Tempo running is important for marathon training, unless you are just "training to finish."

Stay in the moment. The idea is to have the best form, race the best line, stay at the right heart rate, know where you are versus the plan, understand how the weather is affecting you, etc., every moment of the race. That's how to get the best result, I find.

Over decades of racing marathons and Ironman, I have found there comes a time when I have to make a big decision. Can I push on? Can I work through my fatigue and pain? Will the course and the weather defeat me? Is this really my limit? Am I capable of more than I have already asked of myself?

Stay active, stay challenged, enjoy what you do, always have a goal on the horizon..that's my thinking.

Probably my slowest Boston Marathon ever. But certainly the best in terms of inspiration and the unbelievable crowd support. Very special.

Running is a selfish endeavor. I run for me, and abide by Charles Barkley's motto: "I'm nobody's role model." I've never used marathon running or Ironman racing to raise funds for anything.Rethink time! Last year I was registered for the Boston Marathon, but between inadequate training and nagging injuries, I did not run. Had I been well trained and uninjured my finish time would have been about 4:10 - right when the finish line bombs went off, killing 3 spectators and injuring 364 others.

Amping up my training, mapping out and sticking to Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning 12 week plan with maximum weekly mileage at 61 worked. I had been fading and often cramping in the back half of my marathons. This time around I could easily pick it up for awhile in the second half and the fade did not come today until mile 22 and even then two of the last four miles were still close to goal pace.

Last Saturday I ran the Wisconsin Marathon in Kenosha, just north of the Illinois border. I think this was marathon finish number 46 (counting my IMs).

In terms of sheer enjoyment, it was my best marathon in a long while. But it's racing, damn it, not a stroll in the park! I want to race...

I am writing this because I know so well that when I publicly announce a goal (back myself into a corner?) I am more likely to achieve it.

Boston Billy beat me by 13 minutes. That’s a sentence I never thought I would write. The key in the sentence is not that Bill Rogers beat me, but that he crossed the finish line on Boylston Street only 13 minutes ahead of my time.

In this writer's experience as a long-time marathon runner and Ironman, runners and triathletes who look for the quick fix and instant success don't get what they are looking for.

My running strategy was to make this a low key race and just run by feel. (I already have a Boston time for next spring.)

Competitive? Who, me? Wanna bet...?)

Well, being consumed by work and travel has made me a poor correspondent. I have said little about my training - but I have been training, which is a good thing, because Boston next Monday is rushing at me like a freight train.

I was in dilemma trying to figure out what to do after Chicago. Marathoning is something I know a bit about (having run 26 marathons and 10 Ironman races), but I found myself wanting to get right back on a course to get my Boston time and yet knew racing again so soon could be risky.

I was the "older runner" whose experience in the race Coach Spivey talked about on Chicago Tonight on television this evening when he was a guest with Chicago Marathon Race Director Carey Pinkowski. I was glad Carey rejected the idea that a guy 55-60 was "old"!

I am seriously considering the Indianapolis Marathon next Saturday. For me the Chicago Marathon was a hard 18 mile training run followed by walking and running easy for the next 8 miles. Since the race I have had a fine recovery, I think, and am feeling really good.

Right now I am reading Advanced Marathon Training by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas. It is the best marathon book I have read. Lots of science and training guidance.