I put so much emphasis on this one race, because to date it was the biggest thing I have ever done in my 12 years as a competitive athlete.

(Why was this different?)

I was going to attempt to run 37 miles.

(How many days were they giving you?)

Just 9.5 hours. This was completely uncharted territory for me. There was a real chance I could fail. I had no idea if I could run or even walk that far.

(But you practiced.)

The farthest I had traveled on foot was the NYC Marathon.

(So, you are human. I mean I think you are human. What if you did fail?)

In 12 years of racing marathons and ironmans I had never failed and I wasn’t planning to start now.

(So why take the risk?)

Because there is a sign in my friend Peter Shankman’s home: Nothing grows in your comfort zone.

If we don’t continue to push boundaries, we never grow. This applies to more than races. You can apply this to yourself as a learner. I do, with my own students.

Speaking of Peter, the night before the race, I stayed in his NYC apartment. This put me only blocks away from the race start on 102nd and Central Park. Besides, he needed someone to feed his cat, in his absence.

(Didn’t you worry about finding parking on race morning?)

It was a risk I was willing to take. What was the worst that could happen?

(Ummm, you finish the race only to find your car towed away and you would have to call your wife to pick you up.)

Yeah, that would be bad, but…nothing grows in your comfort zone.

(But in a tow away zone, parking tickets will grow over a 9.5 hour time period.)

With food in my belly and peace in my mind, I laid out my race clothing before bed.

(How cold was it going to be on race day?)

The prediction was for 37 degrees.

(So you wore long pants.)

So I wore shorts.

(I will never understand you.)

You realize that we share the same cranium, right?

(That is true. So why not wear long pants?)

If the average person expends~8.37 x 10? joules of energy per day, the average runner generates 1,000 to 1,200 kcal/hr.

(Huh, what?)

We are talking an increase of 23 degrees per hour for each hour of running.

To quote Frank Langella to Shia LeBeouf, “You are asking the wrong question…”

(What is the right question?)

How was I going to stay warm until the race start and then how was I going to keep from overheating once I started running?

(That’s two questions…)

I know…I’m sharing the same cranium with you.

(So what was your plan? You did have a plan?)

By David Roher

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