Eventually I'd like to do another marathon but probably not for at least a year. At that point there will be more spare time for training, especially for the weekend long runs. For a second marathon, I'd also want to do an intermediate training program rather than novice. The Novice program, in retrospect, did exactly what it was supposed to do - it was the minimal amount of training to get to the start line healthy and to the finish line intact. That was fine; but if I really want to go faster, I'll need to put out the additional time and effort for an Intermediate program.
Anyway, after a couple of days, I decided to stop analyzing the finish time and instead just celebrate a first marathon. 
I also found Higdon's recovery programs on the web and so that's the plan for the next few weeks.
You know all the stories about marathoners who sweat out the last few miles, but then a few days later they're thinking about the next one? Before Long Beach, I would have declared that would never happen to me, that I just wanted to do one and leave it at that. Well, I'm certainly not a career marathoner, but now looking at the race photos, I couldn't help noticing that I looked quite happy to be out there. Not just at the finish line (although those pictures are quite priceless) but at other times during the race. So maybe Pasadena in 2011? The hometown special? Well, we'll see.
