Today I dismantled my old treadmill.
The old TM wasn’t working well any longer and it was time to get a new one.
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Tag: marathon
My NYC Marathon Sermon 2025
Even though I don’t run marathons any longer, this morning I gave back to the people, the race, and the city I love my serving as the co-chaplain at the religious service tent. It was a glorious day for the runners.
Here is the sermon I delivered at all of the services:
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CRUSHING The Long Run!
17.5 miles. Yes, you read that correctly. 17.5 miles. A great 17.5 mile run!!!
The long run was CRUSHED!
The long run was DESTROYED!
The long run was CONQUERED!
The man Is MARATHON READY! OH YEAH!
No, not me. I covered the distance, yes, but I didn’t run that far. It wasn’t me. It was Alex!
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Did It Break Me?
August 7, 2025
Running has been a bit of a struggle for me this summer. My longest run was seven miles. I most frequently run only three to four miles. A five-mile run (which I did this morning) is a long run for me these days.
My last big race, the Walt Disney World Marathon, (in January of this year) came as the last leg of the Dopey Challenge, a series of four races, each a bit longer than the one previous, over four days. (A 5k, followed by a 10k, followed by a half-marathon, followed by the full marathon – 48.6 miles in total.)
That marathon, the 27th of my “career,” was the last marathon I’ll ever run.
Continue reading “Did It Break Me?”
16 Weeks Until The NYC Marathon, But…
July 13, 2025
***
Well, this is a strange and unique feeling for me. The NYC marathon is 16 weeks away and today would be the start of my marathon training season.
But I’m not training for marathons any longer.
My most recent marathon last January was my last marathon.
As I completed the Dopey Challenge in Walt Disney World in January, I determined that my marathon days were over. My reasons for retiring from marathoning are legion. I’ll touch on some of them below, but I have written a lot about that on these pages before.
The following are some of my scattered thoughts as I break away from the 16-week training period for the NYC – a ritual I followed for the better part of a quarter-century:
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Life After 26.2
As I got clobbered on the hills of Pittsburgh on the second half of the marathon in May 2023, I swore that that was my last marathon. I was miserable. I struggled. There is a certain hell that one goes through in the upper miles of a marathon. In that race, my 24th marathon, I’d had it.
I quit marathoning more than a thousand times over the final miles on the unforgiving hills of Pittsburgh.
Only…
I didn’t quit.
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My Final Marathon
The decision was one that had been coming for a long time, years, in fact.
I knew that being a marathoner wasn’t going to last forever. It had to end sometime. I also wanted it to end on my terms and in a special way, a great way.
And, although it feels a little strange to finally be at this point, I know it was (and is) the right decision.
It had to end sometime.
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DOPEY!!!
Well, I did it.
I did the Dopey Challenge. 48.6 total miles of running.
On Thursday, January 9, I ran the Walt Disney World 5k
On Friday, January 10, I ran the Walt Disney World 10K
On Saturday, January 11, I ran the Walt Disney World Half-Marathon
and, on Sunday, January 2, I ran the Walt Disney World Marathon.
Four races, each longer than the next, over four days.
I have been wanted to run this series of races for over a decade.
And I did them. All pretty well, too.
Running the half-marathon and the full on consecutive days is Goofy.
Running all four of the races is Dopey.
But it was awesome and great and wonderful.
Kind of Dopey…
Well, that was kind of Dopey.
On Wednesday, I ran 3 miles.
On Thursday, I ran 6 miles.
On Friday, I ran 13 miles.
Today I ran 18 miles…
(I feel great!)
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Right Where I Ought To Be
Over time, we find out where we belong. We find our niche. We get comfortable where we are. This is true with the places we go, the friends we seek, and activities we participate in. And so much more.
This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t try new things, or visit new places, or look for new experiences, but, by and large, we find our comfort zones and we often stay in those places.
This is true of so many things in life.
For me, it also seems very true of my marathon times. It seems I have found my comfort zone.
Continue reading “Right Where I Ought To Be”
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