I warned you all in an earlier blog post that there was always going to be a chance that one of these blogs would go off on tangents.....simply because my runs are when I have the time to think. I should probably impose a 6 hour moratorium on posting after runs. Anyway, it's been an absolutely crazy month around here with oldest daughter moving home from Clemson May 2nd (Go Tigers!), middle daughter graduating high school and planning for college (here she comes American University, get ready), and my baby graduating from 5th grade at Moses Brown and about to embark on her next stop at The Middle House @ MB. Exciting times to say the least. And very, very busy. So with all the emotion of the last weeks what comes blaring through my headphones around mile 3 tonight? Tim McGraw and "My Little Girl." The Dads with daughters will certainly appreciate the song......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I5UV4VWCSk
The chorus was especially poignant tonight with all the goings on and moving about in our house lately.
You're beautiful baby from the outside in.
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again.
Go on, take on this whole world.But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl.
OK, enough of the mushy crap. Let's talk about running. That is the point of this blog after all. Several weeks ago I was lamenting with a few Colonial Road Runners that over 3,000 registered runners failed to show for this years Boston Marathon. I can certainly understand that injuries or personal circumstances may have caused some to reluctantly drop out. But over 10% of the registered field? In the year after the bombing? Fo Real? The point was made, and well taken, that every race has its share of no shows. So why am I so worked up about it? Because there were probably a million runners just like me that would have gladly taken one of those spots. You see, I am not fast enough to qualify for my own bib number. (yes, you actually have to qualify for Boston). I would need to run a 3:25:00 marathon in a Boston qualifier race. Thats a full 35 minutes faster than my PR, 3:59:03 at the Marine Corp Marathon last October. To put it in perspective, I would have to clip more than a minute off my pace to qualify. To quote George H. W. Bush, nah ganna happen.
So, my little bitch session turned into a challenge of sorts. Essentially, I need to stop complaining and just qualify for the damn race. The good news, if you could ever call turning 50 good news, is that effective Sept 18th, my qualifying time goes up to 3:30:00. Woop de frickin doo. So the last month or so has been filled with thoughts around how I possibly trim a half hour off my time. And I have come to a very important conclusion. I don't. I won't. I can't. I refuse to be consumed by some arbitrary time. Boston is a very important race, a race that someday I will run even if I have to go the charity route and buy my way in. But I will not make running a job....I will not allow the rigor of a training plan to take away the joy that I get out on the roads. Running a 20 mile training run is an awesome experience when your goal is to enjoy your marathon. Running a 12 mile tempo run at race pace is a whole different story. And the last thing I want is to NOT enjoy a training run.
That's my plan. Now let's discuss reality. I am leaning towards the Philadelphia Marathon in November. October will be a crazy month and a nice cool Sunday in Philly sounds like a perfect time to run a marathon. It also happens to be a certified Boston qualifier. Plan A is to enjoy the summer and train for Philly with a conventional training plan. Something that will have me run comfortably with the 3:45:00 pace group. But of course there is a Plan B, right? Yes, always. You see, I have recently started heart rate training. I could do a blog just on what I have learned about it over the last couple of months. I was intrigued by Colonial Bill Rivers and his performance in Boston this past April. Bill has a marathon history similar to mine. A 4+ marathon to start followed by breaking the 4 hour mark in a later race. But then Bill did something that I still cant figure out. He went out and broke 3 hours in Boston. When I asked him how he did it, he attributed it to heart rate training. I'll try just about anything that has a shot at shaving minutes off my time so I am now about 3 weeks into heart rate zone training. I plan on sticking with it through at least the half way point of my marathon plan. I am going to settle on a plan based on zone training and see how I feel when I run a half marathon in September. If it's working, I will stay with it. And if I stay with it, it's on like Donkey Kong. I will target 3:30:00 and let it rip in Philly. Of course there is always the chance that my body will laugh at me and remind me that those times are for guys in their 30's. Like Bill. We shall see.
Time to wrap up......but not without reminding everyone that The Colonials are full on into our summer fun run series. Mondays in Raynham, Tuesdays in Abington, and Wednesdays in Brockton. If you have ever thought about trying out running, this is your opportunity. All ages and abilities come out to these fun runs. You will not be alone and I can guarantee you will have fun. And its all for $2. See you there!!!!
Run FOR life, not from it,
JD
