A clydesdale no more!

Part of me would like to forget this race completely.  I can't treat it as a learning experience or something to grow from. because I am not walking away with anything that I didn't already know.  Quite simply, it was a huge disappointment because it is hard evidence of where I am as a runner right now and I do not like it.  Despite the heat, these results are not acceptable.  That is not to say that I have any regrets because the trip was absolutely amazing.  The last time I was in Boston was the year of the Noreaster and I couldn't enjoy all that Boston had to offer.  We were able to do everything that should be done in Boston this time.  We flew in Thursday and had dinner and Legal Seafood.  Did a nice 7 mile run exploring Boston then did the Freedom Trail and Expo on Friday.  Went whale watching on Saturday and had dinner in China town with Teena & Ryan, Smooth & Larry, Lloyd, Ronnie, Lark, Jeff, Marcie, Mindy and others.  On Sunday we ran the BAA 5k, went to the Red Sox game, pasta party and the Italian village on the North end.  It was a really great trip.

Now on to the race.  With the temps expected to be in the mid to high 80's and all of the warnings that the BAA sent out, I knew that it was going to be slow.  I decided to target 3:20 figuring that dropped me back 10-15 minutes from my original plan.  If I were smart, I would have turned it into a long run and gone for 3:30.  I guess what makes us who we are is our drive and desire to not settle.  Called Kam on Sunday night and decided to meet him in corral 7 and run with him.  After riding the bus to Hopkinton and hanging out in the athletes village with Teena, Smooth, Lloyd, Ronnie, Lark, Jeff and Mindy I made my way to corral 3 and thought about ditching the plan to run with Kam.  I ultimately decided that running with somebody I knew would be a better experience than starting a couple of minutes sooner so I headed back to find him.  The gun went off and 6 minutes later we crossed the starting line.  We started at a very controlled pace.  First 3 miles were in the 7:15-7:20 range.  Despite the fact that I was sweating buckets I suddenly had the urge to pee during the 4th mile (I think).  We passed a wooded area and I thought this would be the last place I could go before we started into the towns and all of the crowds.  As I was taking care of business, a lady ran in front of me, dropped her shorts and did her thing.  What is it about running that makes us lose all inhibition?  I spent the next 1/2 mile working my way back up to Kam.  In hindsight, this was a mistake.  The pace felt great but it probably took a little out of me.  I drank Gatorade and dumped a cup of water on my head at every aid station and Gu'd every 4 miles.  Held a steady pace but I knew my body was working too hard.  Kam and I got sepearted at the mile 7 aid station.  I eventually saw him about 20 yards ahead and just kept on eye on him for the next couple of miles.  At mile 8 I started having the internal conversation that usually doesn't happen until mile 20 so I knew I was in for a long day. Lost sight of Kam for good at mile 9.  My pace slowed but was still reasonable.  I made a goal to make it to Wellsley.  When I got to Wellsley I decided that I was going to do what you are supposed to do in Wellsley.  After high fiving for a bit, I stopped for my first kiss.  Stopped for 2 more along the way and I have now exactly doubled the number of women that I have kissed in my life from 3 to 6 (sad but true).  My pace hadn't dropped off too much and I still felt I could salvage a semi-respectable time.  Hit the half in 1:39:?? which was perfect for a 3:20 finish.  My next goal was to get to the Newton hills.  Took my first extended walking break through an aid station at mile 16.  I convinced myself that I would not walk any of the Newton hills.  Ran all 4 of them and only walked a short time in between a couple of them.  Crested Heartbreak Hill and that was it.  My race was done.  It was run/walk the rest of the way.  After a short walk break I would start running and felt decent and thought I could keep it up but eventually had to walk again.  No way to sugar coat it.  It was awful, embarassing, pathetic, weak, disappointing.  As I approached the Citgo sign I started thinking that I should start seeing some white bibs (wave 2 start).  Looked back and sure enough here comes one flying down the road.  Looked again and it was Rachelle.  Unbelievable how well she was running (not really unbelievable because she is a great runner and was very well prepared).  At this point I made as good of an effort to run the rest of the way.  Becky was at the Hynnes convention center so I stopped and gave her a kiss before stumbling that last 200 yards to the finish line.

Felt about as bad as I ever have at the end of the race.  Walked for what seemed like forever to get my drop bag.  While walking to find Becky I got my phone out and sat down to text my mom that I was done and still alive and kind of had an emotional break down.  Getting emotional is not something that I do so it was strange.  Eventually pulled myself together and Becky was able to track me down and we walked back to the hotel.

Now I need to figure out what happened.  I was very well hydrated going into the race and feel as though I had a decent store of glucose.  My best guess is that the heat has a greater effect on heavier runners.  I started the race over 190 pounds and I think it takes a lot of work for my body to regulate the temperature.  The other possibility is that this is just the runner that I am now.  I have been running for 8 years and the rule of thumb is that you only improve for 7 years.  Add to that me turning 40 and I may just be on the downside of running.  Fortunately, there are enough runners around to disprovie that.  What I do know is that tomorrow morning I am going to wake up and go running.