Running late: Catching up with our midlife marathoners

TOM JACKSON, 55, of Forest Lake, was training for his second marathon when we contacted him in April.

"I ran my last marathon today! At about 14 miles, I started getting shooting pains in my right foot. By mile 21 I had severe shooting pains in the balls of both feet. I struggled to stay ahead of the sweep bus as I was coming down Summit and the officials on bikes were kind enough to tell me that if I ran more than I walked, they wouldn't kick me off the course. I finished, barely, and have never had such an epic struggle to finish an athletic endeavor in my life. I now understand, although mine is on a much smaller scale, why climbers of Everest have such a hard time throwing in the towel when the summit (ironic, no?) is in sight.

It was my neuropathy. I developed the disease in about 2000 and have not run more than 10 miles since. It felt like I had open, bleeding blisters on the balls of my feet.

There is no point to me running that distance again. My goal is to finish strong at the Capitol next year in either the 10K or the 10 mile. I didn't like the specter of being ushered from the course and I would like to enjoy running down John Ireland at least one more time with a feeling of joy, rather than dread …"

Read Tom's pre-marathon thoughts at http://www.startribune.com/running-late-midlife-marathoner-tom-jackson-55/300827711/

BETSY GOMEZ, 57, of Chanhassen, had run five marathons — but the Twin Cities Marathon was the first she had run in 27 years.

"I ran the marathon with a couple of lucky charms — my 1983 TCM finisher T-shirt and a locket with my Mom's picture. One women yelled out, "Hey! I know that T-shirt, it's 30 years old!" I yelled back, "Yes and I'm still running!"

• My determination and competitiveness has not changed over time; my body has, in flexibility and resistance to injury.

• Marathon training plans have significantly changed to include more cross training, track intervals, tempo runs, etc. While there is limited information on how to adapt training as we age, I agree with recommendations that increased stretching, incorporating yoga, and adding more rest days was essential. I'm still confused about the benefits of compression wear — apart from flashiness.

• I needed to overcome my cautiousness and fear of injury, and push myself harder to get to a higher level of fitness. Once there, I found that I had fewer nagging pains and really felt stronger. Now I believe in doing more strength training and speed work — a lesson for the next one.

• To enjoy every step of the training and the beautiful race day (except for the last few miles). Every training run brought something new and remarkable to experience. I relished the time to think, solve problems or just watch the world go by.

• To be OK with a slower time, even though my diluted mind still thinks I should pick up at the pace I ran 27 years ago."

TONY LOYD, 56, of Little Canada, was the most experienced of our midlife marathoners, with 13 (before the Twin Cities).

"What a great experience! The Twin Cities in Motion team have the race logistics down to a science. Is it odd if I praise the volunteers and the UPS drivers at the bag drop area? Here's a quick story. When I arrived at the start line, I realized that I had left my prescription sunglasses in my drop bag. That might not seem like a big deal, but I ALWAYS run in my sunglasses. Seriously. When I put them on, I think 'I'm ready to run.' I had run all of my practice runs in my sunglasses and could not imagine running the race without them. I dashed back to the UPS truck and asked a volunteer if she could possibly retrieve my drop bag. I could see that there were hundreds of bags that had been loaded in the truck since I had dropped off mine. The volunteer responded cheerfully as if what I had asked her was no big deal. She took the time to search for my bag, retrieved it, and totally saved the day.

This was my third TC Marathon, and if I'm not mistaken, the crowd of spectators was larger and more vocal. My race was spectacular. My goal was 3:40:00, a Boston Marathon qualifying time. That requires a steady pace of 8:24 per mile. The Twin Cities in Motion team put together a pace chart, based specifically on the course. They allowed for a slower pace in the first five miles, picked up the pace in miles five through 21 and then allowed for slower times on the hills through the finish. I made a wrist band out of it. For every mile, I consulted the pace chart, and adjusted accordingly. With the cooler weather, it all worked perfectly. My actual finish was 3:35:16, my best performance in a marathon in years. Yeah!"