Run the Boston Marathon

I just recently ran the Austin Marathon and I realized an “inconvenient truth”, and no I am not talking about global warming. I can happily say that I ran my best marathon ever at Austin, and that this feat was achieved weighing in at almost 226 pounds (and with a new marathon course that was far from advantageous). My time was 4:30:49.

Here are the top three finishers within my weight class:

1) Brian Ricketts – 3:52:41 28
2) Andrew Glasspoole – 3:53:04 30
3) Jerry Strickland – 4:27:13 33

So it is safe to assume that I came in the top 10 (of male runners 226 and above). The inconvenient truth is that work equals mass times distance. You cannot get around it. Yes, I do believe it is true that someone can achieve their dreams, however there does need to be some foundation in reality. I am never going to win American Idol, I can’t be a champion horse jockey, and I will never win a wet t-shirt contest. I am not a naturally good singer, I was born tall, and I am a man. However, I can change my weight and if I really have dreams of Boston it is clear that being a Clydesdale is not going to get me there. Even Brian Ricketts’s time, the winner in my weight class, is not close to a Boston qualifying time. I’ve got to lean up or accept this goal as unobtainable.

There is exactly 1500 days left for me to train for the 2011 Boston Marathon. I need to improve my current marathon time by a little over an hour. I know I can do it if I stick with this goal.

I am running Austin this weekend. Hopefully I will get a time that will get me closer to qualifying for Boston.

I completed a solid 14 mile run before my legs gave out at just over a 10 minute mile pace. My hope is to get a sub-four hour marathon time next year. If I can do that I will be on my way to Boston.

In 2011 the Boston Marathon falls on my birthday. I will do my best to qualify for this race by then so that I can run it on my birthday.