New and events of the Philadelphia Bar Asso.
Issue link: https://thephiladelphialawyer.epubxp.com/i/434516
36 the philadelphia lawyer Winter 2015 For two years in New York City as a paralegal, I ran "sprint" distances. Five- and 10-kilometer races were as far as I dared go. I was young. I enjoyed the speed. I still had a chance to break personal bests. The law school years were dark times. My first and second years were physical atrocities. I was in terrible shape and anything over four miles was not even a consideration. But in my third year, I amazingly had some free time even though our first child arrived. I took up long-distance running and actually ran the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia for the first time. It was 98 degrees that day, and though I was in good shape, the heat took its toll. I finished in 1 hour, 23 minutes. Even the elite runners had difficulty that day. But that was it for eight years. I never went further than six miles for eight years. I still ran for pleasure (I made sure to run the Philadelphia Bar Association 5K every year). Some years I was in good shape, some years I was not. I finished those 5K runs in the 21-minute range several times and had some 24-minute days as well. Cycling became a larger part of my life during that time. I rode indoors in the winter on my stationary bike in the basement and on my low-end hybrid in the summer. I never missed an American Cancer Ride City to Shore ride for nearly seven years. But in late 2008, things changed. As a real estate attorney, I saw the professional world around me crumbling. Bear Stearns and Lehman collapsed. LandAmerica, a title industry giant, vanished. The capital markets simply shut down. Work dried up fast and I found myself home for dinner regularly on weeknights. So, I decided to start running again. I had some free time and I wanted to get in good shape for the 2009 Bar 5K in May. By March 2009, however, my former law firm had closed its doors and I needed a real distraction and a new goal. So I decided to kick my training up a notch and start training for the November 2009 Philadelphia Marathon which was scheduled the day before my 36th birthday. I'd either give myself a birthday gift of a marathon or die trying. And so I started training. The goal was to get in good enough shape by mid July that I could start training. The marathon, as I found out, was different than any other athletic endeavor I ever trained for in the past. I bicycle, ski, run, walk, hike, climb mountains, river raft and do all sorts of other events involving some degree of stamina but never had experienced what the marathon had to offer. The first thing I found out was that I needed new clothes. Mesh shorts, cotton shirts and cotton socks were great for any distance less than six miles, but anything more with that type of clothing caused all sorts of skin issues (blisters, chafing, etc). The winter months also required more than cotton sweats which got very wet and then very cold. I had to invest in the right gear. Then there was the time commitment. When you train for a 5K, there is not much to it for a relatively athletic individual. You run three to four miles a day four or five times a week and you are going to be fine. That doesn't cut it for the marathon. Marathon training is a full-time job. You have to run at least 35 to 45 miles per week if you plan to finish the race. In addition, you have to run at least five days a week and one of those has to be a long run. Long, especially in the real marathon training months, means 15 to 20 miles on a Sunday morning. This is a lifestyle change. If you are an average marathoner who runs 8- to 10-minute miles, that means that your average weekday run will last between 45 and 75 minutes. Add in changing, stretching and showering and that is almost two hours a day, four days a week. The Sunday long run lasts two to three hours, which means you cannot really go out on A s a runner in elementary school, junior high and high school (competing in sprints, cross country and, my favorite event, the long jump), I was always intrigued by the marathon, but it was not until college that my piqued interest led to any type of action. As a freshman (in August no less) I decided I wanted to run the New York City Marathon. Unfortunately the race was closed for that year. sophomore year I got mono and abandoned training. Junior year I never even bothered trying. I started training for two weeks as a senior but quickly lost interest. A mArAthoner for one yeAr B y M a t t h e w We i n s t e i n