This past year that kind of thinking went out the window for me. I began to work harder than I ever had in my life. I made big changes to the way I approached my training and racing. I started to BELIEVE in myself. I wanted to know what I was capable of and I found out that I was made of way more than I ever even would have imagined possible.
At the beginning of last summer, I started training for the Marine Corps Marathon. Going into the training cycle I believed that with a lot of hard work and dedication I could lower my marathon time down to 4 hours. This would have been a 35 minute PR for me, and was a bold goal to set. I knew it was ballsy, but I am telling you I believed it right down to my very core. As I trained though I discovered that I was capable of a faster marathon than even 4 hours. My times in every distance were dropping drastically. My fitness and my confidence were improving tremendously. As the summer came to a close, I believed I could make my Boston dream a reality.
In order to qualify for the 2012 Boston Marathon, I had to run a 3:45:59 by September 12, 2011. After that date I would have to wait another year for the 2013 Boston Marathon, and my qualifying time would be made harder by almost 6 whole minutes – I would have to run a 3:39:59 at MCM in October. And qualifying for Boston doesn’t mean that you get to run Boston. The way it works is that the people with the fastest qualifying times get in first, so the more you qualify by the better your chances are of getting a spot. But there are no guarantees.
I made a hasty decision to try to run a 3:45 before the 2012 cut off. Within less than a week of deciding this, I found myself at the starting line of the Lehigh Valley Marathon in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2011. I hadn’t tapered. I hadn’t even full trained. But I took the risk and went for it. It was a brutal marathon. Hot, humid, hilly and very little course support. I was on track until about Mile 18 when I began dealing with awful stomach issues. I crossed the Finish Line with a 25 minute PR in 4:09, but didn’t come anywhere close to achieving my BQ. (You can read the full race report HERE).
About 6 weeks later I ran the Marine Corps Marathon. I ran a strong race and fought to the finish, running my best marathon at the time. In order to qualify for Boston I would need to run it in 3:40 or less. I crossed the Finish Line in 3:41:56, with a tremendous PR but shy of my BQ by less than 2 minutes. It was bittersweet. I wasn’t going to give up though. I knew I could do better. (You can read this race report HERE).
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| Finishing at MCM 2011 |
This past winter I worked even harder. My determination to run my fastest marathon and get that BQ was stronger than strong. I wanted it BAD. I wanted to do it because I believed I could do it. I ran the Rock n Roll USA Marathon on March 17th and I DID IT. My time was 3:34:46 and I qualified for Boston by more than 5 minutes (race report HERE).
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| Finishing RnR USA 2012 |
I was so happy to run such a strong race that day, and to get that BQ I’d been working so hard for. But my dreams didn’t stop there. My dreams don’t end with qualifying for Boston. In many ways, it feels like it is just the beginning for me. I’m excited to discover the depths of my capabilities – not only as a runner, but as a person. I learn something about myself every time I lace up my shoes for a run, whether it’s a 5k, a tempo run or a marathon. Every. single. time.
I want to run Boston some day, I really really do. And I KNOW that I will. My hope is that it will be for the 2013 race, but there simply are no guarantees about that. When they decided to allow the 2012 runners to defer to 2013 because of the heat yesterday, I admit that at first I didn’t really understand the policy change. It seemed to me to be a dangerous precedent they were setting for a variety of reasons – and on so many levels I still feel that way. What will they do if this weather shows up again next year? How do they handle people who aren’t being honest and are taking advantage of the system – deferring because they are injured, not because of the heat? But it is what it is and I can’t worry about how it may or may not impact me personally when it comes time to sign up. It’s possible that lives were saved yesterday because of this decision! – who can argue with that?
The fact is, I’m going to keep striving to be a better, stronger and faster runner. I’m going to keep running marathons and I’m going to keep improving for as long as I can. I’m going to qualify for Boston again — not because it’s about Boston but because it’s about being the best me that I can be. Running Boston will be a dream come true for me — when the time is right. I’m going to trust in that, and keep moving forward.
