42 km In The Big Apple: NYC Marathon Recap
by Dr. Moritz Tellmann
Awesome! Overwhelming! Fantastic!
It doesn’t matter which word I choose now. The NYC Marathon is over, but I still wish I was on this amazing and unique route through Manhattan and Central Park.
Let´s go back to the hours before this great race. The day before, I decided to hit the gym. Was it a good choice? Looking back I can say yes. Obviously, I didn’t train my legs. This would have been a really bad idea. Although I still had these 26.2 Miles ahead of me, I tried to stay with my workout routine (which is never a routine) as usual. I did bench press, chin ups, deadlifts, arms and abs and I felt great. This workout was the perfect start for my “last carb-loading.” Not fueling your body with carbohydrates is like driving a Porsche with just a few liters of vegetable oil in the tank – not going to work. I had lots of oats, fruit, nuts and coffee during the day. In the Evening it was pasta with salmon, white bread with olive oil and a massive dessert.
Race day morning at 5:30 am: I jumped out of bed awake and motivated! With the New York winter sun in my face, I put my compression shirt and shorts on and really felt great. This was the perfect day for a 42.2 km run.
Four hours later, after a breakfast of a peanut butter and egg bagel (which was delicious), the gun went off. Run, run, run! Bring it on, Manhattan. The first miles passed by so quickly, that I even forgot to look down at my Orbit (shame on me). On mile 16 … I decided to do some Push Ups. My body was warmed up and I felt the spirit of all the “big apple inhabitants” cheering me on. So I just did it! I had to accelerate further and so I squeezed two carb-gels into my mouth and a protein bar. As I watched the clocks, I realized I could stay below 3:30 if I would keep up this pace; and I did. The pace was hard and I my calves started to cry, “What is this?” This was no donkey raise or standing calf raise machine. I just told them to shut up, and they were quiet.
The last miles where really tough. I felt my muscles craving for oxygen, amino acids and water. With 4 Miles to go, more and more people were shouting to try and motivate you to the finish line. It´s a hard conflict. Your body says rest and there were lots of runners walking beside me, especially on Mile 23 and 24. My solution: run faster and harder. On Mile 24 my body got an endorphin rush. This was the moment when I realized that it doesn´t matter how strong you are, how long you trained or what you ate. The only thing that really counts is how you cope with the exhaustion and the pain. As a lifter, I dealt with the pain in the same way I would when at the squat rack, doing pull ups or biceps curl. I kept thinking of the medal, the accomplishment and the food that was waiting. I finished in 3:27:41. I made it happen with 48,800 steps and 4800 calories burned. I was as happy as a child getting a new toy. I recommend that anyone who says, “I can’t run a marathon” to just go for it! It´s possible and, besides the suffering from high lactate pain in your muscles, it´s pure Joy.
After the race I went and did some shopping. Now it wasn’t my legs that had to work, it was my credit card. For dinner I had some protein bars and chicken breast and then I fell into bed and slept like a baby. The next morning, happy and proud, I flew home.
Will I do it again? The question is not if, it´s when! I will probably do another one early next year.
With a solid diet and an on-going training, it´s easy to protect your Muscles from being catabolized. So I can say with certainty, that a marathon and big muscles can be best friends as long as you serve them both the right amount of respect!
About Moritz:
Moritz Tellmann has been an avid athlete and fitness professional for 13 years. He currently works as an anaesthesiologist and emergency physician and is a licensed personal fitness trainer. In his leisure time he is a pilot and enjoys traveling a lot.
https://www.facebook.com/FlyingMuscleDoc
***
