2005: The Year in Review

Final numbers for 2005

Marathons completed: 28 in 24 states and 1 Canadian province.

As of the end of 2005, I have completed 38 states, DC, and 1 Canadian province.

Of the 28 marathons:

• 3 were 3:50 or faster. This includes my current PR of 3:45:54 on a hilly Cape Cod course.
• 10 were 4:00 or faster (inclusive)
• 17 were 4:05 or faster (inclusive). This includes a 4:01 at the very difficult Mt. Desert Island as well as a 4:04 at Grizzly. Then there was Paavo Nurmi (4:00:24) which is only in this section and not the previous section because I had stomach issues.
• 23 were 4:10 or faster (inclusive). This includes Grandfather Mountain. It also includes Casper which was at altitude and had some fierce winds.
• 5 races were over 4:10. Each of these was different. Lost Dutchman was my longest at 4:27. The course was difficult, I was sick, and I was undertrained. American Discovery (4:14) was up higher than Casper and it was hot. I was sick at San Francisco (4:19). It was extremely humid at Delaware (4:13) and I went out too fast. I have no idea what my problem was at Bayshore (4:11). It was a nice day on a nice course, and I ran the whole thing from beginning to end. I just ran it slowly.

I recall having serious stomach issues in 3 races: Lost Dutchman, San Francisco, and Paavo Nurmi. I was marginal for a bit of Mesa Falls, but I recovered quickly. I had a terrible sinus infection for the Mid-south Championship, and I probably should not have run. Finally, I had a bum knee during Kona that was due to dead shoes.

Marathons skipped: 2

A "skipped" marathon is one to which I travelled, but chose not to do. This year, I missed Hatfield-McCoy (in June) because I was sick. Well, to be exact, the nasty Super 8 room I had was a smoking room with perma-wet moldy carpet. I got almost no sleep the night before the race, and I had a terrible headache. I also skipped my very last race of the year, Jacksonville (in December) because the weather was atrocious and I didn't take the proper clothing with me. I was in no mood to run in 45 degrees, strong north wind, and cold rain wearing shorts and shirt. Of course, the rain stopped right before the race was scheduled to start, but by that point I was back in my bed sawing logs.