Training for a Marathon…on a Prison Track
In September 2022, I self-surrendered to Federal Prison in Central Florida. I am classified as the lowest level of custody by the US Bureau of Prisons; with no criminal background, stable family life, 49 years old, and a non-violent white-collar crime. To that end, the facility in which I self surrendered approximately 90 days after sentencing is a Federal Prison Camp.
You might ask yourself what does a “camp” mean? It means that it’s extremely different from what you might see on TV or envision about prison. We do not have cells, we do not have locked doors on campus, we do not have walls, or even a fence for that matter. For example, what separates the sidewalk as I leave my dorm to the parking lot outside and ultimately the road home, is a patch of freshly mowed grass about the size of a basketball court with some decorative rocks that you shouldn’t go past (or at least I think that’s our boundary). At the back of the property, past the basketball court, softball field, and our track is a small sign about the size of a license plate on a stick that says “out of bounds.” That’s the extent of the security here at what some people call “Club Fed.”
The aforementioned track is what this journal is ultimately about. I have been here for 45 days. About a week ago, while walking the track (one of my favorite ways to pass time) I made the decision that I should run a marathon, on this track, here in prison. You might ask yourself a few questions. Such as…have you ever done a marathon before? You might ask….what’s so different about a marathon at your prison camp vs. in the outside world? Are you in the physical shape necessary to do such a thing? Will it be harder to do a marathon in prison vs. a regular sponsored marathon on the outside?
Have I done a marathon before? Short answer…Yes. At the age of 36 in 2009 I was in good physical condition…but in a bit of a rut in exercise. I had done a variety of triathlons ranging from the Sprint distance up to and including two of the 1/2 IronMan variety. I was a bit burnt out on triathlons and my work and family schedule was very busy at the time. The extensive swimming and biking (both of which take more time to accomplish than running) was wearing on me to get done in a work day and I decided to take a break. Feeling a bit sedentary I made the decision to train for “4 months for a 4 hour marathon.” I read a book of the same name and over a 4 month span, in the fall of 2009, trained for a marathon and finished it in about 4 hours and 20 minutes. You might wonder if I was disappointed in my time…I was not at all. On raceday I had the flu and almost didn’t attempt the run, but adrenaline prevailed, and I am grateful to have even finished in the condition I was in. The race was the Rock n’ Roll Marathon in Las Vegas in December 2009. That’s the last and only time I have done a marathon.
Am I in the physical condition to attempt a marathon? Not in any way, shape, or form. That’s the point of this journal, to spend the next 5 months getting in said shape to attempt the feat. Over the past 5 years I’ve bounced in and out of being in decent physical condition. I’ve not run at any point but have been participating in Cross Fit most of that timeframe. Not setting any world records, but in decent physical shape for my age. Unfortunately in the few months prior to reporting to Federal Prison I was diagnosed with a hernia that required surgery and a 6 week hiatus from any physical activity beyond walking. To that end, I’m in the worst shape I’ve been in within the last 5 years.
What’s so different about a marathon here in prison versus a marathon on the outside. Well for starters….I probably won’t get a medal…LOL. Actually, there are really about 4 things that are really what could be considered a “hurdle” to what you might encounter on the outside. Those things are the nutrition along the way (during the race), the timeframe to do it in here without interruption from CO’s (guards) or prison rules, the water during the race, and the boredom of a track vs. a road race on the outside.
The nutrition along the way will be a challenge, but solvable. On the outside it would be standard to either have snacks provided in a larger sponsored race and in addition to that or in non-sponsored events you would bring along “Gu” or some sort of similar energy pack that you can buy at any running shop or big box sporting goods store. We obviously don’t have those sorts of items at our prison commissary store so I will have to research a bit but will either have to use candy (replaces sugar but maybe not as healthy) or maybe peanut butter or something like that to replace the glycogen your body burns during an endurance event 4–5 hours in length.
The next challenge is the timeframe. During the week we have more freedom to fit in a 4–5 hour event of this nature without any interruption but the weekday seems more difficult. For starters while I currently don’t have a job and have total freedom from when I get up in the morning until our 4PM stand up count, it doesn’t sound appealing to do the race on a weekday and most people would be working and it would be hard for me to recruit anyone to help with water, food, cheering section, etc. We have a stand up count at 4PM and 9PM every single day without exception. At this time we have to be in our room and stand for a few minutes while the CO’s walk around the dorm and count us all to make sure nobody at the camp has gone missing that day. Further, on weekends they add a 10AM count, so I think my best bet for this race would be to start the race at 10:15AM on a Saturday right after count. I could in theory start at 4:15PM and barely get done but to be safe the 10:15AM weekend start seems like the best solution.
The water should be pretty easy. I have 2 plastic mugs I use for coffee and tea that I can fill with ice water and I have a 32oz water jug I routinely use so I can fill all of those with ice water and have them on the picnic table by the track. I also have a fair amount of friends and would assume I will have more so by race time and may be able to recruit others to bring me the water along the way and to refill them as needed during the 4 1/2 hour event.
The last hurdle is the track. On the outside, as you can imagine, the race is in a city or a rural area with interesting topography that gives you some sort of scenery and mile markers to let you know you’re accomplishing your goal. In my case, my race as mentioned was in Las Vegas so we ran a good deal of it along the Las Vegas Strip and had tons of people along the way cheering. Once we left the strip for a few miles we even had bands playing music (hence the name Rock n’ Roll Marathon) and the race had plenty to keep your mind wandering and interested in something besides how miserable you might feel. Here…not so much. We have a track that is made up of some weird mixture of gravel, sand, shells and a hardened dirt and it’s a circle obviously and it’s 1/3 of a mile long. I will have to do 78 laps on this very same track to accomplish my goal so the simple issue of boredom will be a hurdle.
I started this process on November 1, 2022. Side note, it was day 44 in Federal Prison. I ran 1 mile on this particular day and the plan is as follows:
Month 1 — Train to train….i.e. Just get in shape to even begin the process. My plan is to follow a plan I used in my last marathon to train for 4 months to do approximately a 4 hour marathon. Those 4 months will be December 2022, January 2023, February 2023, and March 2023. The race will be the nearest Saturday (haven’t looked at a calendar) to April 1st. This first month of “training to train” will be:
Week 1
Monday — Jog 1 mile
Tuesday — Off
Wednesday — Warm up walk, then Run 2 mins, walk 2 mins (4 times), and warm down walk
Thursday — Off
Friday- Off
Saturday — Run 1 mile
Total: 4 Miles
Week 2
Monday — Jog 1 mile
Tuesday — Off
Wednesday — 4 rounds of Run/Walk 2 mins, warm up and warm down walks
Thursday — Run 1 Mile
Friday — Off
Saturday — Run 2 miles
Total: 6 Miles
Week 3
Monday — Jog 2 miles
Tuesday — Off
Wednesday — 4 rounds of Run/Walk 2 mins, warm up and warm down walks
Thursday — Jog 2 miles
Friday — Off
Saturday — Run 2 miles
Total: 8 Miles
Week 4
Monday — Jog 2 miles
Tuesday — 4 rounds of Run/Walk 2 mins, warm up and warm down walks
Wednesday — Off
Thursday — Jog 3 miles
Friday — Off
Saturday — Run 3 miles
Total: 10 miles
Today as this is written, it’s Wednesday November 16, 2022. So, Week 3. I am getting ready to go run 2 miles, it’s just after lunch an hour or so and the day is overcast, probably mid 70’s so a perfect afternoon to get it out of the way.
I will update as often as I can on the progress…and the struggle.
