Training – A New Method
Running a marathon will be very different training regime for me. My previous long events have been Ironman races, which include a swim and ride. While I’ll continue to swim and ride once a week for cross training purposes, my total training time will be less than previous events.
My official training will start on the May 1 and will run for the 26 weeks leading up to the race. Many of my training sessions will have a heavy focus on speed work, as I need to increase my running pace in order to complete the race in my time goal.
My coach Doug and I have been working on some new training techniques to increase my speed and so far we’ve achieved some promising results. I'll be having lung function and exercise stress testing in the near future and again two weeks before the marathon so we can compare results at either end of the training program.
Part of the reason we are adopting some new techniques is to find ways to improve the health of COPD patients in general through exercise. If we can find better ways to train faulty lungs, it would be a great result.
If I can run the New York City Marathon in 5 hrs 45 minutes, then I will be on pace with a lot of people with healthy lungs, and that would be a great step forward for exercise programs for people with COPD.
I'm not suggesting that everyone should go and run a marathon, but the exercise theory we develop could possibly be used on many patients.
The Documentary
Discussing what lay ahead for me over the next six months with my coach Doug, we both realized this would be a great opportunity to record the whole process to turn into a documentary on how some with COPD can train and complete events like the New York City Marathon.
Filming will include both my respiratory tests, training sessions, dietary information, the race, and discussions with experts along the way. At the end of this journey, we will have some very useful information on how my body coped with all the training and race day conditions. This information we hope to utilize for future training programs for patients.
With a documentary on Leonard Nimoy's battle with COPD planned for this year, we hope our documentary will continue to keep COPD in the spotlight in 2016.
The Support Crew
There will be four of us running in the New York marathon under the COPD Athlete banner and all will be helping monitor my progress. My wife has decided to run with me as well, and Coach Doug will be helping set the pace I need to maintain to reach my goal time as well as keeping an eye on my oxygen levels and heart rate.
For this project to succeed, we’ll need a good support network in Australia and New York and with the American Lung Association of the Northeast, Dr Noah Greenspan’s Pulmonary Wellness and Rehabilitation Center and the National Asthma Council Australia already on board, it's certain to be a success.
If you'd like to help make this project a reality, you can donate here – your donation will be greatly appreciated! Opportunities for corporate sponsorship are still available – inquiries can be made via COPD Athlete.
New York, here I come!
