October 16, 2003

Close, but no cigar!

Ever wonder where that saying came from? Well it turns out that early slot machines and carnival games awarded winners with cigars. That's also where "Give that man a cigar" came from.

But not this man. No, I missed my cigar by a mere, measly, miniscule, insignificant, and infinitesimally small SEVEN seconds. #$%!@#&%$!

I just got back from the Okanagan International marathon in Kelowna on Sunday which was my forth attempt at qualifying for the Boston Marathon. The age group qualifying time for me is 3 hours and 20 minutes. Actually, 3 hours, 20 minutes and 59 seconds because they give you an extra 59 seconds for some reason. Realizing I was only 3 minutes off my goal pace, I practically sprinted the entire last 10km to cross the finish line at 3 hours 21 minutes and 6 seconds - 7 seconds OVER my qualifying time. #$%!@#&%$!

Oh well. The good news is I shaved about 15 minutes off my best marathon time and ran the most comfortable race I have ever run and finished feeling very strong. The lesson learned here was to stick with a consistent pace rather than start way too fast like I usually do in an attempt to 'bank' time. I'm pretty confident I'll be able to shave another 7 seconds off the next attempt - perhaps Vegas again in February.

Other good news is my sister obliterated her qualifying time again by crossing the finish at 3:29 (her second marathon and second qualifying success). Helen also had the race of her life by missing her qualifying time by a mere 4 minutes and she wasn't even trying to qualify! And my brother in-law Tom finished his second marathon with a personal record of 3:40.

My apologies for recent slooow progress with the remote viewing project. I'm back on it, and I'll be posting an update within the next couple of days. Oh - and check the web site for a new adventure coming soon!

Later,

Greg K