Perfect day for a race. Loved running by moonlight with the cool temperatures. Started out with Paul, Cory, Tom and Kevin. We lost sight of Tom in the first mile (as he went on to a 3:17 finish). Caught up with Larry, Wayne and Kent and ran with them for a while. First mile warming up and dodging people in 8:19 (HR 136). Second mile in 7:59, HR edged up to 151 with the uphill section. Third mile 7:28 pace and with the downhill HR fell to 148. Was definitely holding back through these early miles to avoid the usual crash and burn around 20. Lost Cory at one of the water stops as he was having some plantar pain. Covered the next four miles at a comfortable pace (7:28, 7:42, 7:24 and 7:16). HR stayed below 150. Started to feel some strain heading up Veyo and into Dammeron Valley. Managed 8:49 and 8:25 over the next two miles. We stopped for a POP break at the beginning of mile 10 and only hit 8:50. At that point the sunlight warmed us up a bit. Mile 11 in 8:43, mile 12 in 8:11. HR 152 to 155 heading up the hill. We felt tired by the time we finished the climb through Dammeron Valley and it felt good to just let gravity take over. Mile 13 in 7:47, 14 in 8:04 (took another POP break) and 15 in 7:44. We pretty much held the same pace through 18 (7:43, 7:49, 7:50). As Paul was feeling the lingering effects of TOU and wanted to drop back, I plowed on ahead. I was dreading the next part of the course as it was always during this section that things began to fall apart for me. I felt OK, however heading up the 2 percent grade and finished it in 8:27 (which was faster than I'd projected). The next mile was about the same (8:31). I checked my time at the 20 mile mark and was surprised to see that I'd hit my projected time for a 3:30 to the second. That gave me a burst of energy just as I was hitting the downhill section (7:36 for mile 21). For some reason, I slowed for the next mile (8:22) and my HR climbed to 160. I was starting to feel pretty tired, but the crowds lining the streets provided a big boost so I managed a 8:01 for mile 23 and for mile 24. After turning onto the diagonal, I was feeling pretty much beat. My pace dropped to 8:20 for mile 25 and to 8:50 for mile 26. Realizing that I'd slowed way down and that after all that effort I might miss qualifying, I pushed the last .2 mile as hard as I could (2:06) and finished in 3:31:49, slightly disappointed that I hadn't come in under 3:30, but just greatly relieved to know that all the hard work had paid off with a Boston qualifying time. It was such a great feeling to have reached that goal. | 