My future with 26.2

About to finish the Sugarloaf Marathon, one month ago

One month ago today I ran the 2012 Sugarloaf Marathon, but it was clear going into it that I was fairly burned out from running.

Last fall I posted my YouTube video on the one year anniversary of qualifying for Boston.  Stevie had never seen the video, and like many, she remarked on the elation seen on my face the moment I crossed the finish line.  She encouraged me to try again, and that encouragement was a large factor in my decision to once again train for Boston.  Unfortunately it didn't pan out the way I'd hoped.

Marathoning takes extreme dedication, hard work and sacrifice, even more so when attempting to qualify for Boston.  It's easy to say it's all worth it when you only have to go through it once. Two years ago I made one serious go at Boston and made it on the first try.  I also didn't have a full time job, and my girlfriend at the time lived an hour away.  Now everything has changed.  I'm a full time high school teacher, I have a live-in girlfriend, the qualifying time is now five minutes faster, and simply put, I'm wary of dedicating training cycle after training cycle to chase this dream, in the process straining Stevie's patience and my own sanity.  Boston is something I still desperately want to achieve, but if all I accomplish through training is to make myself miserable, then what's the point?

At the moment, the plan is to replicate my training from two years ago.  That means running the Philly Rock 'n' Roll Half in September, the Atlantic City Marathon in October, and then the Philly Marathon in November.  This may be a last ditch effort before I finally put away marathoning for awhile and stick with shorter distances.