The Glory of Boston

I should be sleeping. I’m in Boston, hours from the race. Yes, I’m excited. I didn’t expect to be excited though. After all, it’s a road race, but man, it’s shaping up to be one hell of a road race, Monday will be over 30 degrees C! Race organizers have emailed all competitors offering an entry deferral to next year, and strongly recommending that non-elite or hyper-fit competitors take this option. I had been skeptical coming here and wasn’t looking forward to the pounding on the road but after seeing how the city has embraced this event, I’m a believer now!

Obviously, I’m still going to race, and while it’s going to be a fun race, it won’t be a fast race for me. If I can keep it under 3 hours it will be a miracle. I qualified by running a 2:51:50 in Vancouver last May, my first marathon. Running a marathon was a lot more fun than I anticipated. The crowds were surprisingly larger than those found at a typical ultra, the route slightly less hilly, and I didn’t have to deal with a 6 am start! Unfortunately, the food stations weren’t quite as good though. Boston should blow all of that out of the water.

I am running Boston for the experience. Injuries (hip and calves) earlier this year have kept me from doing any speedwork, and have kept mileage relatively low for me. On the plus side, I’m excellent at riding my bike on rollers now. A physiotherapist that I have been working with seems to have isolated the issue and effectively treated it. I’m feeling pretty good going into this race. It’s funny, but I’m coming out of these injuries with a strong fear of reinjuring myself, which is not characteristic for me. I know that running on road beats me up more than running trails. I also know that I’m a stubborn ass and will push through “minor” injuries in order to finish. Not a smart strategy when looking down the barrel of a long season. Lately though, my thoughts really haven’t been on running a PB or even worrying about going fast. They have been on enjoying the experience, and being present in the moment.

The events of the past few weeks may have me more philosophical than usual. As some of you might have read elsewhere, I participated in the ground search for Micah True (aka Caballo Blanco). Caballo was the hero of Christopher McDougall’s best-seller Born to Run, a seminal work reforming how we think about running. The search was physically and emotionally draining. When the news leaked that he was found dead, it made news headlines throughout North America and tributes began pouring from around the world such was his impact on runners.

My weekend in Nevada was more like a dream. Within nearly 24 hours of learning that Caballo was missing I had arrived in Phoenix and met my two friends and search partners – Tim Puetz from Atlanta, and Caleb Wilson from Jacksonville. 48 hours later, I was back on an airplane after spending the previous night camped meters away from my friend, who lay dead on the bank of a beautiful mountain creek at nearly 2000 m in the Gila Mtn. Wilderness. While I was the only Canadian to search, I was not alone and my thanks go to Doone and Tim Watson, members of the Calgary Trail Trash Crew, and Barb Campbell for their assistance with my trip expenses.

Caballo’s death was tragic, and many have described its impact on the running world much better than I can do here (see outsideonline.com for Chris McDougall’s tribute). Caballo’s message was one of peace and love. For me though, his message was about embracing what really matters in our lives. The experience has reminded me to cherish the time with friends and family, to keep things simple, and above all, to be present in the moment. I will be thinking about these tomorrow as I soak in the Boston experience, and when things get tough out there, as they no doubt will, I’ll try to dig a little deeper and race this one for the White Horse. It’s the least I can do.