Wow, this blog is still around.

My last race is still the Kentucky Derby Marathon in 2021. That is, I haven't raced in three years. It actually feels longer...

Meanwhile, I never stopped running, but I just maintained my 178 lbs (as opposed to my 150-ish racing weight), and I had a bad asthma flare-up after my last COVID infection. After a while I just accepted that I was recreational runner, and not somebody too serious about the sport. I'm also 48 for god's sake - when is it time to retire from racing?

Well, all was well, but Tracy, from my running club started to encourage me to return to racing. Seeing the other guys doing so well, recalling my former awesome long runs and marathons made me nostalgic. And I could still pull off a few miles at sub-7 pace without ever doing workouts or any serious training. Meanwhile, Mike Korfhage, who is the founder and leader of this group, run a sub-3 marathon, a PR, and he is over 50. So why not me? Why shouldn't I try? Wouldn't it be awesome to return to Boston?

Both of my kids have their driver's licenses. One moved away already, and the other is about to at end of the summer (she is a track/XC star BTW).

Bottom line is that I signed up for a fall marathon. Louisville Marathon, November 3. For now my only goal is to be able to finish it in 4 hours. At the moment, 10 miles feels long for me, so I have to develop some serious endurance. But my VDOT is still no worse than 45, so if I could just develop some endurance, and do a standard training cycle, 4 hours should be cakewalk. Even on the hilly course.

Here is the timeline:

18-week training starts on July 1. Two more months to build endurance. I'm trying to run 35 miles/week for now to see if I can maintain this. If I can, and perhaps increase it a bit, then I could do a 55/18 plan from Pfitzinger. We will see. If I don't get injured or sidetracked, the chances are not bad.