Running Archives - Benjamin Wagner

When A Moment Changes Everything

By Benjamin | March 6, 2011 |

For weeks now, I’ve been listening to David Gray’s “When A Moment Changes Everything” on near-repeat fully expecting to get hit by a bus, pushed in front of a subway, or catch a stray bullet at any instant. It’s a simple, hooky, perfectly David Gray kinda’ song with a propellant beat, ascending melody, and the…

2010 Chicago Marathon In 4:03:49

By admin | October 15, 2010 |

“It’s not the heat,” I Tweeted in the wee hours of Sunday morning, “It’s the uncertainty.” Ends up it was both. See, Chicago has a bit of history with extreme weather. In 2007, one runner died and another 100+ were rushed to area hospitals on account of too much heat (the mercury topped ninety!), and…

Into The East

By Benjamin | April 4, 2010 |

Abbi and I moved from West 56th Street and Tenth Avenue to East 71st and First this weekend. To most, this would seem a simple, two mile, two zip code, cross-town move. Which would be true. But man, what a difference two zip codes can make. New York neighborhoods are rife with generalities, none more…

Moment Of Zen: Litchfield Beach

By Benjamin | March 30, 2010 |

Litchfield Beach sits just south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a broad and flat stretch of sand at the center of Long Bay. I rose before dawn to greet the sunrise there, hit the sand, and turned north towards Murrell’s Inlet. The waves were soft and low, the water grayish-blue. The sun peaked over the…

The Wave

By Benjamin | February 4, 2010 |

Funny story from Dominican Republic. Sort of. Our hotel, Casa Colonial, was wedged in the middle of Playa Dorado, a World Bank-funded hotel, golf course and mall development roughly half-way between the Puerto Plata Airport, and Puerto Plata itself. Again, I can’t say enough nice things about the hotel itself, and particularly the staff. Playa…

And Baby Makes Three

By Benjamin | December 30, 2009 |

I woke early — too early — on account of a message from my younger self. Well, not exactly. It was 29-year-old singer/songwriter Casey Shea (nearly ten years my junior) texting me in the small hours of the morning as he sauntered home from a rock show on the Lower East Side (as I have…

My First Yoga Class

By Benjamin | November 23, 2009 |

For months now, Abbi’s been asking me to join her Saturday morning yoga practice. And for months, I’d put it off… until yesterday. It only stands to reason that stretching, strengthening and meditating will go a long way to remedy a frenetic life punctuated by frequent, joint-pounding runs. As my marathon finishes have increased (eleven…

Ok

By Benjamin | November 11, 2009 |

Last Monday afternoon, some 24 hours after my record-setting (well, my record, anyway) New York City Marathon finish, I settled into the massage table for my annual deep-tissue rub down. My masseuse, Elana, was strong, driving her elbows deep into my hamstrings and calves. Somewhere between my shoulder blades, just before gingerly flipping me over,…

My Actual 3:51:05* New York City Marathon Playlist

By Benjamin | November 4, 2009 |

A friend of mine emailed me a page from The New Yorker yesterday. The black-and-white cartoon showed two PacMan-like faces staring at one another. The face on the left’s speech bubble said “Marathon, Marathon, Marathon, Marathon, Marathon.” On the right, it simply said, “Zzzzzzz.” That pretty much sums up the days following any marathon, let…

The 3:51:05 New York City Marathon Playlist

By Benjamin | November 2, 2009 |

With over 40,000 runners making individual Odysseys across 26.1 rust and wind-swept miles, the New York City Marathon is nothing if not cinematic. Add some stakes (like shattering an eight-year-old personal best) and a throbbing soundtrack, and the race is truly epic. I’ve run to the music of this city for years. The rush of…