All ready for a 26.2 mile easy run, also known as The Boston Marathon

No News is Sometimes Good News

Its funny how its easier to report on when things go badly than when they are proceeding as planned.  Take my most miserable miles run a couple weeks ago, which I was able to whine and vent about as a recap.  Since then things have been great, I rested that weekend and then got back at it Monday.  Last week was solid, and puts me back on track not just to run Boston but to be able to carry over into a successful Spring season of ultras.

Training recap for last week of May:

• Monday - 11 miles easy
• Tuesday - 8 miles easy
• Wednesday - track workout, 9 miles total, 2 miles warmup, then distance medly of 800, 400, 1200, 1600, with recoveries.  Repeat, 1 mile cool-down.
• Thursday - 8 miles easy
• Friday - off
• Saturday - 24.25 miles total.  14 miles on mostly roads, then 10.25 more on mostly trails.
• Sunday - 7 miles easy

Total Mileage: 67.25

Saturday's great funday runday route.  Perfect timing too,
total elapsed time is right around my projected finishing
time for what I plan on running Boston in.

My long run Saturday went perfect.  It was 2 weeks out from Marathon weekend leaving me with a 2 week taper which is sufficient for an easy pace Marathon.  I started out on a 14 mile run through Glover Archbold Park in D.C., continued through Northwest D.C., and then back through Rock Creek Park.  Our small group ended back in Arlington near Iwo Jima.  After a short cool-down and some re-hydrating I continued on solo for some steep up-and-down trail work and then a coast back on the flat C&O canal.  During the morning I drank and refilled my hand bottle 3 times, ate 3 Gu's and took in 4 Hammer Endurolyte capsules.  Finished feeling strong - I kind of wanted to run 2 more miles just to have run "a Marathon" but then my brain spoke up and reminded me this would serve no purpose other than to risk injury/exhaustion.

I think its safe to say my injuries are healed, and that I won't be "hitting the wall" at Boston.

Coming Soon: Boston

Yup, I'm finally running the Boston Marathon.  At one point I said I would never do it, but apparently (as everyone feels the need to tell me) you just have to run Boston.  Its the most famous and oldest continuously run Marathon in the country, one of the 5 World Marathon Majors, has crowd support all along the entire course, and has those notorious qualifying times that keep most runners out (or should I say, keep out most men under 40 who aren't running for Charity - more on the later).

That being said, I must admit that I'm not all that excited about running Boston.  I think there are two types of Marathon Runners (well, there are lots of types but for the purpose of this discussion ..): those who set out to run a Marathon PR and want to see how fast they can run 26.2 miles regardless of the locale, and those just want to run Marathons in cool new places.  Its the difference of wanting to have a great race and wanting to participate in a great race.  While its a fine strategy (and probably a smart one) just to see if you can finish your first marathon in a respectable time, I also find plenty of runners who just want to run lots of different Marathons and have no goal to get faster or better at them.  These are the runners who will usually share their Marathon "bucket-list" with you.  Its still admirable, just covering over 26 miles on foot is no easy task and one that most of the population will probably never do - plus we obviously need people to be exercising more (not less), but as more of a purist runner I can't help but notice a distinction.  And by the way, I really hate the term "bucket-list".

Then there are the Charity Runners.  The other day I was talking to a co-worker about running Boston, and another co-worker listened in and came over to ask me "are you a real runner or a charity runner?".  While I thought this was funny I think its a bit harsh to not refer to someone as a real runner just because they can't BQ.  However, I appreciated her point.  Training yourself from someone who can't run a mile to being able to qualify for Boston is a daunting task, and I don't like that by running for charity people can avoid it.  

In case you aren't familiar, running for charity really means that instead of the normal race entry fee, you agree to "raise" a much higher amount (somewhere in the 1,000s of dollars), some of which will be donated to charity.  While I have nothing against charitable contributions, I'm not a fan of people who never cared about a certain cause before, now trying to raise funds for it just so they can run a race.  Seems kind of selfish - if they actually cared about the cause they would have already been selflessly raising money for it (and not just to run a race).

So, while I am excited to be running "the big one", [previously] reserved for only purist runners, its not the same feeling as setting a new PR. Its kind of like graduating - you know you are the real deal and that all the hard work is behind you, but you just have to walk across that stage and get the piece of paper that proves it.  Except instead of wearing a gown and funny hat ill be wearing the same short shorts and funny shoes that I wear on all my training runs.

Running and racing is more than just about Marathons, its about the 5ks and 10ks, the Ultra-Marathons, the season long training cycles where you grow, and the easy runs where your only goal is to enjoy yourself.  Somewhere along the line the Marathon became the sexy distance that would afford each participant bragging rights around the office.  Kind of reminds me of that funny running quote: "How do you know if someone ran a Marathon? - Don't worry, they'll tell you!"