nob-AL?

To be, or not to be, that is the question...

Al has some thinking to do...

So, today I did a little research. and what I found sent my mind spinning a bit.

First, a little background: as I told you in a recent post, I'm back to (or close to) my best 1/2 marathon times. Though my best times were 10 years old (when I was 29), I'm matching those now. This got me thinking and looking about. Like any marathoner, I'd love to run Boston. Many people run it (they just jump in and run in the mix unofficial or they buy a number from an injured party or they do a fund raiser and get special access). Only a select number qualify and run it "officially." It is considered the premier marathon event.

Now back in the day, my marathon PR was a 3:16 and change. I wanted to do Boston, but my qualifying time then was 3:10. I just couldn't get there. But, on the next running of the Boston (4/09), I'll be 40. My qualifying time for that is 3:20. Back in the day, I ran a number of marathons at sub 3:20. I ran 7 or 8 in the 3:17-3:19 range.

So here is what I'm asking myself: self, if you can get yourself back to almost PR time for your 1/2 marathon...can't you do the same for your marathon time? If I do that, or even close, I'll qualify for Boston. Wouldn't it be cool to do Boston on your 40th? The voice says.

Here are the problems with that thought line:

• I'm jumping into the tri season with both feet this year. I'm booked up for tris through late August. I'll need to qualify for Boston in a Fall marathon, if I hope to do it in my 40th year. That doesn't leave me much time.
• Even if I decide to cut short my tri season (say...skip the last tri I'm signed up for?) I have no way of knowing if I can whip these bones back into my past-best marathon shape.
• I'm in the NYC marathon lottery. If I get into that one, I'll be psyched. I haven't gotten into NYC since 02, though I've done the lottery each year. BUT...NYC is not a fast course. I'm thinking that I might need every bit of help I can get. One usually chooses a flat/fast course to try and bag a PR. But the little voice says, grow a bag. Think how great it would be to qualify in a tough marathon on your home turf.

Oh decisions, decisions...