Boston Marathon- what an experience! The day started off with a ride on the 'T' to Boston Common to jump on a school bus to the start. The weather was shaping up to be awesome. When we arrived at the Athlete's Village it was a bit chilly and windy, there had been rain the day before so the grass was all wet and mushy. Found a place to plant my rear end and sit it out for a few hours. As I am sitting there I turn around and there is a guy wearing a 'Painter's Half Marathon' sweatshirt. He was from Pleasant Grove, small world it is. After the usual waiting for a bathroom etc. we are on the move to the starting corrals. Now I am getting pumped, it is about to really happen. As we are getting close to the start line I hear the gun go off for the first wave... it is really happening! The race gets off and the mass of runners starts down the course, this is so cool, people everywhere cheering. I can tell right now that this is going to be fun. With so many runners it is hard to do anything but go at the pace that everyone else is.Mile 1> 8:11 The miles seemed to click away very fast, I loved that the aide stations were every mile. That help break the race into nice easy chunks. The downfall of every mile was that I stopped at all but 2 of them wanting to make sure I was well hydrated, one of the stops I didn't make was to say hi to my wife and get a swig of Pepsi at 24.20 miles. Splits through 16 miles> 8:11/ 7:43/ 7:46/ 7:46/ 7:58/ 7:41/ 7:54/ 8:03/ 7:49/ 8:02/ 8:04/ 8:02/ 8:04/ 8:02/ 8:29/ 8:01/ Through 16 I was exactly where I wanted to be for a 3:30 race. With that said I was I feel that this 16 miles was not easy- there were a lot of little hills that worked over the quads, I tried to just keep a consistent pace going and not use too much energy- I was feeling great but the Quads were getting sore before the Newton Hills. Miles 17-21: Newton Hills- These were not so bad but I still didn't want to push too hard just lay back a bit and work my way up the hills knowing that after they were over it was home free. 8:35/ 8:42/ 8:25/ 8:50/ 9:21 From the splits Heart Break Hill was the worst of them and my slowest mile on the course. I took good care in getting plenty of hydration through this section hoping I would be energized to the finish. In these 5 miles I lost 3:57 but was alright with that because I had hit the first 16 25 seconds faster than the plan. Coming over the top and into Boston College was fun...Lots of noise and I was in the moment having fun, giving 5's along the way, A guy in the group was holding his hand out and I gave him 5 and he about ripped my arm off. It didn't hurt the hand it hurt the shoulder and I could feel a twinge in the back of my right Hammy right behind the knee. He hit me hard enough that it messed up my stride and kind of hurt. Now I was concerned that I was going to start breaking down. I never did but at this point in the race I was slowing down and the effort seemed the same. I didn't look at the Garmin too often but when I started glancing down in this last section I was hoping for a much better pace than what I was running. Miles 22-finish> 8:22/ 8:10/ 8:27/ 8:43/ 8:36/ 7:30 Running along still trying to get the legs going but the Quads were sore! I was afraid to push any harder for fear of hurting myself or cramping. Mile 24 I slowed down a bit to find my wife and finally did and stopped for a brief time to open up a Pepsi and say hi. At this time I was aware that a BQ was not going to happen and was sad but still enjoying the race. The last 2 turns were amazing as the crowd got louder and louder, making the last turn to the finish I thought I would never make it- it looked so far...lol I kept holding back the tears on the home stretch. Coming across the finish line was amazing and I soaked it up...my frirst Boston Marathon was complete, what a great time. I came out thinking that this was perhaps my only Boston and now I come home determined to go back again and do what I didn't do...conquer! My observations for giving myself a chance to PR this race was to not stop at every Aide Station. I know I lost 5-6 minutes easy if not more getting caught in the mass of bodies and dodging cups and people. I feel that I paced myself well through most of the race. The tail winds were better than head winds but it did make it a warm race, not too bad but the last 4-5 miles did seems to get hot. There was not cross winds to cool the face off. I am sure I benefited from the tail winds but with my lack of speed I didn't notice it much at all. PS: My bib number was 10935 and my overall place was 9778- so I moved up 1157 places based on qualify time. Age Graded time was figured at 3:12:58
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