Two quick turnarounds in the span of seven months? Why not?
After the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon in December, I did
the Louisiana Marathon six weeks later, but I was hurting after effectively
tying my personal record.
But after the Hatfield & McCoy Marathon last month, I
was feeling good (for a change). I already
set my sights on another one – the Mad Marathon on July 7 in Vermont, the 21st
state in my increasingly difficult quest to run a marathon in all 50, each in
under four hours, and on a very limited budget.
But I could make this work…
…as long as I did a long run while on Phish tour and got
Gloria’s help to drive up to Waitsfield, Vt., backtracking up north two days
after driving home from Saratoga Springs (which is essentially halfway to
Waitsfield).
It also required truly committing to the “under four hours”
rule, accepting that 3:59:59 would be a favorable result. The Mad Marathon involves an awful lot of hills,
ascending from around 600 to 1,600 feet above sea level. In my previous marathon that involved a thousand-foot
incline – the Red Rock Canyon Marathon in Las Vegas, Nev. – I learned my lesson
from the one before that (the Park City Marathon in Utah) and took the advice
of the fellow runner that suggested, “Start slow, and then back off.” I would
have to abide by that philosophy again and not get carried away with myself.
After all, a 9-minute pace would still bring
me in under four hours.
Running a sub-four marathon on an extremely challenging
course, only four weeks after my last one, the week after a Phish tour, six
hours away from home, leaving on Saturday and coming home on race day, then
going to work on Monday?
That sounds like a ridiculous plan. One would have to be mad.
Ah, the Mad Marathon it is.
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