As many of you know the Ottawa marathon in 2 weeks will be my last “racing” marathon. If I achieve my sub 2:50 or not I will be satisfied with my marathon accomplishments. I do plan on continuing to race shorter distances and to run some marathons/ultra’s and run one more Boston but not at the same level. I have decided to switch gears at the end of May and train to compete in the Canadian Masters or United States Track and Field Championships held in mid July. Can one turn a lean skinny running body into a strong explosive muscular body in less than 6 weeks and be competitive in the following events all held on the same day? • Long jump • 200 meters • Javelin throw • Discus throw • 1500 meters Not sure how competitive I will be against other trained athletes who train year round for this but I see it as a great opportunity to return to my first sporting love: Track and Field. It will also give me the information I need to work thru the remainder of the summer and the following winter to reach the next level and hopefully go to the World Games. I am really looking forward to the next challenge. I will of course keep running 5K’s and 10K’s and keep posting to this forum but my focus will change a bit, at least for a while. Crazy Tall

Tall - I will confirm that you are absolutely nuts. Just reading about doing this stuff makes my muscles hurt. May I suggest that you also do that 'thon thing where you get to shoot stuff? Good luck with it....(and your finale marathon). But I'd bet SpareRibs left arm that you'll come back to competitive marathoning at some point. Ray