Monday, August 15, 2011

The Today Show Menagerie

I am super busy at work today, but wanted to throw these 2 little videos your way! 

And people!  Why aren't you guys commenting to win those Yurbuds and Smart ID's!?!?!?!?  Contest ends on Thursday, August 18th 3:00pm CST.  I will draw a number from random.org for the winner! 

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Now for something a little crazy for you ... I saw this on The Today Show about what they call the Mt. Everest of marathons.  New York City.  Queens.  1 city block.  How long do you think it would take you to run 3100 miles??? 

Apparently 44 days this time around for the winner.

The Today Show's Segment on the Mt. Everest of Marathons
Air date:  August 11, 2011

No.  Thank.  You.

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Then today as I am having lunch and catching up on The Today Show, I see where Al Roker ran the RnR 1/2 in Chicago this past weekend (Hey Xaarlin did you see him!?  Now go read Xaarlins race recap!)

Al Roker and the RnR 1/2 Marathon in Chicago (race date 8-14-2011)
Air date:  August 15, 2011
Looks like he ran a 3:02 (taking 18 minutes off his previous PR at this distance).  Nice job Al!  Al ran the NYC marathon last year, and honestly I thought it was disappointing that it was 7:09...Even Meredith finished in under 6 hours, surely he could have gotten closer?  NYC 2008 was the first time I went sub 5 and so far I havent looked back!  I think Al did a lot of walking if you ask me.

I am not saying that 6 or 7 hours is bad, but just like I was telling someone the other day, I am certain that if thats how long it took me, I wouldnt do what I do.  No way.  No how.  Nor would I ever walk a marathon.  I hate to freaking walk the last mile of any run let along 26.2 of them!  I doubt I would even ever walk a half marathon.  I have a friend that does it and honestly I told her she's got more ballz than I do.  Walking 13.1 miles is hard.

Have you ever walked a half marathon or full marathon?  Would you if you couldn't run for some reason?  Would you do a marathon if it was going to take you 7 hours?  6? 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I bought Yurbuds last week not knowing there was going to be a contest. Doh!

Junie B said...

well enter anyway and you have a spare pair or a pair of Lady J!

Anonymous said...

I actually work with a couple girls who I am certain will put in 6+ hour marathons. And it's hard to conceptualize that pace, but yes, they are running. And to them, this will be a monumental accomplishment... and I can't wait to see them cross... and one of those two, I'll be pacing the girl for her marathon. Stand at the finish line at 7 hours of a marathon, and I bet you won't find a dry eye. It's really emotional... those people battered through ridiculous numbers of hours of pain and obstacles to cross that finish line. It's really inspiring!!! And yes, I think they have incredible courage, because I'm not sure I could survive that long.

The thing on the stars doing them is whether or not they even train. Some of them really seem like they just decide to do a marathon to raise money, and then it's obvious they don't train. Even Katie Holmes' 5:29... I am SLOW... and I spent the last 11 miles of my first marathon with agonizing quad cramps... and I finished in 5:12. She's much younger, much thinner, and seemingly athletic based on all the photos you see of her heading to the gym... makes me wonder... did she truly train... do the long runs? Etc? Maybe she did... As long as people are putting in the training, more power to them. It's those who look at it as just a checkbox, don't train and then spend half a day on the course that puzzle me.

Beth G. said...

I walked the L.A. Marathon in 2003. I tell people I did it by accident, though. I was training for the Marathon, which was the first weekend in March, when I fell and sprained my ankle just before Christmas. I never quite got around to getting a deferment, and I went to the Start line figuring I'd walk 5 miles or so, just to be there. At 5 miles, I felt pretty good, so I kept walking. At 10 miles, I still felt pretty good, so I kept walking. At the halfway point, I called a friend in Illinois. She told me to call her when I got to 20. When I called her at 20, she said, "Well, you have to finish it now."

Also, I realized that it was going to be awfully hard to get home from where I was!

So, I walked all the way. Those last few miles were pretty miserable. I finished in 7:56:11. Just under 8 hours.

I'm doing a Marathon in October and I hope to make it under 6 hours.

Pony and Petey said...

I love these questions at the end of your posts!! I don't often comment but they ALWAYS make me think and I answer in my head = )

The closest I've ever come is when I helped a first-timer make it to the finish line so that her friend could continue running. Christi was having IT trouble. I basically walked the last 6 miles of the marathon with her.

I stopped twice to use the porta-potty simply because it felt SOOOOO good to run to catch up to her afterwards!

I honestly don't think I could walk an entire marathon...possibly a 1/2 but it'd be better if it was on a hilly course.

Thanks for making me think!

Nikki said...

Just catching up with you after being in Chicago then floating the river (San Marcos, Guad was too low) in Texas (talk about a change of scenery in just 2 days). Thanks for posting the Al Roker link! I was there and heard he was there over the speaker but never saw any footage. I'm quite happy I beat him! Ha! Walk a full marathon? No way. That would take way too long. The exception would be if I got hurt halfway through and wanted to finish.