The sun is up, the air is fresh, the stone is old

3.5 miles in the morning with Rob and Walter.  Awesome day in Boston and a great dinner at Maggianos.  2 miles on a soccer field in the evening.

What a fun weekend!  The most I got out of Boston was that the best marathon experience is as a team.  Man was that cool!  I felt as ready for this marathon as any I've ran, great mileage, great speed and a nice taper.  In the groove.  What a humbler...it's like that scene from Knights Tale where he says, "You've been weighed, measured and found wanting".  I hit the 5k just about dead on goal, 18:14.  I was drenched already.  The 10k was right on 37, still conservative and planning on using the fuel later.  By now I was taking two waters and a Gatorade at every water stop.  A first for me.  I started having a harder time and couldn't make the planned shift to a quicker pace.  Jeff and Walter caught up to me, passed and I adjusted my time back 30 seconds a mile.  I didn't feel the pace was a problem, it was just suffering!  I'm not used to just the total feeling of suffering.  Pretty much think I've trained for the leg pain, but I have no mental toughness for the heat part.  I came through the half and from then on I decided to quit after the next two miles.  When I reached that point, it wasn't getting any worse, so I decided to quit after the next two miles.  This went on until cresting Heartbreak Hill and I realized that I could finish this.  Best feeling I've had in a long time.  Better than the finish.  Around mile 23 I looked over at the guy next to me and it was Walter, so I told him we should stick it out and finish under 3 hours.  He doesn't remember any of this... The race was a surprise, a mixture of not being prepared for the heat part of it and learning I need some mental toughness. 

Guys and gals run in heat like this all the time around the world and kick $%&@.  especially trail runners.  We road racers need to suck it up.

Other highlights:  Awesome race dinner the Shadleys set up.  Great times flying to the race and spending time with Walter and Rob, both guys that basically taught me how to run.  I kissed two Wellesley girls, one with a sign that said, "kiss me, I'm naked', and one with a sign that said, "kiss me, it's my last year, I'm a senior".  How many times does that happen at the halfway point of a marathon? :)  My arm is sore from all the high fives.  I missed the transvestite and Santa Claus, but I did beat the guy in the monkey suit. 

Easy run in Denver just before work, 30 minutes lifting. 

Easy run in the World's Fair Park, New York City.

Nice hot run in St. Louis.  Glad to be getting home tonight.  Too long to be away from the kids!

5 miles easy at home with 4X400 at 75% effort.  Feels like the legs are about 65 to 75% recovered today.  I think I could survive the marathon tomorrow.  I'm going to do it.

I wanted only today to pace a marathon more like what I've been training for.  The open question was if I could do it 5 days after a serious hard effort at Boston.  I was fairly certain the slower race Monday was due to being a wuss.  I just wasn't able to cool down.  The advantage to that was that I felt the slower pace would lend to a quicker recovery.  I did a 2 mile warm up and took stock of how I felt.  It seemed reasonable to aim for a 3 hour marathon and if I felt good, pick it up and run.  The start was fast, Fritz, Seth, John, and Dennis were outa there.  I noticed immediately that a 6 min pace felt great, probably because it was downhill.  I lost touch after maybe three miles with any marathoners after that and settled into what felt good.  Such a nice change from Monday to just enjoy the run.  I passed Dennis and eventually caught up to John about 12 miles.  I was so worried about the heat that I was dumping water on my head at every aid station, but it turned out to be pretty unnecessary.  Through 18 I realized that the pace wasn't taking a toll on me today, I had no idea who was ahead anymore, and began to plan on what to do when anyone tried to pass at 20 or so.  Demetrio yelled at me from an intersection that Dennis was way back and to just hold pace which really helped.  I faded maybe 10 to 20 seconds a mile after 22 and focused on holding some reserves to make a push.  Nobody popped up, thankfully, so I could be lazy.

First time for two marathons in a week for me and a much better feeling about how the conditions in Boston affected me.