Brotherly Love: The Quest for the Q in Philly!

In the longest drawn out season ever, (just wait, it gets better), one would think that  I might finally get it through my brain to take an off season.  The 2022 race season started off  on December 20th with week one of Ironman Des Moines prep - and it's been a wildly successful year - I can't even believe it.  Barrelman 70.3 in September was meant to wrap it up, but as I've alluded to a few times, the best laid plans....just pivot.

This story goes back a few years ago, which is ironic on so many levels.  Back to 2018, specifically, when I was done with triathlon.  Done-zo.  When you hate the bike, it's really pretty stupid to hope they cancel it every race (they, uh, don't.  Ever).  We don't need to rehash the past four years, but you all know the story - enter in some unlikely friendships, good old fashioned ass kicking, a few shots (okay, many) of kraken, bad decisions, and here we are - triathlon is back on the table, in one hell of a way.  2023 is looking pretty excellent, and I'm amped to kick some serious ass. And while I miss my original group of bad decisions, I've somehow fallen into a few others that are proving to be a hell of a lot of fun.  The future is littered with laughs, dumb ideas, and epic times.  I can't wait!

Before I took the leap back to multisport, though, I made another goal - to Boston qualify.  This was in the midst of the first round of bad decision making friends (yeah, I keep accumulating them, I dunno.  Red flags are pretty and I like livign on the edge, what can I say)  

Anyways, at the end of 2018 I signed up for a marathon in April 2019 - the Coffee Milk marathon.  It checked a few boxes - it was drivable, a new state (I'm an aspiring 50 stater, with fourteen under my belt and 36 left before I kick the bucket - its such a fun way to see the country).  Nestled in Rhode Island, which is my favorite state aside from North Dakota (I did not stutter) it was small race and, I believed, BQ-able, with my Boston qualifying time a 3:35.  

I trained hard for it, and went outside my comfort zone a bunch - with IBR Round the Bay Runs in the cold, a pretty intense (for me at the time) training schedule using Hanson's Marathon method, and a laser focus attitude.  The race did not pan out as expected - I did net a huge PR, going from 3:53 down to 3:41, but there was a decent amount working against me - the day was unseasonably warm, the course not well stocked, and I'll admit, my fitness to hold an 8:10 pace for 26.2 miles just wasn't there.  However, I was pleased with the effort, once I got over the BQ disappointment, and it was a huge springboard to my 2019 tri season that has followed by a few more amazing years and a thirst for some crazy lofty goals for 2023. I'm not the athlete I was in 2019.  Not at all.  And that's in an incredible pinch myself is this real kind of way.

But that Boston thought always lingered - and I'd honestly put it away in my brain until I'd made peace
with a few other multisport goals, namely Ironman (this is still TBD - I'm thrilled with my 2022 performance but still feel I've got some more magic there), learning to ride my freakin bike (jury's out on this, but I posit I've done so) and a the half ironman - I'm still working on this, but I did net an 8 minute PR on a non A race.  Namely, I'd finally done what my old coach asked me to do - ditched being a runner and become a damned triathlete.

Then a few things happened.  One, I turned 40, which gave me a new BQ standard - at 3:40.  Two, I'd
run a crazy fast for me half marathon last year in 1:36. Three, I had a solid as shit season and ran a 1:42 half marathon off the bike in a half Ironman, which got the wheels turning.  Four, lest you think I inherited some sort of logic gene, my buddy Marcus set a goal of BQing in October to run Boston in 2024, which he did handily. Since we are co dependent race-cation buddies, clearly he needed a friend, right?

I'd like to say this led to some serious conversations with the husband about my goals and the BQ idea, but it really didn't.  It led to a cursory search of fall marathons that wasn't really meant to go anywhere, but quickly resulted in the husband hitting "register" a few days later, and then a "Happy Birthday"! BTW your present is Philly, go BQ.

 Well, there ya go.  With that in mind, I ditched my late season half ironman lofty goal (my heart wasn't in it anyways) and drew up a twelve week plan for Philly, largely based off of Hanson but with a few extra long runs in there - I personally like the 20 miler, and the 22 miler in 2022 really helped my mindset for Iowa. 

With the race set to occur in ten days, I've put the work in.  And when people ask me how it's gone, I have zero idea how to answer them.  I need a 3:40.  Logic tells me to aim for a 3:35, which will give me padding if the qualification standards and registration require a buffer (they haven't the past two years, but in the past you needed to go under your BQ time by up to 4 minutes, so its better to plan ahead).  Even further anxiety masterful planning reminds me that a marathon is rarely 26.2 miles, due to courses being measured the the closest tangent, which is tough to always run, so planning for 26.5 miles is smarter.  So, with that....I'm aiming for a 3:32 marathon.....or....26 and change miles at a 8:00 pace.

Every single run I have done for the past three months has told me this is more than possible.  My last long run of 22 miles two weeks ago averaged an 8:16 pace - and the last mile was a 7:42.  (I had some pretty awesome people pacing me, so that helped).  

The hay is in the barn.  And now there's nothing left to do but the two hardest parts - tapering and race execution.  Both of which require something I'm not great at - intelligence and patience.  

I'm terrified.  And excited.  And terrified all over again.  An once again, I'm absolutely amazed by the people that have come together to help me pursue this goal.  I'm gonna save the sap for my race report, but once again, the love from our community of athletes is absolutely amazing to me.  I've had some fantastic new training buddies - people asking me to run that I could never dream of running next to - and they are the most encouraging people I have ever met (they are also assholes in their own right, but in the very best "don't fuck it up way, and I mean that so lovingly). 

 I have people that are willing to break the course down for me and offer tips and pointers to meet my goals - whether they raced it last year or seven years ago.  People that have stepped in and sent their positive magic energy my way and also reminded me that training is supposed to be fun AND inspiring - as well as offering proper, um, nutrition advice on gel absorption (OMG). And - the people that have always been by my side.  Whether its been since I started this whole Rae 2.0 back in 2018, or walked into it as a stupid Ironman newbie in 2010, or the very same one that brought up this dumbass amazing idea back in 2005 and has never faltered from being my biggest supporter.  

It seems fitting that I'm attempting this in the city of brotherly love - because every step of the way, I'll

be thinking about those awesome people (yes, mostly guys, but a few amazing women come to mind here too!) and it's also pretty fitting that one of my favorite dumpster fires is also running it (not with me, he will finish at least a half hour sooner) - but he's the one that tipped a glass to me two weeks ago and said - so - have you ever thought of ditching that triathlete shit and being a runner?  Cause you are good at it.

Well, no, Dave, I haven't - but on November 20 - I'll be a runner.  A runner who is going to go after that thing that's been on her brain since 2018....ok, 2009....ok, since I knew Boston existed....and let's see what happens!