A few weeks ago I got my confirmation that I had been accepted for the Boston Marathon and last week we booked the flights and hotel. So it is really happening.

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Enjoying my first marathon

On telling people that I am going to be running Boston Marathon I have had two responses. The first is “that’s cool to go and do a marathon over there” i.e. – nothing new here, Lorna’s doing another marathon but nice she is going to the US to run it. The second is “Congratulations, that’s amazing!” and the conversation moves to how fast I run.

So to explain the second response. You can only qualify for the Boston marathon by running a marathon within a certain time – so not everyone can run it. Even on qualifying there is no guarantee you’ll get in because they prioritise the fastest runners until it is full. I ran London marathon this year in 3:28 and the qualification is 3:45 for my age group so I felt pretty confident there would be no problem. Some people try for years to meet this standard so I am really pleased I made it. If you are interested if you can qualify, check out this link.

I am not really the type of person who travels to another continent to run a marathon. London marathon was the only marathon that I really wanted to do and that was because I grew up watching it every year on the BBC and I was really inspired by it. I remember my Uncle David training for it when he visited us in the 80s and it was quite mad that he ran to another town along a main road for his training. Apart from that I am happy to keep races fairly local and enjoy the challenge of it rather than the location. But I decided this could be quite a different and unique experience for me, so why not? I also spent a year there as a student so it’s going to be fun going back and exploring where we used to live and hang out.

So Boston brings some challenges for me. For an Amsterdam athlete it is a rather hilly course and is famous for Heartbreak Hill at around 33km in that lasts for half a mile. It comes just at the moment you are already struggling and where people may have already hit the wall. The other challenge will be from jet lag and traveling. However, we will arrive 5 days before and the start will be early so hopefully it will be OK.

I start training on the 1st of November so keep your eyes open for upcoming blogs about my training for Boston Marathon in Amsterdam.

bostonroute

Boston Marathon profile

You can find more information about training for a marathon here.

Author: Lorna Wilson

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06 460 377 74 / lorna@wilsonsworkouts.nl