Munising, MI
3:09:07 (7:13/mile)
5th overall (out of 247)
1st in age group (out of 29)

    Well, I have now run more than a few races and have run some in some beautiful places, but never anything like this. The race is an almost complete circumnavigation of Grand Island, which lies in Lake Superior only a half mile from the upper peninsula of Michigan. For about 2/3 of the race I was within 50 feet of the edge of the cliff of the island. In some cases I was mere feet from the edge and I really did want to stop to take pictures. The race started up the east side of the island so the sun was shining brightly through the trees upon us as we ran. It was fun to look out across Lake Superior to the north, open and beautiful. The race started at 7, about an hour after sunset. The ferry got me across right around sunrise which just made my day.
     It was a trail marathon which I have really only done once before, and it being 1 week after another marathon, I was planning on running this one easy and I set out to do just that. I had no plans for a fast finish, but went out at a fairly good clip since it was on hard packed dirt road. The main part of the island has a circumference of ~23 miles, so we had to spend a little time doing a simple out and back on the ‘thumb’ of the island. When we took that turn at about mile 4, it became a hiking trail hill that was fairly awful. At mile 5.5 we turned around and went back down the trail back to the main part of the island for the rest of the race. At two points in the race we actually had to run along the beach. On a beauty scale, it was an 11 out of 10, but on a running scale, it was a -1 because of the horrible footing. The night before at packet pick-up I heard one of the race officials talk to another couple about the beaches and said ‘people who run road marathons hate those beaches’. I smiled, because knew I would hate them as well and gosh Wally, I was correct.
     It was a small race, yes, with a major ‘small town’ race feel, which I thrive on. After 5.5 miles I was in 6th place and remained there until mile 25 when I caught another racer. Had it not been for the ~25 people who started early who I passed slowly during the day I would have not seen a soul on the course (not including the wonderful volunteers at the 5 aid stations). In previous years, the trail has been in bad conditions due to weather, but this year the course was apparently as good as it has ever been. At race start the temperature was about 55 degrees and raised maybe 10 degrees during the next 3 hours. A nice breeze and partly cloudy skies and you have PERFECT race conditions. I think I might have slowed a little to just enjoy the day a little more.
     I was able to meet and chat with the winner and my true inspiration, Chuck Engle. Chuck is a marathon junky. He is faster than I, running marathons in the 2:30-2:50 range, but he runs them all the time. Last year he ran 52 and this year has done a few ‘doubles’ (two marathons in consecutive DAYS) He just enjoys running marathons. That is him in my finish line picture. He is very humble and extremely nice. Chuck and I are alike in that we just really enjoy the distance and run them whenever we can. He is faster, but not THAT much faster. He has a few corporate sponsors (which I would LOVE to have) to pay for his travels all over the place. I really do want to try to be like him.
     The age award was the coolest I have ever gotten in my life. A large handmade multi colored glass disk with the race symbol on it. Very very cool. The cherry juice (made with local cherries!) just made my day even more perfect.
    You might be wondering why I did yet another Michigan marathon as I try to get all 50 states, but this one was all about the timing. My family has a ‘gathering’ (not a reunion because we congregate at different places) late each summer and this year we met at the Apostle Islands in Northern Wisconsin. We just happen to be congregating the day after this marathon which was conveniently in northern Michigan. It’s all about the timing baby!
    After the marathon on our way to the gathering, we stopped at a small town locally owned coffee shop in Escanaba, Michigan. When I asked for a mocha, I was told that they were out of chocolate. When I expressed unhappiness, the counter worker (who had to have been the owner) told me to ‘hang on a minute, I’ll be right back’. He left the shop on his bike, trusting me and the two locals in the place not to rob the joint. He returned about 5 minutes later. It turns out he went to the local grocery store and bought a dove bar, melted it, and used it to make my mocha. It actually tasted pretty good. Got to love that small town ambiance…

Massey, ON (population ~1300, one stoplight, one gas station)
2:55:50
3rd place Overall (out of 70)

     So I guess this counts as my first ‘international’ race even though I was < 2 hours from the U.S. border. I am well travelled, yes, but only inside the United States. I always feel uncomfortable when I leave the country, even if it is to Canada, and I am not sure why. Unfamiliar laws and customs always makes me feel a little uneasy. Thank goodness everyone spoke English
     Massey, ON is a little stop on a ‘major’ east-west highway in Ontario. The town is small, with only one stop light, one gas station, and only one real restaurant.
     When I arrived on Saturday afternoon I went to race check in at the local ‘arena’. The tables were set up on what was usually the ice rink. Since hockey is out of season, it was a big concrete slab, but it still felt weird. After that I decided to take in the local area and went over to the a local provincial (think ‘state’) park, known simply as ‘chutes’, as named because it is a river that was used for logging for many years and chutes had to be built around a few of the natural falls nearby. You could tell that this was the most famous attraction for kilometers (Hey, I was in Canada)
     I stopped for an early dinner at THE restaurant and then headed back to the hotel to relax. I played an online game of Settlers of Catan with Stef and then tried to get some sleep. Normally I sleep horrible the night before a marathon, just from nerves. Well, this being marathon #18, you would think I would have gotten over that. Instead of falling asleep watching some bad movie on television, I pulled up the BBC world service on my computer (Did I mention the hotel was really really dumpy, but they had high speed internet?) and listened to that to fall asleep. That is what I often fall asleep to at home, and I think that made a difference. I was asleep by 9pm, and woke up 5 minutes before my alarm at 3:00 am, feeling well rested.
    Being so north, sunrise came at 5:50 so the 6 am race start was not too weird. The sky was overcast all day long and it sprinkled very lightly just few times during the morning. With temperatures in the high 50’s all day, I would have to rate the race conditions as nearly perfect, actually. There were three races going on simultaneously, a 10K, a half and my full. For the second time in a row, the full marathon course was just two trips around the half course. Those are always a little depressing because you actually run right by the finish line after about an hour and a half. As with previous times I serious considered (for only a few seconds) just stopping after the half and bailing on the whole thing. I took a few more strides and the feeling went away. I was feeling strong and in my ‘groove’. My first half split was 1:28:11, and my second half was 1:27:39. That is what I call even pace! My first goal was to run easy, not pushing myself, and hoping just to break 3 hours. For the record, I have run my last 5 marathons in less than 2:57. That will all change next week when I run a tough trail marathon on Grand Island.
     I think everyone in town (almost) came out to help with the race. The numerous aid stations were all well staffed with very friendly people. The stations were so frequent I actually had to NOT drink at some of them as my stomach was getting a little upset. For regular readers of this blog, you know I have been having stomach issues after long races as of late. I thought it was to eating solid food soon after a race, but now I am thinking that might only be part of it. During this race after drinking quite a bit of Gatorade I was starting to get that familiar ‘gut-rot’ feeling. I think that it might be coming more from the excess of sugar at the end of my races (drinking lots of Gatorade which is what I tend to do). So to test this NEW theory, after the race this time I drank nothing but water, and then a nice cup of tea. Then, only one hour after I finished I had some very delicious pancakes (with syrup) and my stomach was perfectly fine.  We will try this new system for a bit and see what it gets us. This, again, is one of those advantages to running lots of marathons, I don’t have to wait 6 months before I try a new tack.
    4 weeks ago I ran the Charlevoix marathon and talked a few times during and after the race with the guy who was third (one place in front of me) at that race. A really nice guy, actually. Well, 6 minutes into this race he came up along side of me and we recognized each other and talked for about 2 miles of the race and then I let him go. He ended up finishing second, again one place ahead of me. That is him in my finish line picture. I asked him and he is NOT running Grand Island next week.
     This being week 4 of my 5 week odyssey I was hoping to be in not too bad of shape afterwards, and I was happy when my legs were not that sore, even a day later. I am starting to like this marathon-a-month-not-really-training thing.

Near Lone Pine, CA
22 miles in 13 hours, 5 minutes
     Ok, so technically not a ‘race’ I am still putting this little jaunt in my running blog. It counted as my long ‘run’ for the week and I am still sore days afterwards.
     My brother Michael and I now have an annual tradition (this being our third year) of getting together and tackling some mountain in a beautiful part of the country.  This year we decided to do the 22 mile round trip hike from the Whitney Portal to the top of Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the continental U.S. Now the length might not seem that hard, but you are going from ~8500’ to ~14500’. That 6000 feet of elevation gain is not huge, but it makes a difference when you get over 12,000’ as the amount of oxygen in each breath starts getting  smaller than what your lungs want.
     We started out a little after 5 am, with the sun just barely beginning to light our way. We passed some people early on who were attempting the same feat (up and down in a day, which is considered ‘difficult’, most people go halfway up one day then peak and down the next) that started out as early as 3 am.  It had rained the night before and the storms had knocked down the smoke from recent wildfires in California. There were still clouds in the area, and we did not see direct sunlight until sometime after 9 am. The temperature all day was very nice, ranging from ~55-70 all day.  Total time in direct sunlight over the 13 hour hike was probably 90 minutes.
     My brother and I remembered topics of conversation by their elevation. Presidential politics was at 10,000’. World peace at about 10,500’. What to do with all money that Saudi Arabia has was at about 11,000. Major life epiphany confessed to my brother was at about 12,000.
Above 12,000 feet, the oxygen gets thin enough that people start to show the effects of altitude sickness. Back in 2006 when Michael and I conquered Mt. Tyndall, I started to get a dull headache at about 12,500’ and stayed with me to the peak (just over 14,000’) until we were back below 12,000’. This time, I was blessed with not getting the headache until over 13,500’, but it lingered until well below 10,000’, which was a bummer.
     Mt. Whitney, the highest place in the lower 48, is not even really a mountain as it has no definitive ‘peak’. Having hiked a lot in the mountains I realized that if Whitney was NOT the highest point in the lower 48, it would not even received a name. It is more of a plateau. No ‘peak’ per se, but a gentle walk up with one steep (narrow) side. I am sorry, I was a little disappointed.
     At the top is a 100 year old stone building (built as an observatory) that functioned as a shelter. While we rested inside we pawned off some of the 3+ gallons of Gatorade we had from the trip (We started with just shy of 4 gallons because we didn’t know how hot it would be and how much we needed) and some food to people who not as prepared as us. They were quite grateful.
      A little wine to celebrate with our cheese and crackers (no joke) and it was time to head back down.  There is a register there at the top and ~53 people had logged their triumph THAT DAY before us, at 12 noon. A popular spot, for sure. A relatively even slope 10+ mile hike up and you will have lots of people doing it. There was nothing technical about this hike, and you never had to use your hands. The nice overcast weather killed our view at the top, (we were in the middle of a thick cloud) which kind of stunk, but we got good pictures anyways on other parts of the hike.
Now, there are only 12 peaks in CA whose elevation is greater than 14,000’. And one of them was only 250 m (horizontally) off the Whitney trail, called Mt. Muir. While thousands of people climb Whitney every year, Muir is much less tackled. Muir is a technical climb, having to literally ‘climb’ large rocks. While the ‘peak’ (and I use that term loosely) of Mt. Whitney is maybe 50m x 50m, the peak of Mt. Muir is maybe 2m x 2m, and a hell of a lot more dangerous. Steep slopes on each side (On on side the drop off is effectively 3000 feet) meant that when you got to the top, your pucker factor is about 11.
     I sat on the top for less than 3 minutes, signing a very OLD log book whose entries went back at least until 1996. It was very clear that very few people visit Mt. Muir compared to Mt. Whitney.
After that little excitement, it was a quick (If you call 4.5 hours quick) descent back to civilization, clean clothes and a nice steak dinner. Yum!!
7 Hours up, 1.5 hours on top,  4.5 hours down.  Not a bad day hike. Not bad at all.

Hanover/Horton, MI
29:57 (5:59/mile)
17th overall (out of 200)
3rd in age (out of 14)

        6 days after a marathon I run a 5 mile race. What was I thinking? A week after my very first marathon I ran a 10K race. At that time I thought it was silly as well. I have not run a ‘short’ race in a while, I guess.
A nice little small town holiday race which I ran 2 years ago. It is a point-to-point race between two sister cities southwest of Jackson.  It is part of a big July 4 holiday party in Hanover including parade and pie auction. Small town America at its finest.
        The race is rather straight forward, 5 simple miles along county roads. My legs were still a little sore from my marathon so I really had no idea how fast I was going to be able to go. My ‘solid’ 5 km pace is about 5:40 or so, and when my first mile was 6 flat, I was happy. The field seemed slow as I was still near the lead pack after 1 mile. I felt strong and just tried to run even, staying in my grove. Mile 2, 3, and 4 all right at 6 min pace and I still felt strong. Seeing 30 min flat was a possibility, I tried to keep even all the way through.  A good kick ensured my (what I thought was) a nice finish time.
      I rode to the race with my good friend and mentor, Brian Olsen (also the head cross country coach at JCC) and he wanted to try to break his time from 2 years past, 28:20. He managed to win the whole race just over 28 minutes. That means there were 17 people within 2 minutes of the leader. A slow but solid field.  I had to settle for 3rd in my age group as the #2 and #3 runner overall were also men age 35-39. Oh well, I still got a cool coffee cup for my efforts.
       I am running 4 races in 5 weeks, but this is the only one that is NOT a marathon. I should enjoy the easy nature of today’s race. I did do a 2 mile warm-up and 5 mile cool down, though, to make it a 12 mile day.

  For a very long time there was (I always believed) only one person who read my blog besides me, and that was my dearest Aunt Nancy, my Mother’s only sibling. She loved to read my race entries and always would bother me if I was not quick to update it after a race. It is because of her that I at least put a cursory race entry up the day of each race.
     She had failing health for a few years now, and 4 hours ago, she passed away. All three of her kids were by her side, young grandchildren mere feet away. I always said that she was the person most prepared for death. Calm, not denying it, ready for the next journey. She truly lived her life the way she wanted too, enjoying it. She always knew it would end, and she was ready, darnit. When I visited her for the last time last Christmas, she had great fun telling my brother George and I about the difference between hospital staff and Hospice staff. She joked ‘The hospice people come in and say ‘Here’s your Morphine!’ Still in pain? Have some more!”‘.
     I got very close to her when I was in graduate school (University of Minnesota) living in the same town I saw her at least once a week. We shared a common passion, Jiffy brand Corn Muffins. Whenever I visited, I made them for breakfast for us. She always said they were only good straight out of the oven, and boy was she right. When I first moved to Minneapolis she let me ’live’ on her front porch for a few weeks until I got my own apartment. When I had to come back for 5 weeks in the summer of 1999 to defend my thesis (I had already moved to Wyoming for my first job the fall previous) and teach a course at the UofM, she let me stay with her with open arms.
     She lived in a huge house build at the turn of the 20th century. She prided herself in telling people she moved into the house the same day the JFK was shot. That house was a rock, always there, with her standing guard. I remember being a very small boy visiting her for Christmas and sleeping on the back porch with teh windows open, even if it was freezing outside. It was just the ‘cool’ place to sleep. 
   I would have to say she is the closest family member to me outside my immediate family, hands down. Her stories and sense of humor were so enjoyable. I will miss her very much.

A sad day for me and my poor under-read blog. Her spirit will always live here, though. As long as I run and blog, I do it for her.

 Take care Nanc. I miss you already.

~Your ‘Marko’

Charlevoix, MI
2:56:20 (6:44/mile)
4th overall (out of 168) 1st in age (out of 19)

I just love small town races, and this one was no different. Charlevoix is a small town on the northwestern edge of Michigan’s lower peninsula right next to lake Michigan. The town had some mandate a long time ago to plant multi colored marigolds along the main drag of the town, so there was just a long line of beautifully colored flowers all over town.
 For this race I brought along my daughter, Salacia, and my girlfriend, Stephanie. We rolled into town in the afternoon the day before the race, checked into our motel (bottom of the barrel, actually. It seems Charlevoix is THE place to get married, so (surprise) there was not a whole lot of choices for the last weekend in June when I booked the room a month ago.) and then went downtown to check in for the race. We then drove a small amount of the out and back course before we had dinner at a nice local Italian restaurant. Veal parmesan seems to be my favorite night-before-race food. Yummy!
 After we got back to the motel, Salacia having just got her 8 year old birthday present from us of ‘dress up’ clothes did a fashion show for us. 11 different outfits later, we had a winner. Let me just say that it involved a purple hair extension, butterfly shaped sunglasses and the most gaudy purse you have ever seen. It was fun, I admit.
 As usual, I did not sleep very well and got up at 4:10 am for the 7am start. Peanut butter sandwich, white tea, shower, blah blah blah, my pre-race ritual now set in stone went off without a hitch. It had rained all night long and was just petering out as I left the motel for the 0.8 mile walk to the start line at 6:15. Stef and Salacia slept in (sort of) promising to see me at the turn (halfway mark). They would see me 4 times, halfway, mile ~16, mile ~20 and then again at the finish. Salacia was in charge of taking pictures and got a lot of me from behind.
 The race start was unexciting. There were 4 races going on this day, a full marathon, half marathon, 10K, and 5K. They all followed the exact same course, all out-and-backs, with the marathon being two trips along the half marathon out and back. The four races all started at different times, and honestly, after my first turn at mile 6.5 I had no idea what race the other runners around me were running. I was never ‘on an island’ but was passing people (both directions) all day long. The temperature was in the upper 60’s the whole race, but the humidity was about 120%. That ultimately slowed me down, mostly because my shoes just got heavy from water (puddles) and sweat not evaporating. I would say my shoes were about 3 pounds heavier than they were supposed to. Not a whole lot of weight until you realize how many times I had to pick them up (many thousands).
 I was (at least initially) shooting for a PR, but my watch died literally 59 seconds into the race. With it being a out and back (twice) course there were no real markings after mile 6 so even my watch was working I would not have known what my pace was. So once again, I ran as my body felt. ¾ through the race (last turn at half marathon turn point) I was right next to the eventual 3rd place finisher. I asked him our time and estimated my pace up to that point. I was (I think) still on 2:50 pace, but was fading fast. I was positive I was not going to be able to hold that pace, so I slowed a bit, just running on feel, wanting to survive. Most people would kill for a 2:56 finish. Me, I seem to jog to those finish times. I have run 4 straight marathons now in less than 2:57. Not bad, I guess. I will set a new PR, I just don’t know when. The next three marathons I will be running will not be conducive to PR attempts, so maybe I should go get my PR tattoo from the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon now.
 I have learned from previous long races that I cannot eat solid food for a few hours after a race as I get painful ‘gut rot’ afterwards. At the end of this race they had Gatorade and water but also Pepsi. I thought the issue was solid food so I gouged myself on Gatorade and water and drank a can of Pepsi. Well, that gave gut-rot but of a different sort. Before, the pain was constant, feeling like someone had punched my stomach (hard) but this time it ebbed and flowed but with the same pain. This lasted for a full 8 hours after the race. So, the big lesson learned this time was no carbonated beverages and to not go overboard with sugar beverages after the race. Again, I had nothing but Gatorade on the course and seemed well hydrated during the run.
 I used to think only 3 people read my blog. My girlfriend, my Aunt Nancy, and this nice woman I met after the 2008 Groundhog Gallop race. It turns out there are a few more, and they were all running the race this day. Four, count ‘em four people along the race course talked specifically TO ME with comments like ‘Way to go Doc!’ and “You can win this one too!”. In all cases I did not respond, because I was too dumbfounded by the comments. Before I internalized what happened, the other person was long gone for me to respond. If you are reading this and you are one of those kind people, I thank you now for your words of encouragement. It was a weird experience. At the finish line I was talking with the guy who got second place (by only a few seconds) and he had also read my blog. The readership of this blog seems to have doubled (from 3 to 6) in the last few months.
 A pleasant run, for sure. A cannot believe I have run 17 of these things is just over 24 months. What kind of addict am I? Do they have therapy for these kinds of things?

Englewood, OH
3:56:50 (7:37/mile)
3rd overall (out of 79)
Official Results
This was only my second ultra marathon, but this one I finished the distance I planned to complete. Way back in November of 2006 I attempted a 50 mile run but (because of sickness) had to bail after 34 miles. The official rules for that race were if I bailed when I did, I got credit for (and a medal for) finishing the 50K that was held at the same time. This time I came in well trained and reasonable healthy. I did run a marathon 13 days before this one, which took me a few days to recover from.
  The day started out hot (~80) and humid (~80%) and the bugs were pretty dense as the starting line was in the heavy woods. The course is a was a large figure 8 shape in which we ran around 4 times in total. There were two aid stations, one in the middle of the figure 8 and one at the start/finish (the end of one of the loops) so we were never more than ~2.5 miles from water. I still took a small 10 oz plastic bottle that I filled with Gatorade each time I hit a water stop. 65% or so of the course was on trail, either hard packed dirt or grass.
  I took the lead about halfway around the first loop and just tried to get comfortable. The hills, grass, and dirt trail made the course slower than a road race (obviously). The weather also slowed me. I was still in the lead when I made the turn after loop 2. Very soon after, however, I lost it to the eventual second place finisher. What also started was much worse, rain. Yes, light, but constant rain. That turned the slick dirt course into a wet and muddy mess. When running through the woods, the tree cover tempered the worst of the rain, but it still slowed me down. The good thing was that the rain dropped the temperature down into the 70’s. The race turned into a long easy Saturday morning run for me, just getting through it. I never had any bodily issues. 24 hours afterward I feel just fine, my muscles only slightly sore, but no more than the day after a garden variety 14 mile run.
  This was a very low key race, with mostly locals doing the run. Nothing flashy, including no awards (at all) but this was the cheapest (ultra)marathon I will probably ever enter at $25. The post race food included hot pizza, which was a first for me. Well supported, nice course, small race feel, all added up to a very enjoyable day. I wouldn’t mind running this one again actually, which is a very rare thing for me to say.
  My 3rd place finish is significant as I never had one before. In my 15 marathon races, I have two 1st place finishes, one 2nd, two 4ths and one 5th. I needed a 3rd place to round out my top 5 place finishes. Now I have (as one runner remarked yesterday) ‘hit the cycle’.
Lessoned learned:
~You can eat solid food within 3 hours, you just have to eat it slow. I took ~45 min to eat 1 piece of pizza and my stomach was fine.
~ Completely tape all toes but then also slather the taped toes with Vaseline. I did 31 miles with this preparation and had no blisters. Remember, my feet were wet pretty much from the beginning, so this is a significant trick.

Since November of 2005 I have raced a few times at lots of different distances which include:

19 5Ks (3.1 mile)
2 4 milers
4 8K/5miles 
1 10K (6.2 mile)
1 12K (7.5 mile)
3 1/2 marathons (13.1 miles)
1 30K (18.6 miles)
15 marathons (26.2 miles)
1 50K (31 miles) ultra (where I actually ran ~34.2 miles)

Rochester, MN
2:54:34 (6:40/mi)
1st overall (out of 256)
Article in local paper

     Yes, that is yet another 1st place victory. The two races could not be more different, both as races and as how I felt afterwards. Let us get the race description out of the way first.
     I was in the ‘area’ (about 70 miles away) visiting my friends for an annual gathering know affectionately as ‘Geek Weekend’. It is a long standing event that 4-7 friends get together for a weekend of gaming (board and video) as well as movie watching and the eating of unhealthy food. With this marathon being so close and the timing right, it seemed a natural fit. When we got together on Friday I decided that I was going to just ‘survive’ this marathon. I had to make that decision since I knew that I would not be following my standard final days marathon preparation, staying up very late and eating unhealthy junk food.
     I went to bed at about 11pm Saturday night and had to get up at 4am to make it to Rochester in time to pickup my race packet and stretch, etc. A little confusion as to exactly where the packet pickup made me a little nervous, but I ended up making it to the start line about 35 minutes before the race start.
     The race began in the sleepy town of Byron, about 8 miles outside of Rochester. The race began with a long downhill with the 10 mph wind at our backs. Needless to say, we started out fast. The first 10 or so miles involved running around Byron (up, down, up…) and then long hills on the county road heading towards Rochester. It reminded me of several other small rural races I have done before including Okoboji, Johnstown, and Hatfield-McCoy. At mile 10 though, the race course changed significantly. We were in the thriving metropolis of Rochester and ran along city streets for a little while and then at mile 16 we got onto a nice bike path along a nice river that goes through town. At mile 20.5, you turn around and head back on the path for the finish. This part was flat, heavily wooded, and gorgeous. Two completely different courses, truly.
     I felt ok at the beginning and did not even have a stop watch. With the ironclad rule regarding no headphones (they threatened disqualification) I had no technology with me at all. With a marathon relay and half marathon being run at the same time, I had little knowledge as to my place as the race began, but had a good ‘guess’. At about mile 5 I met up with a vey nice runner named Chris who lives in Rochester. We ran together for about 8 miles, having a very pleasant conversation. He started to fade about mile 13 and I pulled away from him. At this point I was fairly confident that I was in 3rd place overall, which was cool. In my previous 14 marathons I had one 1st place finish, one 2nd, two 4ths and one 5th. I needed a 3rd to round out my top 5 placings. At a water stop at about mile 18, I caught the 2nd place dude and I heard the first place runner was about 1.5 minutes in front of me. I had no intensions of winning, and secretly hoped someone would pass me so I could get my 3rd place, but just kept slogging.
     Being such a small race there was mile markers, but no race clocks. With no watch, I did not have any clue how fast I was running except for my ‘feel’. Without knowing my time, I was forced to run comfortable. At about mile 21 I got a very painful side stitch which I tried hard to stretch out while still running. For about a half of a mile I was in serious pain, but knew that stopping probably would not help, so I just had to plow through it. It finally subsided and I just tried to hold on from there. A painful blister burst on a toe at mile 24.8 (or so) was the only other inconvenience I had during the race. No signs of dehydration and again, I consumed only water and Gatorade during the race.
     With about 1.5 miles to go. a bicyclist who had been riding near the front told me that I was still about a minute behind the leader, so I was content to take my 2nd place. At the 25 mile mark though, I saw that he had faded quite a bit when I came out of the woods and saw him only 50 meters in front of me. I didn’t intentionally speed up (I don’t think) but just kept strong and consistent. When I passed him a little later, I took a hard look at him to see if this was going to be a fight for the win. His pained look indicated that the answer was no. All I could think of was the 2007 A1A marathon when the exact same thing happened to me. Leading up until mile 25 and then crashing and losing it. This time the shoe was on the other foot. It was me taking over the lead. I pulled away quickly and now had my own bicycle escort to the finish line. With about 600 meters left to go I asked them if they could see the 2nd place runner behind me and they said ‘no’. I said ‘good, I am going to slow down a little then because I am tired’. There was no chance for a PR, so I decided to relax. Another handstand over the finish line and marathon #15 was complete with my second fastest marathon time. I read later that this race was the second slowest winning time in the 13 year race history, but the humidity was kindof of crappy, even though the temperature was in the mid 60’s. I would attribute my win partially to it just being a slow field.
    After my win in the Ocean Drive marathon, I was moved, feeling euphoric, floating around for days, looking at the world through a different lens. I was a new person, now with a marathon win. After this win, though, I felt much different. Not nearly as happy, or exited. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the interview with the local newspaper dude, but my mental status was just not as ‘Wow! I won!’. It could have been that I was not trying for a win, just trying to survive since I was trying to enjoy Geek Weekend, I am not sure. I just felt different.
     I decided to stay for the awards ceremony before I left, but was ultimately disappointed by the incredibly lame award. As with every marathon, I got a finishers medal, this one being about 1.5” square and so-so in design and quality. That was fine. However, my award for winning the entire marathon was (no joke) another finishers medal (exactly the same) but this one had a clear plastic sticker on the back that said ‘overall 1st place male’. That was it. The organizers didn’t seem to have the $3 to buy a cheap plastic trophy for the winners, but could afford the plastic sticker and a spare finishers medal. Oh well.
    On the whole, it was a fun little race. I still got gut rot after the race that was painful for several hours even though the only solid I ate in the first 1.5 hours after the race was a banana. New rule: After a marathon absolutely no solid food for the first 3 hours. Just water/juice/Gatorade.
     I only get to enjoy this one for a little while as my next race (which will be much different) is only 13 days away.

 So, now I am a marathon runner with 14 marathons under my belt in less than 2 years with a handful under 3 hours and a sub 2:50 to my credit. I have also tried a few different training schedules that all seem to have done a so-so job for me. I think I have earned a little bit of ’street cred’ regarding marathoning.
 In almost every training schedule there is that all-important ‘taper’, a 2-3 week time frame right before a race that you reduce your miles, rest a lot and eat a lot of carbs such that on race day, you body is in top shape, dying to go fast. Well, I have been burned on more than 1 occasion with such tapers. The 2006 Chicago Lakefront 50 miler, The 2007 Johnstown marathon, and the 2008 A1A marathon were all races where I did such a taper and in all cases I ended up getting horribly sick mere days before an important race. I have heard of this happening before to other runners, their immune systems getting weakened by the sever reduction in miles. In the two marathons mentioned above I was shooting for PR’s, getting myself psyched up for both and then running 20 minutes OFF my PR in both cases which did a number on my confidence. I started playing around with reducing my taper, if doing one really at all.
 Then I ran the Cape May marathon and everything changed.
 I had not tapered at all for that race, and only reduced my workouts for the last 4 days before the race, still running 4 miles 2 days before the race at a good clip. With no taper, I decided 10 minutes before the race that I was going to shoot to break 3 hours. I felt pretty good, and I have taken to waiting until the last minute to decide what pace I want to run. I then proceeded to run a nice 2:56:16 (46 seconds off my PR) but more importantly, I got the first win of my career.
 A light switch was flipped inside. After that race I feel like a completely different runner. I now brim with confidence and I think I can conquer the world. After a few short days of recovery (much less than a normal training schedule says I should recover) I am back out on the roads. When you run a marathon a month, marathon races are PART of your training. What is different this time is that when I go out for an ‘easy’ 8 miler, I am doing it in a 6:40/mile pace instead of a 7:10 pace as per usual. I feel ok, and continue to do all my runs faster than ‘usual’. I start doing 8 and 10 mile runs in back to back days in faster than marathon PR speed. My legs are tired and beaten down afterwards, but within 16 hours (in time for my next workout) I am mostly recovered.
 It is about this time I start thinking about my new training program, the race pace training program. You see, my ankles (and my job) don’t allow me to do much more than 55-60 miles a week. Since I cannot up my mileage to compete with the big boys, I need to improve the quality of my runs.
 Most marathon training programs have three ‘key’ workouts a week. One ‘speed’ workout doing things like 800 m repeats, one ‘tempo’ run of 6-8 miles at slightly faster than marathon pace, and one long run of 18-22 miles at a long steady pace, usually  about 1-1.5 min slower than your goal marathon pace. The other days in between these key workouts are supposed to be easy runs or cross training opportunities.
 So I am not good in the physiological department of racing, always thinking I can’t run as fast as I do. As I am now doing these faster than usual workouts I am training my body to work at this pace. Everyday. 8 miles at marathon pace. 10 miles at marathon pace the next day. 8 miles slightly slower (10 sec) than marathon pace the day after that. I gain immense confidence in being able to handle this pace for 26.2 miles.
 Well, after only 3 weeks of this new training program, I pull a 2:49:58, 4 weeks after a 2:56:16. Two of my best marathon times 4 weeks apart. No taper, no three key workout schedule. It was just me doing as many possible miles as possible (>40) at marathon goal pace, training my body and my mind for such conditions.
 This training schedule seems completely different than any I have seen before. I am not sure if it works great for me and only me, or that this in an indication that if I trained ‘normally’ for real I could really do some damage.
 I am writing this mere hours after my new marathon PR and I yet again ask myself ‘How fast can I really go?’. For a while I thought that 2:55:30 was going to be my PR for while, maybe forever. 2:50 is a rather fast time to beat now.
 In 2 days I start my 4 week prep for my next marathon. We will see what I can do this time…