"Frank Boettcher" wrote in message
...


Neither my running mates nor I have the
time, the desire, nor the dedication to train for marathons.

I understand that one. I toyed with the idea briefly this year. But
I only wanted to run one if I could qualify for Boston. There is
actually a qualifying marathon in my little town. fairly flat course,
but even though the start is at 5:00 AM it would be very hot last
half. Race is in September.

I would need 4hrs plus 59sec and could qualify for Boston '07 as a
sixty year old. That's about a 9:12 pace. I run much faster than
that at the 5 & 10K distance but 26.2 miles is something else indeed.
The amount of time I would have to put in to train up to it is just
way more than I'm willing to do.

IMO, it's a younger person's game. However we've seen some pretty old
runners in the Chicago. I've always held those guys and gals in high
esteem, mostly for the dedication and discipline they must have to train for
marathons, not to mention the pain they suffer.

I suffered full leg cramps following my first half-marathon. My trainer
decided I was dehydrated and gave me a forced hydration regimen to follow.
Didn't help much, so I simply trained a lot harder for the third race. Much
better, and I really wonder just how much I'd had to have to trained to be
able to do a marathon without doing a repeat of the cramps. But that's not
gonna happen--I'm happy just running for conditioning and the occasional 10K
now.

Max