Ok. I'm guilty as charged. Instead of writing the Marathon- A - Month article this past Memorial Day Weekend, I completely forgot that the deadline was approaching. Too busy having fun and carbo-loading for the next race. I offer this condensed version of the monthly piece (What do I hear…"It's about time!")…
After virtually no recovery from either Hamburg (Suzanne most excellent performance at the end of April) and Boston (my flagrant disregard of the qualification standards of the B.A.A. turning in a near "personal worst"), we set off for the coastal redwoods & the Avenue of the Giants Marathon. Twelve days was sufficient for Ms. Kairy but, alas, for Mr. Murphy, it was quite another story. It's always a bit embarrassing to have a marathoner run back along the course to try and find you before they open the highway back up for public transportation.
In retrospect, we actually experienced three marathons. One was the Avenue…Quite lovely…Big trees…lots of em… Shade. Serene. Tranquil. Almost meditational. I was so awed that I allowed my self to linger hours beyond most runners. I'm sure my tardiness had nothing to do with my poor physical condition or inept training methods… Nope, I was stunned into slowness by the sheer grandeur of them there big trees. Oh yes, those other two aforementioned marathons were out on Highway 5…
Let me suggest this adventure trek may have been in the Ultra category…700 miles one way… and 700 miles back…I think we both deserve bonus points for that bit of endurance…
Suzanne, more of a night person than the "aged one", was still very much awake, when she suggested that she "take over…” I don't know if it had anything to with my drifting into oncoming traffic… But, it seemed like a good idea to one whose "late show" is anything after 9pm…I climbed in the back of the truck and 6 hours later, we were north of San Fran… "Coffee…donuts…" I mumbled. "Ok, think you can drive?" "Coffee…donuts…" My usual reply for road trips or ultras of any length… We switched positions…I was at the wheel… I was tired…but conversational…
"How fast did you go…to get us up here this quickly…?" I was impressed. She told me about her secret formula for driving fast without "ever getting a ticket!“… I lied and told her I understood… Life can be challenging without…"coffee…donuts…" and I was less than awake… Soon she had dozed off… even though I selfishly played my Bob Dylan cds at 4am…"Maybe I can push the pace…" I thought and my foot, momentarily, depressed the pedal…Well, wouldn't you know it… A local constable noticed this "malum prohibitum" offense and with sirens wailing pulled me over. I had only driven 10 miles…
"My God, Dennis, what happened…" Gee, now Suzanne was awake… The police officer was friendly and I was clearly in the wrong. "Clocked you at 80…" "Yes. Thanks. I'm sorry. We were trying to get to a race… But you are right.I shouldn't have been going that fast…I'm going to slow down…" "I'll put down 71 mph…" (Guess my apology just wasn't good enough) "If you two are driving straight through from LA…you'll need some rest…Willits is coming up…Grab a cup of coffee…" and he handed me the ticket…
Maybe they'll have donuts, I thought… Ok. Now this wasn't much of an article on running… But what have we learned? The Avenue of the Giants is a nice marathon with big trees… lots of ‘em… (ed. Note: There is one tree for every period in this article!) In 6 hours you can be north of San Francisco, if you have a secret formula… In 6 hours you can almost be finished with a marathon… A true friend will run back along the course to see what is taking you so long… Crime, just south of Willits, doesn't pay… and never write an article at the last minute… or your journalistic stature will sink to that of your marathon ability.
Congratulations to Suzanne for another stellar sub-4 hour marathon…and, thanks too, for coming back to help me "run it in…” Truly a nice compassionate act…and I appreciate it… Well, it looks like the road turns to the big time once again this month at the Rock N Roll in San Diego…as the entire group of marathon-a-monthers (Suzanne, me, and Todd) converge on "America's Finest City" to our south… One caveat: Don't speed! See ya at the races…