CHALLENGING GRETE

Grete could not have been impressed the last time I ran her race. I grew slower on practically each mile, finally finishing the half marathon in a bit over 1 hour and 45 minutes, among my worst ever.

Grete's Great Gallup, the half marathon named in honor of Grete Weiss, the Norwegian Speed Queen, comes about 5 weeks before the New York Marathon and is used to asess marathon readiness and to provide an estimate of proper pace for the big race. I came to Grete in 2007 feeling optimistic. Good race times and solid long runs suggested that I might do very well; I ran a speedy first mile in exactly that spirit. And then the unusual warmth and humidity of that early Autumn day...and who knows what else...grabbed hold of me. The race became a long playing disapointment, leaving me on a downward spiral that culminated in a marathon nightmare of pain and injury and walking off the course when it all became too much on First Avenue around mile 17.

Injuries kept me from the starting line for either the 2008 or 2009 Marathons. This year my half marathon times continue to balloon. Grete is tomorrow. How optimistic can I be?

Well, training has been good of late, I've gotten stronger with a bunch of solid long runs, last weekend's mile race was terrific, I just ate a very nice pasta from a newly opened local restaurant and tomorrow's weather report doesn't call for a lot of heat or humidity.

So, who knows? Maybe this time, Grete will be impressed.