Sunday, May 6

Americas Next Greatest Marathoner

It seems summer/spring is long in coming this year. As I commented this morning, it was 9C when I left the house, I’m sure it was warmer during the winter storms.

The fact that it is now May hadn’t dawned on me until pulling into the Theits Lake parking lot and seeing the bright yellow pay meter. Luckily for me, a couple was just finishing their dog walk and was kind enough to pass on their ticket. Tim showed up shortly after I arrived, and after grabbing yet another pair of shoes to retire in the/my tree, we set off into the trails. The run was relatively uneventful, and as Tim is just starting to return to form, he ensured the pace was leisurely. About half way through the run we came across a deer carcass that looked like it had been ravaged by a cougar but as the kill looked weeks old and we continued on our way. Toward the end of the run I managed to toe punt a root with my left foot, and returned home with yet another souvenir.

Someone left a comment to my earlier post, suggesting that it would be a mistake for me to run Ottawa… thoughts? For what it’s worth I think their concern is valid. I think my chance for success in Ottawa is a fraction of what it was in London, but regardless I’m willing to roll the dice. If I was planning to run a fall marathon, or had a late summer race that I wanted to peak for I would reconsider, but as my next big focus will be spring ’08 I’m not too fussed. I’ve yet to read the article they’re referring to “Americas Next greatest marathoner”, but it has me curious. Has anyone read it?

Training: a social 1:33:28

2 comments:

Chris said...

Mike,

I am thinking that you need a shot of confidence. Forget the article. There are thousands of failure stories and thousands of success stories. What's yours going to be? Positive voodoo...don't read the negative without equalizing the karma with a success story.

C

Thomas said...

Only you can know if you should run Ottawa or not. I mean, how much damage do you think London did to your legs? And how quickly can you recover from it? Answer those two question honestly and you should know if another marathon is a good idea or not.

If your next big target is indeed not until 2008, then you surely will not endanger your chances of doing well, no matter what you decide.