Ultimate On my Mind

I am not sure why, but Ultimate is more on my mind right now than marathon. I am not sure why. I have a back to back marathon/Ultimate tourney coming up. The marathon I run alone, but the ultimate, I am sort of coordinating the team. I suppose that may be a portion of why my thoughts are there. 20 something people is quite a load to deal with. I suppose I will be able to breathe as soon as everyone's rides are secure. I have paid committments from 14 people, with a possible 15th. this is plenty for a tournament even if a few bail. I do not anticipate this as most of them appear to be planning to attend. I guess I am ever the mother hen.

I have printed the elevation change map for Bham and there are two 1+ Mile uphills and 2 down hills of the same distance. The one at 6 miles will be ok, the one at 23 miles has me a bit nervous! Hmmmm, I may walk up the hill, or go at whatever speed the same exertion allows for at that point in the race. Either way it will be interesting.

Today's picture is Vulcan, the statue that rises above Birmingham

Vulcan Park is home to the world's largest cast iron statue and features spectacular panoramic views of Birmingham. We tell the story of Birmingham's past, present and promise for the future. Take a virtual tour of Vulcan Park.
The history of Vulcan is deeply tied to Birmingham's roots and its growth. Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and forge, was originally built in 1904 and has stood as a symbol of Birmingham for over 100 years. After a four-year renovation, Vulcan Park reopened to the public in 2004 and welcomed over 100,000 visitors its first year.
Vulcan Park is operated by Vulcan Park Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission to preserve Vulcan as a symbol for Birmingham, provide a dynamic educational experience in a public park setting, and serve as the gateway to the region.
There are always fun activities at Vulcan Park! Whether you are a guest to the Magic City or a Birmingham native, we invite you to visit our 10-acre grounds with free WiFi Internet access, experience the area from Vulcan's view, or tour Vulcan Center to learn Birmingham's past, present and promise for the future.

Happy Anniversary (Tomorrow)

Robia has helped me today with my workout. I had to move about 15 huge boxes of books. They were heavy! Anyhow, that is cool.

I am not sure what I will be running in the morining, it is either is goona be 14 or 20. Some of that depends on how tonight goes. By the way tomorrow is our anniversary. Very cool, we have been married for 13 years now. Tonight we have a sitter and will go out on the town. She says there is no gift exchange tonight, but we'll have something tomorrow.

Speaking of which, I better get rolling now. I just wanted to say hi for today.

Robia, Thanks for being you. You are a wonderful wife and mother. I would marry you all over again! I love you. Happy 13th. Love, Curt.

Vaya Con Dios.
Curtai

Torn between Two Ultimate and Marathon

I am heading a team going to Mud Bowl 25 in Talledega Abalama on the weekend after the B'ham Marathon. I am not sure about this back to back endeavor as I know that as thrashed as I felt after the marathon at Disney, it was nothing comared to post Ultimate Tournament pain. Why do I do both. Hmmm one is ultra social Ultimate and the other is very singular. I really like both. Both are extremes. It seems that I still wind up at extremes even after all these years of "getting better" :)

Check out the Ultimate pages for the latest banter and chat
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/ecuc/
and
www.emeraldcoastultimate.com


I ran today for the first time in a few days. I was so Pissed off at work this morning that I HAD to do something or I was going to shove my foot so far down my own throat that surgury would have been necessary. The run helped as did a short talk with Robia. I did not specifically note the time distance was 4.3 and the time was around 40 minutes I think.

Anyhow, I hope that there is joy in your day.
Vaya Con Dios
Curtai

Guidance, other than myself

Note to self, don't hold the silver finisher's blanket behind you because you will look lame in the one finisher picture taken by a professional!

Anyhow, Its Tuesday and its Ultimate Night. Did I mention that I really like Ultimate? Anyhow, Show up for some drills (which double for my speed workout)

Ran at lunch today I felt strong and had a good pace. I have gotten to the point where I think I could use some guidance. I mean I run for the joy of running and to stay in shape. The competitor in me wants to be the best I can, so in my usual compulsive way I dig every bit of information about a given subject until I am thoroughly confused. Anyhow, I believe that I am approaching a place where I will need a little guidance to continue to improve. I am open to suggestions, and I called our local track club to see if anyone was available. No luck, apparently there are not Track Coaches in our area that specialize in mature athletes! I guess it does not make a difference, mechanics are mechanics right? I will keep looking and keep you posted.

Vaya con Dios Corriendadores

Curtai

WTD 21

YTD 70

I am supposed to rest today........

But I really want to run. I will rest. I will NOT overstress my legs. There are days where I don;t want to run because I am unmotivated, then there are days where I want to run, even if it not what is best for me. After yesterday's slow 18, I need to recover. The days where work is hellish and there is too much going on, are good days to run. Later in the week I may not be able to run as customers are here and may need attention. I do have extra shoes, I wonder what size they wear.....

Anyhow, today is a nice day to run, but I shall behave.

Curtai
Vaya Con Dios.

Picture is Curt finishing at Disney

Take the Long Road There

Yup, this is the beach that I live near, tough life, but hey, we get to pay the insurance premiums (Don't ask, you'll choke) Thanks, Ivan, Katrina et. al.

Sunday's are cool. Especially when the stars are aligned just so. I do not have to work (usually) The tempo of the day is slower. I get to do a long run and play Ultimate in the afternoon. Today we added scrapbooking to the mix, whihc I think is going to be fun.

I ran the 18 today and I must admit it was slow and my legs were a little more sore than usual, I was glad I did it. I convinced myself again that I really do like running. Sunday mornings I have a meeting I attend regularly at 6:30 AM at the beach. When Robia attends the same meeting I get up and leave about 2 or 3 in the morning and run there. Now if I go straingt there I can make it in about an hour. But if I take the sceniic route, then I can make a 3 or 4 hour affair out of it! That is what I did today and it was nice. Once of those days in January where I am really happy about living in Florida as it was around 60F for the whole run, Nice. The route that I run takes me past some of the nicer places in town, on quiet Oak covered lanes with views of the various bays around the area. I think distance athletes with families get to see the sun come up more often than most, I have to admit there is something about a brand new day that is cleansing to the spirit.

We went to breakfast with some of our good friends to Waffle house. For those of you not from the South, Waffle House is the place where the Morning delivery guys meet with the party crowd from the night before..... A little too greasy, but hey why do I run if not for the occasional perk! Bacon Egg and Cheese sandwich with Hashbrowns, well done, scattered, smothered and covered.

Vays Con Dios
Curtai
YTD 66
WTD 17

Recovery

You know I think that what I am learning from this Marathon is that it takes a little while to recover. I was planning to run an 18, because I am nervous that I have somehow lost all my training. TWO weeks ago I did the Marathon. If I listen to my schedule it says to do a 12. I am still not sure which one I will do cause I missed a couple of the medium length runs this week, some becuase I was tired, some because I just had too much to do. We'll see, I plan an easy 4 today then will make the choice on the 18 or 12 tomorrow morning about 3 am! Gotta Love the long runs!

The Queen is with me at about mile 12 of the Disney marathon.

Vaya Con Dios

Curtai

YTD 49 with yesterdays lunch run.

WTD 21

Reviewing Disney: Chip Times 10 1:42:22, Half 2:13:18, 20 3:24:21, Finish 4:23:21, Clock Time 4:25:31 Overall 2762/~10000, Gender 1952, Division Men 40-45 408, Pace 10:02

Better - Rest and Spirit

I had an oil painting done of this picture. My mistake was the picture chosen should have been more representative of what Sierra looks like. Grrr, now I have to call the painter and ask him to redo the painting or talk Robia out of changing it. Oh well, we'll see.

On the running side, I did not yesterday, but will go at lunch today for 4.3 I went to a meeting last night and although I did not hear anything profound, just being in the room with "those" people was enough to shake a bit of the doldrums out. I have been watching a friend of mine, Erin C. work on his running. Not so long ago he was happy just to run a 5K. Last night he was saying how after laying off for nearly a week, he came back and had one of those runs where he flew. I realized he had tapered and that it worked. I muddled through an explanation of what could have happened, and he seemed interested inknowing it. What I noted about myself is that I got a great amount of joy out of telling him what I believed happened. I guess I really do like teaching. Somehow, someday, there will be a bigger component of this in my life. Learning and teaching, both I think keep me fresh. I will leave it at this; you may know that I love to play ultimate frisbee, so I was delighted to find an article titled "Flight and Attitude Dynamics of an Instrumented Frisbee" In essence this guy was published by measuring the flight of a frisbee. Life is good. http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rlorenz/frisbee_mst.pdf for the article.

Vaya con Dios

Curtai

Acting as If

Some days I just have to act like I am a runner. I do not really want to run, but I know that I need to run. It is not some subliminal message my body is sending (I DO listen) telling me I must take some time off or risk injury. Nope, I just didn't want to run. Even while out I felt sluggish and heavy in the legs. There wan not any lightness in my step. I stopped by the club at 52 Beal last night and had a half cup of coffee to see if that would pick me up, nope.

One of the things I have learned is that like everything else in this world my running has seasons and tides. The eb and flow provides contrast that highlights those days that my feet don't touch the ground and I could run for a hundred miles. So i'll accept this season right now and hope it passes before Birmingham. Maybe I will win that Mercedes, why not me?

Today's picture is not pretty, nor was my run, but tomorrow will be a new picture and a new day!

Vaya Con Dios

Curtai

Today 10 Miles 4 lunch and 6 night

YTD 45 miles

A Nice Day Maybe I Can Run

I like this picture, sitting down for a magic carpet ride. Resting after the Marathon. Did I mention that after the marathon, I was able to walk and enjoy Epcot and Downtown Disney until after 9 PM before going back to the room for the mandatory collapse?

Anyhow, I was NOT able to run yesterday thanks to the Axel on my van. Now I have been told that all three motor mounts are broken. HMMMM they seemed fine when I took the vehicle in. You can never trust those mechanic types....(Grin to the inside joke) So I will call and get that fixed. I am concerned that my van is getting to the point of money pit. It is not worth much and the repairs I am beginning to have to do are the $200 per visit type, which if you do the math are quickly becoming more than the vehicle is worth. GRRRRRRR.

I need to run, I want to run, I am getting restless to put some miles in again. My body feels good. We played Ultimate last night in the howling wind. For those who do not know what Ultimate is. It is like Frisbee football. As you can imagine throwing in strong winds is at least a little difficult. We still had a nice gane and I was able to do some sprint work there. Those are not the long quiet miles where my thought can wander gently out of my body to a tranquil place. Those are the miles I need to get.

Dentsit today in the AM for a scraping of the choppers, then FAA visit later today. More later from the Fun Factory!

Vaya Con Dios

Curtai

The Blahs

I have to say that the Marathon Glow seems to have dulled to a proud moment. I keep the medal above my desk to remind me. I will say that I am still recovering, so the legs are not cooperating with the new plan. I will run 4 today at lunch then play Ultimate tonight. There still seems to be a "heavyness" about my legs.

I suppose that will go away with a little more time, not that I have much time.......... Birmingham Looms. I have made the necessary arrangements so there is no pulling out barring something unforseen.

Some days are Diamonds, some days are Dogs, some days are just in the middle somewhere.

Todays lunch run maybe in the rain as well! We'll see.

I must say that the Butterfly house at the University of Florida was a nice little side trip, well worth the time. That makes me smile.

Vaya con Dios.
Curtai

GRRRRRRRRRRRR - I had to take the car to the shop and thus I do not have a way to get home to run at lunch, it is raining and I am not sure how the turnout will be at ultimate. double GRRRRRR.

Here is a Schedule that I intend to follow:

Week# Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat. Total

15-Jan 2 Rest 5 (Ultimate) 7 6 Rest 5 25

22-Jan 12 (Ultimate) Rest 6 (Ultimate) 8 6 Rest 4 36

29-Jan 18 (Ultimate) Rest 7 (Ultimate) Rest 5 Rest 4 34

5-Feb 10 (Ultimate) Rest 6 (Ultimate) Rest 4 Rest 2 22

Marathon FEBRUARY 12

Sunday Ultimate

I thought this was one of the most facinating costumes I have seen. This lady would walk around on stilts and move next to a tree, and you would not see her until she moved.

I Played Ultimate on Sunday and my legs are just still like lead. I am not sure how to train for the Birmingham Marathon. Do I launch into the same schedule I had for Disney or rest some more.... My plan is to back the schedule up for disney as if the finish date is for the Birmingham marathon and repeat the last month of training.

We'll see how it works. Hills hills hills, ugh I am really worried about them. I could go to the local stadium and run stairs to simulate the hills.

Probably the best choice is to not stress out about them and just know that the pace will slow on up hills and increase a bit going down hill. You know the bear about that is that means I spend more time going up hills. (This was a revalation years ago when cycling on California's Central coast). It will not be as pronounced as on the bike during the run however.

Be well, Vaya con Dios.
Curtai

The Next Marathon

February 12, 2006 Birmingham, Alabama

That's it, this is the date. After a lengthy 3 minute discussion with my wifey, we made the decision for me to run this marathon. The best part is that I get to move right past those post-marathonum blues to immediatly worrying about the hills in B'ham. Now I have to say that we lived in Birmingham for a number of years so there is a certain allure there. Boutwell auditorium, to UAB, to GreenSprings over to Homewood, looking at Vulcan's backside, to portions of the Blue Blooded Mountain brook, back from Montclair to Clairmont back down town. I am sure there is not much flat there. WHo knows, maybe I will win this year's Mercedes (The raffled car, not the race.) Finally, I will post a prediction that I will finish this one in 4:25 including the hills. Disney was 4:23 with stops, but was flat. Training in Florida makes me worry a bit about the hills. Oh well the registration is submitted, I need to make arrangements with the in'laws as we'll be heading up there for that weekend and the one after for Mudbowl. Now there is a different kind of endurance event. More on that later.

I went out for a 2 mile stretch last night and felt ok, not great, knees are still a little sore, but nothing severe or serious. I am going to do 12 tomorrow, that will let me know how I really am.

The Last Miles

Amazing, I was truly amazed at the fact I was not dying. I felt that I was going to have the mile 24 experience of 1990, but it never happened! When I realized that I was OK and that I was going to finish pretty strong, I got giddy like a little school boy. I was running along the crowds cheering them on to cheer us on. I stopped and danced for a few seconds near a choir. I started chatting with a few people and was talking to everyone and thanking the volunteers for their time. (I had been trying to do this the entire race). I ran a pretty well planned race here are my splits:

clock2:11, Chip Start

1-9:16, 2-11:46, 3- 11:00, 4- 9:54, 5- 9:46, 6-9:34, 7-10:37, 8-9:05, 9-9:36, 10-9:31, 11-10:40, 12-9:30, 13-9:38, 14-9:36, 15-10:01, 16-10:46, 17- 10:45, 18-10:51, 19-9:44, 20-10:26, 21-10:00, 22+23+24-29:52 (space), 25- 10:17, 26-11:07, 26.2- 2:13

I don't really know what most of this means, it appears that some miles were faster, some were slower, I took gels when I remembered to, I stopped when I needed to pee. It is weird, but the breaks seemed to make the routine easier.

Anyhow, tomorrow, I will tell you about the next race. Did I mention that I had a great time! I am an athlete again. Not that this matters to anyone on the planet but me.... I can run a long way!

Be well. Curtai

The Morning - Disney World Marathon 2006

Well I have to say that getting up that early was tough. I boarded the bus after getting a good cup of coffee, a bagel, and water. I was loaded up with my e-gels and running shoes and sweat suit.

From the busses we got to Epcot about 3:45 am. IT was so cold, I waited as long as I could to check all of my bags and sweat suit, leaving me with the chemical suit I purchased from work. (They said it was $2.38 and the people we using other throw aways at $15-18 hmmmm money to be made there.) Mine was really cool because Robia and Sierra decorated it. It had all kinds of cools slogans and saying and designs. It felt special and I had about 20 different people staring at me. Well I think they were reading me, or rather my suit! I put my email address on it when i shed it at about mile 3, so if anyone finds it, send it back and I will return the postage. Anyhow the last half hour seemed to last forever. People were streaming out of the corrals to pee freely in the open field next to the start. I joined them. Did I mention it was cold. Like 35 degrees farenheit cold? Anyhow, I climbed back over the fence and into the corral. The wheelchair racers took off, five minutes to go, I was so excited, I was going to run a marathon....5,4,3,2,1, go. Then I just stood there. after about 1 minute the shuffle toward the start began. I crossed the start line at 2:11 and began my trek. the first few miles there was lots of fun and laughter and two separate tracks which was cool, it kept the numbers down while natural selection thinned the crowd. Once around the Epcot, the backthrough Epcot, where we merged with the other Marathon. I was in the Red group, corral F. Anyhow at about 4 miles I hit my stride and I realized that I was gaining on my goal time on the clocks on the roadside. I decided that I had selected a good pace to make 4:30 a reasonable goal for time. I told myself that to finish would be enough, but I wanted a time goal too. So I realized that I was picking up about 15 seconds per mile on the goal, By mile 8 I had built a 2 minute buffer between 4:30 and my pace! I was stoked. Then I started to goof off. I took lots of pictures. Running through tomorrowland and into fantasyland was so exciting, I was like a little kid. (Disney holds many fond memories for me, both as a parent and as a child.) Through the castle and out the other side to Adventure land and out of that park. Lots of Characters and such. Bands people cheering and all, it was great. by this time the cold was bearable except for my right thumb, which seems more prone to the cold than the rest of me??? Anyhow, I kept pushing and had nice splits for my pace, I maintained the 2:00 gap on 4:30 through the first 10 miles actual chip time was 1:42:22, The half was 2:13:18. 20 Miles was 3:24:25 and the finish was 4:23:21. So there it isI had a negative split 2:10:03 for the second half of the marathon. I don't know what that means but I know it is supposed to be good.

THE WALL - Never happened. Like I said before I was looking for it, waiting on it, preparing for it. Dreading it, but it never happened! Holy smokes, I remember 15 years ago, the feeling of wanting to run, but absolutely nothing happening! I believe that I was more prepared and the e-gels are fabulous. By the way, I went on a rant about clif shots and how awful I thought they were. It turn out that the Strawberry is just gross. The other flavors are OK. In fact the creme flavors were pretty good!

Anyhow, I will write about the last few miles tomorrow as these were for me a celebration.

Vaya con Dios

Curtai

Disney

Wow, What a great time I had. I finished in 4:23:21! I am still alive and fully jazzed about the run. I will write about it today and post later if possible. I need to scan some pictures.
To be honest, I did not have any trouble finishing the distance, I was bouncing through the finish (I probably did not run fast enough, but since I had such agreat time, perhaps I ran just fast enough!)

The first picture is probably my favorite of the Marathon. Tigger exemplifies all that is childlike. An excited approach to life is just the best!

The weekend started well after work on Thursday, we drove to Disney, about a 7 hour drive. You can do the Math, oh and throw an hour time change in too. We arrived about 2 AM, but arrived we did. I only made one wrong turn that cost us about 1/2 an hour grrrrrrr.

We got up and rolling the next day and went to the expo to start the day at about 11:00 AM. The WDW Wide World of Sports is an Awesome complex. We found our way into the expo and got the bib, chip and shirt. (One of the few knocks on the run was the shirts were all too large!) Did all that and found a pair of my favorite running shoes on sale for 20% off, so of course I shelled out the money for them. (If nothing else this was an expensive weekend!) Anyhow, got all of that handled and left for Disney's Magic Kingdom. We bought our season tickets, which ensures we'll be back later in the year. Hurray, I really like Disney, maybe more than my Daughter Sierra, maybe not. We spent the rest of the day riding rides and eating. I was a little nervous about eating as I did not want to develop any Montezuma's revenge. We had dinner in the Castle at Disney, Very cool! I had perhaps the best scallop ever. The other fish in my stew was just OK. Sierra rode Space Mountain with me, and we retired by about 10:00 PM.

Saturday, was COLD for central Florida, no for anywhere, it was just above freezing. We were up and out by about 10:00 am and as we were loading the buses we saw the first of the half marathon people returning, medal and blankets in hand. It seemed as though everyone was doing the Goofy challenge. actually there were about 3ooo.

(an aside here, It was weird, but I felt like my accomplishment was somehow diminished by the people doing the goofy challenge, as if a Marathon was somehow not the most awesome thing that was happening that weekend. It is my head, but, mine was not the ultimate accomplishment of the weekend.)

For me it was!

We went to Animal Kingdom on Saturday which is an awesome park..... I like it more each time.
We also learned about Disney Pin trading, Sheesh, another whole activity to spend money on!

We rounded out the day by going to the Hoop De Do Revue and Old west style dinner show. We laughed quite a bit at this one, then headed downtown to see Downtown Disney. I was intending to be in bed by 9 PM, I made it back by 10 in bed by 11 after setting the wake up call for 3 AM (the second bummer about the WDW marathon).

Note to Self: A good night sleep two nights before race day was a REALLY good idea. I was awake at 12, 1, 2, 2:15 2:30, 2:45 and called to cancel the wake up call so as to not wake anyone else up........ LOL, so it is get dressed and head to the start. More tomorrow!

Ready to Go!

Well today we are off to Disney! I am going to spend the next two days sitting as much as possible without being a wet blanket to Robia and Sierra. I am going to enjoy the parks, just slowly!

The family decorated a Tyvek suit that I am going to use for the warm up and to wear during the time before the race to keep warm. It looks fantastic. There are random Disney sayings and program sayings and other encouragements. I feel very supported in this endeavor.

I am going to the Local sports store to get my e.gels I tried the cliff shots that are going to be available and they were/are the worst tasting things that I have ever tried. Sorry Cliff, IMHO you missed, wide right.

I ran 2 miles yesterday and the only thing I am doing is perhaps 2 miles on Saturday just to loosen up. I will be back after the Marathon with a full report, wish me luck!

Vaya con Dios.
Curtai

Ultimate on Tuesday

Today's photo is the Patron Saint Bastion Brooks of Running
(sorry I could not figure out a better play on words) I think this is a random Pharasee, cool statue in Florence, Italy.

I had a good day on Tuesday except that Robia, my loving wife, ordered pizza for dinner thinking that I would be gone by the time it was delivered. Now something about me that should be known is that I am horribly addicted to pizza, if there is a food on this earth that is not good for me but that I have no mental defense against, it is without a doubt that Hot Cheese and Peperoni layered over marinara sauce with golden oil baked bread known as pizza..... Sigh.... I love it!
Anyhow, before I could force myself out the door I had 3 slices, which once gone I feel horribly guilty.

So I get to ultimate and am playing rather conservatively so as to not get injured. If you listen to every player they will tell you that playing "scared" ar to avoid injury is the fastest way to get injured. Sheesh. Well about an hour into it I was cutting to the disc being guarded by Davy, a stellar defensive player, when I zigged, he zagged and I wound up getting stomped on the toe. I was instantly paralyzed with the fear that I had it broken and that Marathon Dream was over. I cussed like a sailor and sat down. It took abotu a minute for me to realized that I had over-reacted and that I wan not injured, just stomped! Whew. You would think that would have been it, I would stay off the field and protect myself from further risk. You have to understand that if there is one athletic endeavor I love more than distance running it is Ultimate Frisbee. I was on the filed for the last half hour without incident. I told the folks out there to call me on my cell during the race to support me. some said they will, we'll see.

I am going at lunch to run 4 miles as I think this is appropriate for the last week before the marathon, nice and easy. 4 days and I will be at the start. I am giddy.

Oh I have the kids preparing a tyvek suit for my warm up, I am thinking these would be really cool goodies in the bag for people on coldish race mornings, a bit nicer than trash bags.....still disposable, could be run in if so desired, removed quickly..... Could be plastered with logos and advertizing. Hmmmm Invention number 85.

Vaya Con Dios
Curtai

Happy New Year!

OK, I am officially ready, totally, completely sort of ready. I will admit that I want to run more this week than my shedule says I should. I am going to play ultimate tonight and I will be taking sub points liberally so as to not get too worked out. No running at lunch this week except on Thursday I think. Walking at Disney on Fri and Saturday will serve as loosening up for me.

Marathon this Sunday, and I am nervous as a long tailed cat in a rocking chair factory. I KNOW this is normal, but it is nerves none the less. I believe that I can do this. One step at a time.

I was at my Sunday morning meeting and the topic was gratitude. I have to say how grateful I am to not be a smoker, to not be overweight and to be in good enough shape to run a Marathon, or at least attempt it. I ran the 1990 Los Angeles Marathon and that has always been a badge of honor for me. The thing is that it used to be a used to be, now it is again my reality.

The statue of the horse represents me a powerful warrior runner ( 5 hourish guy)
I have signed up for the 4.5 hour pace pack, and SHOULD be able to do that, but I am not going to be upset so long as I finish the Marathon, I promise.

One of my post marathon goals for the week after is to select and sign up for my next marathon. I am not sure how close I can or should do the next one. Birmingham Alabama is attractive for a couple reasons. Mainly free lodging with the in-laws....

Anyhow, i will have a list by the end of the day of the races that are candidates.

Vaya con Dios,

Curtai