Moving Forward, Learning from the Past

As I attempt to go after the ultimate goal in this running thing (the almighty BQ) it's become apparent to me that this journey has already taken much longer than I ever thought it would. I first became aware of the whole BQ and Boston Marathon thing about six years ago and it didn't take long for me to set my sights upon this goal. And yet here I am still struggling through injuries and running much too slow to make such a lofty achievement ultimately "realistic".

As such, I have been resigned to two very important lessons learned:

1. I cannot handle daily running no matter how much I would like to think that I can muscle my way through it.
2. I have trained much too slow and, in periods of relative health, all that I've become adept at is running slow.

Therefore, two changes to my running philosophy/practice must necessarily accompany the above epiphanies.

1. I must take days off and likely will top out at four running days per week.
2. I must practice running fast enough to make BQ pace feel easy.

So that's what I've been doing since the start of the year. I have moved from three days per week to four days per week of running, and I'm gently pushing the pace by varying the types of runs that I do in an effort to make BQ something that my body can manage for a little over three hours on race day.

Nothing to report other than that, which in and of itself is likely a lesson I should have learned years ago. I am certainly hoping that my plan leads to success and, more to the point, success in much less time than it's taken me to absorb these lessons...

That being said, I do enjoy the act of running and want to enjoy it for its own sake for years to come. But at this point I am not willing or able to enjoy the act of running absent a worthy goal. The two go together in my mind, though I recognize that at some point in my life I will have to either achieve the philosophy expressed in this article, or find another pursuit. I do agree with the author, however, about running still being "the best part of my day."