The 122nd Boston Marathon. My 4th Boston, is in the rear-view mirror. For all the reasons detailed earlier in the week, I did not reach my goal time. Often after a goal race, the post-marathon blues can settle in. I’ve not very often felt it. But, a little bit this week. A flip-flop between disappointment and celebration. Disappointment in putting in all the hard training and not getting a real chance to go for my goal. Celebration for finishing in the toughest marathon conditions I’ve ever seen. Toughest that many have ever seen. The post-marathon blues can come from many places. A marathon is the culmination of a physical, mental, and emotional journey. Or at least, one checkpoint in the journey. If you reached your big goal, whatever it was, the blues can set in as sort of a loss of focus. You spent the past however many months focused on a goal. A finish. A time. Once you hit that goal, then what? Many runners have that sort of lost feeling. Now what do I do? Set another goal? What should it be?
Or, in my current situation, I did not reach my goal. So, the touch of marathon blues I’m feeling is more from disappointment. All that training. I was ready to run fast. At Boston. But, Mother Nature had other plans. On the up side, it makes the answer to “What now?” simpler. I still have my longer-term goals. But, those are a little too far away to keep a hard focus on. I already have two marathons planned for the summer. They both coincided with travel I’d already planned. So why not race? It gives me the chance to cost-effectively cross a couple of states off my BQ list. Colorado and Utah. Both at elevation, so not good candidates for a fast run. At least not for this sea-level resident.
I also still have my goal going into Boston. I want to run a sub-3:10 marathon. I want to set myself up for success. Flat, fast course. Good probability of favorable weather. The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in November. It's had the highest percentage of BQ times the past two years. Clearly good for fast racing. Plus, I was born and raised in Indiana. It would be really cool to race to a PR in my home state. If I don’t PR, as long as I can run sub-3:40, I’ll be able to mark another state off of my BQ state list. Win-win. What next? Decision made. Now, time to develop a plan to get me there. My last training cycle was pretty heavy into speed and speed endurance runs. For many weeks. 18 to be precise. With at least two Quality runs a week. I was on the edge of feeling over-trained before I went into my taper. That’s kind of where you want to be. On the edge. But, it’s time for a little “rest”. Whatever my training plan ends up looking like to get me to the Monumental Marathon, I know one thing. It’s time for some easy running. It’s been while since I’ve dedicated a solid base mileage block into my training. For now, I’m planning on two more weeks of no plan. Enjoy the accomplishment of Monday. Run when and how I feel. Let my body fully recover. In the meantime, I’ll be planning what’s next.
Training Log April 16-22, 2018: No plan beyond Monday. 38.9 miles for the week.
Monday – planned: Boston Marathon
26.5mi @ 7:46. Don’t need to re-hash the experience here. If you missed it, check out “The 122nd Boston Marathon” post.
Tuesday – OFF
Did some walking around Boston. Went to the Museum of Science. But, no running. My quads and hamstrings were killing me!
Wednesday – 2.5mi @ 9:55. Easy going to just get the blood flowing. Beautiful run around Boston Common.
Thursday – OFF. Traveled home. Did a short (~20min) yoga-based session.
Friday – 3.9mi @ 8:56. Easy going. Only remaining soreness in my right hamstring. Nice to be back to warm, sunny weather!
Saturday – OFF. Another short (~20min) yoga-based session.
Sunday – 6.1mi @ 9:06. Right leg still not 100%, but felt good to hit the bridge. Even it there was a little rain! At least it was warm. Short (~20min) yoga-based session in the evening.
Until next week.
Own it, live it, be it.
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