Soooooo what's next??

Well, I know that it has been a couple of weeks since I have visited this blog, but that is most likely because I have been in a bit of a running malaise and then I got knocked out by a nasty cold/flu bug to top that off.  I guess I avoided getting sick all winter only to finally get shoved down by a bug that consisted of congestion, a cough, a sore throat, chills, and aches, but no fever (!) that pretty much took me out for a few days.  Even now, I'm not quite back at it and I'm set to pace 15.8 miles of the Cleveland Marathon on Sunday.   Why 15.8 miles you might ask? Well that is because the turn around point is at 15.8 miles, and it is pretty much right in front of where I live - so that is the perfect place for me to stop. 

 Last year, I tried to go the full distance with the 4 hr pace group in the hopes of running a BQ (Boston Qualifier) and with the 80F+ degree temps that day, it was a miserable failure of an attempt.  I knew at 15 miles when my hands and fingers started to swell that a sub-4 was not in the cards, and I should have known that I was not yet in that kind of shape.  But with all that happened at Boston, I was determined to get a qualifying time.  After all, we did not yet know that those of us caught in the "5700 strong" group of non-finishers were going to be granted an entry into the 2014 race, so the hunt for the BQ would be lessened, and I went after it at Cleveland.  It was a real tough day with the weather and I wilted at mile 21 only to run (very slowly) the last 5.2 miles while walking through all the water stops and even pouring lots of it on my head.  I finished without injury or killing myself in 4:13, but it was a major struggle.  It also seemed to take a while to get back to normal, but I had a goal.  

As for that malaise, this year - well, this year Boston was very different.  Very different.  Runner's postpartum is very common and usually I have to sit back and ask myself what went wrong and what could I have done better, but this year, well, this year Boston was very different.  Very different.  Yes, you read that twice.  Because this year at Boston, I actually ran a near perfect, if not perfect, race.  And it was an outstanding day - in every single way.  It was a day and a race that most of us runners will never forget.  We knew it would be special, but who knew or could have predicted that an American man would win the race (the first time in 31 yrs!!! since I was a senior in college!!since I ran Boston, myself as a bandit!!), and that he would have such a truly "American" story or that an American women, from the Boston area no less, would lead the pack and push the pace so hard that 6 of the top 7 women would break the course record and that she, herself, would set her own PB by over 2 and 1/2 min or that I would actually run a nearly perfect race for me and race to the best time that I have run over that course since 2001 or 13 yrs!! This year, April 21st was a pretty perfect day! I guess that might be why my running life seems to be in a funk.  

It is definitely time to set some new goals for the fall and begin on the path again.  Boston 2015 will be special again and this time in a completely new way.  Hopefully my friend, MP will be with me for 26.2 miles as hopefully our good friend Chris will qualify to join us as well.  I can then give them a tour of my "hometown" course (always remembering that "no one knows me in Natick") while enjoying the hills together and remembering the ones that we train over all summer in western NY.  For now, I will focus on getting through Sunday's race and then running a fun, all women's 10K in Dublin! (Ireland, not Ohio) and going from there into a successful fall completed with the NYC marathon, my other favorite big city race.  

For now, 11 more months.......