Big River Racing TeamBig River Racing TeamBig River Racing TeamBig River Racing Team
  • About the Team
    • About the Team
    • Meet the Team
      • Men
      • Women
    • Joining the Team
    • Team Store
    • Big River Racing Team News
  • Schedules
    • Calendar
    • Training Schedule
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us

Marathon Monday

    Home Racing Team News Marathon Monday
    NextPrevious

    Marathon Monday

    By admin | Racing Team News, Uncategorized | Comments are Closed | 5 May, 2016 | 1

    Marathon Monday, the 3rd Monday in April has become my favorite day of the year. Nothing comes close, not my birthday, not Easter, nor Christmas. The atmosphere in Boston on Patriot’s Day is unmatched. No matter the weather, the Boston faithful line the course, cheering rambunctiously for 26.2 miles.

    For the past four years, I have lined up against the most dedicated and talented runners in the world. Those who have arduously put in the miles; the hill repeats, tempo runs, and interval work outs during perilous winter weather across the country. I am truly blessed for the opportunity to compete on Patriot’s Day, and I consider it my duty to run to the best of my ability on that given day, and Patriot’s Day 2016 was no exception.

    Unfortunately, my preparation for Boston was hindered by a devastating ankle injury, which left me sidelined from the middle of December until February. As a result, I had a shortened, 8 week training cycle to prepare for the daunting marathon cross.

    Come race day, I felt fit, but I knew I was not in shape to run a personal best. The weather was very warm for a marathon, with a starting temperature around 60 degrees.

    However, we have so few opportunities in life to race marathons, few (including myself) can handle more than two marathons a year.

    With the knowledge of my limited fitness, I threw caution to the wind and went after a personal best. Although I charged out faster than I should have, hundreds around me also started far too fast, succumbing to the fast downhills over the first five miles.

    By mile 10, I became concerned and felt the lactic acid building in my legs. Yet, I remained confident and maintained my tempo, gaining strength by passing others who had gone out far too quickly.

    As I descended the long downhill into Newton at mile 16, I made a conscientious decision to attack the hills. The wind had turned into our faces, and I knew those ahead of me were teetering on the brink of destruction, paying for flying out too quickly in the opening miles. I saw the whites of my opponents’ eyes and fired.

    Charging up the hills, my mantra was “Burn and Bury.” My confidence grew as I scorched the earth beneath my feet, leaving my competitors in my wake.

    Unfortunately, while climbing the hill through mile twenty, I became anaerobic. My legs tightened, a stiff breeze blew, and I lost momentum. By Heartbreak Hill I was unraveling.

    After cresting Heartbreak, I willed myself to increase the pace on the downhills. The crowd was deafening and I attempted to remain resilient. However, my pace slowly faltered. I had pushed the red line too early and faced a challenging last 5k.

    The last overpass by Fenway Park dealt the final blow, as I was now running on fumes. Time slowed, the pain amplified, and my comrades I had burned past over the hills came back with renewed vigor. It was my turn to be burned and buried.

    Ultimately, I crossed the line with tears in my eyes.

    On Patriot’s Day, I endured for those who could not compete.

    On Patriot’s Day, I suffered, I tested the limits of my mind, my body, and my soul.

    On Patriot’s day, I fought the good fight, I finished the race, and I kept the faith.

     

    Boston, Competing, Marathon, Suffering

    admin

    This information box about the author only appears if the author has biographical information. Otherwise there is not author box shown. Follow YOOtheme on Twitter or read the blog.

    More posts by admin

    Related Post

    • Workout Write-Up: Backwards (Retro) Running

      By bigriverracing | Comments are Closed

      This week’s workout comes from Dawn Turlington. Dawn started running in 2011 and was immediately hooked. She has completed nearly 100 races and most recently her first marathon in November. She is training to runRead more

    • No Trespassing

      By bigriverracing | Comments are Closed

      Written by Marshall Phares I have had several opportunities to travel for work and explore new cities (and towns) on the run over the past few years. During the past year, I’ve made tracks throughRead more

    • Workout Write-up: 3-2-1 Fartlek

      By admin | Comments are Closed

      Big River Racing is debuting a new type of blog post called the Workout Write-up. One of Big River Racing’s team members will discuss one of their favorite types workouts and provide details about how andRead more

    • Frostbite Fun & Winter Wins

      By Mike Flynn | Comments are Closed

      Big River Racing Team members have racked up some strong performances the past few months. On December 3, John Kertz (23:22) won his age group at the Santas On The Loose 5K. Also on DecemberRead more

    • November Recap

      By Mike Flynn | Comments are Closed

      Big River Racing athletes continued to impress in November! On November 5, at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon: Elvir Sarajlic ran 1:18:03 in the Half Marathon Travis Menghini ran 1:27:00 in the Half Marathon Preston JordanRead more

    NextPrevious

    Recent Posts

    • Frostbite Fun & Winter Wins
    • November Recap
    • October Recap
    • Women Finish 1-2-3 at Spewak Cross Country Race
    • MO’ Cowbell & September Recap

    Archives

    • February 2023
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • June 2020
    • March 2020
    • January 2020
    • January 2019
    • April 2017
    • May 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014

    Recent Posts

    • Frostbite Fun & Winter Wins

      Big River Racing Team members have racked up some strong performances the

      16 February, 2023
    • November Recap

      Big River Racing athletes continued to impress in November! On November 5,

      30 November, 2022
    • October Recap

      After strong performances in September and the beginning of October, the Big

      2 November, 2022
    Big River Racing

    Big River Racing is about running in its purest form. We encompass racing and pushing one’s limits, accepting anyone who shares our passion for running. The team is a dedicated group of like-minded individuals who train, race and socialize with the goal of improving the St. Louis running community through advocacy, openness and volunteerism. The team exists to support runners from post-collegiate athletes to those relatively new to the sport and anyone in between.
    Copyright © 2022 Big River Racing Team
    • About the Team
      • About the Team
      • Meet the Team
        • Men
        • Women
      • Joining the Team
      • Team Store
      • Big River Racing Team News
    • Schedules
      • Calendar
      • Training Schedule
    • Sponsors
    • Contact Us
    Big River Racing Team
    Manage Cookie Consent
    To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
    Functional Always active
    The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
    Preferences
    The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
    Statistics
    The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
    Marketing
    The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
    Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
    View preferences
    {title} {title} {title}