Time to run

I started my marathon quest back in April. I signed up for the St George Marathon in southern Utah and once I was in, I started a countdown clock on my laptop's desktop. When it tells you that you have 150 days, it seems like forever. When it starts getting down to 40, you realize that you are coming to the end of the training. Now it is down to 2 days.



I have come a good ways since my first April runs. I was doing 3.5 miles at a 9:00 minute pace. I have now run as far as 20 miles and as fast as a 6:50 mile. Much better, but is it enough to do the 3:30 marathon I need to qualify for the Boston Marathon? Probably not.

That leaves me with a decision. Should I go out and run the 3:45 marathon I am in shape for or run the 8:00 minute miles I need to qualify for Boston until I blow up? Lots of people run too fast and end up walking (hobbling) the last few miles, killing their overall time. Just the same, I think that is my choice. My goal was Boston, so I'll see what I can do.



The temperatures on Saturday morning (6:30 start time) should be nice. The day won't heat up until I am done, one way or another. My recent joke was that I needed a strong wind at my back if I had any chance of qualifying. The bad news is that they are calling for a fairly strong wind, in my face the entire way (it is a point to point race). I can only hope that the winds will hold off until later in the morning.

Oh well, it is what it is. Marathons are all about digging a little deeper and pushing a little harder than you thought you could. I head for St George early tomorrow morning.