Lucky to be here. My '21-'22 season is basically the '88 Browns in a nutshell
My training block for the 2022 Columbus Marathon mirrors the up-and-down season of the 1988 Cleveland Browns. That year, the team had Super aspirations after losing in the AFC title game the prior two seasons to Denver. As things tend to happen in CLE, the team failed to make the Super Bowl, but it wasn't for trying: They lost 20-25 players at various times throughout the season, yet went 10-6 and still made the playoffs as a wildcard, losing to the Houston Oilers on Christmas Eve. What does this flashback to a forgotten era of NFL football have to do with my running journey? It's a similar uneven path to success, fraught with failure and success, sometimes within the same week. It all began after I went out too fast in the 2021 Columbus Marathon, splitting a sparkling 1:33 on the front end, then dying at 22 with a bunch of 9:00 miles and finishing in 3:20:01, missing sub-3:20 by TWO seconds! I tried to get smart that winter and got injured but somehow slogged through 23 miles...