Marathon Monday Musings

On the third Monday in April, of some future year, I am going to be running in the Boston Marathon.  I don't know for sure when that year will be.  I hope it will be in 2017.  If not, maybe 2018 or 2019 or maybe for the 125th anniversary edition in 2021.  That is the question though, when not if.  Today is Patriots Day in Massachussets, and I think in all of New England as far as I can tell.  Having never lived there I am not steeped in such traditions.  I am learning about it though.  As I was dutifully running my Monday ritual of Yasso 800's, this time on the treadmill, there was a 10 minute or so special on ESPN Sportscenter about the Boston Marathon.  I got a little emotional but I was able to hold the tears back, since there was a guy on the treadmill right next to me and another lifting weights in the same room.  The reporter had a lot of poetic stuff to say.  He also held up his finishers medal that he had earned the year before and talked about how important it was to him.  I almost pointed to the TV and said outloud "mark my words, I will be there one day.  That is going to be me."  I didn't but I felt like saying it.  So this is me pointing to the Boston Marathon and saying it now. 

Crossing the finish line or getting the finshers medal is no longer the end all, be all.  My reward comes a little each day as I finish my wourkout and meet my goal for the day.  Then I have a sense of satisfaction.  I have a sense of satisfaction when I am still tired from my workout hours later.  It is then that I know I am alive, and it is then that I know I have done something hard, that I set a goal and I accomplished my goal.  Of course one day it will be fun to travel to Boston, enjoy the atmosphere, the run, the fnish, the medal and swag etc.  I am finding out though, that there are many lessons to be learned along the way.  These lessons, the trials overcome, the perseverence shown the patience developed, the tenacity ingrained, the consistency confirmed make the ephemeral marathon and the finish, that much sweeter.  The longer it takes me to reach this goal of qualifying and running in the Boston Marathon, the more lessons I learn. 

Yasso 800 workout on the treadmill:
Each 800 meters or half mile in this case on the treadmill was run at 3.20.  Then I would jog for a quarter of a mile in 3.20 and so on and so forth for a total of 8 such repetitions.  The last and ninth interval was only a quarter of a mile due to time contraints.  I put the incline at 1% and the pace at about 5.54 min/mile.  Total mileage was 6.25 but I will round down to six miles. Heart rate after about 45 second jog was 132 beats per minute. 

Week 6 miles
Month 66 miles
Year 240 miles