The Apollo to My Rocky Balboa

We all need an Apollo to our Rocky Balboa. And, if you have no idea who I’m referencing here, or what exactly I mean, you’re probably too young to be reading this blog, or I’m too old to be writing it.

Ok, so let's get this out of the way first...it’s been awhile, but I’m back to blogging, because I’m back to running…so here it goes!

The last time I was training for the marathon, I said to my mom the night before a long training run, “Mom, next time I tell you I’m running the NYC Marathon, please talk me out of it.” A month ago I said to her, “Guess what? I’m running the NYC Marathon.” Like a good mom, she tried for about 30 seconds to talk me out of it. And, like a good mom, she then acquiesced and promised to support me.

Truth be told, the only reason I threw my name in for the lottery was my Irish Twin sister (who officially today is no longer the same age as me!) sold me on it: “C’mon, we can run it again 10 years after we first ran it together.” Sister code for this sentence: “C’mon let’s run it so I can have you eat my dust. See ya at the Finish Line sucka!” Reverting back to my younger days and the fear of flying Pepsi cans (inside joke for a select few) I was in. The Plan B for not getting in by way of lottery was we’d run it for Team Boomer. It’s a perfect fit – my sister, one step away from a face painting Jets fan – worshipped Boomer Esiason in the 90’s; I share the halls with him at WFAN; and most importantly he started a phenomenal Foundation that aggressively supports research and solutions for Cystic Fibrosis.

Well, neither of us made it into the lottery, so Plan B was in full effect. When I delivered the Plan B news to my Irish Twin, she replied, “I’m having back issues and the dr. doesn’t want me running.” Sisters have ESP. What I really heard was, “I’m preggers with my 5th kid and just don’t want to tell you right now.” And yup, weeks later she fessed up. I was right! And the due date? Exactly one week before the marathon. What a wimp she is - you mean she can't give birth and run? Sheesh!

So, “to run or not to run?” - that was the question. Would I do this alone? Could I do this alone? Quite frankly, the long training runs scare the hell out of me and I knew my summer activities would be limited drastically. (I know what you’re thinking – what summer activities? Don’t worry, I’m still asking myself this too.) And, the big question was, would I be able to run a respectable time? For me, that means Sub 5 hours.

I decided I had to do this and to cement the decision, I contacted Boomer's Foundation, filled out the paperwork, was interviewed and they gave me a number! Next step - I had to call in the BIG GUN. I feverishly started dialing one of TBDRPTLNM (The Best Damn Running Partners That Live Nowhere Near Me), Jess. The other one, Kerry, is in the middle of a career change (more on that in future blog postings) so she’ll come in to play towards later training runs...

I called Jess and she was supportive and practical and showed the utmost confidence in me. And, within 24 hours, a Run Less, Run Faster 16 week training program showed up in my e-mail in box. She then became my official virtual coach. She might be in Texas, but I can hear her as if she's running right next to me(or in her case, usually in front of me!)

So, Jess is the Apollo to my Rocky. She’ll have me punching the meat, doing my chin-ups, sit-ups and yelling things like, “RUN FASTER!” Ok, so not exactly, but if she did live in the same state, I could TOTALLY see her racing me down a beach at the crack ass of dawn and yelling at me when I start to feel inept about this whole journey.

So, here it goes. Week 16 begins now…

Thanks Apollo.

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