Since about 1985, I've been perfectly content to chug along at 25 miles a week, maintaining my weight, blood pressure, etc. I could even eat the occasional bowl of ice cream without fear of blimping out.
In May 2011, my daughter Danielle registered for the Pittsburgh Marathon. As I walked with her to the corrals, I was swelling with pride. My last minute advice (sip some water at every aid station, run your own race, etc.) caused me to tear up. I just had to walk away, telling Dan I'd see her at the finish line. I didn't know it at the time, but I had been bitten by the bug.
Some two weeks later, Danielle called me and said "let's register for a marathon in the fall." I thought why not, I can train back up. I had run one sub 3:00 and several sub 3:10 races back in my younger days. This can't be too hard, can it???
So amping my weekly mileage up during one of the hottest summers in recent memory, I began to achieve a level of fitness needed to at least finish another 26.2.
We registered to run the Wine Glass Marathon in Corning, NY, which incidently is a great course; very flat and very fast (for fast runners). Some would say a monster was born.
"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever."
Lance Armstrong
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