The idea of disciplining myself to run on days when I didn’t feel like it didn’t enter my mind. I dislike rules, possibly a side effect of growing up under communism, which had too many. A predesigned running program telling me when, how long and how fast to run would have sent me into couch-sitting, bonbon-eating dissent.

The eve of the marathon I ate a plate of pasta and had a couple of glasses of wine and my usual after-dinner cigarette or two.

The marathon started in Prague’s beautiful Old Town. But after the first four miles or so it turned into a dull, unattractive route that took us down a highway, then looped us back for more of the same — think of running 90 percent of the New York City Marathon along the B.Q.E. — until we reached Prague’s photogenic old-town splendor again.

The day was dismal, offering microclimates of the worst weather middle Europe can serve up in spring: three miles of drizzle, one mile of hail, six of rain, three of drizzle. When the rain stopped, cold wind blew wetly into runners’ faces. For some time there was fog. And though this was its 10th anniversary, no cheering, friendly crowds greeted us on either end. Instead, the few grumpy Praguers who saw us run by wore expressions of utter incomprehension. “What’s wrong with these people?” they seemed to be thinking.

To keep from getting bored, I had a small radio, and switched between stations for company. I wore a hand-me-down pair of shiny black three-quarters leggings that looked a little like ’80s disco pants, but they were super comfortable; a pair of Adidas running shoes, which were fairly new; and a Nike T-shirt, a novelty item in Prague at the time, that promised to wick the moisture from my body. Given the amount of precipitation that day, I couldn’t tell you if it did any good.

As with too much training, I have a slight disdain for too much gear. Those Camelbak sacks that carry several liters of fluid and the ever-popular water-bottle belts that look like they ought to be carrying ammunition seem ridiculous for an event replete with water stations. I don’t see any elite runners wearing them.