Marathon burpees

November 1, 2014 by Joshua
in Choosing/Decision-Making, Fitness, Habits, SIDCHAs

It’s just past midnight, meaning I’m about fifteen minutes into Saturday, November 1.

Tomorrow, Sunday, is the marathon. I’ve trained for it pretty well for months. I’ve wondered what to about my burpees.

Some people suggested skipping burpees on days I run the marathon. I see it otherwise. Those are the most important days to do them. What’s the point of doing something only when it’s easy? The benefit comes when it’s hard. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a quote about how your development all comes from the last reps you do, that everything before that only sets up those reps.

Ah, here’s that quote, not that I’m competing at his level.

The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That’s what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they’ll go through the pain no matter what happens.

Deciding Sunday will be easy. I’ll do both sets after the marathon. Well, the decision will be easy. I expect the burpees to be the hardest part of the day.

But I figured I’d still feel the effects of Saturday evening’s burpees the next day so I decided to do my Saturday sets as early as possible. I just did my two sets of twenty-five first thing on Saturday before going to sleep Friday night. I also did both Friday’s sets Friday morning. I figure this maximizes my recovery time and will help me run the race.

If you miss one day you can miss two. If you miss two, it’s all over.

Nothing about “except when you run a marathon.”

I hope I don’t get injured like last year. That last-minute injury has weighed on me this year. I’m glad I ran those six seven-minute-miles in Central Park two weeks ago.

Track my marathon progress

Besides watching the marathon in person and on TV, you can track my progress during the race with the free marathon app, available for all kinds of phones. Search for “2014 TCS New York City Marathon Mobile App” in your phone’s app store. My number is 27519.

Come out to watch! And meet me at the finish line.

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1 response to “Marathon burpees

  1. Pingback: Joshua Spodek's 2014 New York City Marathon Results - Joshua Spodek

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