Two first-time marathoners learn how to balance race training with travel plans that take them across the country and the globe.
In Pursuit of 26.2 is a series following two Equinox members as they train for the New York City Marathon, from their first long-distance runs to the finish line. Since early August, our athletes have been following a new personalized training program created by an Equinox Personal Run Coach, powered by Precision Run, and utilizing Equinox services to strengthen, stretch, and stabilize. Check back each week for a new installment.
Completing a 13-week marathon training program without growing mentally and physically burned out is a tricky feat. Of course, you need a healthy balance of work and rest days, progressive yet achievable distance goals, and a solid nutrition and hydration strategy. But perhaps most importantly, you need to be open to change.
And that’s something first-time marathoners and frequent fliers Aurora Straus and Luis Colón learned early on in their prep for the New York City Marathon.
In just the second week of training, Aurora was already jetting off to Dallas for a three-day work trip. By day, the 25-year-old is a management consultant, a gig that requires her to travel and deliver presentations to clients once every few weeks, she says. The good news: Many of the cities she visits have Equinox Clubs. “Traveling is not easy by any means, but I have the ability to be in a place where I know I’ll be comfortable working out,” she adds. “I'll have the equipment that I expect to have. I could even do the equivalent group classes that I normally do in New York.”
During her Texas trip, Aurora completed Precision Run classes, both indoors on the cushy Woodway treadmill and outside in the scorching August heat. And she even took a few virtual workouts taught by her Equinox Personal Run Coach, Corky.
“It was strangely comforting,” Aurora adds. “I think mentally, this has been harder than I thought it was going to be. I've leaned on [Corky] a lot, not just physically but also emotionally: How do I continue thinking positively about this marathon, despite the fact that I'm tapering my training more than I expected to? What are other ways that I can get the same rush as running? She's been super helpful with that, so it's very cheesy, but having her voice…on the app was very nice.”
Training while on the go for her events as a part-time professional race car driver can be tricky. The races can take place in remote areas without a Club nearby. And they’re so physically demanding, she often can’t put her all into her runs, Aurora says.
This potential hurdle became reality in early September, when she flew to San Francisco to attend a friend’s wedding and compete in a motorsports race — her first since beginning marathon training.
At the start of her eight-day trip, Aurora says she checked off all her planned workouts and logged all her miles. She pushed through an outdoor Precision Run workout, led by Corky herself, on an incline-heavy trail. She dropped by the Spa at Equinox Sports Club San Francisco for a massage. And she pulled off a casual 14-mile run, all while chatting on the phone with a friend. At one point, “I looked down and I had been running for, like, 10 and a half miles,” Aurora recalls. “It’s a very cool feeling when something that would have been almost impossible a couple of months ago is [now] something that you did haphazardly.”
The second half of the trip, however, required a bit more flexibility and self-compassion. Aurora missed a few runs due to the demands of the week, says Corky. And though she had planned on completing her long run for the week — a 14-mile outing — the day before her race, she ultimately decided to postpone it until after she crossed the finish line. Even then, she ended up cutting it a few miles short, says Corky.
“It came down to what I wanted to optimize for,” Aurora says. “I think the [thought process] was, ‘I don't want to feel bad on this long run, but I also really don't want to compromise my ability to race well because of a run that I'll have an opportunity to do eight more times.’ I came to peace with the idea that it matters that I am doing the long run — not necessarily that I knock it out of the park like I did the week before.”
In hindsight, shelving the endurance run was for the best, Aurora says. The race track was physically intense, leaving her hands covered in blisters and her body aching and bruised. “I think I was a better racer for it, and I think I will be a better runner for it,” she says.
I came to peace with the idea that it matters that I am doing the long run — not necessarily that I knock it out of the park like I did the week before.
Just like Aurora, Luis needed to adapt his marathon training program to his travel itinerary soon after beginning his race prep. In August, he took a 16-day vacation in Greece, during which Corky advised him to use the Equinox+ app as he saw fit. “With Luis knowing Greece well, I gave him some flexibility,” Corky says. “For example, he decided to swim one day instead of taking a spin class as he would when in NYC.” He even completed outdoor Precision Run classes and solo runs along the sea and around tourist hotspots, such as the Panathenaic Stadium, Hadrians Arch, Temple of Olympian Zeus, and Presidential Mansion in Athens.
The summertime heat forced him to run around sunrise, when the temperature was still manageable, and slow his pace. And the ever-changing elevation proved to be challenging. Though difficult to run, Luis says the landscape will set him up for success when it's time to tackle the hills of the NYC Marathon.
Aside from the terrain and mesmerizing views, Luis also took advantage of the Mediterranean waters, capping his runs off with a long swim. “It's been really good for the recovery — it’s definitely helped with relieving the soreness and just keeping my muscles continuously going [rather than] stopping right after a long run,” he said during a Zoom call during his trip.
Still, not everything went to plan. Luis went into his vacation envisioning himself taking mat Pilates, strength, and metabolic conditioning classes through the Equinox+ app — in addition to his marathon runs — most days. In reality, “I missed a few strength-training workouts because once you’re done running in the morning, you’re just so tired,” he said during his trip. “I'm happy that I'm still able to at least run and keep that part of it going, even if I had to dial down on my strength training…But I'm a little strict with myself, so I am upset.”
All things considered, though, the Grecian vacation was restorative for both mind and body. “When I’m working at home, every 15 minutes of the day is accounted for — from when you wake up to when you sleep — so your brain never turns off,” Luis says. “[Here,] I'm able to listen to my body more. Now that I am in a relaxed state, [I’ll notice] if a muscle is a little sore or I'm putting too much pressure [on a joint].” Essentially, it felt like a two-week recovery session, he adds.
As marathon day grows near, both runners have more trips on the calendar. For Aurora, that includes a restorative birthday vacation in Italy, her fiancé’s motorsports race in Atlanta, and a friend’s wedding in Los Angeles. For Luis, there are adventures to San Francisco and Tampa to catch up with friends. But, as they’ve learned over the past few weeks, the runners have all the support necessary to continue their training no matter where life takes them.