71 and Counting

February 3, 2013:  71 and Counting….. 20 miles (out/back rt. 119) – 2:02:51.  As you can tell from the previous information, I bailed on the race.  I drove the course and from my perspective the course conditions were awful.  In the past, I have made stupid decisions during my marathon training.  Some of these include: playing hard in softball and/or basketball games (both of which left me extremely sore compromising my training quite a bit), and also running in races that I shouldn’t run in.  No matter what decision I make today, there is still no absolute guarantee that I will make it to the starting line on April 15^th 100% healthy.  However, I just have to trust God with it, and not do anything stupid to mess it up.  I didn’t want running in this race today to be the ‘stupid’ thing that I did to mess up training for Boston.  Even though it’s possible that I could have gotten through the race unscathed, and possibly the series champion, it was just not worth the risk.  The alternative to running the snowy, icy roads in Kanawha City was running a perfectly clear road (rt. 119), and having an AWESOME long run.  I ran the first 10 miles in 63:04 with a tailwind, and ran against the wind on the way back in 59:47!  I absolutely praise God for this.  He gave me enough wisdom to bow out of the race; and honestly, this 20-mile run will probably help me for Boston more than the race would have.