Something happens to brain function late in a marathon or a long workout. Names and stories get harder to remember. Facts get fuzzy. And math becomes impossible. I’ve always called the phenomenon “runner brain.” The point where so much effort is going into keeping legs moving forward that all other information fades into the background. For the second half of the Mesa Marathon this past weekend, I fought off constant runner brain.
I knew I had a chance to run my first Boston Qualifier time in more than 14 months. My brain kept calculating and recalculating my pace.
When I crossed the finish line in 3:04:51, I celebrated like it was my first ever BQ.
It’s been a long time.
My race was nearly a carbon copy of my first ever BQ time, a 3:04:52 at the Green Bay Marathon back in 2014.
So much has happened between those two races. I qualified two straight years without getting back the Boston cutoff. Then I finally broke three hours, which I’ve done double digit times now. My qualifying time dropped five minutes to 3 hours flat, and now it’s back up to 3:05 because I’m going to be 35 on race day 2021.
What hasn’t changed? The adrenaline of accomplishing a goal. Even if it was just by nine seconds, which I know isn’t fast enough to get me in the 2021 Boston Marathon field. But last Saturday was a positive step.
The Mesa Marathon, which was named the Phoenix Marathon when I first ran it five years ago, is one of my favorite races. As evidenced by the fact I’ve run it for five straight years.
By this point, I know the course well. The long bus ride out to Usery Pass, followed by a long wait in the port-o-let line out under the desert night sky. A dark start and first few miles before the sun starts to lighten the sky and reveal the giant cacti all around. Then the fast course down into Mesa.
I hit the halfway point in 1:34:30, on 3:09 pace. A bathroom stop and extremely stiff first several miles cost me a lot of time. My impulse was to chalk the race up as another failed BQ attempt (I ran 3:07 last month in Carlsbad, Calif.).
Then I picked up my pace for a few miles and realized I was feeling just strong enough to try for a negative split.
Thankfully my Garmin was beeping exactly on every single mile marker. Better than it has ever tracked in a race before. When I hit mile 20.2, I started running my runner brain math calculations. Six miles left, which would be 42 minutes exactly on a 7-minute pace. My overall time was just under 2:23:30, so I knew I needed to shave around five seconds off a 7-minute pace each mile.
In mile 21, I gave up. I was slowing down, and my legs didn’t seem to respond to my 6:55 pace goal. But, somehow I geared back up in mile 22. Miles 23-25 are a little blurry now. People handing out water cups, dodging half marathoners. The day had warmed up a lot, and I was starting to feel dehydrated.
When I hit mile 25.2 with just under seven minutes until my 3:05 goal time, I knew I could finish it out. It still hurt a lot.
And, like I did immediately following my first BQ back six years ago, I vomited right past the finish line.
I know I have so much more work to do. Boston is currently my next race up — I will feel tremendous pressure to run well and get a secure 2021 BQ. But for now, I’m happy to be back in the ranks of the Boston qualified.
Everyone’s running journey is unique. The Mesa Marathon has played a large role in mine. I used that race for my first three Bostons. I ran my PR there three years ago. The race has been a friend reunion yearly.
I doubt I’ll run Mesa next year — the five-year finisher series is now over. But I’ll always remember the great times out in the desert.