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Boston Marathon

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Location:

New Palestine,IN,USA

Member Since:

Oct 23, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

5k - 18:59 (3/09)
4M - 25:06 (9/09)
10k - 41:01 (11/07)

Half - 1:25:58 (11/09)

Marathon - 3:06:33 (12/09)

Short-Term Running Goals:

1:25 for the half marathon
Sub 39:00 for the 10k.
3:07 marathon
18:30 5k

Upcoming Races



Long-Term Running Goals:

Break 3:00 for the marathon.

Personal:

Married, two daughters (18 and 15).  Masters runner trying to get competitive in my age group.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Saucony Ride 5 (Red) Lifetime Miles: 372.70
ASICS Excel 33 Lifetime Miles: 152.00
Saucony Ride 7 Lifetime Miles: 249.00
ASICS DS Trainer Lifetime Miles: 212.20
Asics Cumulus 16 Lifetime Miles: 241.30
Race: Boston Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:22:45
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.0026.200.000.0026.20

My first Boston turned out to be a rough one.  I knew going in that I was not in as good of shape as I was for my last marathon so decided to reduce my goals.  I was thinking going in that if I ran between 3:10 and 3:15 I would be happy.  The weather today was perfect with temps in the 50's and some wind but it was mostly a cross wind.  I definitely learned a lot just dealing with the whold Boston experience.  I came in yesterday and ended up rushing around all day trying to get my packet, food for breakfast and finding a place to eat.  Spent way more time on my feet than I wanted to.  Slept good last night and woke up early to catch the buses.  An added bonus was getting to meet up with Dave Rockness and riding the buses out with him.  As many of you already know from the blog he is a great guy! 

Hanging out before the start wasn't as bad as I expected mainly because of the nice weather.  I can imagine on a nasty day that it would not be much fun.

I planned to start off slow and then based on how I felt get into a pace around 3:10 or so.  I did take it easy the first few miles which are downhill and then picked it up some through the middle miles.  Around 12 the legs started to have that fimilar feeling of being heavy and sluggish so I started to worry some.  I stayed in pretty good shape up to around 15 or 16 and then knew that it might get ugly the rest of the way.  I slowed down on the hills through Newton because of this but didn't really have much trouble on the hills.  The thing that was getting to me was the down hills because I was started to feel a cramp in my right thigh.  I was slowing down but felt it was manageable through the hills.  I made it up Heartbreak pretty good then hit the downhill on the other side.  This is where it all started to go bad.  Right after I came off of the downhill I got major cramps in my right thigh and left calf.  I slowed down to see if that helped and after about a 1/2 a mile it got better so gradually picked the pace back up.  I made it about a 1/2 mile before the cramps hit again so I slowed down and recovered then it got better and I picked it back up.  This went on for a few times and it bacame apparent that I was going to have to slow down or I was going to make it in.  Around 22 I got the worse cramp and it almost brought me to a walk but I was afraid if I stopped I might not get going again.  I settled into a basic slow shuffle the rest of the way in.  I had some spots where I though I might be able to recover but those were short lived.  Once the cramps hit I started thinking maybe I could at least break 3:20 and requalify but running as slow as I was that quickly went out the window and I thought I should just focus on finishing.  Amazing enough even as slow as I was going I got another really bad cramp about 400 yards from the finished but basically ran stiff legged the last little bit because there was no way I was stopping there in front of thousands of screaming people.  It was a huge relief to cross the line and staggered around for a while until I could get somewhere to stretch out the legs and try to recover.

Even though I didn't have a good race, Boston was an amazing experience.  The fans are awesome and they run such a quality event.  It is also cool to have that many great runners in the same race.  At this point I don't know what holds for my marathoning future.  Until I can dedicate myself to putting in the mileage I don't want to commit to another.  I don't want to repeat today.  For those of you that like to see the damage unfold, here are my splits:

1st - 7:24

2nd - 7:13

3rd - 7:18

4th - 7:08

5th - 7:17

6th - 7:13

7, 8, 9 - 21: 36

10th - 7:18

11th - 7:16

12th - 7:09

13th - 7:14

14th - 7:16

15, 16 - 14:46

17th - 7:43

18th - 7:51

19th - 7:40

20th - 8:02

21st - 8:35

22nd - 8:01

23rd - 8:50

24th - 9:19

25th - 9:07

26.2 - 11:25

3:22:45

Saucony Tangent 3 Miles: 26.20
Comments
From jtshad on Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 16:50:38 from 204.134.132.225

You are a Boston Marathon finisher!!! Sorry about the cramps, when they hit you just have to do what you can. Way to keep moving and making a point to focus on the finish. Enjoy the experience as you indicated, Boston is like no other!

Congrats on the race even if you didn't get quite what you wanted (you know the marathon is a fickle beast!).

From Robert on Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 18:05:33 from 65.101.172.182

Congrats! Way to stick it out Jim. Now go reward yourself and recover.

From Kim on Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 19:11:44 from 67.199.180.90

Congratulations on a Boston Marathon finish! And I think it's a great finish! I got to watch my hubby, Tom, do Boston a couple years ago and it was an amazing experience being a spectator there! Someday I hope to be one of the runners! Again....great job!

From Scott Ensign on Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 19:59:06 from 70.58.98.10

nice job, way to overcome the cramps and pain. It's a tough course and you earned your medal!

From Tom on Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 20:04:57 from 67.199.180.90

Sorry to hear about the cramps Jim. But congrats on hanging tough through the finish.

Your first line "My first Boston turned out to be a rough one" sounds pretty familiar as that course just seems to be harder than it looks on paper. Now enjoy some R&R for few days!

From rockness18 on Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 21:36:50 from 66.234.132.94

Jim, great to meet you in person and nice job finishing! I'll try to give you a call tomorrow to catch up on the experience.

From Jon on Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 00:35:57 from 75.169.159.140

You finished the Boston Marathon / experience. Congrats. Sorry it didn't go so well- happens to lots of people. Believe it or not, my Boston was similar to yours- started at 7 min pace, but finished at 11 min pace- 3:41 final time. But I still remember it fondly.

From KP on Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 00:38:56 from 98.67.110.134

What an awesome experience! I hope you had a wonderful time, Jim! Thanks for sharing!

From Mark on Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 11:42:40 from 24.129.132.74

Great job Jim! Not a whole lot you can do once the cramps start other than hang on and do your best. Lots of good memories to bring home with you. It's one of the few races where anyone that runs it can feel like a rock star for a day.

From Barry on Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 20:53:21 from 67.61.235.198

Congratulations on your first Boston Marathon. Sounds to me like you had a good time even though you had some rough spots.

From JimF on Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 21:52:22 from 12.50.85.194

Thanks for all the kind words and feedback. It sure means a lot! Even after just one day I am already looking back and realizing what a great experience it was and how luckily a am to have been able to do it. Also you will never know how much each of you helped me keep going those last few miles. All the example that you all set on a daily basis and seeing how you have perservired through races really inspired me and kept me going. Thanks for all the advise and encouragement through the years!

From bunkgoats on Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 10:21:50 from 75.36.225.40

Congrats on your finish. Those last miles are always harder than they look on paper.

From rockness18 on Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 23:44:05 from 75.16.161.162

Tough course for a "flatlander". Again, great to meet you in person and good job persevering through a painful finish. Enjoy the running for a while and perhaps that urge for a marathon will resurface.

From Kelli on Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 18:08:31 from 71.219.75.178

Sorry about the cramping, that is a tough issue! but you finished and it is definitely an unforgettable experience. The weather could not have been better!

From rAtTLeTrAp on Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 18:41:26 from 72.102.142.45

Congrats on your finish! 3:22 on a tough course like that is nothing to be ashamed of. I had a hard time during the second half too, but overall it was a great experience!

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