Rest day, and thoughts on Boston

Today was a day off for me… but I was thinking of the hearty runners braving the blustery weather in Boston. See Ryan’s Blog, Running Down My Dreams for my hero who had dreams of Boston, and today... ran down those dreams! WTG Ryan! Good lord that must have been a challenge. Hopefully for all who braved it… it will be that much more special. I know a silly thing like weather can’t tarnish the gem of elation one must feel after reaching an amazing goal. Someday… somehow, I want some of that too. I hate large cities with a passion, but still… I want to run in Boston. I want to do it, because I don’t think I can. I want to do it because it is a challenge unlike any other. I want to do it, because I am a slowpoke marathon ruining runner. Heck… two weeks from ruining my first marathon.

I mentioned in one of my last blogs that I don’t recall when I crossed the threshold of ‘being a runner’. I still don’t feel like one. I know I am NOT one of those elite runners that live breath and sleep running. (As if my times were not an obvious reminder of that... though yeah… I have done some running while asleep in my dreams) I will never look cool in running gear. I still have a lot to learn about running. I really am not sure what intervals, fartleks, tempo runs and repeats are. I have read about them… but until I implement them in my training the info just slides away. But for some strange reason I have an itch to run.

When I started my marathon journey I thought something would be different by the time I ran my marathon. Something that I could put my finger on and say ‘that is it!’, but as of yet… I haven’t found what that would be. Is it something I will discover during the run itself, is it something I already have and don’t understand the significance of… or will the marathon be my sportscar, not solving anything, but just acting as a blaring reminder that I am near midlife, and I still haven’t figured out what this is all about. I hold out for something a bit more optimistic than that, but I am not sure what it would be.