How wet could this wet pet get?

Dang that was wet! It poured as promised all night and into the morning of Marathon Monday in Hopkinton. The athletic fields used as 'athlete villages' were mud bogs, the lower field was almost unusable due to the depth of the puddles. But still the runners came by the busload, some 20,000 of them. (although the BAA states that 2000 numbers were not claimed before the race started, so some did stay home!)
They looked ridiculous, some wearing plastic bags on their shoes to keep them as dry as possible until race time. I saw a pair of women as I cheerily greeted the arriving buses, decked out in full makeup, like they were going out on the town, or to a fancy dinner. I suppose it's just for these (and other) women that they couldn't leave the house/hotel without it, but they stepped off the bus into rain showers and were about to trek 26.2 miles by foot into Boston, I'm not sure the fine morning makeup would last that long. As hard as I have strained to check the pictures from the race posted today, can't see them in the background. Bummer.

Other best question I was asked: "How far is the start from here"
"About 3/4 of a mile that way"
"You mean we gotta walk 3/4 of a mile to the start?"
"Yes, but remember, Boston is 27 miles that way from here"
Duh! You're here to run a friggin' marathon people !

Fun? Yep. Wet? Yep. Cold? Nah. Do it again? Yep.

A Soggy Marathon

Well with just a few days to go before Boston (one word, capitalized), it looks like it's going to be a soggy one and chilly too! This time I'm really sure that I'm glad I'm volunteering. Sure I've got to stand out in the wet/cold for a little while but I'll get my free jacket and then I'll get in my warm dry car and be all done in no time!
I do feel that I'll be inspired to run again though, after the event. I'm getting there.
Jeremy's recent 17:48 is certainly a motivator! Can I get there? Probably not on these old parental legs but I can get down significantly from where I'm at now.
My running buddy is busy packing on the miles on trails. He's entering the Seven Sisters Trail run, a brutal and scenic roller coaster of a run covering the Holyoke Range. 6 out and 6 back with only about 100 feet of flat each way as you cross the porch of the Summit House on Mt. Holyoke.
Not for me this year thanks. Perhaps I'll join him for the return trip, we'll see.

I have settled, I think, on a Marathon plan which is attainable this time. Not a summer one, a fall one, early fall. Do the bulk of my training in the summer and taper when school starts in the fall for a late September run.
Stay tuned!

To run or not To run

that is the eternal question.
To run or to run from running. I can get out and run a few, I can even perform reasonably well at the local race on the weekend. But I still can't bring myself to string together more than a couple runs in a row. I'd love to stage some dramatic "I'm back" running thing. It happened maybe to my friend this weekend. He pulled away solidly this weekend, it was all I could do to keep him in sight for a while.
I recovered nicely for the last few miles and actually held steady in the race, not falling back too far and actually catching someone in the last mile and a half.
So I could run well again it would seem but when is the question.


So here's the choice.
Marathon A) The run around the lake. 8 loops of about 5k each. Repetitive? probably. Quirky? yep. A summer race which means training could be done in the summer too without work. And it's an evening run which means running in the dark.
Downside? It's a week before the Greenfield Tri, a race I always pretend I'm going to do well in and would like to be prepared for. So do I want a marathon so close before it? It could suck or help maybe?

Marathon B) The DeMar race. A point-to-point race at the end of September in NH. Small field, net downhill (they say). Summer training which could start in the summer and taper as the school year begins again. Downside? Dates might not be good with other fall events, have to check the schedule.

Votes? thoughts? Let me know.