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dreams
May 2009 
another marathon
Posted on Jun 21st, 2007
by 
kicksave
kicksave
I started running seriously after watching the 1983 NYC marathon. I decided I would like to do that. It took two years but I ran the NYC Marathon in 1985. To say I hit the wall belies the impact running 26.2 miles has on a body that never ran more then 15 before.
I learned a lot, trained better and ran again in 1987, 1991. Took a break from marathons and tried again in 2002. Running Oklahoma City and the Marine Corp. Each one faster then the one before it.
The later I came within 9 minutes of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. Then I got injured, they removed a good chunk of the cartilage in my right hip socket. The year after that I had the best running year of my life, doubling my annual mileage. Being unemployed does wonders for your fitness, but not much for your self esteem. About the time I found work, injuries started piling up and I ended up taking more and more time off from running, till the hiatus became nearly two years.
In all of this time I have harbored a dream of running Boston. Not some charity fund raising automatic entry, but a bona fide, qualified time entry.
This is where I announce that I am giving it another shot. I've started running again, a few times a week, the plan being to build on that slowly, with the goal of running the 2008 Oklahoma City Marathon April 27th. I'll be 50, the qualifying times for a 50 year old are 5 minutes slower then the qualifying time for a 44 year old (my age in 2002). So that means I need only improve my time by 4 minutes to get into Boston.
Why am I posting this here? Good question, I know it doesn't fit into the spirit of zaadz, being an entirely selfish goal, but I needed to say this out loud (in an Internet sort of way), so that I have put it out there, giving me some extra incentive to chase this dream.
After that, I'll work towards enlightenment, I promise.
I learned a lot, trained better and ran again in 1987, 1991. Took a break from marathons and tried again in 2002. Running Oklahoma City and the Marine Corp. Each one faster then the one before it.
The later I came within 9 minutes of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. Then I got injured, they removed a good chunk of the cartilage in my right hip socket. The year after that I had the best running year of my life, doubling my annual mileage. Being unemployed does wonders for your fitness, but not much for your self esteem. About the time I found work, injuries started piling up and I ended up taking more and more time off from running, till the hiatus became nearly two years.
In all of this time I have harbored a dream of running Boston. Not some charity fund raising automatic entry, but a bona fide, qualified time entry.
This is where I announce that I am giving it another shot. I've started running again, a few times a week, the plan being to build on that slowly, with the goal of running the 2008 Oklahoma City Marathon April 27th. I'll be 50, the qualifying times for a 50 year old are 5 minutes slower then the qualifying time for a 44 year old (my age in 2002). So that means I need only improve my time by 4 minutes to get into Boston.
Why am I posting this here? Good question, I know it doesn't fit into the spirit of zaadz, being an entirely selfish goal, but I needed to say this out loud (in an Internet sort of way), so that I have put it out there, giving me some extra incentive to chase this dream.
After that, I'll work towards enlightenment, I promise.
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