Sunday, March 15th, 2015

15 miles. New Bedford 1/2 Marathon (2 mile warmup.)
Who knows? Maybe it was the lack of sleep for both nights before and the 12 hours wedding that put me in bed at 2:45 a.m. the night prior to the race. Maybe it's that I'm fat. Maybe it's the lack of speedwork, miles, racing. Whatever it is, I ran my slowest 1/2 ever. 1:15:38.
If I'd blown up, that would be one thing, but no, I went no faster than 5:35 and no slower than 5:59.
Don't get me wrong, I ran a smart, strong race. I knew from the get go that I wasn't going to be running fast this day, so I'd better just run strong, because the way the wind was, it was going to kick the shit out of us from 9.5 to 12 (which is did.)
I stayed even throughout and closed with a monstrous kick, as I was trying to catch someone (which I did.)
Overall, I can't be that disappointed (though, obviously, I am.) It is what it is. I wore the Hokas and, subsequently, came away from it no worse for the wear.
Now, the question I have is this: Since I'd planned on NOT running Boston because I wanted to stay healthy and get faster in order to run James Joyce and whatever other short stuff comes up (Doyle's, etc.), I'm rethinking things and coming up with this: I'm not going to be running even 5:20's anytime soon it appears, but my energy is good and my legs are good, so what the fuck am I saving myself for? What I'm coming up with is: Run Boston because it's there and I can and then I can re-qualify for next year by just doing anything under 2:50 (and oh my fuck, what have I become where I'm not hanging myself over a 1:15+ half and thinking sub 2:50 is a good, optimistic goal? Yeesh) and just looking forward to whatever happens after that.
So, this Sunday I'll go 18-20 with some friends and see what comes of it. If I feel ok, then it's probably a go. I mean, hell, it's Boston, and it's been almost 10 years since I've even had to worry about qualifying, so the last thing I want to have to do is think about running a late-summer marathon after all these weddings just to make sure I'm in for next year.
If I can stay healthy for the rest of the year, I really don't see myself NOT getting some decent speed back, so a good showing at Boston in 2016 would be a realistic goal. As for now, I'm just hoping that this isn't the rapid decline of a once-decent-but-never-great runner.
2 years ago I ran 1:11:58. In other words, WTF?

M- 7.5
T- 0
W- 14.2 (8/6.2)
Th- 8.3
F- 5.3
Sa- 0
Su- 15

week- 50.3 miles