Lance Armstrong is keeping his competitive fire burning by running the New York City Marathon today. Here are some of Armstrong’s thoughts on running his first 26.2 mile race.

The NYC Marathon will be the first one that Armstrong has competed in:

“The perception is that I’ve done a marathon before because of the triathlons I used to run. People think “Ironman,” and they think I’ve run a marathon. But I haven’t done a marathon. The longest I’ve ever run is 16 miles and that was a week ago. This is a milestone for me as well. I’m nervous.”

Why he chose to run his first marathon in New York City:

“Aside from the biggest and most prestigious marathon, it’s arguably the greatest city in the world. New York has always been great to me. And then you get into the aspects you hear about later on, the support from the community, from the boroughs, the party atmosphere, that appealed to me. It’s not the fastest or the easiest marathon, but it’s such a great city.”

Lance’s target finish time:

“I’m targeting 3 hours. I’ll be happy if I finish in under 3.”

Training for a marathon can bring about many ailments to the body:

“I’m one of them. It’s been up and down. When I first got into it seriously, I had hip flexor issues. They have gone away, but they’ve been replaced with shin splints, about the worst thing you can have for running. But I’m icing them, getting massaged, taking ibuprofen — just trying to keep it together for Sunday.”

I personally believe everyone should run a marathon at least once in their lifetime. Anyone can truly do it. You don’t have to be a great runner or even jogger. I have seen 300 pound women finish marathons as well as some of the most unathletic human beings. It just takes the will to want to finish. You put one foot in front of another and you are at the finish line before its even noon.

I have competed in two marathons. The first was in San Diego and the second was in Tucson, Arizona.  My #1 goal in each one was to finish.  I ran the first in 3 hours and 39 minutes. In my second marathon my goal, in addition to finishing, was to beat my time from the first marathon. I ran the second one in 3:22.  I would eventually like to beat three hours.

UPDATE: Lance met his goal and finished the NYC Marathon in 2:59:36. He had this to say after the race:

“I think I bit off more than I could chew, I thought the marathon would be easier,” he said. “[My shins] started to hurt in the second half, especially the right one. I could barely walk up here, because the calves are completely knotted up.”

He called the race “the hardest physical thing I have ever done” — even more grueling than his worst days on the Tour.

“Before the race that was my goal, I wanted to break 3 hours. But if you told me with 3 miles to go, ‘You’re going to do 3:05,’ I wouldn’t have cared,” he said. “Honestly, at the end I was so tired, I couldn’t care. Now I’m glad I did.”

“Now’s not the time to ask that question. The answer now is no, I’ll never be back. But I reserve the right to change my mind,” he said. “I don’t know how these guys do it.”