I started writing this post as a single post, but the introduction ended up being a bit long, so I think I will break it up into two parts.  This part will be an introduction to my road to Boston and how I got to the point of actually signing up and being accepted to the race.  The second part will be once I arrived in Southeast Asia and had to begin training.

In September of 2015, I ran my first ever half Marathon because my company sponsored the entry fee for the race and I thought it would be a fun thing to do.  I was already running decently often so was not too worried about being able to finish.  I had no idea what my time might be but ended up finishing in 1:34:56.  At the time I had no idea if that was a good time or not, but as I talked to more people they were impressed and commented how fast that was.

I really enjoyed the race and figured this whole half marathon thing could be fun,  It so happened that my company was also willing to sponsor a spot in the Shanghai international marathon that November which corresponded with a conference we hold there every year.  After that race I was hooked and continued to sign up for races on my own.

At some point I was getting faster and training runs were getting longer and I figured I could probably do a marathon.  For no other reason that convenience, I decided to sign up for the 2016 San Francisco Marathon which happens in June.  At the time, my half times had improved slightly to 1:31 so I figured I could probably run a sub 3:30 marathon.  Training went pretty well and I ended up running the race in 3:15:03, which exceeded my expectations and made me think I could improve 10 minutes as SF is pretty hilly and there are faster races out there.  I didn’t want to sign up for any other marathons until I had run one, because for all I know I would hate the distance and stick to halfs in the future.  Turns out I loved it and signed up for the California International Marathon shortly after running SF which was happening in early December.

I tried to pick up my training for this race but ended up traveling for almost 3 weeks in September and then another week in November.  I really did not feel prepared and was not feeling confident going into to CIM.  My good friend from back home flew out to run it with me so we had a great race weekend!  The race did not go expected as I ran a 3:01:05!!!! It was a BQ and a very good chance to actually get into Boston.  I was elated and very surprised given how my training had gone.

This is where my road to Boston really got exciting,  The week after CIM, I decided to show up to a running group in the east bay who meets at beer bars and breweries throughout the east bay, go for a run then drink beer and socialize after.  Let’s just say that this was one of the best decisions I’ve made because over the past year and a half, my EBBR family has really changed the way I run, race and socialize in the bay area.  (Pictured is my first EBBR meetup with John and James)

Prior to this group, I used to show up to a race by myself, race the race, finish before most of the other finishers so the finish line festival was mostly dead, drink my beer then head home.  Things are radically different.  In my first race after joining EBBR, 5 of us met up for the race, hung out before and after (Nick and I actually finished at the same time) and even continued the afternoon with a few beers in the city,

It was such a different experience.  This group has allowed me to pour beer at the finish line festival at the Alameda running festival and be the official photographer for the Halloween run around Lake Merrit put on by Corrigan sports.

Among other things, this group has really allowed me to become a part of the local running community in the bay area.  Another amazing example of how awesome this group is.. at the next CIM race this past December, there were 8 people from our group running the race.  We all stayed in the same hotel, hung out before and after the race and about 25 people made the drive just to cheer us on.  It was actually so amazing and knowing they would be there at mile 20 made it so motivating to be strong when running by.  I actually miss them a lot now that I am traveling and plan on making my way to San Diego for our now annual brewery weekend trip.

After a little bit of a tangent, back to my road to Boston.

After my BQ at CIM, I realized that Boston registration was in September and that I had actually qualified for Boston 2018, which means I had to wait 10 months to even register and a full 17 months to actually race the race.  I had no idea what my life would be like in 2018 but was excited anyways.  In the mean time, I was accepted into the 2017 Chicago Marathon and decided to run CIM again in 2017 due to the number of people from EBBR running it.  September 2017 finally arrived and by that time I had already thought about traveling the world come February, but after a disappointing finish in Chicago was unsure if I would ever be able to qualify again.

I decided that if you qualify for Boston, you pretty much have to run it the first time so I applied and then waited patiently to see if I would be accepted.  On September 27th I got the email from the BAA saying I had been accepted and would be running the 2018 Boston Marathon on April 16^th 2018.  Quickly after receiving that email I realized I would have to train while traveling.  At that point I had no idea where I was going to be starting and figured it would be fine.  A note on my previous comment regarding not being sure if I could re-qualify for 2019, I ended up running a 2:57:48 at CIM so can run in 2019 as well if I want to.

The first planning/training had to happen at the end of December when I had to bring my race kit for Boston home to my parents house for Christmas since I was going to be traveling pretty light and all of my running gear would be pretty mangled by the time April rolled around.  I ended up bringing basically the same kit I used for CIM as I really liked the lighter shoes I had purchased and it obviously worked with my improved time.  It was just strange that I had to plan so far ahead as I was planning on flying directly into Boston/New York from wherever I had ended up.  My mom complained that my white Canadian singlet blended in too easily and so she said she was going to have a bright green one made for me with custom screen printing.  I am excited to see if she follows through and am also excited that they are coming to cheer me on.  Also of note, it’s cold and snowy in Canada in December.  This is my run at Christmas when I dropped off my stuff (i needed a photo to break up the text so there we go)

As my Feb 4^th departure date approached, there were so many logistical things to figure out, and so many activities going on that a few ended up being left to the last minute,  One of those last minute items was a new pair of running shoes.  I had been wearing two pairs of Brooks Adrenaline shoes for the past few months that were on their last legs and had bought a pair of Nike Elites for cheap at Christmas but they re more of a racing flat and would not be durable enough to be my daily grinder while traveling.  I kept meaning to stop at the shoe store and for whatever reason, never got around to it.  The day before I left for Vietnam, I was invited to a wedding between two members of the my EBBR family.  Angelique and Chris had a beautiful wedding at a church in the east bay followed by a reception a few km down the road.

At this point I had already given my car to Alessia and Adam and needed a ride everywhere so in normal circumstances it might have been strange to ask someone to drive me out of the way to a running store to buy shoes between the wedding and the reception but like I said this was a wedding with my running friends and so it was not that strange to ask a runner to drive you to a running store.  Thanks so much to Candie for giving me a ride to Fleet Feet to get a pair of shoes.  The next problem is that I had to decide what shoe I was going to choose as I would probably be putting over 350 miles on them before Boston and I would not have an opportunity to buy new ones while away.  I walked in deciding that I was jsut going to get the same pair I had worn for CIM and had brought my parents to run Boston but unfortunately they didn’t have any.  I have mainly been running in Brooks shoes up to now, so figured I should probably stuck there,  I had heard good things about Brooks Ghost series and opted to try them on.  They felt fine and I was literally in and out of the store in less than 5 minutes,  They associate commented “I wish every customer was like that”.  With shoes in hand, we headed to the wedding reception and had a great time!  I flew out the next morning, shoes attached to my pack.