(Update — See Armstrong on LanceCam)
No standard 16-week marathon training program for 7-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong as he prepares for the Nov. 5 New York City Marathon.
Armstrong is simply running when he can find the time, although that's about every day.
That's a little hard to believe from the cyclist who was so diligent that he used to weigh his food intake when he was training for the Tour de France bike race, but that's what he told the reporter for his hometown newspaper, the Austin American Statesman.
Ever since accepting the marathon's invitation to join the footrace, the former high school triathlete has been extending the distances he's been running. He's up to 14 miles in his current training program. He's never run 26.2 miles, but figures he can maintain a 7-minute mile pace.
On a recent one-mile run, Armstrong clocked a 4:51 mile. His comment after the run: “That thing killed me.”
Jumping into running has moved Armstrong from the cover of Bicycling magazine to the cover of Runner's World, which has Lance vs. the Marathon on the newsstands now.
The online version has audio excerpts from his interview and video of his photo shoot. There's also a contest. Whoever guesses his closest finish time — to the second — wins a year's worth of running shoes.
Speaking of shoes, Nike is sponsoring the “Run Like Lance Challenge”. The sportswear maker will donate $1 to the Lance Armstrong Foundation for every training mile run by Armstrong and runners who log in and register their runs at the NikePlus website. (NikePlus is a run-logging system that requires NikePlus compatible shoes that cost about $100/pair, the $29.95 NikePlus iPod sport kit, and an iPod Nano.)
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