For the record, I completed my first and, to this point, only marathon over a year ago. Not to downplay this accomplishment, but it’s worth noting that only about 2% of Americans have completed one in their lifetime. Checking this off my list at 25 years was quite accomplishment. My finishing time of about 3:40 was just about average for my age group, which is respectable in its own right. Now, let’s rewind to the moment I crossed the finish line. 

Most people would expect me to heave my arms in the air and shout for joy as I crossed this finish line. However, as my friends at the finish line observed, I was in no mood for celebrations. SHOCK! I had smirk that was indistinguishable from a smile and an exhausted frown on my face, and my clothes were soaked in a mixture of sweat and rainwater. I finished, received my medal, hugged a couple of friends half-heartedly and I limped to the refreshment tents. I immediately grabbed a sparkling lemonade, non-alcoholic beer and some apple slices to quench my pounding thirst. I remember sitting outside 40 degrees Fahrenheit weather with hail falling around me.  My body did not want to move, and my mind was full of too much of what one sometimes calls “Runners-High”. Have I run anything more than 10 miles since then? No. Would I run another Marathon in my lifetime again? That is maybe. Although I should have been elated, I felt more shattered than anything else. It was a learning experience and I would like to share these ideas with my audience. 

The most important thing is that training for anything of magnitude (and even for smaller goals) takes time. I didn’t give enough time to train and respect the total 26.2 miles of a marathon. Retrospectively, I should have taken the training process slower, especially considering I had contracted Covid eight weeks before the race date. Although I was already in decent shape, thanks to my high school swimming background and cardio buff nature, an 8-week training plan was quite aggressive. If I had been consistently running 10 miles per week, a 12-week training plan would have been reasonable. I was at the time only running 3-5 miles per week, which was not a strong enough basis. Honestly, there were a few weeks in the training plan that I skipped runs because of soreness and fatigue. Running takes a toll on the body at various stages. In the beginning, the knees and joints need to become comfortable with the repetitive motion of hitting the asphalt. Later on, the body also needs time to recover from increased mileage in terms of energy and muscle soreness. I ran the marathon with a slightly sore Achilles, which required about 3-4 months of light training to fully heal. Pushing through the training while ignoring warning signs was probably in hindsight unwise; I consider myself lucky. 

The next thing I learned is that events of great length take careful planning. I was able to train for my marathon in the semester break of my school, which allowed a few extra hours a day for training and recovery. Most marathon bloggers mention that their families must be patient as they prepare for marathons, ultramarathons, and triathlons because they are time demanding. When you plan an 8-mile run in the morning, you must factor in getting ready, possibly fueling if you don’t like to run on an empty stomach, the hour or so it takes to finish the eight miles, and then 20-30 minutes for a cooldown, stretching and showering, and refueling. This process takes upwards of two hours if you are relatively efficient. In a typical week, there could be two to three 8-mile runs during the peak of your training. 

The last piece of advice that I will share is that watching YouTube videos, seeking advice from run experienced friends, and potentially finding a training partner can all be sources of motivation and psychological preparation for the crazy task of running for 3-4 hours at once. Like any endeavor, immersing yourself in the world of marathon running allows your mind to devote more energy to the task at hand. I would often watch a few videos on how people achieved sub-four-hour marathons, with simple tips like avoiding overtraining, bringing fuel on the run to avoid crashing, practicing race day strategies ahead of the race, as well as refining running technique to avoid injuries. These videos fed my obsessive mind, and I believe this level of obsession can benefit the entire process. This allows the goal to be front and center and encourages you to double check if you are getting the most out of the training. 

As you can see, I learned a great deal about the marathon process, my body, and the importance of preparation. Now to answer the question, why run a marathon? I think there are a lot of reasons to consider doing it, but also reasons to think twice before engaging in the cult of marathon running. If you have a running group and want to train with a group for the goal, I think this can be a great idea. I, on the other hand, did my training alone and relied on the Strava camaraderie to push me through the insanity. If you have this as a bucket list item and would have FOMO if you didn’t do it, I recommend doing the race once. Reasons to pursue a marathon include using it to get in shape, as running 26.2 miles is quite extreme and can lead to injury and an unhealthy amount of cardio training. The time commitment issue is also a consideration when prioritizing activities in life. The last consideration is cost. Although minimal, registration fees, racing energy gels, shoes, and running gear can be as much as $300-$500, depending on the shoes and the race location; this excludes of course hotel and travel costs.

I would like to close with a sweet story on my marathon-day journey. The course that I ran “Bockenheim an der Weinstraße”, near Mannhein featured about 1500 feet of elevation changes and that means…hills. Living in a city named Karlsruhe, Germany that has practically no hills, this elevation change posed a new challenge. The second half of the marathon did indeed include more inclines than declines and I was hitting “the wall” (that is a moment when glucose runs out and the body wants to give up) around mile 23. I met a man, that I’d estimate was 45, clearly with marathon experience. He saw that I was walking up a hill and put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a slight push to start running again. He shouted at me the typical “don’t give up” encouragement when I needed it the most. We ran the last 3 miles together at quite a decent pace in comparison to the last 20 minutes of the race. I thanked him afterwards and realized that although it was difficult and my body was not functioning, some support along the way and the atmosphere of the marathon do help lift someone out of this rut. The marching band and wine shower in the second half of the marathon also helped with some of the motivation. But like always, more of this story will come later. Until next time! 

Sometimes comedy bits make you cringe, sometimes they make you laugh, and sometimes they make you do both at the same time. Anthony Jeselnik is a comedian to be remembered for the best punchlines, creating first a cringing sensation and then turning that cringe into wicked laughter. He is the supreme anti-joke slayer. He sets you up for a conclusion but then defies expectations with the punchline. An audience member senses there is a punch line coming, but not THAT punchline. Luckily, the resultant punchline is pretty darn funny. This idea is the exact framework used in the creation of great music (nice left turn right?). I promise I will work on my punchlines, but for sake of time and patience, let me explain where I am headed with this.

A music teacher of mine told me how this idea works in music. One of the prime examples is in the music of the great Viennese classics such as Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert. There are always points where the music veers from expectations. For example, in a Mozart piano sonata, the piece might begin with a simple progression of counterpoint and chords resulting in establishing the tonality and melodic shape. After this is established and the listener is possibly getting bored, the composer decides to throw in an unexpected harmony or melodic twist. This unexpectedness might be missed by the casual listener as sometimes these are subtle. Sometimes the performer must exaggerate these details as the modern listener is used to hearing unusual things and randomness through some more modern works. This changed my perspective on musical performance; however, I’m sure this principle is understood by most comedians.

Let me preface this next section with the fact that music and comedy occupy their own worlds and do very well in both respects. I am not saying that either is not important or valid, but have a couple of differences that I want to point out to clarify their function. There are a few ways in which comedy falls short of reaching the range that music can create. Comedy, by its essence is supposed to be funny. Sometimes comedy serves as political commentary, sometimes it can be an imaginative outlet, but usually it is comedy for comedy’s sake. When the composer surprises the audience, it is not always in joke, but with dramatic intention. This allows the piece to take on a new character or new adventure in the piece of music. The soundscape and possibilities that could emerge from these left turns cannot be reduced to the feeling of funniness. The other area that comedy might fall flat is the idea of words: The words are the punchline. There are facial features, timing and command involved in selling a joke that go beyond the word, but the word itself is the limiting factor. Again, I am not selling comedy short but highlighting the differences. Music has different textures, timing, notes, and volume that can all be used collectively in effect at any surprising point in the piece.

As highlighted here, although I am not comparing Jeselnik’s genius to that of the Viennese Classics, the idea of established expectation and the art of breaking from these expectations is a common thread in performing art forms.

Recently, I have thought of a plethora of things to write about but some are too unclear to write about. Writing is a difficult thing, and something that requires intense and yet clear thoughts. Without the clarity of thought, the writing seems to spin in circles without ever progressing beyond the word “the”. Many things I’ve written but not published recently have been this circle effect, beginning in one place and ending up nearly in the same place.

The idea of writers block is a little different. Sometimes for me, I can write in circles but still be blocked. The age old saying of writing whatever you can think of to become unblocked is only partly true. One can write pages with no meaning; incidentally, this is quite easy. One must dig deep within the mind to come up with something more substantial. For me, coming to a place of clarity requires silence, a walk, and some distance away from the computer and writing to create a real sense of clarity. 

Other times, one must process the writing in a very focused way. This is only effective for me once I have a clear direction to write in. Once the clear direction is made up, then it is only up to time and trial and error to get to the wanted results. At the moment, this is now my inspiration to write something more substantial…

Sleep is the bane of most people’s existence. When I say this, I mean the lower limits, not the upper limits. One soul far and few between sleeps in excess, and sleep might be the bane of their existence for eating away at precious productive hours. Most people, however lose sleep to be more productive and in fact become less productive. 

Last night and this morning reminded me of the problems. Last night was an unintentional late night with the hot air from the day not leaving the fan cooled room.  Instead of 11:15, it turned into a 1 am adventure through light, dark and all in between. Soon enough I fell asleep only to wake at 5 am and then again at 6, before sleeping through my alarm at 6:30 and waking at 7:45. I’m sure no one who is reading this has ever experience a night like the one above. The day was full of slow mental energy, lethargic encounters and less than stellar performance at my craft. The day finished young, and the night tonight will be good. 

However, sometimes others, myself included have this lack of sleep in order to be more productive the night before. Once in a while this is okay if there is a deadline or if there is something that cannot possibly wait. However from my humble observation, it is better to be moderate in this special area in order to have special days, everyday. This is mainly a reminder for me to get more sleep…onto the next day!

Sometimes time matters like it is the end of the world. Time beckons you forward to the next to-do, it tickles you when you are sleeping. The most pressing example: You have an impending project due, you must finish the test on time, you have to wake up in time for work. 

Sometimes time does not matter like a baby wanders around, curiously peering under every rock, sniffing the smells, and tasting the tastes. The most calming examples: You are done with a big project, you are avoiding reality, you break from tireless work. 

Both these sides of life can exist in the same day. Some days work better than others, but all are acting in balance. This morning I felt like time matters in a life and death situation, while this afternoon time did not matter at all. Both of these exist in longer segments, from days to weeks to years. Sometimes these also exist in smaller moments like minutes and even seconds. The most important thing is to know how to balance them. This is the trick, and this is the magic to life. You can not always be under a time crunch as one cannot always neglect the time. It is also possible to have a balance of these two worlds while being “busy”.  You can be busy by absorbing the sense of freedom. There are also ways to have a larger sense of freedom from time. These are a bit more tricky, and have no place in this blog.