Passing On the "Boston" part of the "Boston Marathon"

I posted in July about my growing conundrum about whether or not I was going to register for Boston 2017.  After posting about it, I didn't really give it much thought until a few weeks ago when the Instagram posts started counting down to this week, registration week.  At that point, I had ALMOST made up my mind that I was NOT going to do it.  There was a blip earlier this week where I thought "Maybe????" when last year's training partner Facebook message harassed me about joining her :)

But I'm sticking with my original decision which is NOT running Boston in 2017.

WHAAAAAAAAAA?

Reason 1: My heart is not in it
At first blush, this may seem crazy, but this is not the first time where I have qualified for, and subsequently passed on, running the Boston Marathon.  Of the 7 marathons I have run, 5 were BQs. The first time I qualified for Boston, I ran it.  That first BQ was a major goal of mine after moving to a new city (Chicago) in my 20s and wanting to get back into running after a long on again, off again relationship with it through college and grad school.

I toyed with the marathon after Boston 2007 and gave that distance up for several years because I would under train and be dissatisfied with my performance.

Then, after my second child was born, I was in my mid-30s and dying to do it again.  Could I do it? YES I COULD! My 4th BQ led to running my 2nd Boston Marathon last year - two major goals of mine from the last two years checked off the list.

To me, qualifying for and running the Boston Marathon has been a challenge that I have given myself during some points of transition in my life.  I don't really have a big transition that I'm facing right now, and maybe that is why the Boston Marathon just isn't making my heart sing this year.  Last year I was in full countdown mode for registration, I was planning my life around this marathon.  This year...meh.

The Boston Marathon is amazing.  In so many ways. I don't know if this will make sense but I sort of want to save it for times when I really NEED it.

Reason 2: Time
Guess what.  It takes a ton of freakin' time to train for a marathon. For this reason, I only really can mentally handle about one marathon a year at this point in my life.  My husband can really only mentally handle about one marathon a year, and he is a critical key to getting training in with two kids.  Would I like to be one of those runners that is tackling marathons all the time? Sometimes.  But that is not my current life.  So if I am going to do one marathon next year (which is still a goal of mine), I want it to be a new one.  A new course.  A new experience.  Who knows how long I will be running marathons?  I might as well tackle some other ones on my to-run list while I can.  Also, I have to be cognizant of my PPL bank at work, which unfortunately for me, is not endless :(

Reason 3: Expense
Boston is really expensive, particularly when you take your family. Of course, plenty of other marathons that I want to run are still expensive so if I'm going to drop a lot of dough, I'd rather go to a new destination.

When it came down to it, I think the only reason I wanted to run it was to join in the hullabaloo of this week on social media.  Which is a dumb freakin' reason.

So, no Boston for me next year.  HOWEVER, I have goals people.  And the 3:15 (or faster) marathon is at the top of that list.  Stay tuned.