High Expectations

This morning as I was out for a little five mile run, I was thinking back to 2003 as I was preparing for Quad Cities Marathon in September of that year. The Quad Cities was only my second marathon at the time, and I was going into it with the hopes of qualifying for Boston after having a somewhat disappointing first try at it a few months earlier in Green Bay. My training leading up to the Quad Cities was very stellar and I was feeling somewhat confident as my brother Pete and I drove down to Iowa on a Saturday to run in it the next day. I say somewhat confident because this again was only my second marathon and I still wasn't quite sure if I could hold a 7:15 pace for 26 miles or not. In Green Bay, I started off great and was right on pace to qualify thru 20 or 21 miles, but I hit that proverbial wall with four miles left and really "bonked" (as we marathoners like to say) and finished 8 minutes slower than I had hoped. At the end of the race I was so depleted that they had to hook me up to an I.V. bag to replenish my fluids. Despite the torturous last four miles, I was very proud of myself that I had finished my first marathon and had perservered through the mental and physical agony of the last several miles. Still, I left Green Bay with a bad taste in my mouth, knowing that I was right on the brink of qualifying in my very first try. Knowing that, I got back into training after a week long lay off, with a new purpose of succeeding the next time. I upped my training and fitness, and like I said earlier, I headed to Quad Cities somewhat confident that I was going to have a great race. I was still had some lingering doubts, though... Again, I didn't know if I could hold that 7:15 pace for 26 miles, and I was doubly afraid of hitting that wall again like I did in Green Bay. That was such an awful feeling and I really had no desire to relive that experience. God was with me that Septemeber day, though, and He didn't let me fail. The weather was nice and cool and course flat as a pancake. A little doubt crept in again at the 22 or 23 mile mark, as I headed towards the finish line in a pretty stiff head wind, but by that time I had padded my run in the earlier miles with such fast splits, it really didn't matter. I crossed the finish line at 3:06:52, averaging 7:08 per mile and surpassing the 3:10 Boston qualifier by over 3 minutes. I had exceeded all my expectations and was happy that my brother Pete and good friend David were there to share it with me. As I was reflecting back on this during my morning run today, I was thinking about how my mindset has changed since then. Back then, I was unsure, but hopeful that I could qualify for the big Boston race. Today... more specifically, Saturday... I expect to qualify for Boston again. That is a strange feeling for me. I am not of the ilk who goes through life being cocky or brash in anything I do, and the people who know me best will attest to that. This is not cockiness, though... just confidence. To me, in my mind, there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to go up to Duluth, and on Saturday morning, accomplish what I set out to do. The training I've done since March points to it... so does the races I ran in May. Now I just have to go out and do it.

Today's workout: 5.1 miles > 37:34 > 7:22 pace

Miles this week: 12.6