We’ll be watching out for trouble, yeah

What a week its been for Boston, the running community and, frankly, everyone.  Before I boarded my flight on Monday out of Amsterdam I was tracking the Boston marathon on Twitter. My good friend Rob Watson was in the lead 24km into the race so I waited to the last minute to board the flight in order to maximize my updates. When the plane took off I was already anxious to see the results seven and half hours later.

The second we landed I turned on my phone and my text messages popped up on my screen. There was an unusual amount of messages. One from my mom read “I’m sure you are aware of the Boston tragedy…” and others asking if I was in Boston. One from the CBC asking for comments. My first thought was that someone I knew died because when I think of a tragedy at a marathon my first thoughts are to Ryan Shay and Danny Kassap. My mind was scrambling to make sense of what was going on and as I started to scroll through Twitter it was quickly apparent that there had been bombings at the Boston Marathon. I scrolled though tons of tweets gathering all sorts of information in reverse chronology.  I couldn’t believe that actually happened.

As I held the finishing banner for yesterday’s Yonge Street 10k race and watched many runners come through the finish I thought about the Boston tragedy. The finish line is a place for celebration and as you watch people cross the line you witness lots of emotions, it’s a beautiful thing. Why would anyone want to cause harm to these people challenging themselves and to their loved ones who are there supporting them?

I’m off to Boston tomorrow for a few days for a New Balance engagement.

***

It’s been a week since Rotterdam and I’ve managed to clear my lungs (with the help of antibiotics and plenty of rest). I will take another week off of running, which will be pretty hard because the nice weather has finally graced us in Southern Ontario and my body and mind are ready to go.  Some people who have come up to me this past week to talk about the race have expected me to be pretty down about having had to drop out of Rotterdam, which is not the case. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy with the way things went but some things were out of my control and I learned a lot.  I was sick going in but I never would have known how it would have effected me unless I pushed my body really hard, so I tried.

When I walked the last 5km of the Rotterdam course I was replaying what just went down and thinking about the future. My level of excitement for a fall marathon trumped the feelings of disappointment from Rotterdam. What is to come, and the fact I am not injured, are the reasons why I’m not dwelling on the misfortune of Rotterdam. It was also a relief to be able to move on from this particular marathon build-up.

My build-up was not perfect, I was not completely happy, I was questioning a lot of things and contemplating very big changes.  My coach Dave Scott-Thomas was in Rotterdam with me and it felt like old times, productive and positive feelings. Over the race weekend I got the feeling that the changes I needed were possible without making any drastic changes.  My confidence to get back to where I want to be, the training I need to do and the support group to help me get there are in place.

My focus is on a fall marathon and the goal is to chase a fast time. The first step is to build a big base and enjoy running in the trails. I will start to race in June and I will focus on a few competitive road races over the summer.  I want to race a little more and mix it up with some guys who will take me out of my comfort zone.

A shot before the race, when I still had hopes of running well.