Hi there 馃憢
This is a weekly countdown of long-form reflections on distance running and life, created as I train for the Boston Marathon on April 17, 2023.
19 Weeks Out: Persistence
It doesn鈥檛 rain much in California. San Francisco, where I live and train, is frequently wet because of the year-round fog on the western side of the city. On Thursday, however, it rained a decent amount. I think the accumulation was more than an inch over several hours. The air temperature was somewhere in the high 40鈥檚 (Fahrenheit) and the winds were gusty. I set off at 6:20am to meet my friend Will in the pre-dawn dark....
27 Weeks Out: Identity
A few weeks ago I received confirmation of my acceptance into the 2023 Boston Marathon. It will be my fourth time running the race. I love Boston, and I love running the Boston Marathon. I first ran the course from Hopkinton to Boylston Street in 2014, the year after the bombing. My best time was in 2015, when conditions were cold and windy. My best place in the field was in 2016, when it was hot....
26 Weeks Out: Camaraderie
Tuesday morning was blocked on my calendar this week for a track workout. As I strolled into Kezar Stadium at sunrise, I spotted my friend David. David was with two friends, Jenny and Sara. We exchanged greetings and mentioned our respective plans for the track. They quickly encouraged me to bail on my own planned workout in order to do Jenny鈥檚, and I obliged. Suffering through a workout with friends is way better than suffering alone....
25 Weeks Out: Reconnection
I checked in to my Airbnb in Midtown, Detroit, on Tuesday night. I was working my company鈥檚 booth at KubeCon, a big tech conference. After unpacking my bags, I laced up my shoes, put on my headlamp, and went for a run in the dark of the evening. A lot had changed since I was last in this area. I used to work here occasinally, at the DMC and Harper hospitals on Woodward Ave....
24 Weeks Out: Adaptation
Monday morning did not go according to anyone鈥檚 plan in our house. In the pre-dawn hours, my wife was feeling an incredible amount of pain in her lower back. The pain was bad enough that she got out of bed and started vomiting. We spent some time trying to assess whether things were getting worse, or whether we could control any of her syptoms, but we eventually decided that we needed to get her to the emergency room....