Spring? How Does That Work?

The forecast is finally, FINALLY, trending in the direction of weather that does not, in description, require the qualifiers awful, terrible, freezing, and bullshit.  I am also finally kicking whatever virus lodged itself in my system.  The two coinciding is fortunate.  While it is late, and I will be going into Quad Rock much less prepared than I had wanted, I think the time I have before Bighorn will now hopefully be spent on some trails.  The Greenbelt has grown quite tiresome of late.

May is going to be busy, but in a very good way.  And some good weather will help hope spring eternal.

I have mulled over the events in Boston for a week now, digesting my emotions and thoughts regarding what happened.  And the best thing I have seen or read the past week was from Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run Boston in 1967.  She registered for the race using her initials to disguise her gender since women, at the time, were not allowed in the marathon.  A few miles in, a race official following the race saw Kathrine in the pack of runners, jumped in the race, grabbed her, and screamed, "Get the hell out of my race!"  A few runners around her grabbed the race official, tossed him not-so-gently to the side, and then formed a pack around Kathrine so she could finish the race unmolested.  Later, she would say, "If you are losing your faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon."

I have always felt a pull toward Boston, as I am sure a lot of runners have.  The marathon is something that has always scared me.  I think the issue was I never wanted to just run a marathon.  I can do that.  I wanted to race a marathon, and the thought of training properly for it seemed daunting and tedious and perhaps like something I did not particularly want to do.  And even if I did prepare well, 26.2 miles is a long time for any number of things to go wrong.  And, at 6'1" and 165 pounds, I am not exactly built like a prototypical marathoner.  I was decent over shorter distances on the track, road, and cross country course because I was strong and fairly fast.  The marathon is a different animal entirely.  So I skipped it and went to trail racing were my natural strength again played to my advantage.

However, it is time to make my foray into the marathon.  And having done the longer races, I now have a better understanding that 26.2 miles is not an eternity.  After Bighorn, I will start doing what I can to get ready for a marathon in August or September.  Boston registration opens in September on a to-be-determined date.  Therefore, the marathon I am considering, on the recommendation of Patrick, is the Mesa Falls Marathon in Idaho August 24.  It is not the fastest course, but it can be used as a qualifier, and it has a half associated for Elizabeth to run.  All I have to do is run 3:05.  If I'm in decent shape by the end of the summer, I can do that.

Hopefully, this time next year, I will be checking the Boston Marathon off my bucket list.