Shelly and I were watching a documentary with a couple of British comedians driving across Siberia, through ice and snow.
A local Siberian gave them some sage advice, "The slower you go, the faster you get there." It meant, of course, that with the road conditions that bad, trying to drive fast will simply result in spending all of your time in the ditch.
I hate to spoil it, but, they spent all of their time in the ditch. Plus, Brits don't know how to curse properly. Wankers.
Training
That advice really resonated with me though, "The slower you go, the faster you get there." That sums up my approach to training. I know that if I push too hard, too fast, I will end up injured -- in the ditch. I really am trying to avoid that. Or, I was.
A couple of weeks ago I was scheduled to run a half-marathon but with just a few days to go before the race, I felt a familiar pain in my left calf. I had pulled it, again. I was back in the ditch. Bollocks.
One Door Closes
While re-evaluating my training, I got some clarification on the NYC marathon selection process. Their rules have been changing over the past year because the number of people wanting to run has swelled.
They publish qualification times by age group, similar to Boston but even more strict. To qualify for Boston you have to be in roughly the top 10% of your age group. The published qualifying times for NYC is closer to top 5%. In both cases though, you can run that qualifying time and still not get into the race. There are just too many entrants.
They just announced that of all the people who submitted a qualifying time this year for NYC, less than 1-in-5 got in. Instead of running in the top 5% of your age group, you really needed to be top 1%.
That isn't realistic for me. I have done the math. Why are you laughing? Of course I did the math. Blimey.
Another Door Opens
However, NYC has other means of qualification.
I don't have to run a marathon at all. I can qualify with a half marathon time (about top 5%) and I don't have to compete for spots with others either. That catch is, it has to be one of their (NY Road Runners) half marathons.
Now I just need to convince Shelly to go to NYC with me, twice. Bob's your uncle.
