How do I feel about this?
Boston postponed until September 14th, 2020.
I signed up to run JackNJill Downhill marathon in Boise Idaho on September 13th. Obviously Boston takes priority so I am hoping to defer JNJ until 2021 but I’m smack dap in the middle of my 10 year habit to run Boston in April. Holy cow! What an upset to my routine. Training has been revised from marathon specific to maintenance phase running.
My goal since 2011, my first Boston Marathon, was to qualify every year and run 10 consecutive Boston Marathons. I have run 9 and seen the best and the worst of Boston from perfect running weather, to extreme heat, bombing, cold, and then extreme cold – wind – freezing rain and torrential rain mid race. It’s been some kind of ride my dear Boston, city of Boston friend.
When I first learned of the postponement, I was in a complete state of confusion. “Now what do I do? How do I train? Do I stop? Do I keep running high weekly mileage with long runs?” Luckily I have a trainer and he certainly put it all in perspective to make me feel better moving forward with goals in mind.
Sure I feel disappointment but I can appreciate the choice to protect everyone involved due to this horrible COVID – 19 outbreak. On the upside, training during the summer for a September marathon is much more appealing than training through the cold and dark New York winter for a Spring marathon. I’m hoping this September Boston race will allow me a new PR for my all time favorite run.
In the meantime, I’ll keep running and fine tuning my running to the best of my ability at this stage. After all, this Boston will be marathon number 34. How exciting!
Joanne
