at the sheer speed and endurance that they bring to the sport. and interestingly, NONE of 'em have ever flunked a drug test, that i'm aware of.
thank you again, edward, planatar fasciitis be damned, i'm heading out the door for an hour. best of luck to you, and other salonistas on the running path. and if someone sees the penguin waddling out there, drown him, willya?
