I couldn't be happier about the outcome of the race. I came in with the hope of qualifying for Boston, but wasn't sure exactly how things would turn out. I was frustrated with my last 2 marathons (St. George last year and DesNews this year). Both races I started out decent and crashed about mile 18 or so. After DesNews, I picked up my training and mileage to hopefully improve this. I was able to average 50-60 miles weekly with a high of 70 and also able to get in more 20+ mile runs. So, I went into the race the most prepared that I have ever been but not sure what to expect. My plan was to run with the 3:05 pacer for at least the first half of the race and probably longer. The 3:05 pacer was fantastic and did a great job of helping manage the race. I felt great the first half of the race and my time at 13.1 was 1:34:09. I definitely felt like I could have gone faster, but I am glad I stayed with the pace group and didn't go out too fast. We started to make up time on the downhills of the 2nd half of the course. I was still feeling good and as we got to mile 20, where I had hit the wall the previous races, I was running strong. I stayed with the pace group until about mile 23 and then went a little ahead of he group. I ended up finishing the second half a little under 1:30 and overall time of 3:03:43. For me, this was a PR by 20 minutes from St. George 2011 and improvement from the 3:29 I ran at DesNews this year. I couldn't have asked for a better outcome for me...qualified for Boston, negative split and PR by 20 minutes. Splits: 6:57, 7:25, 6:51, 6:57, 7:02, 6:54, 7:01, 7:55, 7:20, 7:29, 7:24, 7:07, 6:44, 7:01, 6:41, 6:38, 6:48, 6:58, 7:12, 6:59, 6:28, 6:56, 6:50, 6:38, 6:55, 7:00, 1:35....average 7:00 pace Congrats to Fritz on his victory and a big thanks to him for answering my many marathon questions over the past couple of months. Also, thanks for all the advice and training tips on this blog which helped me obtain my goal. | 