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Freedom

Posted in boston marathon, tagged "33", boston marathon, BQ, Freedom on September 27, 2011| 16 Comments »

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33.

No, not the mysterious number that appears on bottles of Rolling Rock beer; I’m talking seconds.

Yes, 33 seconds. Yesterday I was informed by the BAA that my BQ time of 3:19:19 was 33 seconds short (long?) of what became the actual Boston Marathon cut off. Maybe they should have changed 3:20:59 from BQ to BAQ (Boston Application Qualifier). It turned out that based on the body of runners who applied to get in, the cut off time for my age group was 3:18:46.

33 seconds. 1.26 seconds per mile. Three extra step per mile.

Bummer.

That’s life though, right? Sometimes you’re in, and sometimes you’re out. I am out…this time.

I could be bitter.

I could be upset.

And if I am going to be absolutely honest with myself, maybe I am a little bit of both – but just a little.

The truth is, after last year’s registration debacle, the BAA had to do something. I feel like the new system may be brutal, but it is probably the fairest way of doing things. It gives those who are most deserving a spot at the big dance. Those of us left off the roster are left to wonder: what could I have done? From now on, being a bubble qualifier will most likely not be good enough. One is going to have to train not to barely qualify, but rather to qualify “with authority”.

Sadly it gets more brutal next year when BQ times drop 5:59 across the board. No longer will people be granted the 59 second grace period. I will have to run a 3:15:00 marathon or better if I hope to qualify (BAQ?) for 2013.

***

So yeah, I’m a little bitter about it. But I am also choosing to see this as an opportunity. Not running Boston this Spring opens up the calendar to some new opportunities. There are two marathons in particular that I have had my eye on for the last couple of years, but have not been options, in part because I was training for or toward Boston.

I would love to run Hyannis in February. It was the race that got this whole running thing started for me. Unfortunately, I never did end up running it. It’s a long story…

The other, more intriguing race for me is the Sugarloaf Marathon in Maine. It is considered one of the fastest marathons in the country with the last 16 miles supposedly downhill. Now the thought of doing anything downhill makes my legs hurt right now (I promise I’m trying to put together my Vermont 50 recap), but taking a step back from this weekend, I have to say it is really appealing. In addition, I lived in the Sugarloaf area for a few years back in the mid-90’s – it would be fun to go back and see how and if things have changed. PLUS, maybe I could get my buddy Brendan (aka – @mainerunnah – my Smuttynose running partner) to come run it with me. I’m betting that together we could both hit 3:13 or better.

Thoughts…just thoughts as I react to getting shutout of Boston.

Strangely enough though, I feel unexpectedly free…

…and freedom, I think, is a good thing.

Why do you run?

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Wait and See

Posted in boston marathon, tagged Boston 2012, boston marathon, registration on September 19, 2011| 11 Comments »

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This morning at 10AM I did what as many as 10,000 other marathoners did or will do this week. Along with all of the other Boston Qualifiers that qualified with less than a 5 minute cushion, I submitted my registration application to the B.A.A. for the 2012 Boston Marathon. With a cushion of a mere 1-minute 40-seconds, I don’t particularly like my chances. There is much speculation online as to how many spots the B.A.A. will hand out for the 2012 marathon. I’ve read numbers ranging from 18,000, to 21,000 (not counting those running for charity). As of Saturday night, approximately 15,000 spots had been assigned to runners who had run 5, 10, and 20 minutes faster than their required qualifying times. Even with the most generous of estimations, that leaves less than 6,000 spots left for 10,000 hopefuls. My best guess is that the cut off for getting into Boston is going to be a BQ-2…leaving me 20 seconds short.

And so I wait and see.

As my friend Doug said earlier this morning – hopefully the running gods will smile upon me. We shall see.

Why do you run?

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A Break

Posted in boston marathon, other, training, tagged boston marathon 2012, Boston Qualifier, BQ, burnout, mainerunnah, running, training on August 19, 2011| 24 Comments »

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I have a friend. I have only met him in the real world once. He was a large part of why I was able to qualify for Boston back in October of last year – we carried each other for 15 miles. On that day he missed qualifying for Boston by seconds. As joyful as my day was, it was devastating to see him just miss his goal.

Instead of folding up his tent and going home, my friend doubled-down and trained even harder for his next marathon, which took place in May in Pittsburgh. His training was epic to say the least. To put it in perspective, I just passed 1200 running miles for 2011 last night. As of 9 days ago, my friend had logged nearly 1800 miles.

1800 miles!!!

He was a man possessed, and when he crossed the finish line in May, he WAS a Boston Qualifier.

I know the feeling – the joy, the wave of emotion, the satisfaction…the “what now?”

Huh?

That’s right. I recently read in his final post on dailymile that he was “taking a break” from the social network to find his passion for running again. Boy, do I know that feeling. I was fortunate enough to have the New York City Marathon line up just 5 weeks after my BQ and then Boston 2011 5 months after that to keep me focused on my training, but after Boston I simply lost “it”.

I was rudderless. I tried to re-focus my energy by signing up for another marathon, but in the end, I just didn’t have the same drive I had had when I was focused on qualifying for Boston.

Truth be told, I am still wandering, attempting to kick start myself again and again, but I do see signs of my focus coming back. It’s taken my 4 months, but it’s starting to come together again.

I hope my friend doesn’t stay away too long.

His departure will send ripples throughout the dailymile community and will be felt by all. He always had an inspirational word for his friends and his workouts were worth emulating.

***

I hope you find your passion again Brendan. You are an inspiration to many and proof that hard work pays off. You motivated people not by your words but by your actions. Enjoy your break – I hope to see you on the ‘mile in October when we both start training again for Boston 2012.

Why do you run?

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Last Chance

Posted in boston marathon, racing, tagged boston marathon, Boston Qualifier, Last chance for Boston, Last Qualifier for Boston 2012, marathon, running on August 18, 2011| 2 Comments »

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A few years ago I heard of a race called Last Chance for Boston. It takes place in Dublin, Ohio and used to be billed as a marathoner’s last chance to qualify for Boston. It seemed like a miserable endeavor to me – 26 laps around a 1 mile loop of an office park, just outside Columbus, Ohio, outside, in the dead of winter. Yikes.

As any marathoner knows, the landscape has changed. Registration closed in just hours last year. The B.A.A. made some adjustments for 2012 that should stretch the process out a week or two, but the likelihood is that registration will be closed within a week. If you are looking to run Boston 2012, you must have run a qualifying time by September 19th just to have a shot at registering.

If you are like me, barely qualifying by the skin of your teeth, you may be looking for a chance to improve upon your registration slot.

Whichever the case may be, there is a new marathon that is currently being put together that, pending approval, will give you one last shot at either qualifying or improving your registration position.

Details are still few and far between, but the current particulars are this:

Date: September 11th
Format: Time Trial – I’ve seen that in bike races, never at a marathon.
Size: The term “Exclusivity” is being used with the idea of a “very small field”
Towns Involved: Concord, Lincoln, Bedford and Lexington (MA)

Again, the race is still pending some approvals, but if that happens this marathon WILL be a certified Boston Qualifier.

So, who’s interested?

*I will update this post as more details come out, but in the meantime, ask around, see what you hear.

Why do you run?

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Second Chance

Posted in boston marathon, motivation, training, tagged Opportunity Knocks, Patriot Marathon, RaceMenu, Second Chance, September 11, Time Trial Marathon on August 8, 2011| 19 Comments »

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I have taken a little over a week off from running. During this week I’ve been able to process through what happened at the Around the Lake Marathon and begin to focus on what comes next.

On the calender, my next big race is the Vermont 50 – a tough 50-miler through the mountains of Vermont. I had promised my friend Doug that I would run it with him should I qualify for Boston (which I did back in October of last year). It’s been sitting on the calender ever since – looming large. It is a big reason why I am NOT running the New York City Marathon this year for Autism Speaks. I just couldn’t see myself running a 50-mile race at the end of September and then following it up with a Marathon in early November.

The Vermont 50 Team in fact has a growing number of runners and support crew that should make it a very fun event come September.

But 50 miles…

…that’s a lot of miles to run.

***

The most I’ve ever run at one time is the marathon distance (26.2 miles). Even taking into account that I weave through crowds and sometimes take the longer, outside lane, I’m pretty sure I haven’t run more than 27 miles at any one time.

And my last attempt at 26.2 ended at the 20-mile mark, doubled over, hobbling for the portapotty. As unready as I was for the Around the Lake Marathon, there was part of me that was convinced that I was going to pull off a 3:15 and lower my qualifying time for Boston 2012. (Click HERE for the new registration process) Sitting at a 3:19 qualifying time, my chances of getting in with the new rolling registration feels slim. I’d feel a lot more secure about being able to run Boston for the third consecutive year if I could give myself a 5 minute qualifying cushion that would allow me to register in the first week instead of the second.

After Around the Lake, I was pretty much resigned to the fact that I would probably not be running Boston this coming April.

But then Doug called me this past week. He wanted to see how I was doing after my meltdown. He had texted me earlier in the day asking if he could call, wanting to talk about “September 25th and September 11th”. The Vermont 50 is on the 25th. I assumed that maybe he was organizing some kind of memorial run for the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 – he’s that kind of awesome.

To my surprise, he was calling me to essentially let me out of my promise to him. He knew how bummed I was after Around the Lake and called to let me know that there was a race being organized (by my team/sponsor Racemenu no less) to give runners one last chance to improve their qualifying times for Boston 2012 – a time trial type race, with 1 – 4 runners going out every 30 seconds based on projected finishing times. Imagine being able to start a race with a group of people who were gunning for the exact same time?

I couldn’t help but think, this is my second chance!!!

The details of the race are still being ironed out. All I know is that Racemenu chief, J. Alain Ferry is currently working on putting the race together and he feels confident enough about it that he’s had his team write about it on the team blog, facebook page and twitter feed.

September 11th is 5 weeks from yesterday, which would give me 5 weeks of training.

I haven’t been chasing 3:15 for too long (last November at New York was my first attempt), but three marathons later, with times that are getting slower (3:27 – NYC, 3:37 – Boston, DNF – Around the Lake) I wonder if Father Time is starting to nip at my heels.

New York I can chalk up to running shortly after my BQ run at Smuttynose. Boston I can chalk up to going out too fast and bonking at 17. I’ve essentially had a down cycle since Boston – that, along with the HEED I ingested at Around the Lake can take the blame for my flameout there.

My blog friend Lizzy suggested that maybe it was time to concentrate on shorter races, and she may be right; but I know 3:15 is just within my grasp.

It’s right there…my fingertips scraping against it.

This marathon would be in 5 weeks.

5 weeks!!!

I’m pretty sure I can rally hard for 5 weeks.

***

I’m also pretty sure that if I were to run a marathon in 3:15 on September 11th, I wouldn’t be able to run 50 miles 14 days later. I’m not completely sure how I feel about that. There were a lot of people I was planning on seeing/meeting from the running community on September 25th.

Who knows, maybe plans get held up and the marathon doesn’t happen. If that is the case, I suppose I am back on for the VT50, but right now, at this moment, I can’t turn my back on one last opportunity to better my chances of getting into Boston 2012.

This morning I got up and hit the treadmill at 5:30AM – an easy 3.5 mile run with no incline. I haven’t run pre-dawn in a while, and honestly, after over a week off, the legs felt a little rusty.

But it sure felt good to sweat.

Why do you run?

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Discipline

Posted in boston marathon, training, tagged boston marathon, Discipline, running, training on May 5, 2011| 17 Comments »

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments

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As I continue to peel back the layers of what may have happened to me at Boston, something keeps nagging me. Looking back at my splits, I realize that early on I wasn’t on pace for a 3:15 marathon, or even a 3:10. Some of my splits, had I been able to maintain them would have brought me in between a 3:00 and 3:05 marathon.

That’s a problem.

I’m not a 3:00 marathoner. Not yet anyway.

***

In retrospect, there were signs of the coming power bonk* during my training.

Throughout the winter, I was disciplined about running on the days I was scheduled. During the week I would run exactly or very near to what was prescribed by the Pfitz 18/55 plan I was following. On Saturdays, I would also run at the distance and speed that I perceived to be required.

But then there were Sundays.

Ah, the Sunday long run. It is, without question, my favorite part of training for a marathon. Whether it happens on my treadmill in the basement in front of the TV or, preferably, outdoors where I can enjoy the scenery, it is a relaxing time. Yes, I push myself; yes, I finish tired; yes, it is not easy; but it is peaceful. I get my highest runners’ highs off of the long run.

But there was a problem. I could never just run at the pace dictated by my training schedule. I always pushed the pace to a speed that was out of the physiological training zone I was supposed to be working on. Long, SLOW runs have their purpose. They are important, and yet I always pushed the pace a little faster than prescribed, probably costing me some precious endurance.

That being said, I was still probably in good enough shape to achieve the 3:15 I had originally been after, but true to form, when it came to race day, I pushed the pace. In the closing days leading up to Boston, I let myself get sucked into the concept of running a 3:10. My discipline went out the window at mile marker 1 and, in the words of my friend MK, the 20 – 25 seconds per mile I gained probably caused a classic bonk – and when I say classic, I mean an All. Out. Bonk.

I have never bonked like that before (not even at Manchester – that was my quads). I never want to bonk like that again.

So this training cycle is going to be about discipline (how I go about it I will discuss in my next post). Don’t get me wrong, I will still run happy. I will still have fun while I’m running. BUT, on Sundays and on race day, I will also remember the classic line, “slow and steady wins the race”.

More importantly, I will remember on race day that I have a plan, that I have trained for the plan, that I need the plan. I will resist the urge to push the pace early, and hopefully keep enough in the tank so that instead of hanging on for the final 10K, I will actually be able to pick up speed and finish strong. This was the strategy at Smuttynose, and it worked until I hit a soft wall with a mile to go. At that point though I just needed to finish to get my BQ…and I did.

So if you see me out there on a Sunday running way faster than I should, feel free to yell at me to rein it in. I know there are going to be times over the next 12 weeks that I just let the horses fly (or the schedule calls for a marathon-paced run), but I’ve got to remember, if I want to be disciplined on race day, I’ve got to do it in practice as well.

*In endurance sports, particularly cycling and running, hitting the wall or the bonk describes a condition caused by the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles, which manifests itself by precipitous fatigue and loss of energy.

Why do you run?

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The Dark Side

Posted in boston marathon, motivation, training on May 2, 2011| 9 Comments »

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

-Yoda

“You have controlled your fear. Now, release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy me.”

“If you only knew the power of the Dark Side.”

-Darth Vader

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Darth Vader, once the biggest bad-ass in the Universe, makes a compelling argument. When we are angry, when we hate, we can harness a tremendous amount of strength and power. Governments have been overthrown, wars have been won on the power of anger and hate. But at what price? I could go on endlessly on the topic, but this is a running blog, not a philosophy or history blog.

In the aftermath of Boston 2011, I found myself going through different stages. Much like the path to the Dark Side, I first found myself fearing that I would never want to run a marathon again. I then got angry that I let my game plan go out the window from the very start. That was followed by a generic hateful feeling that ultimately led to internal suffering. The anger part though has not totally faded away yet. There has been a part of me that has been afraid that I will spend the next 13 weeks preparing for the Run Around the Lake by running angry.

Now, running angry can be productive. It can get you over the hump, push you through the wall,get your ass out of bed -sometimes, to quote the movie Win-Win (which I highly recommend), you have to do whatever the f*@# it takes!

"whatever the f*@# it takes!"

…but, again, at what price?

If I train angry and run angry and accomplish my goal, what part of me will I have sacrificed to do so? Will that anger instantly turn to joy if I run a sub-3:15? Would I even feel joy as I cross the finish line with a sub-3:15?

Running is physically exhausting, with the return you get being a general sense of well-being for several hours after you run. But anger is emotionally exhausting, negating that feel-good post-run feeling.

I feel like a young Luke Skywalker – new to the game, in possession of a mild amount of skill, with enough knowledge to think that I have enough knowledge, which of course, simply means I have enough knowledge to get myself into trouble. As my dear friend MK pointed out in the comments of Complement, I’ve only been at this running thing for a little over two years – I am a beginner, a neophyte, a padawan. I need patience tempered with the understanding that my endurance will come.

And yet, I hear the call of the Dark Side. The taking running too seriously side. The running angry side. The running with hate side. The running MTV-Generation Style side.

Doubtless, there will be days when I run with anger, but I hope I can follow the example of my friend Michelle, who preaches the concept of Running Happy. I’ll get there, eventually. I have to believe that.

To a large degree it’s just a matter of miles invested. As long as I remember that, remember that each joyful step I take is one more step toward achieving my goal, I’m pretty sure I’ll be all right.

***

On Sunday I strapped on the old heart monitor and drove out to face those Newton Hills that shut me down just two weeks ago. It was my first time running on them since the Boston Marathon. My plan was to keep the heart rate low (as per my running schedule). The run ended up being much faster than I anticipated, with my legs staying fresh, my lungs hardly having to work and my heart taking it easy. It made me realize that I was not foolish to think that I could hit 3:10 at Boston, that sometimes, bad things just happen (whether by self-infliction or other means – based on MK’s comment, I may have simply gone out too hard). April 18th just wasn’t my day.

July 29th will be…and I will do it with a smile on my face.

Why do you run?

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Boston 2011 – Lemonade

Posted in boston marathon, race recap, Uncategorized, tagged Boston Marathon 2011, race recap, running on April 24, 2011| 38 Comments »

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As I bolted out of the porta-potty, I thought, this is it! this is the moment! THIS is where all of the training kicks in!!! I looked up at the first of the Newton Hills almost with a smile.

You. Are. Mine. I thought.

I had been running along at a decent clip, averaging in the low 7 minute per mile range for 17 miles. My only trouble had been the urge to pee since before the start. I finally gave in to using a porta-potty when I saw one at the bottom of the first Newton Hill. I figured that this was just another star aligning to get me to my 3:10. I would have 20 – 40 seconds to relieve myself while simultaneously recovering for 20 – 40 seconds before tackling the hardest part of the course. Perfect!

So this was it! All I had to do was get through the next 2.5 miles and I would be cruising home-free on the other side of Heartbreak Hill.

I kicked it into overdrive. This was going to be cake…maybe not a tasty cake, but cake nonetheless. I had run these hills dozens of times. Not only had I run them often, I had run them late in long runs (17 miles late to be exact!). My plan was to attack the hills with speed and relax on the back sides. It had worked every time in training. EVERY TIME!

As I hit the base of the hill I shortened my stride and quickened my cadence.

Oh yeah! Showtime!

I got three, maybe five steps in, and then it happened.

I don’t know what asthma feels like. I don’t have it. I have never had a problem with it. But three, maybe five steps up that first Newton Hill, after running like the wind, after looking up at Newton “knowing” this was going to be my day, after having run those hills countless times, my lungs simply said “no”. This is what I have always imagined asthma feels like.

For the life of me, I couldn’t inhale. Whether you’re a car or a plane or a pair of legs, if you can’t take in oxygen, there IS no combustion. Every time I tried to take a breath, my airway felt blocked. I could force enough in to make an awful sound, but that was it.

No, my lungs said, We are not going to cooperate with you in this insane business you call marathon running. No, we will not assist you in achieving you goal. No, we will not let you run fast. We are done breathing.

And that was it. In one moment my day went from spectacular to miserable in the flick of a switch. My legs had felt good. My will was strong. My desire was burning. But my airways constricted and all hopes of a 3:10 or a 3:15 or even a PR (currently a 3:19:19) went out the window.

My bolt out of the porta-potty turned into a walk. A walk? Really? I mean REALLY!?! I was walking up this hill?

Every hundred yards or so I would try to start running again. At first I would start slowly and then try to build up speed. Every time I would get to what I perceived to be about an 8:00 to 8:30 per mile pace, my lungs would collapse on me again and I would be left simply trying to inhale, struggling to do what we all take for granted. I would make a sickening weeze for about 30 – 40 second as I staggered along before my breathing would become normal again. I’m surprised that I did get picked up by medical. Maybe I’m just lucky that they didn’t spot me at my worst.

For the next mile I kept thinking that it would pass. If I could just get through the next 5 minutes or so, maybe everything will reset! It didn’t pass. I struggled to 18 or 19 where I saw the medical tent. I staggered towards it. I sighed.

DNF (Did Not Finish)? Am I going to have to fucking DNF?

As I raised my foot to take another step toward medical, I thought of my little Brooke. No, I wasn’t running this race for Autism Speaks or any autism charity for that matter, but Brooke and kids like her are a source of strength for me.

My foot wavered.

Then I thought of my older daughter, Katie. I had made a promise to her when I put her, Brooke and Jess on a plane the Friday before the marathon. They were going away to Florida ahead of me and I was going to join them Monday night after the marathon. I had promised Katie that I would wear my 2011 Boston Marathon Medal on the plane and would have it around my neck when I woke her up with a kiss when I got to our hotel. How could I break that promise? If I checked into medical, there would be no medal. In addition, I wouldn’t be able to wear the commemorative jacket I had bought days earlier.

And so, I stumbled back on to the course, weezing, trying to catch my breath.

I was scared.

I wanted to cry.

I wanted to quit – I wanted to quit more than I have ever wanted to quit in a marathon.

I wanted to scream and yell.

But I trudged on.

This was going to be the dreaded “Death March”.

By the time I reached mile 20, I was in a pretty dark place, and I still had Heartbreak Hill ahead of me. My lungs continued to rebel and now my feet were beginning to hurt. And that’s when I saw my dear friend Alett. She spotted me and began to cheer. I shook my head. As I staggered over to her, she said some words of encouragement, but I told her, today was not going to be my day. The running gods had given me a lemon of a marathon.

It was at that moment though when my whole attitude changed. After 2+ miles of grumbling and wallowing in self-pity, I realized that I had a choice. I could do the death march thing to the end of the race OR I could embrace what had been given me and take advantage of the fact that I still had many friends on the course waiting to see me and cheer me on. I could stumble by them in misery or take this opportunity to celebrate that I was running Boston this year and a god-damned qualifier!!!

I decided to go with the latter and started snapping pictures with every friend I could find. Click —>HERE<— to see the pics I took over the last 6 miles.

As painful as it was to keep going, and despite having bursts where I tried to finish strong only to be slapped down again by my lungs, it was a joy spotting friends and taking a minute or two to yuk it up. My only disappointment in those last few miles was that I was unable to spot a couple of friends I knew were out there and that I was unable to keep up with my friend Ty who came up behind me with less than a mile to go and tried to pull me along (I tried Ty!) – Nic, Deb, Amelia, Hadar, Yigal, Ramana, TK and Mary, despite missing you, it helped knowing you were out there!

Looking back on my splits, I’m pretty psyched I was able to stop and chat, take pictures AND keep those last miles in the 8:45 – 11:15 range.

***
So I guess the question becomes, what happened? More specifically, what caused my lungs to go asthmatic on me? I don’t know. I’ll have to do some research on that one. Maybe I was taking in too much fluid? I had been training on about 10 – 15 oz. of Gatorade per 20 miles all winter and I’m pretty sure I drank much more than that over the course of the first 17 miles. Maybe I just sucked down some liquid down the wrong pipe? I don’t know. All I know is Monday, April 18th wasn’t my day. Maybe, if I can get in, April 17th will be.

***

There are a lot of titles that went through my mind as I contemplated writing this race report:

Opportunity Lost or Falling Short (it was all there), Breathless (for obvious reasons), Karma (was there a debt to be paid for leaving a man behind at Smuttynose?), Hubris or Foolish or Greedy (was 3:10 a realistic goal? should I have been content with gunning for 3:15? would I have lost my lungs had I been running 7:24’s?)

It was, to say the least, a rough day. A day of disappointment. A day where my goal of a 3:10 marathon seemed well within my grasp. A day where I watched that goal simply disappear with a single breath.

It didn’t start out that way. In fact, when I woke up on Monday morning, I felt great. I mean, I REALLY felt great. My training had been pretty much without incident. My times had been spot on. I was ready. The weather looked like it was going to cooperate too – 50° – 60°. We were even going to have a tailwind. In addition, RaceMenu chief Alain found me right before the start and said that he was shooting for a 3:10 just like me – I thought “perfect! Someone to run with, just like Smuttynose!”

Yes, everything was lining up for an A+ effort on Monday. 3:10 was a real possibility, with a 3:15 all but in the bag! Though my morning was a bundle of nervous energy, I did manage to stay relatively relaxed on the surface. I found my dailymile friends in the Athletes’ Village, and the group of us kept each other loose with small talk and funny stories.

I was so sure that I could feel the natural speed of this group. We were almost all qualifiers, and those that were charity runners were gunning for PR’s.

Speed was in the air.

Some days you have it. Some days you don’t. Some days, like last Monday, you have it and then you lose it. I’m just glad I had the where with all to make lemonade out of lemons. And have no doubt, YOU were the sugar that made the lemonade so sweet!

The turn on to Hereford (2nd to last turn) - trying to keep it light

the turn on to Boylston - the finish line is only a few hundred meters away

Stopping to chat with 150 meters to go...

...and snap a picture! -courtesy of CAUTION:Redhead Running

less than 100 meters to go

All done - 3:37:00 - my worst finish other than Manchester. Aside from my BQ, quite possibly my most enjoyable final 6.2 miles.

Why do you run?

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Disappointment

Posted in boston marathon, tagged boston marathon, disappointment on April 22, 2011| 12 Comments »

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So as I sit here struggling to write my race recap of this year’s Boston Marathon, there is one word that keeps popping into my head.

That word is disappointment.

Now, before any of you start to feel sorry for me, let me clarify one thing – Disappointment is NOT a dirty word. Disappointment does NOT need to be a word of sadness. Disappointment does NOT need to elicit comforting words.

No, in this case, disappointment can be a word of hope, a word of dedication, a word of renewed inspiration.

If I were not disappointed in my performance this past Monday, I would have to question every run, every drill, every drop of sweat spilled since the middle of last December. My disappointment legitimizes the hard work. My disappointment gives my 4AM runs meaning.

…and because of my disappointment, I will go back to the drawing board, come up with a plan, and run another 26.2 – once again with the goal of running faster than I’ve ever run over that fantastic distance we call a marathon.

“Use this experience to sharpen the steel for the next one.”
-my friend Brendan M.

Why do you run?

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Working Title – At Least I Managed Goal E

Posted in boston marathon, race recap, tagged boston marathon, Picture Race Report on April 18, 2011| 27 Comments »

[tweetmeme source=”luau” only_single=false http://www.URL.com%5D So this one is going to take some processing time for me to fully wrap my brain around what happened to me. Suffice it to say, at 3:37, I did not achieve my ultimate goal of 3:10 or even beat my New York City Marathon time of 3:26. I thought I was ready. I thought I had at least 3:15 in the bag. But you know what? Shit happens. And sometimes you just have to roll downhill with it. There will be a much more detailed race report to follow at some point soon, but right now I’m not exactly sure what happened. What I can tell you is that by mile 20 I knew I was cooked at had no shot at 3:10 or 3:15 so I changed my goal altogether and decided to take some pictures with people I knew. What follows are a few pictures from before the race and then some from mile 20 on (when I ran into my friend Alett, her husband and the Hash House Harriers – after snapping that shot, I took up their offer for a shot of beer – as I said in this morning’s post, “you never know when your next shot could be your last” – I just didn’t realize at the time that I was talking about beer).