Boston Fever...... it's contagious!

It's April.  The end  of  March Madness and the beginning of Boston Marathon Madness. Completing a marathon is all about setting goals and accomplishing them. From the first  mile run to the first 20 miler to finishing the 26.2 mile marathon.  Oh what a feeling! Such satisfaction and pride!  But now what?  Run another one? With what purpose? To run it faster (a Personal Record or "PR"?).

The Boston Marathon is considered the "Holy Grail" for running because of it's storied history and also because not everybody can run it.  You have to "Qualify" by running another marathon within a qualifying time.  There are different qualifying times based on age groups. 

Nothing is as easy as it sounds.

 After my first marathon in October 2004, I had a crazy idea that maybe I could qualify for Boston. For my age group (50-54 back then) I would need to run 26.2 miles at an 8:12 pace for 3:35:59 or better finish time.

I had a bottle of champagne in my fridge at home that I wrote “BQ” on it in January 2005 before my second marathon at Myrtle Beach.  Well, at least I broke 4 hrs on that one. So the bottle sat.  I got on board the Pete Pfitzinger advanced marathon training plan for Chicago 2005 only to pull a hamstring 2 weeks before the Marathon.  I hobbled through that one, not pretty! So the bottle sat. I geared up again for Myrtle 2006, only to pull the same hamstring a few weeks prior so had to DNS (did not start). So the bottle sat.  Then I found the secret to hamstring stretching and had a good run at the Frederick, MD Marathon in April 2006 with a PR (not BQ but less than 10 minutes away!)).  So the bottle sat. I got REALLY serious then and worked through a 24 week 70 miles per week (mpw) Pfitzinger plan for Chicago 2006, only to have an accident at the dog park with two dogs colliding into my tibia and damaging it. I didn’t run Chicago and was out of running for 7 weeks. So the bottle sat.  I started up again with a hybrid of the 55mpw and 70 mpw plan and all went well.  I ran a half marathon in 1:40:04 which predicted a BQ, I ran a 10K which predicted the BQ as well.  I hit all my training times and paces.  This was to be it. Get ready bottle.

That race was perfect. Cold weather, which I like, I felt fresh and held a good pace. I started celebrating and savoring the moment for the last mile only to realize I was closer than I thought.  A sprint the last 0.2 miles gave me 3:35:49 (10 seconds to spare!).  Back then I was able to register for Boston and got in (it was not filled yet).

A BQ!!!  Pop the cork! The Champagne was drank!

Like many runners who BQ'd for this year's Boston Marathon, I was not able to run it.  Not because registration filled up as was the case in October 2010, but I suffered another injury.  The worst ever...

April 16th 2007, I sat at home and WATCHED the Boston Marathon for which I qualified!

It was actually a good thing because a Nor'Easter hit them that day!

I was still qualified for 2008 and I ran Boston that Year in perfect weather!

For all those out there who have Boston Fever, I only have this advise:

Never Give Up!