By mid-December, I had already made my marathon plans for 2012. For the first time, I would run two in one calendar year. If I am going to run a marathon in all 50 states, I had better start upping my game. After all, if I did one per year, I wouldn't finish until 2056. I'd be 83 years old.
My first two marathons were only six months apart (Nov. 2007 and May 2008). When the second one went horribly, I blamed the short turnaround for the disastrous result. I am a better runner now, but that six-month span still scares me, so I am going to try for nine months. That puts my next one in April.
In searching for yet another April marathon (two of my five were April races - Eisenhower and Boston), I happened upon a very small, somewhat elite race in Rhode Island called the Gansett Marathon. Its website touts it as the ONLY marathon in the country, except for the Olympic trials, for which registrants must qualify to enter. My first thought was likely your first thought...
...Ummmm, Boston?
Turns out even at Boston, you can get in by running for charity. No such thing going on at Gansett. Sounded like a throwdown, a challenge. And, of you read my blog or have seen my short film about Boston, I am not one to walk away from a challenge. So I checked the qualifying times. They use the Boston qualifying times, which meant that I was in!
Then I looked at last year's results. Less than 200 people ran it. And they were faaaaast. So once again, even though I promised myself I would take it easier, I put myself in a position to go hard.
So be it. That's why I went right to Hal Higdon's Advanced 1 training program and got right into it. I probably will not win any awards, but I am definitely gunning for a PR on April 14. Count on that!
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