Veronica Teeter

HARD-CORE WORKOUT: (TOP) Senior Vivian Zheng stretches her calf muscles at West Park. Zheng said she stretches before all practice runs (featured image). Zheng said track and cross-country were too time-consuming for high school. She said she decided to train for the marathon, however, in order to share one final experience with her father before leaving for college.

As track season kicks off, students can be found preparing for shorter distance competitions. But for senior Vivian Zheng, her practice focuses on a different type of race this time of year. Zheng said she plans to participate in the half marathon in the Carmel Road Racing Group’s (CRRG) 10th annual Carmel Marathon on April 4. The Carmel Marathon includes a 5K, 10K, half marathon, a full marathon and a two and four-person marathon relay. 

According to Todd Oliver, the race director and president of the CRRG, the Carmel Marathon has become a well-known race, with participants from 41 states and five countries last year. With such a large-scale marathon taking place in Carmel directly after the cross-country season, preparations for runners are considerable and involve substantial motivational endurance.

For Zheng, this race will be her first marathon of any type. Although she participated in both cross-country and track in middle school, Zheng said she had to quit in high school because of other time commitments. 

According to Zheng, what drew her to running was the duality of it being both a physical and mental sport. 

“A lot of it is your own individual (motivation), how well you’re running, how hard you can  push yourself and how hard you can train for whatever event that you’re running for,” Zheng said. “I know some people hate cardio, but I think it’s a good way to get fit and work out and also to just blow off a bit of steam.”

A half marathon, a 13.1-mile race, typically calls for a three- to fourmonth training plan, according to Runners World. Training plans usually have weekly short runs, around 30 minutes long, along with a long run on the weekends building up to 13 miles. Another common training tactic is a tempo run, which involves running at a quick but not all-out speed, or a “comfortably hard” speed for endurance. 

Zheng said she planned to train several months in advance to fully prepare for the half marathon, with incremental steps to build her running tolerance as well as other workout activities to keep in shape.

In regards to her running frequency, Zheng said, “I don’t really have time to run every single day, but you want to keep a really consistent schedule when you’re training for something like this, so (I will run) definitely a couple of times a week, if not hopefully every day, when I have more time.”

With such demanding preparation, it is common to feel a lack of motivation at times, according to Andy Dalton, head coach for the women’s cross-country team.

Dalton said that there are various ways to motivate yourself in a long-term training plan like planning for a half marathon.

“I think you keep motivated by choosing a race to train for and setting goals for yourself. Just like anything in life that’s a long accomplishment that you got to work on, you got to set goals and then try to achieve those, and then set a new goal and try to achieve that,” Dalton said. 

“Sometimes people find motivation through having something that you’re running for, maybe you’re doing a fundraiser or some sort of philanthropy or cause that helps some people, some people will run a race or train for the sake of someone else.”

Zheng said her initial decision to participate in the Carmel marathon was largely based on the latter: her dad’s passion for running. 

“My dad is actually a really big runner and he runs a lot. He runs up to like 13 miles on a daily basis, which seems really weird to me, but he’s also never done (an official) marathon before. I thought it would be really cool for us to do a half marathon together just as something to do, basically like a bonding experience before I leave for college,” Zheng said. 

Zheng said being able to run with her dad motivates her to train even when she feels too tired or when the weather is dreary, along with the idea that the half marathon would put a strain on her body which she needs to prepare for through practice. 

Similarly, junior Ivan Lukin said he found benefits from running with others. Lukin had never officially run in any marathon-type races until he completed the Indianapolis Monumental Mini Marathon last November. According to Lukin, although his motivation for participating in the race was largely time-oriented and self-driven, he said he found support from friends who were also participating.

“I’ve made probably more friends running the Mini than I would have if I didn’t run the Mini,” Lukin said.

Oliver also noted the sense of community when running in the Carmel marathon, as well as how the race can inspire student runners. 

“(Students) are standing on the same starting line that some of the top runners in the country are also standing on,” Oliver said. “They get to feel that excitement of what it’s like to stand and run with an elite runner, at least at the start of the race.”

Although she will be participating in the race with her dad, Zheng said she has also focused a lot on her individual training, especially since she is no longer involved with school sports.

“For me, recreational running is definitely self-motivating  and pushes me to be more self-motivated. (Recreational running means) also just pushing myself to do it, because on a (competitive) team, you have practice after school. You have friends who are also running and you kind of have to be there,” Zheng said. “But for recreational running, or if you’re training for an event, no one’s forcing you to do it, no one’s putting a gun to my head to do a marathon. The fact that I set this goal for myself means that I need to motivate myself to work towards that goal and I think it’s just another good goal to have.”

Along those lines, Dalton said that running involves a lot of mental fortitude beyond just physical strength.

Dalton said, “(Running) teaches you mental stamina and mental endurance: the ability to work hard, the ability to push through pain. You have to be very disciplined and set your schedule and plan out when you’re going to run because it takes a long time to train.”

Considering the preparation needed to run a half marathon, Zheng said she hopes the race will show the results of all her training and that it will be a rewarding experience for her.

Zheng said, “I think this marathon is  just really going to be special for me because it’s just one last thing that I’m doing with my dad. I think after I graduate, I’ll be glad that I put the time and effort into working towards a goal like this.”