Boston Marathon Dreams

As I trained with and celebrated two of my running buddies over the past few months, I could not help but wish I was able to join them today. While this weekend was not my best and I have no desire to be running 26.2 in the record high temperatures, I cannot help but think what an accomplishment that would be. Yes, the race does have an enormous amount of hype and No, I am not going to be winning anything but its Boston for crying out loud!

I had never really thought such a thing was in the cards for me but my running girls have been so encouraging that I actually started to entertain the idea of qualifying. How awesome would it be to qualify on my first marathon? Talk about debut!

You prepare for so long but then it all comes down to one day and how you feel that day. Nevermind the 3 months of pre-dawn trainings. What if May 6 is just not my day?! This is one of the reason I am starting to get nervous. I had been running well, (despite re-injuring my ankle) but the monotony of training and the hard last run has really taken the wind out of my sails.

I still plan to meet the pace group leaders at the Expo but might fall back with the 3:45 on Sunday instead of trying to keep my eyes on the 3:35 person. I can't prepare anymore at this point so time to stop messing with all the tools out there. Geeking out about it is only helping to drive me crazy. Stop thinking about it Ashley! I just need to concentrate on not getting hurt, because will walk across that finish line if I have to.

Did you know today marks the 40th anniversary of women being allowed to compete in the Boston Marathon?