Marathon Mojo

At mile 24 of this year's Boston Marathon, there were some unusual thoughts running through my head. The race was going really well. I was on track for a finish time that I would be very happy with, but it was getting harder and harder to hold pace. In order to summon the will to press on, I promised myself plenty of rest and reward at the end. Strangely, it occurred to me that I would be running yet another marathon in New York, and that thought made me weary -- even though New York was 6 months away.

So, I made myself a deal. If I could keep pace to the end, I would just jog the New York Marathon at an easy pace. After a few hundred more yards, I modified the bargin. I would skip New York entirely.

I finished Boston on pace, and very happy. After a short recovery period, I began training and racing again, but shorter races only. My marathon mojo was gone. I knew it would probably return at some point, but it was not clear that it would be back in time for New York.

Well, long story short, my marathon mojo did return, and I'm very excited about the marathon, now just 2 weeks away.

Training has gone well, including plenty of long runs culminating in a full 26.2 mile training run last weekend. I reached the taper without any issues with injury, and now I just need to get myself to the starting line with fresh legs.

I've done an about-face on the deal I made myself in Boston. Not only am I running, but if the weather cooperates, I'll be looking for a PR.

At this point, I think my biggest challenge will be keep a cool head at the start. I'm in the Local Competitive Start this year, which means that I will probably be standing next to folks that will be taking off at much faster speeds than I should. I'll just have to ignore them, and run my own race. If I can do that, I have a feeling that it's going to be a blast. Hope to see you there!