Boston Marathon - Here is a quicky (more later being on hotel computer). Race was beastly, horrible, about the worst thing ever. I loathed it. And I set a PR! Hooray for me. More later. (Ohana 52.2) Here is the race report: Pre-race: got out to Hopkinton and just barely made it into the gym. Stayed dry in there and just found a nice bleacher hideout and chilled with Clyde. When it was time to go, walked up to the start and tried to keep feet dry, but lost hope of that after about 10 steps. Kept a garbage bag on for warmth and dryness. The whole scene was very cool. mile 1 - 5:56 started off in a great position. Just about 10 rows behind the elite. It was neat to see them start off. Quickly we were passed by many who thought they were running a 5K. mile 2 - 5:45 basically just flowing with the crowd now. Not much else you can do. mile 3 - 5:46 somewhere around here I threw off my t-shirt. Someone now has a souvenir Dixie College basketball shirt. mile 4 - 5:40 times are just a bit quick, but things are moving so smooth. Still in the craziness of the start stage. mile 5 - 5:48 / 28:57 (my garmin was hitting splits just about 5-10 seconds before most of the mile markers) Wanted 29:00 minutes right here and that's exactly where I was. Coming into the race, I really thought I could hit right around 2:35-2:36. Now that the weather was beastly, I knew it would affect things, but I still wanted to give it a try. Just like fake Bill Rodgers told Clyde and I - You have to try or you'll never know. mile 6 - 5:41 still moving along pretty good. Around this time, we were doing a lot of jostling to find spots and groups to help break the wind. mile 7 -5:46 mile 8 - 5:52 somewhere in here, Clyde and I decided to drop back off the group that we were with. It was just moving a little too quick as it kept pushing from one set of stragglers to the next to break the wind. So we really settled in mostly to ourselves.
mile 9 - 5:47 many comments about our ugly hats (they made us stand out and got us quite a few cheers). mile 10 - 5:58 / 58:03 a few deceiving hills around these miles. Not hard, just rollers that kind of add up to take it out of you. Wanted about 58:50, so things were going smooth - maybe a little too smooth. I should have been hitting just below 6 and I was hitting around 5:50 for most of the section. mile 11 - 6:04 First mile over 6. Next marathon, NO miles over 6. mile 12 - 5:56 Since I was hitting so well right here I wanted to try and keep them under 6.
mile 13 - 5:57 I am really thinking about an unbelievable time here. But I know I have a long way to go and need to get mentally ready. mile 14 - 5:37 the time reflects the Wellesley crowd. We had been hearing the roar for a mile. When we went by, we were a little to ourselves so the girls just went nuts as we gave five through the whole stretch. It was fun and deafening. My ears were ringing as we exited. I needed this about mile 22 to get me going again. mile 15 - 5:59 / 1:27:37 settled back down and started to get ready for the hills. I knew they were coming and the wind was picking up quite a bit. Wanted to be at 1:29. mile 16 - 5:42 drop into Newton. I am still feeling very good. mile 17 - 6:14 the overpass here was the beginning of the end for me. The wind was ripping and my legs just didn't have the zip they had just a mile or two earlier. Not a good sign with the bigger hills coming. mile 18 - 6:05 Newton Hills mile 19 - 6:09 mile 20 - 6:15 / 1:58:05 Wanted to be around 1:59. Clyde was pushing for under 2:00 to give some wiggle room to finish under 2:40. Things are looking great. The hills are tough, but not beastly. I didn't think they would kill me - I train on much more difficult stuff. But... mile 21 - 6:46 here is where I lost it. I tried to go with Clyde as he led up Heartbreak. My Heartbreak was that I just watched him slowly pull away. I have GOT to get tougher and not let people pull away. Clyde's support had been great the whole race and it made me feel strong that I was running with him, knowing what type of runner he is. When he was gone, I just lost all desire to race and it turned into "just finish this thing". And of course this is where I went from having fun to hating it. Even my drunk buddies that tried to run with me "All the the way to Beacon 1245!" only gave me support for about 2 blocks. After that they probably passed out or something! mile 22 - 6:03 Clyde is still there about 50 meters in front of me and I want to get back to him. I just can't close anything. mile 23 - 6:25 See him slipping away as well as a top 100 finish as a few runners start to come by me. mile 24 - 6:39 Couldn't use the downhill at all. I hoped I could get some turn-over and pull back up. But the legs were thrashed. mile 25 - 6:57 / 2:30:56 Wanted 2:28. But was still on pace for under 2:40 and I really wanted it. At the time I couldn't go any quicker. But now writing this, I am like "Why did I not pick it up more?" mile 26 - 7:21 DANG IT! When I needed it most, it was over. Saw Ally, but head was spinning, I was solely focused on the finish line. The turns at the end killed me. I couldn't hit any sort of rhythm (I don't think any was there to be found anyway). 26.2 ( actually .32 by this time on my Garmin, with the early splits adding up). 2:22 Really tried to go as I knew I was close to 2:40 - a 2:39 sounds so much better than a 2:40. But the finish line seemed to move away from me. Clyde waited at the end for me and we froze, cramped, hobbled into the med tent where our temps were pretty low 91 (me) 94 (Clyde). When the adrenaline of racing wore off, my body realized how cold it was and it just shut down. The cramping was severe (bruising). My head was spinning. About 5 people were helping me, and I just now realized that I can't even recall what any of them even looked like. But once I got feeling warmed up, I started feeling a lot better and we got out of there. Well, like I said... it was a pretty brutal experience. But not nearly as bad now a few days later. Back to Boston? Naw. Next marathon? Time to start getting ready!
| 