Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Beyond My Bucket List – Drew

I started running in earnest in 2010 while in graduate school when I met my wife who had previously run three marathons including Boston twice. Running was a way to spend time with her, and it led me to complete my first half marathon.  At around mile 11 of that first half marathon I decided that I might as well just sign up a full marathon under the rationale that I’d never be closer to the goal than I was at that point. 

I’ve aspired to run Boston for as long as I’ve understood what it meant to the people of Massachusetts, more or less. Running any marathon was always on my bucket list, but running Boston was beyond that, and I couldn’t be more excited to have this opportunity.
This will be my eighth marathon. My wife and I make it a point to both run one marathon a year. My first was in the Outer Banks, North Carolina (2010). I’ve done the Vermont City Marathon twice (2011, 2014) and Hartford Marathon 2012. My wife and I got engaged at the end of Rock N’ Roll Madrid Marathon in 2013 when I dropped to one knee at the finish line and everyone around thought that I was having a medical emergency. I ran the Seattle Marathon in 2014 and most recently the Newport Marathon in 2015. 

I run Monday through Thursday throughout the week and try to tally 20-25 miles during those runs. I then do a long run on the weekends, building up by two-mile increments weekly with a couple lower mileage weeks scattered along the week. If I could get two 20-mile runs in before the race I would be very happy. I’ve had some troubles in previous marathons with muscle failure towards the end so I’m also doing a fair amount of lower body strength training.

I try to minimize how much time running takes on a daily basis by running every day at work on my lunch break. Even if I can get 2 or 2.5 miles in, that adds up over the course of the week and helps me avoid having to run for hours on end in the evening. As the distance of the long runs increases, those runs tend to take a big chunk out of your weekend, and that’s unavoidable.  My wife adores the Boston Marathon, and she understands how important it is that I train well and she’s cutting me a whole bunch of slack around the house.

The standard concerns that all the forces will conspire and I’ll have a terrible race, but those concerns are minimal and I am moreover eagerly anticipating being able to complete my first Boston Marathon. All the moments of misery during training (and there are many) and when you would just rather be anywhere else doing anything else at mile 22 or mile 23 are quickly forgotten when you finish a marathon, and that’s what I try to focus on.

No comments: