Nothing but PBs

My first marathon was RVM in 2006. I was aiming to complete, but as I started training more, I felt a 4:15 was in my grasp. I managed to beat my target and was very happy with the results. For my second marathon, I ran at Disney World. This was part of Goofy's Race and a Half. One and a half marathons spread over 24 hours is no place for a PB. On my third marathon, I was injured for much of the scheduled training, so I opted to pace a friend. It was RVM's 30th Anniversary and I was in no shape to do a sub-4, and thought the safe thing to do was enjoy the run, which I did immensely.

Three down and only 1 PB to show for it. Pretty sad.

I bump into or hear about people, that on their first marathon outing, they find they qualified for Boston. "Yeah, I had nothing going on in April, so started to run. Guess what? I qualified for Boston." I find these people amazing, I wish I was naturally a good runner. But I'm not.

I bumped into an old running buddy, DM, a few weeks ago. He was like me, plugging away at a BQ for a number of years. Just last month, he got it. I was so happy for him. I know how important it was to him and I know how hard he worked to get there. For DM, it wasn't just rolling out of bed, it was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.

Last blog I wrote, "nothing good in life comes easy". I stand by that. You can't truly appreciate something, unless you've earned it the hard way.

My current marathon PB is nothing to write home about, but I'm planning on my next one to be... well, maybe not write home, but talk about it once I'm there.

2010

Happy New Year!

Why the optimism? As mentioned, I've felt like I was spinning my wheels for the last few years to the point that I felt pretty confident that BQing was nothing more than a pipe dream. That became very apparent at 2008 Fall Classic when I was planning/hoping/praying for a sub-1:50 but at the 15k mark, I knew that wasn't going to come to pass. I had gone out strong and expected to be able to hold the pace, but things came to a crashing end when pain and fatigue started getting the upper hand.

It was a feeling of utter disappointment... crushing. It was especially hard to deal with because I had told myself, if I didn't get a sub-1:50, I'd give up on a BQ. With Boston on the back burner, I felt free. In January 2009 I once again volunteered to be a leader for the Sun Run InTraining program. Running was enjoyable again. Pressure was off. I signed up for the Scotia Half and felt pretty confident that I'd do well... after all, it's a downhill course. Well fate decided to do things a little differently. On the 2nd to last Sun Run training day, I sprained my ankle and for the next while, I had to put running (and even walking) on hold.

June rolls by and I'm still unable to walk without feeling that my calf muscles were searing off my bone. Well, so much for this being the summer of Tony...

At this point, I'm getting depressed. Two months from a sprained ankle was too much! I contact my physio, who after a single session has me running again... d'oh!!!

It's now July, I'm healthy and able to run.... but there's a catch. For the last two months I was not able to run or for that matter do anything. I had put on a few pounds during my depression. July is a bit late to squeeze in a marathon training schedule, but my jogging buddy Chantelle and I give it a shot. But after four weeks, I find myself struggling on the long runs. I couldn't believe how crappy this summer is turning out to be.

It's August now. Although I've signed up for the RVM, I've decided I'm going to downgrade to the half. As luck would have it, Nancy, another jogging buddy decided to do her first full. Since our training intersected and I am always happy to bring in another runner into the folds, I offered to help them along. Now this is where it gets interesting....

With no pressure, I'm running better than ever before. The weight I gained in May and June is now gone and I'm enjoying running again. I never did manage to downgrade to the half, but instead, paced Nancy for a sub-4:30 marathon. It was a wonderful run... sun was shining, temperature was cool, but most of all I was able to soak in all the sights and sounds that are usually ignored when pushing for a PB.

Now for the optimism: in October I decided to sign up for John Hill's Clinic. I started off rather modestly in the slowest group. But I've steadily been chipping away and moving towards speedier groups. What I find most encouraging is that I've been able to complete my tempo runs at pace I never knew I could hold and this in turn translates to a significant improvement on my calculated/theoretical times for the half or full.

I am confident my goals are within my grasp. It won't come easy... but would I want it to? Nothing good in life comes easy.