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Boston Beard 2024 week 6 — halfway to race day

July 29, 2024 by Brent

My alarm sounded at 3:20 a.m. last Thursday, and immediately I decided I wasn’t going to go out for my scheduled long run. I did need to go to the bathroom so I did that. Then I got back in bed. And I couldn’t go back to sleep. I kept thinking about race day barely […]

Filed Under: 2024 Boston Beard Tagged With: Boston 2025, Boston Marathon, Boston Marathon qualifier, BQ, fitness, marathon, marathon training, motivation, race, race day, run, runner, running, training

2019 Mesa-PHX Marathon — the anatomy of a bad race and how to bounce back

February 12, 2019 by Brent

Finally hitting the finisher chute after struggling at the 2019 Mesa-PHX Marathon. Think back to your last bad race. I’m not talking purely finish time. When was the last race that made you contemplate simply limping off the course in discouragement? The last one that you know wasn’t an accurate representation of the training you […]

Filed Under: Race reports Tagged With: 2019 Mesa-PHX Marathon, Arizona, bad race, fitness, long run, marathon, Mesa, motivation, Phoenix, race, race day, race report, run, runner, running, training

2018 Boston Marathon — through the wind and rain

April 22, 2018 by Brent

2018 Boston Marathon

It finished like it started — with me shivering. Fifteen minutes after finishing the 2018 Boston Marathon, I was laying on the floor of my hotel room shaking. Halfway hypothermic and halfway overcome emotionally. I was rocked by tearless sobs. Nothing left to give. Everything I had emotionally and physically was still out on the […]

Filed Under: Race reports Tagged With: 2018 Boston Marathon, Boston, Boston 2018, Boston Marathon, fitness, marathon, motivation, race day, run, runner, running, training

Big Sur Marathon review: beautiful and brutal

May 1, 2017 by Brent

Big Sur Marathon review

Hurricane Point earns its name. Classical piano at the halfway point of a marathon can be incredible inspiring in the right setting. It is possible to make a new friend while still racing hard. And Big Sur International Marathon deserves its bucket-list-race status. I learned all of that this past weekend. After a whirlwind two […]

Filed Under: Race reports Tagged With: Big Sur, Big Sur International Marathon, Big Sur Marathon review, Boston 2 Big Sur, Boston Marathon, BSIM, fitness, marathon, motivation, race day, race recap, racing, run, runner, running, training

About me

Brent Shirley My name is Brent Shirley, and I'm a stay-at-home dad with experience writing and selling running shoes. Married to a surgeon (she's much smarter than me). Certified RRCA running coach and 11 time Boston Marathon qualifier (2015-25, although I missed the cut in 2015-16). 50 sub 4 finisher.

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