Running for Your Life: Only Days Till Pittsburgh!

There are times when this blog seems, well, pretty far from running.

It’s ostensibly set to explore these reverse-aging practices of mine: running, reading and writing.

But during these bizarre socio-political times, the blog has veered to reflections, some straight talk on the issues of the day.

That, I’ve found, cannot be helped.

But now, it’s crunch time. On Sunday, May 5, I will be running in the Pittsburgh Marathon for the first time since 2010, and my first 26.2-mile race since a sweltering day in Nova Scotia in the summer of 2014.

Readers know that in 2015 I suffered what seemed to be at the time a race-ending knee injury that sidelined me from running in the Brooklyn Marathon that year.

But I’m back at it, all right. On Monday (April 29), I completed the last of my longish training runs … About 65 minutes, 7 or so miles.

No pain on that one. In fact, the body feels (sound of wood knocking here) as race-ready as ever. Since the days leading up to the Nova Scotia Marathon, in fact.

I have until this moment not checked on qualifying times for the Boston Marathon. But I did today, and if the conditions are right, I feel I have a slight chance of getting there. In 2010, if I recall, I managed a 3:47 marathon in Pittsburgh. And guess what? The Boston qualifying time for my age is 3:50. (New York Marathon is a pipedream at 3:34. That amounts to my personal best time back in 2012.)

Pittsburgh is a race of beautiful bridge crossings, where garage bands come to the curb playing rock classics to help the runners motoring ahead – to the right you will see a photo of my daughter, K, who was there in 2010, urging me along.

I simply can’t wait. If you are looking for a marathon that has it all, consider Pittsburgh. Which for me is only days away!

Running for Your Life: Killing Commendatore by Marathoner-Novelist Haruki Murakami