The woman who pioneered women's marathon running has not completed her competitive days. Joan Benoit Samuelson has done countless things to better our sport. Among her major accomplishments was a victory in the 1985 Chicago Marathon in 2:21:21, an American record that stood for 18 years until Deena Kastor finally broke it in London with a 2:21:16 in 2003 and broke it again with a 2:19:36, also in London, in 2006. Anyway, Joanie will be running Chicago this year at the age of 53. She has been training hard with 80-mile weeks and wants to break 2:50, something she already has done at Boston and New York since turning 50. In a wonderful interview with David Leon Moore of USA Today, one quote really caught my attention. I've been experiencing longer recoveries etc. for quite a while as I have become an older runner. Here is the quote from USA Today:
Q: What should runners know once they turn 50 and want to keep running competitively?
A: Everything in moderation. I'm certainly not doing the mileage I once did, though I'm still running around 80 miles a week, at least in preparation for this race. It's really a fine line sometimes. Recovering becomes more difficult as you age. It's important to remember to run your own race. I run my own race. You can't run anybody's race but your own.
Steve Jones, who won the men's race at Chicago in 1985, also is running Chicago again this year.
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