Jordan Litz started to do the math in his dressing room at the Gershwin Theater.
If he finishes the New York City Marathon on Sunday by 12:30 p.m., which would have him running at a pace of around seven minutes per mile, he would have about an hour to celebrate before getting back to Broadway.
That, he said, would give him enough time to see his family, refuel and briefly stretch before getting onstage for the first of two performances of “Wicked,” where he plays Prince Fiyero.
The day will prove to be quite an athletic feat for Mr. Litz, 37, but not one that’s out of reach, considering he swam in college and qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials.
“My body’s ready for it,” he said, shortly after a run and before a curtain call.
“At the end of the day, as long as I’ve refueled, I feel fine,” he added. “But it’s that first show directly after the run that is rough every single time. I’ve never finished a long run, done the matinee and felt like, Oh, I feel OK. I’m literally wobbling through life.”
To train for the ultimate endurance event, Mr. Litz did many of his long runs on Sundays. A few weeks ago, he ran 18 miles in the middle of the day before his matinee and evening performances. The next week, he ran 19 miles before back-to-back performances.
While he lives in South Orange, N.J., with his wife, Julie Litz, 37, and their 2-year-old daughter, Greta, he has done all of his long runs in New York City to gain what he calls “the biggest home-field advantage.” He estimates having run the last few miles of the course — right on Central Park South, and right at Columbus Circle — maybe 100 times.
“So when I get to that point of the marathon, it’s going to feel like home,” he said.
Mr. Litz recently spent a Sunday with The New York Times as he trained for the New York marathon.
This interview has been condensed and lightly edited.
MUM MORNING I try and wake up and see my girls as much as I can on the weekends. Greta, my 2-year-old daughter, comes in and says: “Hi, Daddy! Play, Daddy!” She loves to wrestle with me. Our second one is due on Dec. 18.
I think about the day ahead and how to navigate my voice and not talk too much, not talk too loudly, not talk too high, all of the things that are going to affect me for two shows later in the day.
For breakfast, I usually have three eggs, a bowl of oatmeal, some sliced cherry tomatoes, roasted broccoli, things like that. Plus an electrolyte drink with creatine and lemon.
COMMUTE The train station is a two-minute downhill bike ride from my house. I’ll get a train around 10 or 11, depending on the length of my run. I used to time the commute door to door and try to beat my time. I think the best I ever did was leaving my front door and arriving at the Gershwin Theater in 53 minutes.
DROP AND RUN I drop my stuff off at Equinox and time my run so that I have enough time to hop into the shower, hop into the steam room for five minutes and then come back to the theater.
I’ve been trying to do high-carb intake runs, and I’ve been experimenting with having glucose and fructose alternating so that I can get up to 100 grams of carbs per hour. I run with a hand-held water bottle and probably refill that thing five or six times. I never run with music; I prefer to be in my own thoughts.
STEAM AND STRETCH I love to sit in the steam room post run, not just for the body, but for the voice. It really helps get the gunk off the vocal cords and relaxes everything. You have to be in the building at 1:30 p.m. before a show, so I come up to the Gershwin and do my half-hour of stretching in my dressing room.
I’m super regimented. Something that’s been really helpful is putting my legs up on the wall for 10 minutes, draining the garbage out of the legs. A lot of times, Allie Trimm, who plays Glinda, will come and visit and chat.
EASING ONSTAGE I’m the least concerned Fiyero you’ll ever meet. I’m in my street clothes when they call places. I’m in my street clothes when the top of the show starts. I’m asleep when I make my entrance in the ensemble. I actually make my first entrance as Fiyero 32 minutes into the show.
A TILT Our stage isn’t actually flat. It’s at a two-degree incline, which destroys your body. The dance moves, in combination with being on a rake stage, is a recipe for all kinds of injuries. So the stretching routine, and putting my legs up the wall, is very, very key.
EAT AND REST I usually have about 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to eat and rest before the second show. It’s really the only time in the day where I finally get to sit and be quiet. So I eat and rest, try and get as many calories back into my system as I can without upsetting my stomach.
I try to bring stuff from home. I love an Instant Pot kind of deal where it’s chicken and rice and vegetables and all that kind of stuff. I want to pound as many calories as you can possibly get in your system in the quickest amount of time.
If I’m going to splurge and get something out, it’ll be either a Chipotle burrito — half chicken, half steak — or a Cali turkey bagel sandwich from Pick-A-Bagel.
STAGE DOOR We have a sign up that says “brotherhood of the tight white pants” because these pants which have become legendary for all of the Fiyeros are very tight. So that pressure is on the stomach.
I do the stage door after the show as much as I can. I love to meet the fans and I love to be out there, signing autographs, taking pictures and inspiring the future generation of Broadway performers.
SPRINTING HOME NJ Transit, on the record, is the worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. NJ Transit is the worst thing created by man. I have my folding bike here, so I quickly bike down to Penn Station. Best-case scenario, it’s about a 45-minute train ride. On the way back home, the uphill bike ride is horrible. You put your bike all the way in the lowest gears and you’re like the Wicked Witch of the West trying to climb up that hill at like 12:30 a.m.
THE WIND DOWN When I get home, I’m so high, I’m buzzing. To try and fall asleep, I do everything that you are not supposed to do — screens, food, all of the stuff.
But for me to be as successful on Broadway as I can possibly be, there are two rules nutrition-wise for me: No sugar during the week, and no eating after shows. But it’s so hard to not eat after shows, especially since I’ve been training for the marathon, because you’re just starving. Eventually I fall asleep after it’s been an 18-hour day.
Talya Minsberg is a Times reporter covering breaking and developing news.
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