So I ran the Montreal Marathon.  My excuses, in advance, are:  I had a cold, it rained and there were puddles so my shoes were wet the whole time.  Also my aerobics instructor targeted my quads on the Thursday class, compromising my delicate muscular tuning.

My goal was 3:10, Boston Qualifying Time.  I achieved 3:34:23.

Positives are:

• The time was decent.  It was very close to my all-time best of 3:31:45, which was achieved in Vancouver after training at altitude (700M in Edmonton).  It was at least 15 minutes better than last year's time, which was done at the peak of health and during which I felt like I had run a strong race.
  • Analysing the results I see that this was a tougher marathon than Vancouver.
  • In Vancouver I was in the top 17.6% of all men and 24.2% of those in my age group.
  • In Montreal I was in the top 12.6% of all men and 15.5% of those in my age group.
  • Median time in Vancouver was 4:15, median time in Montreal was 4:17.  The winner in Montreal also ran 2 minutes slower.  Not sure what that means, but doesn't seem like much.
• The route was great.  We ran through some classic Montreal locales
  from the Formula One track, to the Old Port, various historic
  neighbourhoods, and finishing with a 3/4 loop around Olympic Stadium.
• My 10K and half-marathon split were perfectly paced for achieving the 3:10.  I had never been able to control my pace in a marathon before.
• I did beat the Running Room's 3:30 pace bunny.  I think.  I saw him only at the starting gate.

Negatives are:

• I should have been able to hit between 3:05 and 3:20 I thought.
• I may have "wasted" a year of training because I'll have to it all again when I try next year.

Anyway, it was great overall.  The training was great for my body and I continue my tradition of running a marathon a year.  Thanks so much to Bogusia for letting me spend the time to do those runs, and for cheering me on during the race.