Whether you cycle or run, it’s all good
By Paul Baltutis
There was quite a buzz at the 2006 New York City Marathon when Lance Armstrong finished the race in Central Park in 2:59:36. As a matter of fact, several reporters said there was more commotion when Armstrong finished then when the actual men’s winner, Brazilian Marilson Gomes dos Santos finished. New Yorkers weren’t the only ones whipped into a frenzy by Lance’s performance that day. Many endurance athletes, runners and bicyclists alike were equally absorbed in how he would do. Here is a fictitious conversation between a runner and a cyclist discussing Armstrong’s run …
Cyclist: So, did you hear Lance Armstrong ran the New York City Marathon?
Runner: Yeah, I heard he ran in it like 2:59. That’s a decent time. Goes to show you that Lance has finally returned to his roots; he was a runner first, you know.
Cyclist: Dude, don’t read too much into that. He just wanted to run to say he finished a marathon. His true passion will always be cycling.
Runner: Yeah, but don’t you think it says something about how tough running a marathon is when a seven-time winner of the Tour de France says that the NYC Marathon was the hardest physical thing he has ever done?
Cyclist: Are you off your medications again? The Tour De France is absolutely the toughest race on the planet. Lance just wasn’t able to get in enough training for the marathon. His longest run was 16 miles. He did the last 10 miles on guts alone. Come on, the Tour goes over 2,000 miles in three weeks plus at least five mountain stages in the Pyrenees and the Alps!
Runner: It would seem that Lance thought the hills of Central Park were just as formidable as the Alpe d’Huez. He was really struggling the last three miles there toward the finish. He even said, himself, that he bit off more than he could chew.
Cyclist: You guys spend too much time reading running magazines. No way I am going to say that a marathon is tougher than the Tour.
Runner: At least we have time to read magazines. Our long runs are two to three hours, max. How far did you go out the other day for six hours?
Cyclist: I’ll grant you that: we do spend a lot of time on the bike. However, if Lance would have spent half the time he spent he spent training for the Tour on training for the Marathon, he could have sprinted at the end.
Runner: Yeah, well sprinting was the last thing on Lance’s mind that day. It was weird to see him nearly limping into the finish line. I respect him for his effort. That took a lot of guts.
Cyclist: Yeah, I don’t know what we’ve been arguing about. Both sports are awesome. Hey, maybe Lance’s running was supposed to bring both activities closer together.
Runner: Maybe you’re right. Maybe we can get along and respect each other’s sport.
Cyclist: If a guy like Lance Armstrong says running is cool, then I’m down with that. After all, you know what they say: only Nixon could go to China. By the way, did I ever tell you there are like 10 billion cyclists in China and only like 30 runners?
Runner: Here we go again!
So, thanks to Lance Armstrong, for a brief moment runners and cyclists saw eye to eye. Thank you, Mr. Armstrong, for setting the bar so high for the rest of us. That reminds me: who would win in a high-jump competition between a runner and a cyclist?
Paul Baltutis is the manager of Soler’s Sports in Alamo Heights. He is a certified marathon coach for Team in Training. He can be reached at sage_run03@yahoo.com.
