Boston's a no go

It just wasn't my day on Sunday.  I don't know what it was, but my legs just decided to not work on that day.  From the start of the marathon, I didn't feel right.  The most frustrating part was I trained better in my workouts than I did in the actual race. 

At about the half-marathon point, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to maintain the right pace to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  The good thing was the marathon was a mile loop, so I stopped and talked with my family, and even walked some with them.  I was going to just drop out, but I decided that I needed to finish what I started.  That last half was a nightmare.  Pretty much every muscle from the waist down was cramping up on me; my left calf even cramped up completely.  I don't know how many of you have ever had a muscle cramp, but it's not fun at all.  I had to stop and stretch it out, and after that, I couldn't run normally anymore because if I put too much pressure on that muscle, it would cramp again. 

Here's a picture of me.

Though I was very frustrated (frustrated because I just trained 5 months for this stinkin' race) that I didn't perform how I should have, the one thing that kept me going was having watched the TV coverage of the Ironman the day before.  There was one guy who had finished 3rd or 4th the year before, but this past year, his legs just wouldn't work for him.  Even though he had to stop and walk, he still finished.  (Those TV races are so motivating to me.)  That's how I felt; I owed it to myself and my family, who came to watch, to finish.

I was pretty upset after finishing, and I asked myself why I even run marathons.  I said I was done running for a while and would never try to qualify for Boston again, but for some odd reason, I couldn't sleep last night because I kept thinking about trying to qualify again ... I'm so messed up; it's Tuesday now, and I can still barely walk. 

I don't think it was a good day for a lot of runners.  I heard of one guy who has been trying to qualify for Boston for something like 8 times now; he ended up dropping out.  It seemed like not qualifying for Boston was what a lot were saying after the race.

The one positive that came out of not qualifying was at least I don't need to spend the money to go to Boston anymore.

I have to thank my family for being there though.  It was great to have their support and to have someone there to walk and run beside me when I needed it. 

Comments

[Dan]

Thanks for the support workout mommy. My legs are finally starting to feel better.

[workout mommy]

I'm so sorry, I really do know how you feel right now. (even the not being able to walk part!)
Give yourself kudos for finishing a tough race!