It's all relative

PM: 10 miles, easy.

AM: 10.3 miles, ~2 miles hard effort, including a 2:22 800m running with Javier.  Geez that dude is fast- and I don't think he runs many miles at all.  No split times other than that one, I don't usually focus on anything over than effort on Tuesday morning track.

PM: 8.1 miles on some hills back and forth, with a 5 mile tempo in the middle.  This was my first tempo in forever, but I felt controlled and wasn't breathing too hard.  The rest of the guys were doing intervals style, so I just would keep  going and then catch them on the return.  It was pretty fun to time it, and definitely made the time pass much easier.

Split- (5 miles consecutive after two miles easy)  29:47

PM: 10.1 mile recovery pace.

PM: 9.6 miles slow, and 0.5 miles of striders inside.

PM: 5 miles

AM: Went to Clermont hoping to get the course record in the Clermont Parkrun 5k.  Did a TON of striders, trying to prime my super sore legs.  That helped a bit, but I still felt achey at the beginning.  I was aiming for a 15:29 flat.

Then the race just happened- and it was over in the blink of an eye.  I missed the record by 5 seconds.  It was definitely mental, I know I am faster than that.  I just lost control, did not relax, and didn't use the watch to my advantage.  I felt my blood boiling a bit when I finished, since I knew I wasn't tired enough to have had just given a fully effort.  Final time was a  15:44.  

5k Splits- 4:59, 4:59, 5:13, Finish 0:33

Noon: 10 miles with 10 hill repeats easy.

PM: 8 miles easy

AM: 4.7 miles easy

PM: 7.3  miles, 4 of them fast and continuous at 5:45 pace.

PM: 4.5 miles

No running

PM: 4 miles

AM: 3.2 miles easy

AM: 2 miles easy, then flew to Boston.  BOSTON.  Let's go!

123rd Boston Marathon Race Report

Training: As far as mileage, speed, and nutrition I was ready.  I had very little marathon specific training, my weight was a little high (151), and almost zero tempo/speedy long run stuff at marathon pace.  I've been training pretty specifically for 5ks, minus all of the mileage.  Not ideal, but definitely the best I've done for a marathon.

Goals: A goal- sub 2:40, B goal- sub 2:47 PR, C goal- Sub 3.

The course: Everyone on this blog likely knows this course.  very challenging course, downhill parts, uphill parts, headwinds, huge temperature/weather fluctuations.  It is what it is.  The support/crowds for this race are unprecedented which helps immensely.

Weather: Started just like last year- humid, heavy rain, 45 degrees, steady winds with high gusts.  I was soaking wet and cold before I even got on the bus, but I was smart this year and packed all my run clothes/shoes seperately/dry.  Not making the same mistake as last year...  The weather then, amazingly, got better from there- progressing evenly from 45 up to 65 degrees, still wicked humid, but the rain turned to mist then to clouds and then super sunny, and the wind (fortunately) was perpendicular the majority of the way.

The race

1st 5k- This was the worst most annoying experience I've had in a race in a long time.  I started way back in the corrals (was about 1,500-2,000th to cross the start line), respectively but figured everyone was fast so what's the big deal?  Well, I ended up working incredibly hard trying to weave through people to be rewarded with a 6:40 "mile 1."  It truly was like being in bumper-to-bumper traffic going 20 below the speed limit.  I was a bit dejected, but knew I had work to do and needed to move up out of this mess of runners.  I couldn't believe the difference 3 corrals made.  We were stuck together almost at this pace, and I thought a 2:40 was pretty much out of the window even only a mile in.  Eventually (mile 1.5) I found the edge that was full of puddles where the road (finally) opened a bit, and a bunch of runners and I made up a few hundred spots from there.  This felt just like speeding in the breakdown lane, but it was envigorating.  I made up a lot of ground here.  1st 5k was 18:55.

10k mark split- 18:41.  I got into a groove here, now moving up towards front of the hoard.  This is the easiest part of the course.  

15k mark split- 18:48.  Cruising.  Also, I saw my family so I stopped and high-fived them all.

20k mark split- 18:47.  Cruising for the most part.  I had a ton of soreness, but it had been there since mile one, so I didn't pay it much attention as far as a derailer.

Halfway totals- 1:19:01.  This sections is my favorite.  You have the Wellesley girls, and well... I mean you have the Wellesley girls...  Also the town center is bumpin' so it's fun to high five and rile up the crowd.  I saw my family for the second time here, and thanked them all again.

25k mark split- 18:23.  A lot of runners began slowing during this 5k.  I just kept cruising.  I felt I had more in me, but knew how deceiving marathons could be, so I figured it wasn't worth it.  I was content with 6 minute miles.

30k mark split- 18:44.  Felt good- crowds helped.  I moved up a couple of hundred people during this 5k.

35k mark split- 18:56.  The Newton hills were mostly in this 5k, but they weren't bad.  I got to see my family for the final time, and I was in great spirits.  Riled up the crowd again, which is always fun.  Kept moving up in place.

40k mark split- 18:32.  Brookline/Boston.  I LOVE this section.  The crowds are unreal, and I love grabbing a beer from the crowd.  You can feel the end of the race coming, but to be honest I could run this section infinite times and I do not believe it would get old.  My first hamstring misfires began here, but I knew I'd be fine being so close to the finish.  They take a couple of miles to onset fully.

Finish 2.2 k.  Final mile was a 5:42 or so.  I didn't feel like I was moving that quickly, but I was still passing people.  There is that one final dip/hill in this section under Mass Avenue which is a pain.  The crowds are so dense that you kind of feel bad for not gunning it at this point, but any hills at this point are tough.  I ran this entired section with a pretty big smile on my face.  You feel like a movie star with all of the people watching!

1st half split- 1:19:01, 2nd half split 1:18:35, finish time- 2:37:36

5k splits- 18:55, 18:41, 18:48, 18:47, 18:23, 18:44, 18:56, 18:32, finish (2.2k)- 8:00

Final thoughts- I know this course isn't about running a specific time and isn't the kind of course you "pace", but  I am happy with both of those aspects.  Running a negative split really helped me mentally.  I also finally put to rest my PR from 2015 by over 10 minutes, and definitely see a ton of room for growth if I want to stick with marathons.

AM: 3 miles, then a ton of walking around Boston.  

PM: 5.5 miles

PM: 6.5 miles

AM: 6.1 miles

PM: 3.6 miles and lifted- arms and back.  

AM: 10.3 miles with Anthony and Elia

AM: 10.5 miles solo.  Felt mostly recovered today.

PM: 10.5 miles solo

AM: 9.2 miles with the group.  I did about 1 mile worth of work.  Fitness-wise I felt fine, but I am still sore, so I will try again tonight and see whether to shut it down another couple of days to finish recovering.  

PM: 7.1 total, 3 fast.  workout at the track: 6x800 with 400 easy recoveries.  This workout felt simple, but I did not want to push myself too much given the proximity to the previous marathon.  splits were descending from MP to 5:00/mile.  Steve led the workout, which made it much easier.

PM: 10.3 miles, and I felt fantastic.  Definitely recovered.  I'm still going to keep the workouts mild I think until maybe Sunday.  I feel supremely motivated lately.

PM: Treadmill workout.  3 mile warmup, then 15x2:00 intervals with 1:00 recovery jog.  Spent the first part at marathon effort and at a decent incline, then dropped it down to 15k effort for the rest.  Cooled down for a half mile.

PM: 10.3 miles.  Felt easy.

AM: 10.1 miles with Scott, Elia, and Anthony

AM: 15 mile progressive run, 3 miles at around MP effort by the end of it.

PM: 13.3 miles, 90 degrees out and humid, but the run felt easy.

AM: 10.1 miles

PM: 8.6 miles, with a workout.  Workout was 8x800, but I cut it short at 7, since I missed even my "slow" goal.  I didn't reach deep to achieve it, but I just didn't have it as can be seen with the slow bleeding out below.  

Splits- 2:39, 2:32, 2:35, 2:36, 2:38, 2:40, 2:43, -----

Takeaways- 90 degrees out and summer is definitely here, so I'm not sure how much to read into this one.  I am about two weeks away from the marathon in the recovery process, but it's clear I am not recovered.  I will likely forego my workout on Thursday and just run some miles instead and then just do something of okay on Saturday so I am ready to rock next week.