by
Mark Jimenez
It’s been a very hectic 12 days!
On April 10 KJ and I flew to Washington DC. We went to so I could run the Cherry Blossom 10 miler. I was treating it as a shakeout race for the Boston Marathon, which happened yesterday, April 20th. The Cherry Blossom is a great race! Unfortunately all the scenic cherry blossoms had bloomed and were on their way out, but it was still a great run. I got to see an old friend who had moved to the area and we had fun chatting and catching up while we ran.
KJ and I spent some time touring DC with my sister, who lives there, and we came back on April 14th. DC is an amazing city. There are so many museums and memorials. I feel like I could take many more trips and still not see it all. I really enjoyed touring the Washington Monument, The WWII memorial, The Korean War Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial, FDR Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial. We also went through several museums. It was a blast!
I was in Las Vegas for about 36 hours before I headed back to the airport to board a plane for Boston! I was competing in my 3rd Boston Marathon and I really felt prepared. I had run a lot of miles and things felt like they were going great! On Friday I walked the Freedom Trail, something I’ve always wanted to do. It’s a 2.5 mile trail that has a lot of history along the way. I stopped and took pictures and had a great time. On Saturday I went to Packet Pickup, toured the Sam Adams Brewery, and went to a Red Sox game. On Sunday I stayed off my feet.
I honestly felt I was more prepared for this marathon than any marathon I had ever done! But, as I am constantly reminded, marathons are a fickle mistress. I won’t get into details. I don’t have excuses. I had a bad day. I didn’t have the race I wanted. It’s hard when that happens, especially when you worked so hard along the way. It’s natural to get in a bit of a funk after the high of a marathon, and not hitting your expectations doesn’t help. I have to remind myself of a few things about who I am.
I am Mark Jimenez. I ran in high school and I hated every second of it. I was the worse Cross Country runner in Nevada. I finished dead last at the regional meet in 1993. I’ve never been a natural runner. I started running again in my 30s and qualifying for Boston was never on my list. When I started it took me 3 marathons to beat 4 hours. One time I ran 3:42 and I thought I was the fastest man alive. I’m not one of these guys who goes out and qualifies on their first marathon. I have to work.
I’ve run a BQ time 4 times now, and each time I had to work really hard to do it. My pattern is about 3 “tough” races to 1 “great” race. For me, everything has to go right in a marathon. And that’s just who I am.
I’ll probably write more about the marathon itself at another time. I am extremely grateful for the random stranger who decided he was going to grab onto me and run with me the rest of the way. He got me through some hard times. He wasn’t even American. He was Italian. He had a red bib and he was having a bad day. Red bib means he is one fast dude. Anyway, he didn’t speak much English but he decided he was going to pull me to the finish. And he did. He’s the guy with the red bib in the picture below. It was very emotional for me, but I’m not in a place I can write about that right now.
For now, I know that running has changed my life. It brings me so much. I’ve done something that not a lot of people have done. I’ve run the Boston Marathon 3 times. I’ve met so many wonderful people along the way. I’ve made friends and I hope I’ve helped to change some lives.
I’m about to head back to Las Vegas. The crazy travel is done. I’m coming back with sore legs and a heavy heart, but I’ll be ok. Berlin is up next. We’ll see how that goes.
Every Run is a Good Run.