Hello all out there! Well, as the title and the picture to the left implies, I recently participated in, and successfully completed, my third marathon! As usual, it was Ottawa’s own ING National Capital Marathon that I ran. Apparently, this has become the largest marathon in Canada. Can you imagine that? Thousands upon thousands of flailing legs attempting to transport their owners over a distance of 42,200 meters. This is both quite a sight to see, as well as be a part of. Each year, I swear it will be my last marathon, as I don’t purport to be all that fond of running. However, each year, as the fall drags on, I get the post-racing season blues. My final racing events are usually in September or October, then I start worrying that I’ll stagnate, so I get it in my head that it would be a good idea to sign up for the marathon for the next year, thereby forcing myself to start actual training sometime in January. Well, this past year was no different, and I found myself starting the long journey to the start line in the cold, windy days of winter. Of course, I don’t have ready access to a treadmill, so virtually all my training runs are outdoors. This year, I bumped myself up to an ‘Intermediate II’ level in Hal Higdons’ marathon training programs. This meant a bump up in the distances as well as intensity that I ran. In the end, I ran 5 days a week for 18 weeks, and also sprinkled in some winter races, swim training, and spinning classes. This of course was all to aid my on-going quest to become a stronger adventure racer, but also to help me get my goal in this year’s marathon. 3 hours and 20 minutes (yes, I spoke of 3h 15min., but that was my ‘unofficial’ goal). As a result of my dedication to the program, I pulled off a 3 hr, 18min, 15 second run. This was of course a personal best for me. My first two results being 3:47 and 3:30 respectively. I certainly can’t say that I was disapointed with that 🙂 !