I want to go for a run to try and shake out some of the creaks and cracks but while my mind and heart say “go, go, go!” my body keeps shouting, “no, no, no!” There’s a heat to my skin, a sense of clamminess, and my calves are still twitchy with tingly exhaustion and overwork. And yet, I try to motivate myself: there is after all my expanding beer belly, which is attributable to all *but* hops and barley. \u00a0I’ve decided that after years of being told I’ll grow to like brews that are true, the reality is that beer as an acquired taste is just forcing yourself to the point of capitulation. And I’ve decided much like roller coasters that I’m done fooling myself: I just don’t like beer. I like a lot of other things, clearly, given my ballooning waistline, just not beer. So I need a different name for the belly. It’s not exactly a bowl full of jelly, either. Let’s call it the ever-expanding junk belly, as the calories that cause it are mostly junk.<\/p>\n
In any case, I’m gearing up for a running tour of the easternly Pacific Northwest — Montana, Utah, and Idaho. I’m trying to tell myself that with that schedule abrewin’ (that brew I can get behind) that it’s okay to skip a few days of running, even if the bathroom scale sighs heavier and heavier minute by minute.\u00a0 But emotionally and psychologically this feels like a recipe for further regret, larger senses of shortcomings, and a debilitating depression brought on by a shroud of failure.<\/p>\n
The other day I registered for runDisney’s 6th annual Dopey Challenge<\/a> down at Walt Disney World.\u00a0 I’ve run the previous 5 and wanted to maintain my streak, despite the high cost both financially and physically on me.<\/p>\n On the other hand, I decided earlier this year that I was probably not going to go back to Boston for 2019, figuring I’ve been fortunate enough to have done it a few times and I should maybe let other people get the experience.\u00a0 That makes it sound like runner noblesse<\/em> oblige<\/em> which isn’t how I wanted it to sound but maybe what we want isn’t the same thing as what happens.<\/p>\n In any case, I was recently reminded by the Boston Athletic Association via email that the registration dates were fast approaching.\u00a0 The BAA also sent out a historical analysis of the qualifying times, a reminder that there’s the official qualifying times and then there’s the varying “cut-off” time which is the minimum time *below* the qualifying time that is needed due to the field size limitation of runners.<\/p>\n Occasionally at races this year (albeit in truth these days *rarely*) I have broken the 3 hours, 15 minute qualifying time for my age group.\u00a0 However, I do not have a “cushion” of 3:23 or more below that to ensure a place if I did decide to put my name in for the race.\u00a0 It is a humbling thing to realize this, especially given that last year I had a PR of 3:02:35, thus unquestionably guaranteeing an entry (barring of course a massive surge in sub-3 hour runners).\u00a0 In 2018, my best time is a 3:14:32 at Surf City<\/a>, a 28 second cushion that historically just will not cut it.\u00a0 However, since September 17, 2017 (the start of the 2019 Boston Qualifying calendar), my best time comes courtesy of Zagreb, Croatia<\/a>, with a 3:11:08, a time that *might* get me in… if Zagreb is recognized as a Boston Qualifier course.\u00a0 All this is “inside baseball”… or I should say “inside running”… and way more detail than is necessary.\u00a0 The point is, I’m not sure even if I did put in for the race that I would get a slot.\u00a0 It’s a reminder that I’m older, slower, and trending downward, which does not help my mood.\u00a0 Have I been telling myself I wasn’t going to run Boston in 2019 as a face-saving gesture?\u00a0 Because the reality seems I couldn’t run Boston even if I wanted to… Sigh.<\/p>\n I’ve previously written how I had hoped to return to my PR course this year and take another moonshot at the sub-3 time.\u00a0 That went… poorly<\/a>.\u00a0 In the back of my head, I was hoping the races coming up next week might bring a cushion-worthy time for Boston… not to enter mind you, just to selfishly and egotistically know I could. I thought the Idaho Falls Marathon would be my best chance for success given its elevation chart:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/BAA-Qualifying-History-1024x526.png\")
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