The Few, the Proud: Those That Were Able to Register for Boston

Not much to report on the training front this week—the legs are still feeling strong, thus preparations (though for what?) are going swimmingly. The Go Green 5k Trail Run (last weekend) went well, with me placing a solid second in 17:57; I was encouraged that I ran semi-quickly, yet felt like I was coasting and could have kept up the pace without too much issue for another few miles. I guess we’ll see next weekend, at the Trick or Trot (10k). I may work in a bit of speedwork, just to ready my legs for the sensation, but realize that I’ve not given myself enough time doing so to build anything resembling a solid speed base (instead opting for a mileage base).

The biggest news, by far, is that I was able to sign-up for the Boston Marathon (which will take place Monday, April 18) again this year. I’m glad I didn’t play the waiting game with it, as all 25,000 available qualifier slots filled up within 8 hours. Two years ago, it took approximately three months for all 25,000 slots to fill (a record quickness at that time), and last year (my first year running it) filled up within a single month. And now it’s taking less than a full day. I sense Boston will be modifying their qualifying standards and/or going to a lottery system (a-la the NYC Marathon, which requires most of the 37,000 entrants to meet a qualifying time AND have their name picked during the name-in-the-proverbial-hat process) in the very near future, as the demand is currently far too great for the current specifications.

SO, unless I come up with another race-to-train-for in between now and then, I’ll be kicking it into high gear around the start of the new year, as I aim to run 2:50:00 this year at Boston. I’m getting tired of running in near-obscurity, after all (though I don’t know that running under 2:50:00 will remedy that, it will at least be a good start to what I hope will be my fastest year to date).