Running the Boston Marathon on Monday

Not sure how the decision was reached but I have decided to make an attempt at my second career marathon on Monday, April 16th. Check out www.baa.org. As many know, the Boston Marathon is the most competitive marathon in the United States, and some say the world. Living in Ashland, MA these days, I have the good fortune of living 1 mile away from the 10K mark of the race route. My Manager who lives in Hopkinton (the starting town) somehow convinced me that it would be a good idea to give it another go.

This will be a very interesting race for several reasons and my mind is telling me it is something I have to attempt, though my body may disagree, 1) All of you know that I severely cramped at the 19 mile mark of my first attempted marathon in Philly in Nov of 2005. To proactively combat the cramps I have taken a few steps such as taking potassium & magnesium supplements, and well as making the decision to run this race with a 50oz. Camelbak. Until you run over 15 consecutive miles, there is no way of predicting how one's body will react to the stress and energy depletion that the body is forced to deal with. My hope is that these steps will help combat the onset of cramping. 2) 2005's cramping left me unsatisfied and wanting to give it another go. I am putting absolutely no pressure on myself this year in terms of time, and hopefully I can lower my time from 2005's 4:45. 3) The Boston Marathon is arguably the greatest and one of the most challenging marathons in the world. And it sits in my backyard. I'm not getting any younger, so how can I keep passing up on this opportunity. 4) Minimal run training. If you read some of the recent posts on this blog, you'll quickly realize I have lifted heavy over the past couple of months and neglected to hit the roads to put in miles due to the inclimate weather. I am fascinated with how my lack of training may affect my race performance.

As of right now it is impossible to predict my body's reaction in the later stages of Monday's race. Worst case scenario, I bow out early and take the commuter rail home. Best case scenario, I'll be strolling down Boylston Street around 2:30p on Monday afternoon.