Road to Boston! One Year Out

Admin
Apr 23, 2019
3 min read

This past Monday, April 15 aka Patriot's Day aka Tax Day aka my brother and sister-in-law's anniversary is more importantly known to us running fanatics as a running national holiday....MARATHON MONDAY aka Boston Marathon day!!! All weekend leading up to Boston I was obsessed with following all my favorite runners on social media as they participated in the fanfare associated with one of the most prestigious and historical events in the running world. I listened to podcasts, watched live interview events, caught up on who the major players would be, and downloaded the app so I could discreetly track runners and keep tabs on the race at work on Monday. Would the weather be a repeat of last year's disastrous conditions? Would Des come back to repeat as the women's champion? Would Jordan Hasay be able to come back from two disappointing injuries to regain her place on the world stage? I couldn't wait to follow all of the action.

In the meantime, I couldn't help but be inspired and motivated to refocus on my own crazy dream....to be on the starting line of Boston myself in 2020. I've had this on my mind since before Chicago, even writing this goal down and posting it to the Nike wall of crazy dreams at the Chicago expo. I wasn't sure what the timeline would be, especially with New York City Marathon on the calendar for fall 2019 but it's definitely been something that has stayed at the forefront of my mind as I continue to strive for progress in my running.

After finishing Chicago in 3:55 and realizing I was only 15 minutes off the qualifying standard for my age group (I am 39 now but will be 40 by April 2020 which puts me in the next 5 minutes easier bracket!!) I was even more inspired to chase Boston. The question was whether I wanted to try to qualify for Boston 2021 by running my PR in NYC....or did I want to do an earlier marathon this year before the application opens in September to try to get in for 2020? My gut told me....why defer this dream any longer? Why not go for it now while you're in good health, good shape, and still making steady progress as a runner?? I don't think I can stand another year of Boston FOMO watching the 2020 race unfold from Twitter. I want to be there, live and in person!

So here I am....a year out from next year's race but already laser-focused on making my crazy dream a reality. I've decided to run the Erie Marathon the second weekend in September as my BQ attempt. That's just a little over 4 months out so in just a few short weeks I will turn my full attention to marathon training for both Erie in September and NYC in November. The Irving Half on April 27 is my last goal race of the spring where I hope to PR in the 1:45-46 range. This would help me feel more confident that I'm on track for the paces I will need to BQ. From there....it is a full-on chase for Boston!

I've decided to blog/vlog my Boston journey and share video updates from time to time just to share where I'm at and how the training is going. Here is a short video from Friday, April 12, day one of my #RoadToBoston! Hopefully by sharing this journey, another ordinary runner out there will perhaps be motivated or inspired to dream big, work hard, and go for something crazy! After all, it's only a crazy dream until you do it!