The Alternate Reality

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  Unlike a roundhouse kick from Chuck Norris, I’m giving you, my dear readers, fair warning that this post will contain spoilers (not a lot) from this season of Lost.  I know, I know…what a presumptuous, self-important ass to think that I can compare my running to a Chuck Norris level show like Lost, but guess what?  I AM a presumptuous, self-important ass that thinks he can compare his running to Lost (Duh…I blog to see what witty and insightful thing I have to say.  It’s fascinating to see what comes out of my brain sometimes).

If you’ve been watching Lost (or just prefer to read spoiler synopsis instead), then you know that our favorite cast from Oceanic 815 are now existing in two (count ‘em: two!) realities!  In one reality (for our purposes, let’s call it the Present), the passengers crashed on the Lost island, and in the other reality (let’s call it the Other), Oceanic Flight 815 never crashed and the passengers are living different lives.  In the Present, the passengers are hunted by smoke monsters, die suddenly, and betray loved ones like they’re on an episode of The Real Housewives of Somewhere Lame.  In the Other, the passengers are moving on with their lives blissfully unaware of the Lost island, and allegedly more the happy for it (with a few    exceptions).  Except now, the realities are starting to converge, and the passengers in the Other are starting to recall things that happened in the Present.

Likewise, with my running, I have two goals.  One goal is to beat 3:30:00 in the marathon this year, and the other is to qualify for Boston.  Now I haven’t talked too much about a possible BQ for this marathon as I was afraid of jinxing myself or enraging the running gods for my hubris.  But after some thought, I said “Screw it.  If I want it, I have to own it.”  Ignoring the elephant in the room won’t make it loom any less on my horizon, or make it any less intimidating.  When I adopted this idea, the concept of anything less than a BQ was like the idea of swinging a pissed off rattlesnake around your arm.  Un-ac-cept-able.  So I’ve trained hard (harder than I ever have before, but not as hard as I could) and I’ve oriented my mind towards catching that BQ.  But like the Present in Lost, as the race gets closer, I have to admit that my first goal may be my actual reality/fate.  Despite my wife’s argument to the contrary, the numbers just don’t lie.  While I readily expect to PR this race (barring injury), I seriously doubt that I’ll make my goal for the year or catch that BQ at least with this race.  To that end, my running guru, Frank Z., and I have discussed race alternatives for the fall/winter.  I had originally considered running an ultra in the fall, but if I’m close to a BQ with this race, then my Running Guru says that I should be running another qualifying marathon instead.  And you know what, he’s right.  Does this mean that I don’t chase that BQ this time around?  No, absolutely not.  But like the Locke/smoke monster, the BQ is an intimidating force to be reckoned with, but it is a fight I relish and desire.  It may not be this time, but I’m chasing you, BQ.  Watch out.

Now for the hard numbers:  I did a tempo run of 5.29 mi. at a pace of 8:11/mi.  A little slow, but not totally unexpected with temps around 91 degrees.  Ugh.  And with that, cue the music!  Later kids!