Now that I’ve seem to have my groove back, what’s the plan moving forward? Glad you asked. I have created a Boston attempt #1 folder and here’s what’s inside.
The Burlington marathon takes place on Memorial Day weekend. Although I’d love the folder to say Boston qualifier, I know in reality what those words mean.
They mean SUPER HARD WORK. Am I up for the challenge? Well yes, yes I am!
I do think it’s quite naive and insane to think that I will qualify on my first attempt, for several reasons. This is only my second marathon. My first was 4:45-which means I need to cut 1 hour and 5 mins from that time to obtain my 3:40 goal time-geesh. Burlington has two large hills and several rolling hills and although I personally don’t mind rolling hills, I do know that any second (yes people, every second counts) lost on a hill means I need to push harder to make it up. 250ft elevation at mile 15 is my target.
I will look forward to crushing that hill!
Memorial Day weekend can be hot or cold-I’m not sure which one I’m hoping for at this point- but weather is something that definitely affects your run and I’d like to be prepared. I just had an injury and being out of commission for 2 months made me drop down from the Niagara Falls full to the half and I prefer not repeating history.
#1-Make a backup plan- OK, Erie PA marathon September 11th, 2016- check
#2-Prepare-I am coming up with an extraordinary training plan! This includes one long run, one speed work, one tempo, and one strength training per week. It has one rest day and the other two days are left for shorter runs or cross training (swimming, rowing or cycling) depending on the week. I’m making a calendar and holding myself accountable.
#3-Forgive myself- Recognizing that life gets in the way and although I’d love for ‘qualifying for Boston’ to be my only job right now, that is far from reality. My life is super busy and as you are all very aware my husband, children and saving lives is MY REAL priority. Scheduling every second of everyday is impossible and sometimes things just get in the way. Accepting that this is going to happen and I may only get 16 miles in vs 20 miles due to some time constraint is OK, Or allowing a deviation from the plan like 10 miles in the am and 10 miles in the pm instead of all 20 at once. (20 miles is my reference since it takes the most amount of time (~3hrs) and my plan has me doing FOUR 20 mile runs-eek!).
#4-Believe in myself-This should be #1 for sure. It is very interesting for me to reflect on. Now I wouldn’t be aiming for an unobtainable goal and set myself up for failure. That would just be mean of me. So there must be a part of me deep down inside that knows I can do this. It’s there; I hear it every so often. Sometimes it’s a quiet voice, sometimes it’s so loud it comes out of my mouth that last mile and yells, ‘GO, GO, you got this, push it!’ Endurance running is hard, you push yourself past the point of quitting (for me several times throughout the run) and learn what it feels like to keep going. The pain fades in and out and you’re left with just your own voice telling you its ok to go on and that you can go on, rather you must go on. It’s just me out there, I must practice being the biggest supporter of myself because at the hardest part of the race I am left with only me as my support.
#5-Believe in others-The people you surround yourself with wouldn’t lie to you…So if they think you can do it-then certainly you can. My friend Kevin is going to qualify for Boston this year. He’s not attempting to qualify he IS going to do it! I know, I believe in him. He’s fast and strong, and dedicated and I’ve seen his progress. When I told him my concerns of failure and disappointment to others, I was shocked he felt the same way-What you? Really? Well yeah- it’s a ton of pressure we put on ourselves and they (Boston) make it hard for a reason. We are talking elite runners and the jacket is worth it! So why do I believe in him more than he believes in himself and Vis versa??
Kevin will qualify for 2017 and so will I, That’s the plan!!
I'm so excited!
ReplyDelete