What Is Mile 20?

Happy New Year (Rosh HaShanah) and wishes of a peaceful Ramadan month...

Since I've been keeping this blog updated (which is semi-regularly), quite a few people have asked me what I mean by my title - "What Is Mile 20?"

When I was training for the Paris Marathon in April I would listen to as much advice as I could, from books by professionals like Jeff Galloway or fellow runners who'd completed a few marathons and overwhelmingly they would talk about, "The Wall" that occurs during a marathon. Oddly, everyone happens to have a different take on "The Wall"... Some contend it doesn't even exist at all... others give you as much advice as you will listen to on how to avoid it. What most everyone does agree on, however, is that "The Wall" occurs somewhere around Mile 20 for some reason.

So here is my take on it... clearly this is a proverbial "wall"... In my short time learning to run, I have discovered that there are exactly two things at play when it comes to being able to accomplish a run: Your body and your mind. What I have noticed is that the mental strength to accomplish something is often the difference maker... once our body is tuned to a certain physical frequency the thing that will dial up or down at that point is our desire, will and confidence to do it.

Essentially, then, Mile 20 is the proverbial wall... if you want it to be. Trust me, when I came up to mile 20 in Paris and saw the carnage of bodies standing around virtually lifeless and injured it almost got into my head too. Seeing the Reebok sponsored sign that says "20 Miles" also does a good job in getting into your head, I guess 20 looks like 26 sometimes, esp. after three hours of running and sweat on your shades. Another way to look at it is to know that you only have 6 miles to go and that you have run at least 6 miles more times than you can think and this won't be any different, so screw it and just go for it, huh!

In the end, Mile 20 is what you want it to be - and on Sunday, November 5th at the New York Marathon, hopefully in my case, it is nothing but another mile marker.

Just to bring you up to speed on some other important "goings-ons"...

=> My new running partner and cousin, Doug Cohen celebrated his 50th... err... 47th birthday on Friday with a blistering six-mile run through Marietta!

=> My uncle Bob had a birthday earlier this week too and his daughter, Robin and her husband Jeff (Avi's parents) celebrated their wedding anniversary as well.

=> My little brother Michael turned 10!

=> My longest-time and closest lunatic friend Sean and his wife Wendy learned that they were pregnant with their first child! Sean will be running with me in NY as well.

=> Par Four, the fantasy football team shepparded by Jonathan and myself, won its first game of the season thanks to the Pittsburg offense sputtering on Monday night.

=> Thanks to Dr. Perry Julien, my foot is recovering nicely after being diagnosed with Plantar fasciitis. Who knew that "stretching" could actually HELP!

=> School is going well as we have started to form some pretty consistent and productive study channels.

=> I got my 16 mile run in at the Silver Comet last weekend. I started at the Floyd Road 4.2 mile marker and as the light of day crept into the corridor of Georgia trees, I made my way to the Mavell Road trailhead to meet Doug for his Sunday long run. My times are down from my Paris training, but you can thank Doug for most of that, since that guy doesn't seem to run out of energy on the road.

That's my progress... Oh, and I still need your donations for Team Continuum if I am going to make it to New York...

Team Continuum Donation Site => Please Help A Hairy Guy Run New York!!!