2:23

2:23. That's what I have to work with.

I ran a 3:42:37 at Circular Logic two weeks ago- that's 2 minutes and 23 seconds faster than my Boston Qualifying standard for 2018. (Since I'll be 40 in 2018, the qualifying time for my new age group is now 3:45 instead of 3:40.)

Dang! I really don't know if that is going to be enough!

I don't know why I couldn't force out a couple more minutes and get under 3:40 again. I really just started to crumble at mile 19 and my legs felt like Jell-O. No matter what I did I couldn't hold that 8:15 pace anymore and I lost about a minute per mile from then until the the finish. It felt terrible.
So on a perfect weather day on a flat course and great training I couldn't run the time I ran last year (3:38) when there were 30mph winds. Have I mentioned marathons are infuriating?

My mind is spinning right now because even though a BQ -2:23 would have gotten me in this year, there are no guarantees it will get me in for 2018. Seriously with my luck I feel like the cut off next year will be 2:24.The only thing that will guarantee me entry is if I get 5 minutes under my time (which was my goal at Circular Logic. Oops.)

At this point it's not even about Boston itself anymore. It's about finishing something I started.