What does a trip to the moon and training for a marathon have in common? No, I am not thinking of a marathon on the moon or any sort of funky anti gravity training techniques but a trip to the moon and a preparing for a marathon actually do have something in common if both are to be deemed successful journeys!
Earlier this week our marathon training group had the pleasure of learning from a local running legend and a world record holder in the number of marathons ran in less than 2hrs 20 mins, and the winner of 40 marathons in his running career, Doug Kurtis. He graciously shared many of his secrets to his long term success of running hundreds of marathons. Many of these tips were specific to an individual selection, determination, and performance. However there was one tip that I believe is the most crucial and no distance runner can do without and expect to perform at their personal best. That tip was to do certain training such as the long run and speed or hill workouts with a training partner or group. Golfers understand that if they want to improve their game they need to golf with golfers that are better skilled at the game then themselves. The same is true of running.
This past fall as I was training for my marathon in November I ran a total of 4 separate 20 milers. The first was my toughest and was also one where I ran most of it alone. For my second 20 miler I ran 10 miles on my own as a "warm-up" to a 15k (nearly 10 mile) race. I finished that 20 miler among other racers. For my third 20 miler I ran with Chad, a young and very fast runner from our training group (well for at least the first 15 miles). But this training run was a part of a larger organized 20 miler that included many runners in a local park and thus there was always somebody running nearby me.
But my lat 20 miler of that season promised to be the toughest as most of my running friends were either competing in the Detroit Marathon that same weekend or had already finished their long runs. Except for one :) One of my regular running partners, Jessica was training for the New York Marathon which was scheduled for the same day as my marathon, The City of Oaks in Raleigh NC, so our training schedules coincided. The other challenge to this particular training run was the fact that the best training weather was past us for the season and the park where we run would likely be void of other runners.
Nevertheless, Jessica and I met in the early morning darkness, a bit overdressed for the cool, drizzly rain conditions and started our 20 mile journey along the paths and over the many huge hills in Kensington. Our pace was a bit slow at first but as we chatted away comparing notes about the conditions, racing, expectations for each of our marathons, her young kids, my young grandson, running shoes, and similar running related topics, we forgot about the conditions and pace. We did not notice the fact that we challenged the toughest long and steep hills at a pace of nearly a whole minute faster than our marathon pace, we only seemed to notice that before we knew it we were done with our last 20 mile training run of the season! My how time literally did fly by for each of us! That was not hard at all, OK, we were each a bit tired but we each had just completed an excellent 20 mile training run that only took 2 hrs and 44mins in what otherwise were not the best weather conditions over a challenging route too! I know I would never have been able to complete that run on my own that day!
So what does this have to do with a trip to the moon? Plenty! Earlier this week I heard a report that this week marked the 41st anniversary of the Apollo 14 moon trip. The first picture to enter my mind was not of the moon, astronauts, or rockets, but rather the picture of a very large control room circa 1970's with scores of rocket scientists at their workstations. Remember, the computers and technology available to these engineers was roughly the same as the first computer many of us might have had at our work desks or home!
To get a manned spaceship to and from the moon and any other successful trip to space for that matter involved a tremendous and supportive team effort of collaborative skill and intelligence. America's success in space would never have ever occurred if not for the successful collaboration of those who planned, calculated, and engineered the tasks here on planet earth.
So perhaps the lesson learned here is that whether it be running a marathon or travels to the moon and back or beyond, before any of us can expect to achieve personal victories we need to collaborate with those next to us to help them reach our common goal too.
This has been a bit longer of a read today, so an extra special thank you goes out to those who took the time today to read the entire posting today.
Thanks again and be sure to Run Happy today :)
Lee
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