On the last weekend before my birthday I wrapped up my Rookie Year as a Marathon Man with my forth finish in Providence. Little did I know last year at this time as I was preparing to run my first marathon in San Diego that I would run so much in my 50th year.
The New England weather forecast waffled back and forth in the week leading up to Providence and I was expecting to see rain but was pleasantly surprised when it held off giving us cloudy conditions with a temp in the 50's. Pretty close to ideal for running.
This was the first time I used a heart rate monitor during a marathon. In the past I have gone out to fast and figured that caused me to slow at the end. I felt good and tried to hold my pace based on my heart beats and ran at a 10 minute mile. Just after mile 6 was my first bout of technical difficulty. My ipod shuffle was clipped to my waist and I perspire heavily even in cool weather so it got wet and failed. Since this was my 4th long run I was prepared and stopped to get my back-up MP3 Player and realized I should keep it in a plastic bag with just the wire of the headphones extending out.
Running the Miami Marathon I blistered pretty bad which led to my slowest finishing time so in Providence I tried out a new brand of shoes. Noticed a little knee pain around mile 9 so I stopped to stretch giving me my first encounter with a friendly runner. She was the type that offers a big smile and words of encouragement along the course.
Ever since I started running I've been a bit of a gadget guy and now in addition to my standard running gear that includes a GPS on my wrist and a music player pumping out a selection of classic rock tunes I carry my cell phone & camera. I only stopped once just after mile 14 for a photo and as I tuned back and snap a shot that friendly smile from mile 9 was in my viewfinder. Over the next several miles we passed each other a few times before my old legs slowed and Deb Jones maintained her pace finishing while I still had a mile to go.
After four marathons I still haven't figured out what it takes to maintain a decent pace and will continue to challenge myself with the long run. So far this year I have two half's on my schedule, Fairfield and Philadelphia plus I signed on for the grueling Goofy Challenge in January 2010.
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