Couch2Boston

Spoiler: Not mine :-) Mark Rice's Heart Rate Training Thoughts Way back in the fall of 2013 I was in Philadelphia getting ready for the marathon and obsessively checking the Runner's World message boards following the chatter of the cool people in the Boston Marathon section when I just couldn't take it anymore.  I had to come out of the shadows.  These people seemed nice.  Not just "internet nice" but genuinely nice and supportive.  It was time for me to create an account and have my voice heard.  Eek. I had followed their training and daily training comments for a few months after I found my way to the forum chasing links about BQ cutoff predictions.  These folks seemed like rock stars to me.  I had never been to the Boston Marathon once, but they had been there many times.  Who was I to think I had something to tell them?!?!?!? I held my fear at bay and jumped into the conversation.  I don't remember the exact trigger, but I do remember it...

This one is going to be short and sweet, or maybe not-so-sweet.  I've made reference before to being a software guy and in software it is pretty common to do a "retrospective" every couple of weeks to keep tabs on what "Went Well", what there is " To Improve" and capture any "Action Items" that can help things go smoother in the future.  While I'll likely never attempt 2 marathons in 2 days again, I still wanted to do a retrospective on how things went this time around.  The idea is the next time I try something silly, having this board to look at might help things go more smooth. And that's it...no pontificating or bad humor this time around.  Just a quick post for my future self to help remember what my 2021 self wishes had been different for the Chicago2Boston attempt.

Wow.  Where to start? The beginning I guess.  Way back in January I was surprised when the Boston Athletic Association decided to schedule the Boston Marathon the day after the Chicago Marathon.  I was already registered for the Chicago Marathon.  After I got over the initial schedule shock I got excited about the possibility of 2 major marathons in 2 cities in 2 days.  These races felt like the perfect way to celebrate emerging from the darkest days of the pandemic.  The impossible might become possible again. Participating in a marathon for me is sometimes a race where I'm doing everything I can to get the most out of my body and other times being in a marathon is a chance to be part of the best parade ever .  Think about it, what other parades are this long and in normal times might draw millions of spectators to cheer and celebrate with?  A rolling 26.2 mile party, plain and simple. After struggling for months to get to the point where I cou...