My training over these past several cold months -- while not perfect -- has been solid and smart. i've managed to build a level of fitness i am happy about and have so far held off an array of injuries threatening to do me in.
i have been trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon for 15 years now. 15 years. My first attempt in 1996 (3:15:14) came up about 5 minutes short. Since then i've had some bad luck with the 26.2 distance. Last year i only made it through about 7 miles of the race. In Chicago in 2007 i was poised for a PR but the weather and my body did me in. On and on. Granted, i've had other successes, but the BQ goal just keeps hanging around.
This year, my aim is actually not to qualify (as a 42 year old male i'd need <= 3:20:59) but to just get closer..... to get headed in the right direction. Say, a 3:30.
Maybe a 3:25.
Which is pretty close to 3:20...
Who knows: maybe i'm not cut out for 26.2 miles at that speed. Maybe my back pain weighs me down so much that the rest of my body implodes. Maybe i'm just not mentally tough enough.
Wait... i did an Ironman in just over 11 hours. And i had a somewhat fast half-marathon not that long ago. And if i weren't tough i wouldn't have been running laps around a track last night in a cold, windy mist into the dark.
Maybe my BQ winter is over and my old feet will thunder through my upcoming Spring marathon. Or maybe the buds of success are just starting to form and i'll have to wait just a little longer.
One more week of intense training to survive. Then a taper. And then....
i'll see you at the starting line. i smell rain.
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