Here we go again...

OK, yes, it's been a loooong time sine either CS or I have been here and posted anything. It's not all bad however, we've both been busy this past summer and early fall. Since we were last here, we both ran the Garden of the Gods 10-miler (and fast enough to make the Ascent cutoff), I ran the Summer Roundup Trial Run (which I only needed to finish in order to qualify for the Ascent), we hiked from Manitou Springs to the top of Pikes Peak twice, we did ladder hikes at the top once, I went up La Luz about 5 times in the 6-7 weeks before the Ascent, and then tackled the Pikes Peak Ascent itself. And everyone survived (in fact, I finished only minute behind CS... A DAMNED MINUTE!). Finally, this past weekend I was in DC and ran the Marine Corps Marathon, which is prompts this posting today.

I had plans to make a great improvement on my time from my first marathon experience two years ago, and largely accomplished it this year: I finished it running and shaved nearly two hours (not a typo) off of my first marathon time. But it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Inexplicably, I started to ache around the 13 mile mark, my calves started to grab around mile 17, and by 20-22 they were in full revolt, cramping like crazy. While I beat a lot of people that, at least visually, were in better shape than me, I wasn't and am still not happy about the way the last 6-8 miles played out and started plotting another attempt almost as soon as I'd finished. Clearly, there's something wrong with me. While I'm not going to hide this fact, I'm not going to advertise beyond this blog what my plans are (which you can probably guess by looking at the countdown widget in the upper right corner of this blog page). Right now my plan is to go out to PHX, run the time I'd hoped to get in DC, and then I'll back off.

Since I got back from DC Monday night, I haven't run at all. Wanted to give the body a chance to heal up (today's the first day this week I don't feel any after-effect soreness) and rest. I have been in the pool three times, however, and swam a mile each time, so I haven't completely settled back on my laurels. Planning on going out to run tomorrow, something in the area of 5-6 miles, just to see how I feel and to determine how wise it is to aim for another marathon in just over two months. At this moment, I feel pretty confident it can be done, I just need to stay committed for the duration. I want this.

So, starting tomorrow, I'll try to start posting regularly again. Training runs, timing, eating summaries, whatever will keep me honest and on the ball. This thing goes off in 72 days.