Thoughts about Boston 2013

"Few things in life match the thrill of a marathon." - Fred Lebow:


With just 9 days until Boston Marathon 2013 I'm starting to get jittery. It's a wonderful feeling. All this hard work over the last 3 month comes down to just 3 hours of running.


Everything hasn't gone perfectly during this cycle, but what cycle can be perfect with so many other things going on in life. School, work, life events and such all get in the way and it gets to a point where you can't get in your workout and must make a sacrifice Is this going to effect one race or tomorrow's run? No, and it won't effect the whole cycle either as runners we learn to set aside that feeling that we've missed something and move on to the the next day.


Last year at this time I had covered 876 miles! Along with numerous 20 milers both solo and with great friends week after week, and really strong workouts. Do i feel less prepared this year, compared to last year? NO!


Yes, last year I set a half-marathon PR, while this year didn't run quite as well on a different course. So far this year I've covered only 700 miles, which is by far the second most I've covered in a 6 month period. I ran a really strong 5k just a couple weeks back, and have had some really great workouts such as a 5 mile tempo, 2x3.5 mile tempo and some marathon pace work over hilly courses.


It was a rough start to 2013 with my right knee problems, but after spending time with Gary, ok 21 miles, I got strong once again pretty fast. I started off with only 8.8 miles in the first week of January, quickly building the next 3 weeks to 40 miles. From there I haven't looked back much. I'm well on my way to 2500 miles for this year by averaging 52.1 miles/week or 7.4 miles/day.


So what does Boston 2013 hold for me?
Goals:


Based on the half-marathon, 5k and some calculators kicking around the internet and a semi-conservative approach to the marathon I should be able to run under 2:54 which is my PR. I think this is totally reasonable. During last years event I never felt the course was all that hard. Yes the heat set me back quite a bit, but i believe that course is not as tough as people say. You just need to run smart, wicked smaaht guy.






I go into each marathon with a set of goals. 1. Always finish. Never start something your not sure you can finish. 2. Sub 3 hour marathon. This would be year number 4 for me. 3. PR. Something under 2:54 would be spectacular. 4. 2:50 There it's stated. I've gone back and forth with 2:55 and 2:50 now for some weeks and just couldn't hold a solid goal. I've decided it's doable and it's possible. If i start to feel bad after the first 10 miles I'll back off a little, but the goals written down and now big things await!






Good luck to everyone running The Boston Marathon this year, so far so good on the weather!