Fate? No. Bad luck? meh. Just Suck it up!

I am beginning to notice a pattern here, or just a massive coincidence!

I first qualified for the Boston Marathon on Nov 14th, 2009 with a 3:09:12 at Richmond.  As it turned out, race registration closed the day before, months earlier than it ever had.  So I waited until September of 2010 and registered for real, being one of the crazy people responsible for it filling up in 8 hours.  Then, I managed to suffer a legit injury for the first time ever.

Fast forward to 2012, I'm registered yet again, and get slightly side tracked by getting sick for the first time in years.  And now finally, with Boston just a mere few days away.....

The weather forecast is for nearly record breaking highs, likely to make this the second hottest Boston Marathon on record, and the hottest full marathon (though not the hottest race) I will have ever run.  I don't believe in fate or some grand plan, but damnit if someone really doesn't want me to do well or run this race, they should just tell me!!

Regardless, 872 days, 7 completed marathons, 1 marathon PR, 6280 miles, 15 pairs of shoes, and a few dozen races later...I'm here and I could care less what high pressure pattern Earth's wind patterns have decided to dump on Boston.

The plan: respect the heat, respect the fact that I missed some running, but also understand that I probably needed a few days off anyway.  There is also exhibit A:

The end of a 20 mile race I did back in September.  My shorts are not soaked with water, that is definitely my own sweat.  The high that day was 80F, and the dewpoint hit 67F or higher.  There was also almost no water on the course, half the stations were unmanned, and I wasn't losing 2nd place to stopping for water.  If I can survive that race, I'll survive this one too.


My badass white Falls Road Singlet is going to be so freaking sweet on race day as will the shortest shorts Brooks sells.  Combine that with making sure to take water, actually eating the honey stingers I bring with me, and staying true to my plan of going out in the first 3-5 miles at 6:20-6:35 pace without getting carried away, and I'll make it.  The cards will fall where they will after that based on how I feel, how much I'm sweating, etc, etc, etc.

I've waited too long to let some less than perfect training or a less than perfect day ruin it for me now!

Saturday afternoon, I'm off.


For those scoring at home, my bib# is 609; baa.org should have some kind of runner tracking up.

To anyone else reading this who may be running Boston (or any other hot race), good luck, and stay hydrated!