Friday, February 11, 2011

Delusions of Grandeur?

I don't have any set plans when it comes to running here on out.  It's no secret that I want more babies.  I want that more than I want more marathon medals.  So since I'll be back on a running hiatus when I'm pregnant again, I see no point in making any big plans.

But I do have a plan, crazy though it may be, in my back pocket  . . . just in case.

I've been trying to increase my pace.  Right now I can comfortably run just under an 11 minute pace, sometimes close to 10:30.  I want to still run a 5k under 30 minutes, which means my pace has to average 9:39.  If I stay diligent, I could get there in a couple months.

To qualify for the Boston marathon I'd have to finish a marathon in 3 hours & 40 minutes.  That would have me averaging a 8:23 pace. 

I'd love to run the same marathon I last did, which is every October.  This marathon is also a Boston qualifier.  Training would begin about mid-June.  That gives me 4 months to increase my pace by over 2 minutes per mile. 

If I'm not pregnant by June I will likely start training.  I may as well continue with what I'm doing & not surround my life around the possibility of pregnancy.  I used to do that & it was just a stressful way to live.

So through the summer I would train for the marathon.  In October I would run it & meet my goal & qualify for Boston.  But then I still want another baby so Lord willing I would get pregnant soon after.  That would mean I wouldn't run Boston in 2012.  But that's ok.  You know why?  Because when you qualify for Boston it's good for 18 months!  So I could get pregnant soon after, have the baby, start training at 6 weeks post-partum & run Boston in 2013.  My pace wouldn't matter by then since I've already qualified so whatever I do post-partum would be fine.

It's probably a crazy idea.  This is the kind of stuff I think about when I'm having a really good run.  It makes me feel like I can do anything.  But I can't completely count it out.  It was during a really good run that I decided I could even run a marathon.

5 comments:

  1. If you did you would definitely be my hero! Cutting almost 2 hours off your previous time is (not impossible) but almost unheard of. I am hoping to cut mine by 30 mins and I thought I was shooting high ;o) Just be careful!

    ~Laura

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  2. You do know that they are changing the qual times, no? They are focusing on the open women's class since that is by far the easiest division. You will be looking at closer to a 3:30-3:35 qual time to make it into Boston. While your goals are not unheard of, it will take a very long time to work your way up there to maintaining an 8:05-8:13 pace for the new qualification times. I wish you all the best in luck. Your story would inspire many!!!

    best wishes~

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  3. I didn't know that times were changing... I don't keep up with it because I doubt I would ever even get close to qualifying anyways but definitely not now!!

    ~Laura

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