Seeking a better country...

Wow.

 To limit this to a race entry seems impossible.  I had a great trip with my wife and parents.  My mom also ran in the race, performing very well in what she claims is her ultimate marathon.

Relating to the blog, we got together in Chinatown Saturday night with smooth, runningmama, tomslick, rhett, doone, hillbillyrunner, rattletrap,  and others I'm forgetting.  Regrettably, the tables weren't large enough to accommodate all who wished to partake, so our group was split in two.  Thanks to Smooth for coordinating what turned out to be a very pleasurable and palatable meal.  It was wonderful to put faces with names, and get to know some inspiring and kind people while eating dim sum. 

Each evening upon returning to the hotel, we watched the local news, and the forecast got better each night.  Monday arrived partly sunny, with a rare westerly wind.  The conditions held until 10 for the start of the race.  My dad got us to Hopkinton state park in plenty of time to use the portapotty and catch a bus to the starting areas.  We got to town around 9:00.  Rather than head to the village, we hung out in the park, and watched the wheelchair, handcycle and elite women start.  I did catch a glimpse of AmberG as she took off, and sent good thoughts Nan's way for a fantastic race.  

After that, I headed back to corral seven with 1000 other nervous skinny people.  Right on time we were heard the gun.  4.5 minutes later I crossed the starting line.  

Impressions and musings:

I have never run a big marathon, so this was unprecedented, to see nothing but a sea of athletes in front of me.  No glimpse of the road was available at all.  The first couple miles were a bit congested, but things opened up a little as the roads got wider.   Seeing men peeling off every 100 feet to pee in the woods was a crack-up.  Turns out it's maybe something I should have done.  The crowd was a fantastic thing to experience for the first time.  I gave a few fives, got a few yells, and ate lots of oranges.  The girls at Wellesley were something else.  The Newton Hills weren't much, but as it turns out, they were enough.  Seeing the Citgo sign was more enthralling from Fenway Park than from the middle of the road, and the distance to the finish line from where you first see it is farther than it looks.

I had an aggressive/unrealistic goal of 3:07.  By race day, I knew that wasn't possible and revised to 3:11.  At the last minute, I decided I wanted no splits in the 8's.  I didn't do a lot to keep myself on track, other than know I needed to run around 7:15 miles.  I wore no pace bracelet and wrote no splits to keep myself on track; my only check was infrequent glances at the current pace on my gps.  This was dumb for achieving a goal, however, it made the race more pleasurable.  

I didn't know how much of a bump to expect coming to sea level.  There is 12% more oxygen at sea level than at home.  I think this made a noticeable difference.  I don't remember feeling ragged or out of breath during the whole race.   In hindsight, I wish I wore the HRM to see if this was true or all in my head.  I also wonder if all the gels and 5 hour energy had anything to do with it.

You never notice a tailwind till you turn around.  Mercifully, the course bore west almost entirely.  There were times I felt a push at the crest of a hill.  I know the absence of headwind helped.

In meandering all over the road to avoid drinkers, give fives and eat oranges, I ran an extra quarter.  My overall pace for the marathon was 7:24, compared with 7:26 in Ogden last spring.  So was this a PR even though my time was a minute slower?  Does it really matter? 

I made it to mile 23 before I really melted down.  Before that I had brief pauses to pound gels, but got right back into the flow.  I ran straight through the Newton Hills, and things looked pretty good for the finish I was looking for, but my mind just went crazy.  "This is stupid.  Who cares, anyway.  What difference does it make?"  I had 20 of those thoughts for every positive one, and I gave up the fight.  After walking for a while, I vowed that was the only stop.  A quarter mile later I was walking again.  More vows, and I lasted almost a mile before walking again.  I did manage to come in without any additional nonsense.  

After the race, I sat around in the cold waiting for my mom to finish.  She came in at 4:22.  I had a couple forbidden cheeseburgers for dinner, (complete with McStomach afterward) and slept very soundly.  

Splits:

7:24  felt slow
6:59  great
6:54  great
7:03  great
7:13  great  
7:08  great, gu at mile 6
7:13  great
7:11
7:04
7:07
7:16
7:07  gu here
7:16
7:07
7:20
7:01
7:31  5 hour energy here, hills begin
7:51
7:28
7:57
8:01  heartbreak hill
7:24
7:34
8:13  brain-fart 
7:59  continues
7:47  
7:42

Does anybody run a marathon that they don't wish they were 5 minutes faster?   I'm very satisfied with how things went.  In terms of best experiences in a lifetime, this trip and race are in the top 15.  

Also, I read Cold Mountain and almost finished 1776 on the plane today.  And we went to Gloucester, Plymouth, Salem, Cape Cod and a whole bunch of other places that had famous dead people and really old graves and stuff.  The clam chowder at Spanky's clam Shack in Hyannis was amazing, and I wish Dunkin Donuts would find it's way to Utah. Also, I moved up 2400 places from my 6366 bib seed, so that makes me glad.  Enough.  

My neighbor Jeff picked me up around 6:15, and we drove up to Eden.  He had family staying in their cabin there.  We stopped by to use the bathroom, but nobody was awake.  They thought the race was commencing at 8:00, so they were glad we woke them for the 7:30 start.

My participation in this race was not advisable, but I had to try.  I was in 2nd place in my age for the series with 2-3 minute cushion on the guys below me.  I wanted to hold position and get an award.  

The first 3rd of the race was fine.  I was hovering around Marathon pace, and running comfortably and conversationally with Merilee Blackham.  Once we hit the aid station at mile 6, she kept cruising along while I slowed for gu and water.  I found another "friend" to run with, but got dropped around the turnaround.  I was really starting to suffer.  My legs were just dead, and I still had 9+ miles to go to the finish. 

I held on all right until the last 3rd of the race.  By mile 14, I was walking and limping.  People were passing me like crazy, and it was bugging me.  My sister came up to cheer, and she caught me at my worst.  I thought about hopping in the car and catching a ride for my first DNF.  Instead, she went ahead to the next aid station and got me some drinks.  I took one last gu, and decided to keep going. 

 After she left, I would run for a while then walk.  Usually the threshold to put an end to walking was 3 people passing me.  Once the finish got close enough, I did hang on and run 1.5 in a row, and nobody else passed me, but by then the damage was done.  I'd fallen from 2nd place to 11th in my age group.  My time was 20 minutes slower than my 30k split at Boston 5 days earlier.

In hindsight, I should have stayed home in bed and let Jeff run on my entry.  It would have saved him $50 and got me some extra sleep.  He finished 30 seconds behind me.  We hung around for a little while after the race, then drove back.  During the drive home, things locked up pretty good.  I couldn't really walk, and my right hip hurt a lot.  I napped for a while and took a motrin, then finished the day mowing lawns for a few hours with my son.  It was nice to have a mower to hold onto...like a walker.

So now I'm trying to figure out when to go for a run again.  It would have been fine to restart on Saturday, but not for 18+ miles.  Maybe tomorrow, I guess.