Frank Shorter was right.

Shorter is a marathon legend and the last American to ever win an Olympic gold in the marathon. He once said that you aren't ready to do another marathon until you forget the pain of the previous marathon.

Right now my memory is a little too good. About one year ago I was burned out on all things running and truly thought I had run my last marathon. The combination of getting fat and out of shape with going to Kenya made me change my mind and set my sights on Boston 2009. Yet again, I got sucked in to another marathon.

I'm not sure why I keep doing this. I have somehow managed to do 8 of these things without really liking the distance very much. Marathons aren't really my strength as an event, yet I eschew opportunities to lower my times in the 5k, 10k, etc in order to plod along for 3+ hours. I also get really tired of how they just shred my body up. Finally, if you have a bad day on a marathon, you can't just pick up and run your best next week. You are in for another training cycle before you can make it up.

I achieved just about everything I ever wanted to achieve when I qualified for Boston the first time and then subsequently did the race in 2006. Then I got the idea that I could get under 3 hours in the Richmond Marathon. After that awful race, I felt like I needed to redeem myself in the next Richmond Marathon. That was the one that occurred a year ago. Ran a decent race, but killed any joy I ever had for running (as I mentioned previously).

Now I find myself registered for Boston without a shred of eagerness for the race. As it stands now, I think I've made a donation to the Boston Athletic Association, as they won't refund and I don't think I'll be going. There's a little hesitation as my friends David and Becca have qualified and we were all going to run together. However, this is my freakin' recreational pursuit and I'm tired of it turning in to a job.

Well, I guess the silver lining is that I have time to change my mind since I can't ditch the registration. I'll train for the shorter races (C-ville 10-miler, Clyde's 10k, Capital Hill Classic) and then switch if I feel incline to do the marathon.

Why can't I be normal and like golf like everyone else my age?