I'm a Wicked Disappointed Runnah

Remember that period of elation when I qualified for the Boston Marathon?

It was awesome while it lasted.

With the awful events at the 2013 Boston Marathon, there was significantly higher interest in running the 2014 race. I've surprised a lot of people - read, non-runners - with that little tidbit. What do you mean, more people are interested? Wouldn't less people want to do it? But runners are like that - you put an obstacle in our path, a challenge, and it's in our nature to want the prize beyond the barrier just a little bit more.

The BAA did increase the field this year - 9,000 more runners than usual, a total of 36,000 runners for the field of the 2014 race. For me, though, it wasn't enough. I missed being one of the runners by 9 seconds.

Nine. Seconds.

Ouch.

I spent a day being way more disappointed than I thought I would. For weeks, I kept telling myself that with the best-time entry process, and the significantly heightened interest in the race this year, BQ-1:29 probably wasn't going to cut it. And that if it didn't, I was fine with that, because I had left it all out on the course in Houston. I couldn't have run that race one.second.faster than I did. And besides, if I didn't get into the 2014 race, I'd have a whole five minutes more for qualifying in 2015, because I'd move up to the 40-44 age group. Silver lining.

But when that rejection email came across, the disappointment was overwhelming. And it lasted for about 24 hours.

Today, I've snapped out of it. I've moved from sad and disappointed to mad and determined. I've been in a bit of a holding pattern with my workouts - between the broken ankle and not having a race committed on the calendar, I've done little in the way of organized workouts. But this morning - this morning was my first workout to get ready to try and BQ for 2015.

Not a bad start.