Lance vs. New York City Marathon

I chuckled to myself as I read this New York Times article about Lance's first marathon. He said what I've known for a long time about running a marathon. It ain't easy. The fact that he was practically walking at the end proves it. All us marathon runners know that there are only two dignified ways to cross the finish line--running or crawling. Today I'm sure he can't walk down stairs, much less sit on the toilet without his quads screaming in pain. Although he said he would not run another marathon, he will do another one--or maybe even the Iron Man next. Good effort though--impressive time.

From the New York Times:

About 18 miles into the New York City Marathon yesterday, as Lance Armstrong made his way toward East Harlem, he said his legs started to feel as heavy as anchors.

This was not the Tour de France, the bicycle race he won seven consecutive times, nor was this a steep climb through the Alps, a challenge he has conquered before, at times without seeming to break a sweat.

This was Armstrong’s first marathon, and he said that running the 26.2-mile distance, particularly the final eight miles, was the “hardest physical thing” he had ever done.

His dark green shirt was soaked with sweat, his gait stiff. He said his calves felt as if someone were squeezing them, hard. And his shinsplints were flaring up again.

“That’s when I started to feel helpless,” Armstrong said afterward, while being driven back to his hotel opposite Central Park. “I thought: Uh-oh, maybe I should have trained a little harder for this. I think I’m in trouble.”

But with the help of the 1984 Olympic women’s marathon champion, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and other legendary runners pacing him, the 35-year-old Armstrong made it through Harlem, then all the way to the end. He reached his goal of finishing in under three hours, with seconds to spare.

Exhausted and nearly walking, Armstrong crossed the finish line in 2 hours 59 minutes 36 seconds. He was 869th, with a pace of 6:51 a mile.

“I can tell you, 20 years of pro sports, endurance sports, from triathlons to cycling, all of the Tours — even the worst days on the Tours — nothing was as hard as that, and nothing left me feeling the way I feel now, in terms of just sheer fatigue and soreness,” he said, looking spent, at a news conference.

The marathon was Armstrong’s first major athletic endeavor since retiring from cycling in 2005, and he said he had not prepared for the race as he should have.

Armstrong said he was able to run only about 45 minutes a day, squeezing workouts among appearances for his cancer foundation and jaunts to Los Angeles, hanging out with celebrities. His longest training run was 16 miles; it is common for marathoners to do at least one 20-miler.

“I’m impressed,” Mary Wittenberg, the race director, told Armstrong. “With that kind of preparation, if it was anyone else, I would have guessed a finish of 4:30. But you, wow. You’re a tough one.”

Armstrong’s toughness helped make him the most successful cyclist in history and also helped him beat testicular cancer. Although accusations of doping have followed him throughout his career, he has denied using performance-enhancing drugs and has transcended sports to become an icon for cancer patients and survivors.

At the marathon, he was more recognizable than the top runners who stepped to the starting line. Armstrong said that was when he became nervous. He saw that the other runners’ legs were as thin as pencils. His are much more muscular. He was about 160 pounds when he raced in the Tour de France; he is now 180. He dreaded the pounding ahead, he said.

But when the race began, Armstrong said, he felt strong. Fans cheered him on. Some wore yellow LiveStrong bracelets. Others waved “Go Lance” signs. He wore a green shirt bearing 10/2, which commemorated the anniversary of his cancer diagnosis, Oct. 2, 1996.

Tigun Wibisana, a cycling fan from Manhattan who wore an “In Lance We Trust” T-shirt, followed Armstrong on his bike from the start until the Queensboro Bridge. To Wibisana, a leukemia survivor, Armstrong is an inspiration.

“I don’t really care who else is in the race because he is my true hero,” Wibisana said.

For the first 10 miles, Armstrong was paced by the former marathon champions Alberto Salazar and Germán Silva. They gave him his split times and cups of water. In turn, Armstrong looked cheery and bouncy as a television camera documented his every move.

“It was very hard to hold him back,” Salazar said.

Samuelson took over as his pacesetter at 10 miles. Two miles later, she said, Armstrong began complaining about his shins. As each mile grew more daunting, she said she gave him focus points. She told him just to make it to Mile 20, then it would become easier.

Armstrong responded.

“I have no doubt that he would have finished if we weren’t there to help him, but I think breaking the three-hour barrier would have been questionable,” Samuelson said. “I think the marathon is a mental game, and he’s got that down pretty well.”

Hicham el-Guerrouj, the 2004 Olympic champion in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters, joined Armstrong and Samuelson with about six miles to go. At that point, as the clocked ticked closer to three hours, Armstrong said he wasn’t thinking about the time. He just wanted it to end.

“I was so tired, I just didn’t care,” he said.

At the finish, he doubled over. After his news conference at the New York Athletic Club, he limped out of the room. “I’m a cripple,” he said, needing a boost into a waiting van.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said that I’ve never felt this bad, ever,” he said. “My legs are killing me. My back doesn’t feel that great, either. I’m really suffering.”

When he arrived at his hotel, Armstrong hobbled out of the van, looking stunned as he walked through the lobby and into an elevator. He got off on the floor that has the spa.

“Which way to the hot tub?” he said as the spa’s door closed behind him.