Boston Qualifying - My Aha Moment

I have wanted to qualify for Boston for almost as long as I have run. At the very least I have wanted to qualify for Boston for almost the entirety of the sixteen years since my first marathon. So, what’s stopped me? Well, it turns out that the answer to that is me. I have stopped me.

Today I had what might be called an aha moment, but after you read my three excuses you will probably label it a duh moment.

First, I have not qualified for Boston because wanting to or wishing to do something is not the same as working towards that goal. I have never really put in the effort needed to get me there. I have never truly planned for the outcome.

Second, I call myself a slow runner and the one thing I am sure of is that Boston Qualifying runners are not slow. If I do not stop using those words, how am I ever going to get to be a fast runner? Although calling myself a fast runner is not really appropriate, at the very least I do believe in the power of words and I know that calling myself a slow runner over and over again has not helped me one little bit.

And finally, I do not run fast. This is not the same as saying I am not a fast runner. What I mean by this is that I really and truly have never put in the effort to be fast. I run long. And long is good but running long is not going to get me to Boston. Running fast is going to get me to Boston. I cannot expect to just add speed work to the marathon season and get fast. Instead I need to dedicate a lot of off-season training to getting faster over the 5k, 10k and half marathon distance and then go into the marathon season with those same fast legs. I need to run fast.

See what I mean? Duh, right?

I want to qualify for Boston and I want 2015 to be the year that happens. If I am right, if I have been holding myself back in the ways listed above, I now have a basic formula for getting there.

So what’s next? Can I get there? Can I take these thoughts and change my words and actions to get across that finish line? I certainly believe so. The next several months will be key. The dedication that goes into becoming the fast runner I am sure I can be will take hard work and dedication but like everything else in life, it will take mental training. It will take a belief in my ability, a trust in the training and more true passion than I have shown so far.