Tomorrow is the 122st Boston Marathon. I have had the honor to run this storied race on three different occasions. While I didn't get into the race by running a Boston Qualifier time, I still felt that I belonged there. I felt that way because I logged the miles in training necessary to carry me the entire 26.2 miles to the finish line in Boston. I was able to run the Boston Marathon as a charity runner with the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge team. I have fond memories of each of my three Bostons. Each one was a different and unique experience.
As I read the Facebook posts of my runner friends who will be running the race this year, I actually felt jealous that I will not be there. I started to think about the need to have another Boston Marathon experience. My experiences made me think of Emile Zatopek's famous quote, "If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon." I can honestly say that my life has changed so much since I ran my first marathon in 2000. But my three Bostons actually had more of an influence on my life.
It probably seems strange that three races could have a profound impact on an indivual. But they did. I was able to experience the joy of reaching a lifetime goal that seemed somewhat unrealistic. I learned that I could persevere by overcoming a severe setback and still finish the race. And I was able to push my body to its absolute limit and cross the finish line with a smile on my face. In the last two cases, I was able to dig deep and find out just what I am made of when it comes to overcoming adversity. The first experience showed that dedication and hard work can produce amazing results.
In 2009 I decided that I wanted to run the Boston Marathon. I was living in Massachusetts not far from the starting line. I found that I could get into the race if I raised money for a charity. I chose to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. I had found a brand new training program (Brooks Hanson) and decided that I would use it to help me properly prepare to run a strong race. My initial hope was that it would allow me to set a PR which meant I had to run faster than 4:25:03. I had four months to get ready and would have to train through the New England winter.
I got to the starting line on April 20, 2009 in the best shape of my life. I felt excited about being able to run this great marathon. Deep down I felt like I could set a PR and was hoping to run it in about 4:15:00. You can read my detailed report in my April 21, 2009 entry. Looking back 8 years later, I now know that what happened that day was a fortuitous confluence of circumstances that allowed me to not only reach my goal but to absolutely crush it finishing in a sub-4 hour time. While I always wanted to run a sub-4 hour marathon, I never thought it would happen. On that day, my training, health, attitude and weather all fell perfectly into place. The planets aligned and the circumstances allowed me to achieve more than I could have imagined when I started on my journey to the finish line.
My second Boston experience was the complete opposite. The morning of April 16, 2012 was one of the warmest days in Boston Marathon history. As I headed to the starting line, I knew that my hopes of repeating a sub-4 hour finish was not going to be in the cards. Again there was a fortuitous confluence of circumstances that aligned to make that race one of the hardest I would ever experience. How I responded to those circumstances helped me find out that I could overcome any limitations placed in front of me.
As the Scottish philosopher and historian David Hume said, “He is happy whose circumstances suit his temper; but he is more excellent who can suit his temper to any circumstances.” On that day, despite my hope that the circumstances would change and allow me to run the race the way I had trained for, I could not control the fact that the heat would not allow it. When I reached the finish line in 4:49:00, I learned firsthand that I can only control my response to the prevailing circumstances and in that way achieve a better result than would normally be expected.
On my final Boston Marathon, I experienced something that I had never imagined could happen to me. I sustained an injury in the middle of the race that would normally force a runner to pull out of the race and not cross the finish line. However, I was determined to not let that happen to me. I had trained so hard for that race. I felt really confident that I was going to be able to run my second sub-4 marathon. As I hung around the corrals with my Dana Farber teammates, I was feeling great. Nothing indicated that I wouldn't have a great race. The temperature was perfect and I was ready to run well.
You can read a detailed report on exactly what happened in my May 4, 2014 entry. I will never forget the pain I felt at mile 16 when my right hamstring gave out. All I could think about at the time was that I had to continue and finish the race. My experience in 2012 told me that my body could take the punishment. There was a nagging doubt arising in my mind but I told myself to relax and focus on landmarks I knew were coming. I used the crowd and other runners to help pull me along. Finally, I shifted my focus on my upper body motion to distract me from the pain in my right leg. All I thought about was crossing the finish line in victory which finally happened 4:57:09 after the gun went off.
When I am running a race now, I draw on these three experiences to help me be successful. Instead of thinking of the last two Bostons race as failures, I think of them as learning experiences. Everything that went wrong were simply feedback. I know bad races happen. It is just the nature of running road races. I now know that I can take those experiences and use them to figure out how to make the next one better. I try to use the newly gained perspectives to make future races better. Running is a huge part of my life. Since I am far from being an elite runner, I never let setbacks influence my joy of participating in the sport. I run to bring joy into my life. This means that I can never let a bad race kill that joy. In the end, I just love the feeling of accomplishment when I cross the finish line no matter how long it took me to get there.
Mar. 27 – 6.30 miles (54:48, 8:42 pace)
Mar. 28 – 5.10 miles (51:50; 10:10 pace) - Hill Repeats
Mar. 30 – 3.10 miles (31:08, 10:03 pace)
Apr. 1– 8.20 miles (1:14:08, 9:09 pace)
Apr. 2 – 8.40 miles (1:16:20, 9:05 pace)
Apr. 3 – 6.10 miles (1:06:46, 10:57 pace) - Hill Repeats
Apr. 4 – 6.40 miles (55:08, 8:37 pace) - Speed Work
Apr. 6 – 8.40 miles (1:14:08, 8:50 pace) - Tempo Run
Apr. 7 – 5.10 miles (45:37, 8:57 pace)
Apr. 8 – 9.10 miles (1:15:48, 8:20 pace)
Apr. 9 – 8.30 miles (1:15:21, 9:04 pace)
Apr. 10 – 6.20 miles (1:02:12, 10:02 pace) - Hill Repeats
Apr. 11 – 6.30 miles (55:15, 8:46 pace) - Speed Work
Apr. 13 – 8.30 miles (1:13:42, 8:53 pace) - Tempo Run
Apr. 15 – 8.20 miles (1:12:22, 8:50 pace)
Apr. 16 – 5.20 miles (47:03, 9:03 pace)
Total Miles: 108.7 miles
2017 Total Miles: 603.8 miles
