My Journey to My BQ (Boston Qualifier) Marathon (Part 2)
(If you missed part 1 of this blog, you can read it here)
After I crossed the finish line of my 2nd marathon, I knew I was done. I felt so defeated. I had missed my goal by a little over a minute. Even though looking back now, I see how I should have been proud of myself, but I wasn’t. I had just ran another marathon. I had shaved 13 minutes off my finish time, from my first marathon a year ago. There was so much to be proud of, but I didn’t see it. I knew it was time to walk away for a bit.
I spent the next few months really focusing on my lifting again. I had let my strength training take a backseat over the past 16-18 months, since I got into marathon training. I had lost a good amount of strength during that time. I switched my goal from qualifying for the Boston Marathon, to getting strong again. During this time, I still ran, but only what I felt like. I was running about 4 days a week, primarily, easy miles. I had a few friends that were training for fall marathons, so I would join them once in a while for a longish run (10-12 miles) or for a little speed work. However, my main focus was my lifting. I was lifting heavy, about 4 days a week, during that time.
Mom and I would lift together at the gym a few times a week. I switched my goal from distance running, to getting strong again.
In Fall 2019, I knew I needed to make a decision. I was signed up for the Rehoboth Marathon on December 7th. I had signed up on New Years Day, the year before, when the race was on sale. (always a sucker for a good sale!) Yet, here I was 9 months later, with no desire to run another marathon. I found out that I could switch to the half marathon, and figured that’s what I would do. I started running a little more during September and October, and slowly added in speedwork agan. This time, however, I let go of any expectations of pace. I refused to give myself a pace I had to hit on workouts, and instead, went by effort. I wouldn’t look at my watch until after the run ended, in order to see what paces I had hit. This was honestly one of the biggest turning points for my training.
I started doing planned workouts again, but went by effort instead of pace now.
In the middle of October, I found out that the half marathon had sold out. It looked like I would be running the Rehoboth Marathon after all, in about 8 weeks. Ugh. I didn’t tell many people about this race. My close running friends who were local knew about it , but I didn’t tell many others. I didn’t want anyone thinking I was trying to BQ again. I didn’t want any pressure on myself or any expectations, from myself or others. I continued my training the same way I had been for the last couple months. I ran by feel, with no expectations of pace. If I had a long run planned with some faster miles in there, and had a friend who was able to run with me, I would scratch the workout miles and run all easy with them. If I felt extremely worn one week, I would only run 5 days, instead of 6. This approach to marathon training was so different then the rigorous plan I had followed before. Don’t get me wrong, I still was training. I ran 50 plus miles most weeks, and had consistent speed work at least once a week, sometimes twice. But what was different were the expectations. I let them all go and allowed running to just be running again.
I came into race day knowing I was prepared. I also knew that I was fit. I had run a half marathon in Baltimore 6 weeks before as a training run. I ran 3 miles before as a warm up, and then proceeded to run the half marathon by effort. I ran a 1:40:02 on a VERY hilly course that day. My fitness was there. However, I didn’t want to focus on that. My main goal for this marathon was to enjoy every mile, and to finish mentally strong. I had checked out mentally in both of my first two marathons, towards the end, and gave up.. I wanted to know that I could keep my mind in a good place, no matter how much I was hurting.
At the start line…. We had the most gorgeous sunrise over the ocean that morning.
I am not going to go through every detail of this race, instead, I will link my Instagram posts where I did my race recaps and what I did different this time around on race day. (here and here) But I will tell you, this race was incredible. From the moment I started, I knew it was going to be different. I had lined up with the 3:25 pacer, and planned to stay with this pace group so I didn’t go out too fast (I knew from experience NOT to do that). I spent the first 18 miles of this race getting to know my pace group and those around me. This race wasn’t about me and my goals, it was about finding the love for running again. I talked to those around me, learned about their lives/running journeys, and just didn’t focus on myself. I honestly think this was one of the best decisions I made. I finally turned my music on around mile 19 and just let myself get in the groove. Things got a little tough around mile 24/25, but I didn’t allow myself to go to a negative place. I was the only one left in the pace group at that point, but I didn’t give up. My pace did slow down a few seconds the last couple miles, but I stayed positive and made sure I enjoyed every step. I kept reminding myself that my mom and my two running friends were at the finish line waiting for me. All I had to do was put one foot in front of the other to get there. I turned on the street where the finish line was and saw the clock. There it was. I didn’t allow myself to think I had that BQ, until I saw the clock. But once I saw it, I knew it was happening. I crossed the finish line in 3 hours and 25 minutes. (and 46 seconds, in case anyone cares about those. lol) I was a Boston Qualifier.
The moment I saw the clock….All the feels!
Looking back, I think the biggest change for me was letting go of expectations of myself. I reminded myself that running was something that I do for FUN. As long as I kept that as my main focus, everything else was just extra. It still blows my mind that I am about to start training for the Boston marathon…. But I can’t wait for this next journey to begin. .