I saw the link on Facebook, and I knew I shouldn’t click it, but I did anyway.
You can click here if you want to read it, too.
Oh, boy. People have asked me before if I had aspirations to run Boston. My reactions has always been a scoff, chortle, half maniacal laugh half choke. Followed by N – O. My first marathon took me 5:37:39. To qualify for Boston, I’d have to run a marathon in 3:35:00. (That’s just to qualify. The way registration works, I’d have to run even faster to have a shot at actually running the race.)
If you aren’t much of a math whiz, I’ll break it down for you, that’s two hours I’d have to take off my time. Two hours! 120 minutes!
After completing our first marathon in December of 2010.
I would say that is ludacris. (In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s the exact word I used the first time someone mentioned me running Boston.) But….but I did manage to run my 2nd marathon in 4:24:54. That puts me over an hour closer. Now I don’t think that I’d take another full hour off of my time in just one more race. I think it’d probably take me a few more marathons and lots of training if I really wanted to attempt to qualify for Boston. But I guess that’s the question: Do I really want to attempt it?
The appeal of BQing:
- The prestige. (Only 10% of runners ever BQ.)
- The challenge. (This is a goal definitely outside my current scope of abilities but not impossible.)
- Because it’s there. (a la George Mallory.)
The cons of attempting to BQ:
- It takes so much time.
- It takes so much work.
- I don’t want it to suck the joy out of running.
When I trained for Big D, I didn’t do any speed work. Like none, zero, zilch, nada. I’d say that I hate speed work, buy I haven’t really done that much of it, so I don’t know. I more hate the pressure of racing against the clock. (I know, kind of strange for a runner to say.) I’m scared about getting my heart set on Boston and then failing spectacularly.
Before running Big D, April 2012.
But how will I know if I could do it if I don’t ever try? Now might be the time. I’m not working, I have free time, I need a goal. If not now, when? So I’m going to go for it. I’m going to start making a concentrated effort to run faster. I’m going to look for races, I’m going to read more, I’m going to strategize, I’m going to maybe eat better (<–that one is scary), and I’m going to go for it!
The only contingency I have is this: if attempting to qualify takes the enjoyment out of running, then I’m going to stop. It’s not worth it if I’m going to be miserable. It’s not worth it if it is going to run my life in a way that I don’t want. It’s not worth it if it makes me crazy. But until that happens, I’m gunning for Boston!
(Saying that makes me want to crap my pants. Holy Moly.)*
What’s BQing? Boston Qualifying?
You got it!*
Woah, good luck!
WO!! Such a great goal to fill your extra time right now. Good luck!!
Thanks! I’m honestly really scared now that I’ve put it out there!*
Go for it!!
Thanks! I want to, but I’m scared!*
I personally think that if a) you put your mind to it and b) Stephen’s on board to support you every step of the way, you can do it.
Also eating better is not scary! At least, not compared to training to shave a bunch of time off your third marathon
Eating better is so much harder than training more intensely! At least for me. I know I can eat healthy, and when I’m training, it usually comes more easily, it just scares me!*
WOO HOO!!!! Go, Amy!!! So excited for you!!! What an amazing goal to work towards!!! I am blown away by your fortitude, because the thought of BQing is literally beyond my comprehension. But you are going to do AWESOME in your training, and I bet you’ll make a ton more progress much more quickly than you think you can. As John “the Penguin” Bingham says, “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” And you’ve cleary got the courage to start!!!
Love that quote! It’s so intimidating to set such a long term goal, but I figure If I don’t try, I’ll definitely never get there!*
I think it’s great that you focus on training right now while you have the time! Definitely follow your heart with it and like that you’ll stop if it’s too much. Sometimes you need that too much, but sometimes it just really is too much! Must find balance!
Thanks! After writing this post, I almost wanted to delete it. It’s scary now that I’ve publicly declared it! But, it is a deep down goal. No harm in trying!*
If you put your mind to it you can totally BQ! It’s one of my goals but not for a few more years. But it’s something I hope that all the marathons I run lead up to. And I totally agree with you, you don’t to take the fun out of running.
You are super speedy, so if you want to BQ, I know you could!*
Have you read Born to Run by Chris McDougall? It’s a really good read.
Yes, and I agree, great book.*
Look at you! You go girl. I would worry about it sucking the fun out too. Also, and this is weird, but I have no desire to run a race in Boston, even though BQing would be really sweet.
I agree about running there. Last year’s race was so hot, and I’ve heard of years where it was so cold. Plus the race is on a Monday. Strange. But BQing would still be baller.*
Go Amy, Go! That would be such an awesome accomplishment. Craig ran a Boston shadow marathon at Bagram last spring and missed an actual BQ time by three minutes. Best of luck to you on this new endeavor. As for me, I think I’ll wait to BQ when I’m 70. Ha ha!
I feel the urge to throw up a little when I think about the fact that Craig missed BQing by 3 minutes. Craig is so fast! I might be in over my head. Ahhh!*
Ugh, I know! When we were running our half last week, at an 8:30 pace, it occurred to me that he ran twice as far and 45 seconds per mile faster than that! Insane.
I know you’re not a huge fan of the treadmill, but where speedwork is concerned, it’s your best friend. When I’m feeling tired I tell myself, ‘you can’t run faster if you don’t run faster.’ It gets me through those painful speed sessions, which, let’s be honest, are few and far between.
You can do it!!!
so exciting! I have thought about how awesome it would be to qualify but I figured I need to actually do a marathon first haha. good luck!
My, my, my! There must be something in that German water to make you grow such a large pair of balls! So awesome! Go for it!
That is a fantastic goal! I have the same goal and I understand how hard you have to work to hit that one.
Pure awesomeness right there Amy!
You are my hero. I’m going to simply shoot for the goal of running a third marathon without dying –but I applaud you for setting your goals so high. That just rocks!