Take Two, BOSTON!!

This is my road to Boston 2012.  I did the West Palm Marathon on 12/5/10 as my first marathon ever.  I finished with a time of 3:50:01.  I was so stunned about completing my first marathon and was on such a high that I wanted to sign up for another one in the next couple of months before it started to get too hot in March.  Otherwise I would have to wait too long for another one.  I found the Melbourne Beaches & Music Marathon which took place on 2/5/11.  I finished with a time of 3:39:10.  A huge, unexpected improvement from my first one.  The biggest difference was the weather.  It was around 78 and sunny for the West Palm race and about 60 with overcast and a light mist for literally the entire morning of the Melbourne marathon.  At this point, I honestly didn't even know what Boston was.  I knew it was a marathon race, but I didn't understand the significance of it.  I just thought it was another huge race like New York or Chicago.  Someone mentioned that I may had qualified for Boston and so I went online and found out that I did indeed qualify.  But, but :50.  I didn't think this was good enough since they were going to take the fastest runners first starting that year.  What was I to do next?  Look for other marathons to get in before Boston registration opened of course.  I found the Santa Rosa Marathon in CA which I HIGHLY recommend.  It's a small race, but flat and in Santa Rosa where it's always between 50 and 70 degrees, even at the end of August when it's held.  I also found the Via of Leigh Valley Marathon in Allenton, PA.  This race is held in the beginning of September.  It was a good race, but a little hilly and warmer than I like.   

I trained hard to get a better time for Boston.  And, at the awesome Santa Rosa race I pulled off a time of 3:29:54.  Since this race is around a bunch of CA wineries, age group winners get a bottle of red wine for the prize.  I love races that give out unconventional awards.  That was my journey to Boston 2012. 

Unfortunately, Boston weather was very uncooperative this year and decided to be hotter on race day than the Florida weather that I had been training in.  It was an amazing weekend and I was very grateful to get to be involved in the experience at least once.  But, it's a little upsetting when you can't enjoy such an awesome race to its fullest because you're concentrating so much on hydrating and doing a body check and looking for the next water stop instead of enjoying the scenery and the complete strangers out there cheering you on.  Although, it was kind of fun running through the fire hydrant water.  How often are you ever going to get to do that?  I know I've never done it before. 

I wanted a redo.  Bad.  I qualified for Boston 2013 at the Disney Marathon 2012 with a time of 3:30:42.  This was fortunate because I did the Miami Marathon 3 weeks later and had the worst marathon I've ever had and was not anywhere near the realm of qualifying.  At exactly 10:00 AM on the Monday of the 2nd week of registration I logged onto www.baa.org and put in my applicaiton.  I have been checking the updates every day since.  B.A.A. was nice enough to post this update shortly after the 5:00 PM registration cut-off time for the second week of registration:

"BOSTON – The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) announced today that registration for the 2013 Boston Marathon® will continue on Monday, September 24 at 10:00 a.m. ET for runners who have met the qualifying standards necessary for the submission of their application. Following an initial two-week, rolling admission registration period, which began on September 10 and concluded on Friday, September 21 at 5:00 p.m. ET, the B.A.A. will accept applications until the maximum field size is reached."
...
http://www.baa.org/news-and-press/news-listing/2012/september/registration-for-the-2013-boston-marathon-will-continue.aspx


What the above statement from Boston means is that anyone who qualified, registered within the first two weeks, and their times can be verified, are accepted.  This means I'm in!  I get my redo.   

Sarah, being as awesome as she is, was able to register on the third day that registration was open.  I was so happy when she said she got her confirmation back.  And, if I hadn't gotten in, I would still would have been just as happy for her.  I know that she would have had an amazing experience and an enormous, giddy smile like the one she got after finishing her first marathon and when she sees dolphins on our runs down Bayshore.  But, I'm even more happy that I get to enjoy the race with her as well.  This is more of a selfish reason.  This year, my friends and family were happy for me.  Most of them are not runners.  So, they were happy for me because they knew it made me happy.  Now I get to enjoy the race with someone who is as excited about it as I am.  It's like going to an amusement park.  It can be fun by youself.  But, it's even better when someone is with you that enjoys it as much as you do.