Stephen Rathbun, native New Yorker, avid runner and Key Account Representative here at Rockport, will be running the Boston Marathon this coming April in our DresSports shoes, one of the first dress shoes to be infused with sport technology. In the months leading up, Stephen will chronicle his progress as he trains for the marathon (if you haven't already, be sure to check out his opening post).
What a whirlwind of a month it has been since my last blog post. With consistent travel and inconsistent weather, I have tried to make my training align accordingly. Over the past 5 weeks I have trained in Orlando, New Jersey, Toronto, New York City, Las Vegas and I just capped off a trip to North Carolina. If there is one thing a distance coach will tell you is vital to training, it is consistency. This has been challenging given the varied terrains, climates and schedules. As you can see in my pictures, I went from wearing tights in a team picture on a cold, slushy Sunday to struggling through a workout in 65 degrees and humidity.
Orlando offered humidity and sunshine, NJ and NYC can’t make up their minds but are consistently flat, Toronto was frigid and wet, Las Vegas was hot and hilly, and North Carolina had humidity and hills galore. I have pivoted my thoughts to now view these fluctuations in weather and terrains as a positive come race day. When I ran Boston in 2015, it was 35 and rainy. The years proceeding and following were hot and sunny. My body will be acclimated to any weather outcome thanks to this travel.
Consistently inconsistent. That’s the big takeaway I have from this phase of training, creating your own consistency. I am focusing on the consistency of the overall trajectory of this training cycle and I am able to hit some great efforts and times during my workouts. I have the Strava results to prove it.
Long run in my DresSports on the American Tobacco Trail - 19 miles of “fun.”
Now, I am sure you are all chomping at the bit to hear how the dress shoe training is progressing. I am running about 5-10% of my weekly mileage in the DresSports shoes and wearing them 2-3 times per week for work. They are comfortable with the ride of a running shoe, having a super flexible outsole with soft and malleable uppers. As you can see, I have worn them out running and out on the town. They were a game changer during our recent trade show in Las Vegas, when I was on my feet from 7 to 7. I’m excited to see where these shoes take me, professionally and on the streets of Boston, as well as how you all like them!
In my DresSports, running around a trade show all day and then a night out.
My next post will come with a little less than a month from Boston. Keep following my Strava to see how my workouts are progressing, especially as I increase my mileage in the DresSports. The Build Up to Boston is real and it is on!
In comfort,
Stephen