A couple of years ago during a business trip, I went to see the Boston Marathon finish line. I did not step on or pass the famous blue and yellow street decoration. I will run through it at another time, I told myself.
I repeated the same scenario last summer during a family vacation to Boston. At that time, I was going through a mix of emotions. I felt confident that my qualifying time from the November 2017 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon would be strong enough to get me into the 2019 race.
However, on that Boston trip, I was only a month out from emergency abdominal surgery. I had not been cleared to resume full activities at that time. Gentle jogging was as hard core as I was able to get at that point. Would I be able to regain the speed, endurance and fitness that I had developed since I began running in 2011? Would I still find the joy in the struggle? Would I still answer the alarm at oh-dark-thirty for training?
It did not take me long to answer my own questions. Continue Reading →