Marathons

I have a hard time believing Paul Ryan could forget his first and only marathon time. Nobody forgets their first marathon and their finishing time. Nobody forgets their PR, which, in Ryan's case, was also his first time. My first marathon was Honolulu 1977, 35 years ago. I finished in 4:44. The next year, I ran the Honolulu in 3:30, my PR. Doing a sub-four marathon is a big deal and the goal of most serious marathoners. Doing a sub-three puts you in an elite class. There's nothing wrong with Ryan's four hour marathon. I would be proud to run at that pace. The difference between sub-three and sub-four is humongous. Anybody who has run a marathon knows that, not just intellectually, but in their bones and their feet. To reach 3:30, I averaged more than fifty miles a week for  months before the race. I probably would have had to double that to get below three. Could I have done that and have any kind of life outside of running? I doubt it. Could I have done it without injury? I doubt that also. I don't remember all of my 18 finishing times, in fact, I don't remember my last time. But I do remember my first and my PR. So, I can't believe Ryan forgot his. And, for the life of me, I don't know why he would lie about it.