Poor guys, they were only about 1 year old and didn't have official 'names' but will now be known as Smoochy and Friend. Only a few weeks to go and they'd be happily chewing away on mosquito larvae and the latest crop of baby fish. It's a cruel world.
But the world is not all bad if you like chocolate, ice cream and beer (all at once too). This was my dessert at the pub last week and no I didn't deserve it and my doctor would freak at the cholesterol and calories but I like to live by the 'furnace burns hot' theory when it comes to running and eating. Mmmmm! Note, this was preceded by a Guinness or two (remember it was dessert).Seriously, the running is going fairly well for Boston. This past week I was able to get in a total of 54 miles for which I get a 7 out of 10 for effort. Missed my speed workout, dropped one day of running due to travel and work and no 8-15k race available to run and so the lower grade. I got extra points for the good marathon paced effort last Sunday with 14 miles right on pace as part of the long run.
The bib numbers are now up for Boston and I scored #6812 this year. Remember that all numbers (except for the elites who get assigned numbers below 100) are based on each runners qualifying time and are assigned starting at 1000. You then are allowed entry in your starting corral of 1000 runners and placed with runners of similar Q times. Just before the start they remove the barriers between corrals and then there's lots of squeezing around to get near the front.
Since I like numbers I decided to show this plot of bib number for my 8 Boston's along with the resulting finish time compared to qualifying time. The goal has been to run at least as fast as my entry time but you can see this does not happen much. I was only able to do it once in 2002 when we had a perfect overcast, cool, calm day and everything worked out. Other than that, you can see some of my excuses like heat waves and nor'easters and the fact that I just can't seem to produce results on the big day.The goal this year is to again try for my BQ time of 3:15 but I'll call success anything close to average (see green bar). Finishing is also success and running this race is always worth the effort. Still, we work so hard to qualify and get invited, then have to suffer through the winter training only to meet the unpredictable conditions on the day of the race. We like to run well at Boston and all you can do is prepare as best you can and hope for a good day.
Enough whining but I wasn't really complaining. I'll take what comes and make the best of it. Have a great week all!
12 comments:
so sorry to hear about your little friends.
I'll be tracking you at Boston!! thanks for the heads up with the bib#
I've been off the blog-reading map lately, and I come back to dead fish, ice cream, chocolate and beer. It's like I never left!
A true Power with that dessert,and a nice cold beer to wash it down?
So, where's this pub and when are you going to invite me up for a pint?
I must admit I use the "furnace burns hot" theory alot but sometimes wonder what the engine would be like if the furnace wasn't fed crap.
7 out of 10 for 2 missed workouts, a feed of Guinness and a vat of ice cream - what do you normally score - 20?
That guinness looks very like Kilkenny ale to me.
I must admit I use the "furnace burns hot" theory alot but sometimes wonder what the engine would be like if the furnace wasn't fed crap.
7 out of 10 for 2 missed workouts, a feed of Guinness and a vat of ice cream - what do you normally score - 20?
That guinness looks very like Kilkenny ale to me.
You have a sharp eye Grellan. The glass is labeled Kilkenny correctly but this was my dessert! The Guinness came before with the main course. Re: my scoring system, the mind gets foggy after time at the pub.
Oh man, did you have to do that? I'm trying to stay off the chocolate before my race, which I can't do over Easter anyway, and then you produce a photo of that humdinger of a dessert! I get glassy eye just thinking about it.
Oh, and the Boston times merely reflect the fact that Boston's a very tough course.
that dessert looks so yummy!
Very cool, I'm a numbers girl too. Good luck in not only staying in the "green" but beating your BQ time!
Sorry to hear about Smoochie and friend. Especially since they were going to eat your mosquito larva.
Dessert looks AWESOME!! I've almost OD'ed on chocolate cake - was given 3 of them for my birthday. If you lived closer, I'd give you one and some beers to join me.
If there was even a remote chance that we weren't related, that has been totally eliminated! Now that is how a guy is supposed to treat himself.
Good job on the running front. You look like you have positioned yourself well for a good day in Boston. Hopefully conditions cooperate and you get the chance to run the race you are capable of running.
... umm, Kilkenny.
All the best with the remaining few weeks of training. I'll be paying particular attention this year as next I hope to race there, until then, I'm living vicariously through you.
Good luck!
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