"I definitely want to show how beautiful the marathon can be. I am the opponent of all those who find the marathon bad: the psychologists, the physiologists, the doubters. I make the marathon beautiful for myself and for others. That's why I'm here." - Uta Pippig
"I was unable to walk for a whole week after that, so much did the race take out of me. But it was the most pleasant exhaustion I have ever known." - Emil Zatopek's description of the Olympic Marathon win in Helsinki
Louise Silver winning the 1990 Canberra marathon in her pb of 2:54
Same marathon, my only recent fast time, 5th at the age of 41.
Note the band-aids!
How will I achieve the goals I published yesterday?
Some readers are interested in how I structure my week. I plan to run weeks of 100, 110, and 120k as follows:
Mon 15k including longish intervals at Parliament House
Tue 18k easy at Vets Tuesday group
Wed 15k including a 6k tempo run at BBQ Stakes
Thu 15k including a race at Vets track
Fri 20k run from home, or possibly including a 5k tempo run at Customs
Sat 12k including short sprints at Aranda
Sun 5k, 15k, or 25k easy, to make up the distance to 100k, 110k, or 120k.
Humility: Rabbi Rafael of Barshad (19th century Europe) summed it up as follows: "When I get to heaven, they'll ask me, why didn't you learn more Torah? And I'll tell them that I'm slow-witted. Then they'll ask me, why didn't you do more kindness for others? And I'll tell them that I'm physically weak. Then they'll ask me, why didn't you give more Tzedakah? And I'll tell them that I didn't have enough money. But then they'll ask me: If you were so stupid, weak and poor, why were you so arrogant? And for that I won't have an answer."
How many dogs does it take to change a light bulb? 
7. German Shepherd: I'll change it as soon as I've led these people from the dark, check to make sure I haven't missed any, and make just one more perimeter patrol to see that no one has tried to take advantage of the situation.
FOOTNOTES
1. I ran into Louise the other day at the shops, then she came out and had a look at Vets track. Maybe she will start jogging again? She looks very fit.
2. Louise and I trained together for that marathon. There are not many people who ran the Cotter 18 miler as hard as she did!
3. That 1990 marathon was a comeback race for me, and followed a win in the Weston Creek Half marathon in March that year. If I run another comeback race in the April 2007 marathon, I don't think it will be quite as fast!
