Winding Down...

I had the most CRUSHING news ever recently... The Boston Marathon has sold out for 2010 and I havent even run my goal marathon!! So all my dreams of being there in 2010 are gone!! Yeah, its easy to say that I can still qualify and run in 2011, but who really thinks that far ahead.  So now I have this marathon in Sacramento in 2 weeks, now instead of going all out and trying to kill myself to make it to the Superbowl of Amateur Marathoners, I am going to enjoy the run and be at peace!!  Dont get me wrong, I have no plans on just going there to jog the course, I can stay home and do that!! I do have every intention on getting a Personal Record (PR) for the marathon, just not going to get near earl mode or bear mode, LOL. If u dont know what that means, then you dont need to know!!

After hearing the news, I went back to being just what I am, a Weekend Warrior. Cut back majorly on running and just doing it to maintain fitness, not trying to improve at this point anymore. This being my first year in marathoning I have learned a lot about this animal. Number one, you must respect the animal. It loves the element of surprise, like around mile 20'ish. All can be going well then BOOM!! Months of training comes down to this one race, and its no telling how it may go. Too many variables. So after this, I just may revert back to running 5k's and an occasional 10k. I'll revisit this marathon thing when I get a little more speed back.

Nope, this aint a curtain call, its just putting an end to the first chapter in my book. I may attempt to qualify for Boston again at age 39, so when I run it, I'll be 40, and the qualifying time will be a soft 3:20, LOL!! I'm getting stronger at this distance stuff, as my half PR occured at the most dastardly courses of all half marathons... The Brooksie Way in Rochester, MI!! So that's reassuring! So what other plans do I have? I dont know, I was hoping to run Boston, then try doing Ultra's (50k and above). That way, I can run as slow as I want, LOL, and still feel accomplished. My ultimate distance goal is the 100 mile run in under 24 hours... but that's some years from now, probably like age 45.

So now I'm winding down for the CIM. From what I hear its a relatively flat course and slight net downhill. Hope my quads can handle that! It should be fun, I know a lot of people from the running community that are doing it also, so I aint out there alone! I still have not forgotten about my checklist! The only thing worst than running this marathon is taking the plane clear across the country to get to it, then having to fly BACK out there for Christmas with family. I have a 10k run on Thanksgiving called the Turkey Trot. This should be fun, I havent run a 10k in a while. Dont even know if I know HOW to run it, lol. All I know is its a 5k run twice without stopping... whatch out Earl!! Aside from that, just easy running and enjoying this running thing, instead of making it a chore. My body, my health, and my mind will thank me, and until next time, I run on...