The American Tobacco Road Marathon is a great one. Some may say it is boring because it goes through a Greenway across different counties in North Carolina. Far from that, it is a spectacular marathon because it differs from most. And, is an Official Boston Qualifier.

This marathon does not run all the 23-mile long trail best known as the American Tobacco Trail, but you enjoy a stretch of it with a couple of sections on the street between Thomas Brooks Park and the ATR, or ATT.

The American Tobacco Trail is a path between trees, it has pavement and dirt sections, very light climbs and descends, toilets, and water fountains, and it is open from dawn to dusk. It lies on an old railroad route, used by the tobacco business. Therefore, the marathon is not too steep, and not flat… but is comfortable since the elevation is spread over 20 miles on the trail. 

Another benefit is that there are many pacers. Whether you follow one or run at your own pace, pacers are always a helpful reference during your race. This year there were pacers for splits of 15 and 10 minutes for both the Full and the Half Marathons. This marathon has been named one of the top nine best marathons in the US. I suggest you run this one to take full advantage of its benefits and qualify for Boston!

The pathway is being constructed in segments, with the initial portion unveiled in 2000 within downtown Durham. Wake County introduced its inaugural 3.5-mile segment from New Hill-Olive Chapel Road to Wimberly Road in 2003. Phase II of the American Tobacco Trail was opened by Wake County in July 2005, adding 2 more miles to its length, making it 5.5 miles in total. In 2006, the last one-mile stretch in Wake County was finalized, thus completing Wake County’s part of the trail, which then measured 6.5 miles. Presently, the American Tobacco Trail spans nearly 23 miles.

There are two very important components of our performance, not the only ones, but let’s talk about them: Capacity and Utilization and the training sessions designed to improve each one of them. Some years ago, I was Mountain Biking with a friend of mine. we rode uphill, reaching the summit, I was waiting for him on the climb, and we finally made it to the top. Once there, whilst he was recovering his breath (I was rested since I was waiting for him) he said: “you know, these 3 weeks off the bike are having a toll… endurance is like a bank account and exercising is like withdrawing money. You need to put money in the bank so that you are covered when you need it”. This had me thinking about how to “get more money” for the weekend… money does not grow on trees and neither does endurance. So, our capacity is how much funds we have available, and Utilization is how we use them. Therefore, training to increase Capacity (Endurance) will help us in a long term, while training for Utilization will help us in the short term. And both have trade-offs as we advance in our training plans up to the date of our competition or race.

To run a marathon, we need to train for endurance. This will result in a better distribution of oxygen in our muscles. As with any training, our muscles will change, will get bigger and stronger, and even our heart will grow so that it can pump more blood. When you are at a resting state it will pump between 35 to 50 times per minute. This depends on your age, fitness, health, and many factors, but that is an average range seen in many studies. You need to increase and improve your Aerobic endurance, which is your ability to exercise at certain intensity for long periods of time; like marathons or triathlons.

Please share your experiences, comments, questions, and concerns. And most importantly: RUN with a SMILE on your FACE!!

Whether you are a seasoned athlete or want to learn how to conquer your first 10-minute run, you need support. TRI Boken is the place to find information that will help you conquer your challenges.