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Boston Marathon, 2012 Hot Edition

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Location:

Bountiful,Ut,USA

Member Since:

Sep 22, 2009

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

 

5k  18:44  4 July 2012 C-ville 
10K  38:22  24 July 2012 DesNews
Half  1:22:30  18 Aug 2012  Hobble 
Full  3:00:35  29 Sep 2012 Huntsville

Short-Term Running Goals:

Sign up for a race > 5k, run well.

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Keep on running. 

 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Trails Lifetime Miles: 551.40
Grass Lifetime Miles: 72.50
Pavement Lifetime Miles: 2225.20
Stroller Lifetime Miles: 438.80
Navy Crocs Lifetime Miles: 378.70
Nordic Track TM Lifetime Miles: 1015.77
Green Mirage 2 Lifetime Miles: 494.70
Orange Mirage 3 Lifetime Miles: 514.90
Glow In The Dark Mirage 3 Lifetime Miles: 461.25
Navy Blue Mirage Lifetime Miles: 216.90
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
43.070.0043.07
Pavement Miles: 30.50Green Mirage Miles: 26.20Stroller Miles: 4.30Kinvara Miles: 4.30
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.000.000.00

Comments(3)
Race: Boston Marathon, 2012 Hot Edition (26.2 Miles) 03:22:18, Place overall: 2053, Place in age division: 334
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
26.550.0026.55

After an eventful week of sight-seeing, it was finally time to get to work.  I've been watching the weather with consternation for a week; there was no relief when I checked it yesterday.  Resolved to the hot conditions, I decided to dial things back at the start and set my A goal to finish safely.  My dad dropped me and my Mom off at Hopkinton, and we caught the bus up to the start.  At 9:30 they were announcing temps of 80.  We didn't go to the athlete village, since we didn't have any extra clothes to drop.  Andy dropped back 4 corrals and met me in #7.  5 minutes after the elites left, we passed the start line.

Whatever it takes, participating in a Boston Marathon is worth the sacrifice.  Running is generally a pretty lonely pursuit, lacking in glamour, but at Boston, you are a ROCKSTAR!!!  This year I didn't even wear an iPod, after learning last year you can't hear your own music over the yelling of the spectators.   Scattered over the entire course, there's less than a mile of solitary running without legions of screaming spectators, kids gingerly holding out their hands for high-fives, passing out oranges, water, otter pops, ice, wet towels, sponges, etc.  

5k:  22:50  Andy and I ran together, easy, holding back.  I was very confused by the 1km marker; I didn't notice the km part and wondered how the course markers could be off by that much.  These miles were pretty effortless.

10k:  23:01  More of the same.  At mile 5 I had a curry flavored orange.  It was pretty gross.  Andy and I stayed together.  It's pretty hot.  I look at Andy's soaked shirt, and realize I look the same.  I am dumping 2 cups of water on my head every mile, and taking on extra water wherever possible at impromptu water stops.  (thanks, little kids)

15k:  22:59  At this point, I'm past the 6 mile warmup point, and feeling pretty good.  The sea level running is very nice.  At mile 7 I lost Andy at a water stop.  I thought he went ahead, so I tried to pick things up a little bit to catch him.  I never saw him again.  

20k:  23:15   Things are holding up nicely, but I'm not even halfway done.  I dug into my new utility belt (just like Batman, but with less compartments) and ate some Smarties.  Yum.  I've been pounding oranges, and taking otter pops as well.  I am not feeling waterlogged, and have no struggles with gu-gut, because I'm not eating any gu.

Half:  1:37:02  This is just a number.  

25k:  24:10  A bit of slowing, but I'm passing people fairly regularly.  The heat is taking it's toll, with more and more people walking.  I'm locked in with a guy from Canada, hearing lots of shouts "Go, Canada!"  The scream wall at Wellesley was awesome.  I didn't kiss a single girl.  In this leg, I spotted Andrea.  She gave me a great boost when I really needed something.  Thanks!

30k:  24:40  A bit more slowing.  The hills are looming, and did I mention it's pretty hot?  It's getting late enough to start counting down miles.  Under 10...9....

35k:  26:31  Ugh.  I slowed to down a 5 hour energy, and walked some.  The crowd is fantastic, and it's demoralizing how many people are passing me when I'm walking, so I run some more.  I'm not going to stop any more.

40k:  24:25  I guess the caffeine kicked in, or I was able to make something of the downhills.  I'm stunned to see 6's on my garmin when I look down once in a while.  My quads are crampy, and my hands are tingling.  I'm skipping drinks, but still dumping water over my head.  The fire hydrants, hoses, and water from spectators are cold while the water stops are lukewarm.  The crowd noise and encouragement are a huge boost.  It hurts more to walk than run, so I run.  It's pretty hot.

42.16k:  10:25   On to the finish.  I cross the line at 3:22:13.  I'm dizzy, my hands are numb.  I like to lay down after a race, but they tell me to keep walking.  People are staggering all over the place.  I get caught up in that, and go to the med-tent.  The best thing about it is being out of the sun, and getting some gatorade without disgusting protein.  My quads are really jacked up, but I feel fine considering.  My kids spot me, and we wait for a couple hours for my Mom to finish.  She made it under 5 hours, taking 10th in her age group.  

It was a tough, tough day.  I slowed, but that's okay.  I found a groove again after losing a groove, which is encouraging.  I moved up 4400 places from my seed, which is better than last year.   

Tonight I'm not too beat up.  No blisters, a tiny bit of sunburn, tired legs, but nothing a few days off won't solve.  Maybe I can make a run at 3 hrs @ UVM.   

 

Pavement Miles: 26.20Green Mirage Miles: 26.20
Comments(30)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.020.000.02

Under the category of FRB sightings,  I ran into Walter coming back from the expo on a school bus on Saturday.  Also, in Detroit, Matt Mackey re-introduced himself to me.  We served in the same mission, and ended up on the same flight into Salt Lake.  Maybe if I try really hard, I can meet half as many bloggers in person as Burt.

Comments(2)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.300.004.30

I took the three little ones for a shakeout.  The stroller and 2 bikes tend to enforce going slow.  We went to the Ricks creek waterfall, then the girls wanted to play at the park.  Jack was asleep by then, so I sat on the bench and watched them for a while.  Before coming back, Anna walked into the unlocked bathroom to take care of business.  She saw it was a robot toilet and decided she could wait till she got home.  It's funny how kids hate auto-flush.  She also complained it smelled like dead bugs in there.  I thought it smelled like poop, but that's just me.

I know the run was helpful to me mentally.  I'm not sure about physical benefits.  My rt ankle really tightened up since, and it wasn't bothering me before.  My legs feel pretty normal, but the left calf is still a bit tight.  I might have to pay for a massage.

Boston was fantastic.  I'm so pleased with how the trip went.  The kids all claim they had a great time; I know I did.  Of course it would be nice to have run a faster marathon, but given the conditions, I'm satisfied with that outcome as well.  

Pavement Miles: 4.30Stroller Miles: 4.30Kinvara Miles: 4.30
Comments(10)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
12.200.0012.20

a.m. 10k  Jack woke up at 6.  Tami said he woke her at 2.  That made it my turn.  When I got him out of his crib, lo and behold Ashlei was sitting on the couch playing a draw game on the iPad.  I had some oatmeal, fed Jack and bribed Ash to join us on a run with a donut.  We went to Farmington and back, stopping at Fresh Market for her donut.  Jack fell asleep before the turnaround.  Temps were perfect.

 p.m. 6m  Just after sunset, Tami and I ran on BST almost to Ricks Creek, before coming down Oakridge.  We ran into a night running woman who was happy to join us; it was pretty dark and she was pretty nervous.   (She spoke of a 3:18 marathon at Desnews.  I'll have to get her on the blog.)  We ran her home, then dropped Tami home and ran the uphill mile to pick up the car.  It was a bit warm.  I need to talk her into running in the morning.

Congrats to everyone who ran SL marathon events today.  Bloggers made some cash, baby.

I was thinking about mile 24 of the marathon today.  At that stage, I was feeling pretty done; my quads were really tight, my hands numb and my head was getting a bit dizzy.  Just on this side of walking, I noticed a guy ahead with Phillipians 4:13 on the back of his singlet.  That verse is pretty popular with several fellow bloggers.    I read it, and ran the rest of the way in.  This is the only marathon with no walking spikes on my pace graph after mile 23.  

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." 

Comments(1)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
43.070.0043.07
Pavement Miles: 30.50Green Mirage Miles: 26.20Stroller Miles: 4.30Kinvara Miles: 4.30
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