{"id":25430,"date":"2018-05-26T15:33:19","date_gmt":"2018-05-26T19:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/?p=25430"},"modified":"2018-05-26T15:33:19","modified_gmt":"2018-05-26T19:33:19","slug":"bayshore-marathon-2018-traverse-travesty-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/?p=25430","title":{"rendered":"Bayshore Marathon 2018, Traverse (Travesty?) City"},"content":{"rendered":"

I suppose the good news is that there is no need for an asterisk.\u00a0 Unless of course the asterisk is an indication that this is a race I\u2019d prefer to forget.<\/p>\n

Things did not go well today.\u00a0 And there were plenty of warning signs, red flags, and various psychic disturbances that should\u2019ve been enough to deter me from running.\u00a0 But I was arrogantly stubborn and stubbornly arrogant.<\/p>\n

I want to be very clear on something before I begin \u2013 my family and friends are amazingly supportive and I don\u2019t ever think they intend to be anything but that.\u00a0 But when I explain something below, I hope this illustrates just how deep a dark hole I fell into.<\/p>\n

Last year I scored a Boston Qualifying Personal Record at the Bayshore Marathon<\/a>, an unexpectedly close call with a sub-3 hour race.\u00a0 I thought this year I\u2019d try and make it happen here, a moonshot with a proven \u201cwell, maybe\u2026\u201d empirical proof in the proverbial pudding.<\/p>\n

Man \u2013 that phrasing kinda shows what a mess things are with me at the moment.\u00a0 But I digress.<\/p>\n

My aspirational goal was a sub-3; my stretch goal was a new PR; and my \u201cI should totally be able to pull this off\u201d goal, even with a lingering cold, was a Boston Qualifying time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As the distance to the finish got closer and closer, I fell further and further from my time goals\u2026 to the point that the only way to describe the day is an embarrassingly, depressing failure.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t take a lot of photos\u2026 fewer and fewer as the day slipped away from me and then zero once the reality of the situation sunk in.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the short, short recap of the race \u2013 the opening quarter marathon I was trucking along and on pace for my sub-3.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By the halfway point, I was 5 minutes behind, meaning I\u2019d either need a negative split (yeah, right) or I was looking at a 10 minute deficit as my ETA.\u00a0 Still, good enough for a BQ.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\" <\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By the three-quarter mark, as more and more runners passed me by and my mind and body drifted into a listless, depressed state.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how dark a hole I fell \u2013 it got to the point where I heard my own voice saying, \u201cYou were wrong.\u00a0 They were right.\u00a0 You should never have come.\u00a0 This was a huge mistake.\u201d\u00a0 I don\u2019t in any way, shape, or form think my family and friends meant to be voices of doubt\u2026 yet I found myself consistently doubting my reasonings for being out on the course and questioning why I was doing what I was doing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Looking back, my lingering sinus infection, even now still not kicked to the curb, was perhaps the biggest warning and the reason folks suggested I bail on Michigan so I would be ready for Tanzania in June.\u00a0 But I thought I knew better.\u00a0 The AirBNB snafu was a sign.\u00a0 My rental car pickup which was a half-hour early and thus projected to cost an extra $20 due to partial hour charges (?!) was a sign\u2026 as was the \u201cupgrade\u201d to a Nissan Rogue (I also could have gotten a Camero and maybe I should\u2019ve\u2026 but I was *trying* to maximize gas mileage).\u00a0 The hotel last night also should have been a red flag \u2013 they inexplicably checked in another guest to my room, giving them a room key, and thus prompting pounding on my door and curses at a lock that wouldn\u2019t open (I deadbolted the door, fortunately or else that could have been seriously shocking having a half-drunk lady burst in).<\/p>\n

But more than anything, I just\u2026 wasn\u2019t there for the run.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t \u201cshow up\u201d as high school coaches of various athletics might say.\u00a0 There was a moment around mile 23\u2026 it was mile 10 for the half marathoners.\u00a0 These two women posed in front of the mile markers, each one holding up five fingers to show where they were.\u00a0 I laughed and shouted my support; it\u2019s something Steve and I would do when we ran together and I thought it inspiring to see other folks doing it.\u00a0 A marathoner who was speeding past me also cheered them, saying, \u201cif you\u2019re not having fun, you shouldn\u2019t be running!\u201d\u00a0 And I slowed to a walk, partly out of exhaustion and ennui, and thought, \u201cI\u2019m not having any fun today.\u201d\u00a0 I tried to shake it off but the truth was out there\u2026 not in an \u201cX-Files\u201d sort of way but in a genie out of a toothpaste tube kind of way.<\/p>\n

There are any number of excuses possible:<\/p>\n