At the end of July I had pretty much made up my mind. No more marathons. After all I'd been happy doing my every other day running for twenty-three straight years before I suited up for Pittsburgh Marathon in May 2010.
But then, in my fourth marathon, only the second one that I finished all 26.2 miles, I managed to run the race in 3:47, and later that year, in Scranton, I literally shocked myself with a Boston Marathon qualifying time of 3:33. Boston 2012 was my sixth marathon, significantly slower but it was 80 degrees F at start time, so just finishing in one piece was an achievement.
Then came my seventh, a return to Scranton and a modest sub-4 hours, followed by Nova Scotia in July, many minutes beyond four. It was hot that day, but I'd been hoping for better.
It was then I said, well, maybe that's enough. Eight marathons. There's the half, the 10K. Or just running. I mean that was good enough for twenty-three years, wasn't it?
Then a friend of mine said let's train for Albuquerque. In October. Starting race temp this year was 53 F; in 2013, 36 F; in 2012, 51.
That's more like it. And there's history. M, K and I lived in Santa Fe for a year in the early nineties. Bugs Bunny always took that wrong turn in Albuquerque. And the best damn TV show every made -- Breaking Bad -- was set in that town.
So there it is. The next race. And, oh yeah, I'll be over sixty, with a Boston Marathon qualifying time of 3:55 in my sights .... !
Ncxt: Running for Your Life: Sixty years in 2015
