Tunnel Marathon, part 1
Okay, so where is everyone? Given yesterday’s major news I expected a deluge of comments. Don’t tell me you actually HAVE a life. Obviously you failed to comprehend what I was slyly telling you. But I’ll give you one more chance. Go on — go back and reread yesterday’s post, paying particular attention to the last line. Take your time; I’ll wait.
Oh for heaven’s sake. Here you go:
P.S. Oh my goodness; I almost forgot to mention! Based on my performance today, I’ll also be running a race back East the third Monday in April.
So now you’re probably asking yourself, “What’s the significance of the third Monday in April?” Could it be… Groundhog’s Day? No, that’s usually in early February. Easter? No, that’s on a Sunday. Taxes due? No, that’s April 15. Solstice? Come on, that’s June 21! No, the third Monday in April is an obscure holiday called Patriot’s Day celebrated in the commonwealth of Massachusetts. As part of the celebration they hold a marathon starting in the tiny town of Hopkinton. I know, I know — seems crazy for me to travel 3,000 miles just to race in such a tiny town, but I’ve heard it’s fun.
Okay — I’ll stop with the coyness.
I FREAKIN’ BQ’D YESTERDAY!!!!!
My final time: 3:54:34.
(Gold stars to K80K, Angie, Leana and Running from 30 for figuring it out. Nitmos receives only a silver star since he didn’t have a clue what the third Monday in April is).
I do apologize for not filling you in earlier. But our plans kept changing and we didn’t commit to trying to BQ at the Tunnel Marathon until the end of July. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, we started looking at other marathons in August and September to fulfill the entry criteria for the Marathon Maniacs. When we read the course description for Skagit Flats — another Boston qualifier — we decided we’d try to BQ there rather than wait until Royal Victoria. Soon after we signed up for the Tunnel Marathon as it sounded like a fun race (we planned on running it very slowly as a training run). At the time the website stated they were hoping to get it certified, however, there was no guarantee.
When I saw the promise it WOULD be certified, I decided to stick with my Skagit Flats plan as it would give me three additional weeks of training. My training to that point wasn’t going very well; I missed a week due to a cold, then I was overly ambitious with my speed work which left me beaten and defeated. In fact, after a particularly tough BUAL™ workout, I decided to discontinue those and just focus on getting miles in.
Well, fate had another plan for me.
Toward the end of June the Tunnel Marathon became certified, and as I was looking through the photos on the site I realized their claim the race was “potentially the fastest USATF-certified course in the country” was indeed true. Lest you doubt me, here’s the readout from Garmin:
So once again I was retooling my training, incorporating a week-long taper. Despite feeling my training was inadequate, I did log in more than 330 miles since North Olympic. I also incorporated a few “progression” runs where I would run a couple of miles at the marathon race pace for a 4-hour marathon, then increase my speed by 10 seconds per mile every two miles for a total of eight miles. As marathon day approached I felt I was as ready as I’d ever be.
Next up: Tunnel Marathon, part 2 (the actual race report).
August 18th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
HOLY CRAP! Congrats! You rock!
August 19th, 2008 at 3:45 am
Sweet Jesus, that’s what I get for reading too quickly! Congratulations! I want me some of that! I can’t wait to annoy you with restaurant recommendations for marathon weekend in Boston.
August 19th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Big Congrats! Lord it was hot this weekend as well. I commend you.
Did DH BQ as well?
August 19th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Girl, you have no idea how proud I am of you for BQing. It has been a pleasure reading along as you reached for and acheived your goal. I want to be you when I grow up.
August 19th, 2008 at 7:06 am
FANTASTIC! Congratulations!!!
Can’t wait to read the full race report — and watch your training for Boston!
August 19th, 2008 at 7:56 am
girl, you are on fire! knew you were going to qualify soon! OMG!!! You must be over the moon! am so bummed i missed that first post (you know i would have guessed it!) —
i am so happy for you!!! a HUGE congratulations! xoxoxo suzanne.
August 19th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Wow….Congratulations!!! Welcome to Beantown! I probably won’t be running (no way could this penguin ever BQ), but I’ll be there to cheer the runners on.
Way to go!!
August 19th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Thank you everyone! (God, I’m SUCH an attention whore). And no, my darling missed his BQ by just 18 seconds. However, I’ve come up with a training plan for him over next couple of weeks and he’ll try again at Skagit Flats September 7.
August 19th, 2008 at 9:47 am
What are you scoring like an Olympics gymnastics judge? A silver star?
Congratulations again! What big news to jump in and dump on everyone. Tunnel 2 must be full of the gritty details.
August 19th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Holy cow, congratulations! That’s awesome!
August 19th, 2008 at 10:17 am
I knew you’d get your BQ, and I’m so happy that you made it! Wow, you sure are speedy. Congratulations again, and I can’t wait to read the race report.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Hey, that “third Monday” line sure got my attention! See my post over on Girl-In-Motion. I just thought it would be gauche to prod you for the full report 🙂
Many congratulations on the BQ. I’m agog to find out how the pacing plan went.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
um. ok … looking at those pictures actually makes me want to do another marathon. what great shots! maybe next year i’ll have to head west in the airstream to get a little 26.2 mile run in.
August 19th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Nitmos — great news! Turns out the East German judge was accepting bribes to keep you from receiving a gold star. She’s been punished and you now have a gold star!
August 21st, 2008 at 4:35 pm
AWWWW YEAH!!!!! Congrats Betsy!!!!
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:58 am
CONGRATULATIONS!!
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I knew you rocked. I had no idea how much. You’ve become so speedy. Congrats on the hard work.
August 24th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! Really really amazing 🙂