It's Only a Pleasant Illusion.
'V' for Victory! I qualified to run in the Boston Marathon. 2004
Fifteen years ago I ran a significant marathon in my hometown (London ONT) as fast as my little legs would take me. I kept on my target pace - about 5 minutes per km - for 36 of the 42 kilometres and when I entered TD Stadium at the University of Western Ontario with less than 300 metres to go I was confident that I had qualified for Boston.
But it was drizzling a bit of rain, my glasses were foggy, and from a distance I thought the race clock read 3hr:36min (too slow to qualify) instead of something under 3:35.
Slight panic attack!! MORE THAN A SLIGHT PANIC ATTACK!!
"I'm sure I still had a couple of minutes to spare!! What the heck!!"
And half a minute later, after desperately wiping my glasses while rounding the last bend in the quarter-mile track - now much closer to the finish line and timer's clock - I saw I indeed had more than two minutes to spare.
"Yeaaaaah! Way to go, Shortie! Nothing comes easy, eh."
I celebrated the London race and my fastest marathon by crushing the competition in Boston about a year later. In spite of terrible blisters - it was one hot and muggy day and several runners fell by the wayside - I persevered and crossed the finish line in style.
The woman behind me gives the signal for "I want a large pizza tonight!" I ordered the extra large!
"Yeaaaaah!!
The Boston Marathon in 2005 was my last 26.2 miler. And after running a couple of shorter races in the fall of that year, I didn't participate in another event until 12 years later, a slow 5 km romp around Springbank Park in London.
Details on the back of my race bib. 12 years later, I am a lot slower.
In July 2017 I ran in a week what I used to run during a long training run!
Steady Eddie. Still determined to cross the line with a good pace.
Now I'm walking and running about 42 miles per week on average, with about the same speed as two years ago. While running 3- or 4-milers I think back to my marathoning days and wonder where all that energy and determination came from. But at the same time, I really like the distances I run and the steady pace that my short little legs can generate.
Maybe I'll enter a 10 km race in the fall to get an official time and see if there are any other old geezers out there still trying to cover miles with a positive sense of accomplishment and well-being. Maybe we'll get into a bit of a geezer vs geezer competition in the last kilometre and see what we've still got in the tank.
Oh, yeah. I'll be ready for that!
Photos from along the way in London:
London's pathways are a training ground for young and old. Maybe see you out there!
Please link to Photos From Along the Way. Late Night and Black and White.
Photos GH
