I figure I'll give some background for me. I've finished 2 marathons, NY 1983 and 2006. I DNFed NY 1984. I do not call them "thons" or "marys." I am 51 -- 52 on race day -- and frequent the monthly 50+ thread, as well as the weekly LetsRun Masters thread. I live just north of NYC so doing that race is a no-brainer. As a local Club runner with a certain pace, I'll get the benefit of a special area near the start, from which we'll be at the front of the start that goes on the lower level of the Verazano Bridge. In 2006, I found the entire route clear after about 100 yards.

I ran pretty seriously from 1979 through the late 80s. The next 10 years or so are a blur running-wise, with races now and then, but no rhyme or reason to what I was doing. In the late 90s I had a bad stretch in which I was trying too hard and finding that I was DNF in maybe half my runs, which only made the next one more stressful. It was a cycle, until I just decided to ease back a bit and finish my runs. That removed the stress about whether I would finish and made things much simpler. A few years back, I spent a while exploring track races, but then I had a series of bad injuries that knocked me out for months at a time. When I started up again, I picked up a copy of Daniels' Running Formula, and used it as a guide.

I had not intention of running another marathon (this is in 2006) but got into near-marathon shape for the Reach-the-Beach relay in New Hampshire in Sept. 2006 and decided I'd try a fall marathon. A clubmate got me into New York, where I ran 2:48:10 and got third in the 50-54 age-group. From that point on I became somewhat obsessed with the marathon and especially to avoid the training and tactical mistakes I made. In 2007, my wife made me choose between Reach-the-Beach and NY, and I chose RTB.

I thought of running a spring marathon, but decided that one a year was enough. As I trained over the winter, I did more long runs than I have in the past, in part to build up a good base to begin building a base for New York. I think my recent, shorter races have benefited from those runs, including several 2 hour jobs.

I'm somewhat using Pfitz/Douglas "Advanced Marathoning" as a guide this time around. I thought that the three training issues I have from 2006 were insufficient mileage, (ii) not doing a mid-week longish run, and (iii) not doing enough Marathon Pace runs.

So while I intend to race now and then over the next several months -- as a break from training and a commitment to my club -- I am trying to build my mileage close to 70, with a long run on the week-end and a longish run on Wednesday or Thursday.

So that's my story. I figure I'll be posting a weekly thread, but that it would be useful to have this thread as a place for everyone to give some background.