The Long And Winding Road

Fourteen miles of fun, six miles of sweat and six miles of hell.

That's the way many runners describe the Boston Marathon, according to Christine L. Sheppard-Sawyer '97.

Perhaps it's no surprise, then, that a number of Harvard students--already accustomed to the fun, sweat and occasional hell of College life--would choose to run in this year's Marathon.

But the race itself is not the only hard part. Runners have to be ready to deal with the physical training, the mental hurdles and, of course, the prolonged pain.

Why, then, do so many people undertake such a task? And in the end, is it really worth it?

Pleasure and Pain

Of course, the runners say it's worth it. After all, they've just finished the marathon.

"It was a fun and valuable experience," says Sarah L. Thomas '98, describing the excitement of the event.

Thomas and other runners describe the exhiliration they felt as thousands of people cheered them on as they crossed the finish line.

Yet the feelings of excitement and triumph do not come without feelings of exhaustion and torment.

"It's not physically rewarding to your body," Caitlin M. Hurley '97 says. In particular, she describes lightly jogging the next day "to get the lactic acid out" and having a "90-year old woman" gain on her.

"Stairs are an issue for me," Thomas notes.

Jessica J. Glass '97 had an even larger obstacle. She ran the race only two days after pulling the T.I. band in her left knee. Glass says that she felt great during the race (during which she popped about 10 ibuprofen) but adds that she had to be carried down the stairs to the T afterwards.

Getting a Head Start

Running a marathon is not supposed to be easy--it is rumored that repeatedly running them can take years off your life.

So naturally, there's no way to avoid the pain. The best runners can do is to start training long before the event.

For some Harvard athletes who have been running for several years, training isn't all that hard.

"[Training] was a lot easier than track," says Hurley, who ran track and cross-country until this year. "I could do it on my own schedule."

Sheppard-Sawyer admits that although she had been running pretty regularly, she actually spent the week prior to the race in the Caribbean.

Nevertheless, being on a team does not prepare you for the rigors of a marathon.

"Even if you're in okay shape it's a demanding experience," says Hurley.

Those students who did not have collegiate athletic training needed to engage in more rigorous programs.

Thomas and Yuki M. Bowman '98, after deciding in December to run in this year's marathon, followed a 16-week training program from a book.

In that program, Thomas says, she began with runs as short as seven miles, eventually working her way up to much longer distances.

"[The first run] was kind of disturbing," she says. The only way to have the confidence to do it, she adds, is to take the training "a week at a time."

Glass says that training was an exercise in "self-discipline," as it was not one of her favorite activities.

"You know, I hate running," she says.

Man or Machine?

Getting your body in shape also means taking care of yourself, runners say, in a number of different ways.

The key components of a successful training program are getting enough sleep and eating right.

Hurley cites a number of popular books by Barry Sears, including Entering the Zone and Mastering the Zone, which encourage runners to "treat their bodies like machines."

According to these books, the body needs certain percentages of fat, protein and carbohydrates to meet "the level of performance that the body wants," she says.

In some ways, training properly is difficult for Harvard students with little time on their hands for such preparation.

"I'd do it again, but being in school it's hard to train," Bowman says.

Training can also affect students' everyday habits in a number of ways. Ben G. Steinberg '97 gave up caffeine and alcohol and avoided secondhand smoke during the last week before the marathon.

Giving up coffee, he notes, made for a "tough couple of days."

Still, training isn't all about selfdenial.

Hurley says that most athletes don't have enough fat and protein in their diet and thus should eat more than usual in preparation for a marathon.

"If anything, I felt less guilty about eating," Thomas says.

And Bowman says that sleeping and eating more has made her a lot more healthy than she had been.

"It's given me a lot of perspective about my body," she says. "That something's that's not going to go away."

Mind Games

Running in a marathon is not just a strain on your body: in some ways, runners say, it's a mental nightmare.

"It's such a mind game out there," Hurley says.

Although runners have the constant desire to stop and walk, Hurley says they know "stopping isn't really an option."

"I knew that if I stopped once I wouldn't have finished," Glass notes.

Bowman says that she was on an "emotional roller coaster" throughout the race.

"There were a couple of miles I'd be on a high, but there would be other miles when I was down and doubted myself," she says.

Bowman says her confidence often corresponded to the amount of people cheering her on. The 15 miles between Wellesley and the infamous Heartbreak Hill, which have relatively fewer onlookers, are particuarly brutal.

"This one woman came up to me before Heartbreak Hill and asked if [the last hill] was it," Bowman says. "I felt terrible telling her no."

Just Do It

Still, the mind games of the race can work in the runner's favor.

"I would stress the mental aspect of knowing that you can do it," Hurley says. "In the last couple miles, finishing becomes an obsession."

Hurley also warns potential runners never to underestimate their abilities. Twenty-six miles may sound intimidating, but, she says, "your body is capable of a lot more than what people think it is."

And, for many runners, the very excitement of the race is what inspires them to push through the final miles.

"I've never felt so utterly supported by total strangers from everywhere," Bowman says.

"There are thousands of people wanting you to finish," Thomas adds. "I wish it were that way with exams and other things in life."