So much to say about this race. I'll give the race breakdown with some comments and then give my thoughts overall. My goal was to crack 3 hours, which would have been 11:35 faster than my only other marathon.
We drove the course on Saturday and I realized this was going to be a killer challenge. The course elevation tools and other aids simply do not do justice to the challenge of this course. On saturday I was in doubt of my ability to crack 3 hours.
Race temps at start were probably about 45 degrees and it may have lifted into the low 50s by the finish, but the winds were kicking in the 15-20 mph range I believe. This wasn't really a factor until the last 10-15k though. Got into corral 5 and began to move up once they lifted the corral barriers. I was a touch over a minute from the elites when I crossed the line so I think I probably moved up to corral 2 or 3 by the start. Right where I wanted to be, except that I suddenly realized that I need to pee ... again. I had this happen once before in a race and the need went away by mile 5 so I figured I might be ok. The race got started however and due to the volume of runners we were simply packed in so tight that I had no choice but the pace that the stream was travelling. About a half mile in a realized that now would be the best time to pee and I joined the 50 or so guys on both sides of the road doing the same at about the 1/2 mile mark. Did my business and utilized the outside edge of the road to make up a little lost time.
Mile 1: 7:14 (only about 15 seconds slower than I wanted to be)
Mile 2: 6:35 (a touch quicker than I wanted to be, but the pace felt right)
Mile 3: 6:43 (I had planned on going out at 7:00s my first 3 miles. Was only about 30 seconds overall ahead of my race plan, so I was ok with things. To go any slower or faster would have been working against the crowd)
Mile 4: 6:42 (Felt very comfortable with this pace)
Mile 5: 6:54 (This was a net uphill mile)
Mile 6: 6:43 (I remember this as my split. Next mile indicates why this was a guess)
Mile 7: 6:36? (I saw my family at this mark and I think for some reason I hit stop instead of split on my watch so this mile wasn't recorded, but the difference between my official time and my watch was 6:36)
Mile 8: Total for miles 6 and 8 was 13:21, so taking 6:43 off gave me a mile 8 split of 6:38 (I know I'm pushing my goal pace, but it feels very comfortable so I'm simply clicking off the miles and staying relaxed)
Mile 9: 6:43 (It was here that I realized I had missed a mile on my watch. Oh well.)
Mile 10: 6:46 Mile
11: 6:49 (At this point I'm beginning to realize that my pace is quite a bit ahead of my goal pace of 6:52s, but it simply feels right, so I'm maintaining the race based on feel and not really paying attention to splits other than to recognize to myself that I'm banking some time)
Mile 12: 6:40
Mile 13.1: 7:31 (Although I didn't stop to kiss any of the Wellesley Girls I did give about 100 yards worth of them high fives. This may have taken just a touch out of my time, but it was something I wanted to say I did)
Mile 14: 5:56 (13:25 2 mile split for 6:42-43 average over the 2 miles)
Mile 15: 6:45 (At this point I realized that if I finished the race with 7:00s I would go under 3 hours and every mile I hit at the current pace was simply more time banked. I was feeling very good. Not at all tired or stressed)
Mile 16: 6:42 (Still feeling good)
Mile 17: 6:57 (Getting into the hills now)
Mile 18: 6:57 (A good pace for the hills. I'm still feeling good, but realizing I've slipped above goal pace, but ok with it because of the banked time and knowing that once I'm over Heartbreak Hill its all downhill from there)
Mile 19: 6:57 (Very even pacing through these hills)
Mile 20: 7:11 (Hmm. I'm ok with this split, but noting that its off the pace I want)
Mile 21: 7:26 (Heartbreak Hill. Hmm. Not terribly happy with this split, but it doesn't feel bad and it was a tough spot in the race going uphill, so I'm ok with it. I just know that I need to find a way back to 7:00s. I'm still not tired, I've got the conditioning, I've got the fuel, I'm not dehydrated.)
Mile 22: 7:10 (Well. Now we see what the course does to a body. Now that I'm down the 1st and largest of the downhill stretch to the finish I know there's no way I'm going to make my goal time of sub 3 hours. My legs have become instantly trashed. They feel like scrambled eggs. They are incredibly sore and strained. I'm doing everything I can to simply pick them up without slowing too much.)
Mile 23 & 24: 15:47 (Average pace for 2 miles 7:48s. OMG! My legs are killing me. The crowds are a roar of people now but they've no effect on me. I'm being passed by a serious number of people and I'm simply trying to stay to the right and out of their way.)
Mile 25, 26, 26.2: 19:42 (Average pace 8:57s -- UGH! I'm doing all I can to simply finish the race now. Going up Citgo Hill a knot spasmed my right inner thigh and I had to stop and walk. I thought I'd have to finish by walking. There was nothing I could do. It was debilitating. I actually had to stop and stretch it. I continued to walk to the top. When I got there I said to myself, "I'm not going to walk. I'm not going to be *THAT GUY*". I started to run again and at this point just said to myself just consider this your cool down.)
After the race I checked my online 5k splits and they broke down as follows. The Ks are listed cummulitively, but each section is a 5k per mile pace. (There seems to be some slight discrepency between my watch splits and the official race splits in terms of average pace/mile): 5k: 21:14 (6:50s) 10k: 29:59 (6:45s) 15k: 20:47 (6:41s) 20k: 21:01 (6:46s) 25k: 20:55 (6:44s) 30k: 21:25 (6:54s) 35k: 22:26 (7:13s) 40k: 24:53 (8:00s) 42.2k: 12:27 (9:07s) Total Time: 3:06:07
A very frustrating finish, to be sure. Still, a PR by 5:28. I should be happy, but I'm just not sure what happened. I wasn't tired as much as I just couldn't pick my legs up. The muscles were absolutely destroyed. To be sure this was a result of the cummulitive effect of the continuous rolling hills on an extremely demanding course. I also believe that the choice to run the race in Asics DS Trainers was the wrong choice for me. I believe that had I run in my Asics Cumulus' I would have saved my muscles a significant degree of strain. The Trainers forced my quads and calves to absorb a significant degree more of the pounding that I think my Cumulus' would have. I should have sacrificed the extra ounces for the support and cushion. At 162 pounds I just believe that I can't do races over 20 miles in anything but a regular training shoe. This is both encouraging and frustrating. I believe that I could have maintained a pace that would have allowed me to break 3 hours on a course more foregiving. My conditioning was not the issue, my fuel was not the issue, my hydration was not the issue. My legs simply became incredibly sore. A couple people I talked to said their garmins had them at the 26.4 mark. I assume this comes from an inability to run tangents in heavy crowds. Of course, this is neither here nor there.
On a side note, my uncle is very well connected and got us VIP passes for the race. We got to wait inside a heated gym with our own food, drinks and bathrooms before the race and had a heated tent at the end with our own med staff, massages for those that wanted, and food and drinks. Way to go uncle Steve!
Overall this was what I would consider a humbling learning experience that left me believing I can go sub 3, but not on that course! Boston is truly a serious challenge of the body and spirit. I can now say I'm a Boston Marathon Finisher! | 