BQ!
50F to start, 58F at the finish, clear.
Miles 1-5: 6:59, 6:44, 6:51, 6:46, 6:51. At the starting line I found myself right between the 3:00 and 3:10 pace groups, which is where I wanted to be. Crowded for the first mile, but managed to get myself right on pace (looking for 7:00/mile to ensure BQ). Then I started to get just a little carried away. I let myself turn in a few 6:40s, but as long as it still just felt like a trot, I was ok with it. 21:19 at the 5K. There was a huge group running with the 3:00 pacers. I thought about going up there to draft, but then watched the chaos when they went through the aid stations and backed off.
Miles 6-10: 6:50, 6:49, 6:52, 6:56, 6:57. After passing through the 10k in 42:40, and still 50-100m behind the 3-hr group, I started to wise up. It still felt very easy, but it needs to feel very easy at that point, so I backed off just a little bit. After 10 miles, the pace still felt like a trot, so I was very encouraged.
Miles 11-15: 6:47, 6:54, 6:52, 6:52, 6:54. Just feeling great through this stretch. I hit the half in 1:30:16, still keeping my eye on the 3:00 group. I really was not that interested in sub-3 compared to getting the BQ, so there was a lot of back and forth in my brain about whether to step it out and go for the sub-3. I kept deciding to save my energy and not blow the BQ by getting greedy.
Miles 16-20: 6:53, 6:53, 6:54, 6:45, 6:51. Aerobically, I was sailing through this section, still barely breathing. However, it no longer felt like an easy trot on my legs. I was definitely having to push off a lot more to maintain the same pace. I also started passing people here, and almost never got passed myself, which was a big mental boost. At mile 20 my time was right around 2:18 and it was time to make a decision. The sun was coming out and it was getting a bit warmer; there was also a 5-7 mph east wind (headwind) all the way to the finish. I just felt there was no way I could bang out a 42-min 10k the way my legs were losing steam. So, I stuck with the pace I was at, and it was the right call.
Miles 21-26.2: 6:53, 6:54, 6:54, 6:56, 7:00, 7:37, 1:54 for 0.25 (7:27). Still banging out some great miles on the underpasses on the home stretch. Saw the family right at mile 23; they took this shot.
I'll post some better pictures next week! Anyway, I kept doing the math, seeing how slow I could run and still BQ. With about 2 miles to go I was just passing people left and right, making what probably sounded like animal noises as I grunted my way past. I hit the wall (again, 2 marathons in a row) in the last mile. It didn’t help that the buildings downtown really funneled the headwind at us. I really picked up the effort and kept seeing a slower and slower pace. It felt like I was sprinting, yet I could only throw down a 7:37 final mile. Finally, after about 26.1 miles, I stopped concentrating on my race and it hit me what I was about to do. I did some celebratory fist pumps as the emotion finally caught up to me and crossed the line in 3:01:10. Very close to even-splitting (1:30:16/1:30:54). Pacing could not have been better.
I hung out with my sister and ate a huge bacon burger after finishing. Waited for Danielle, who did not PR, but finished despite a couple ailments that had her almost deciding not to run at all.
Well, I am going to Boston in 2013. I first got the idea to try and reach this goal 2 years ago, soon after I first started running. I thought it would probably take 5 years to get to 3:10, which was a BQ at the time. I have been so lucky that I’ve remained mostly uninjured and have had just about everything go right for me with my training. Also lucky that there’s so much support here on FRB. Thanks everyone.
Not sure what races will be next for me; chances are we’re moving to Oklahoma soon. What I do know is that I will take a shot a sub-3 somewhere, hopefully before summer hits. And I have a good 15 months to train for Boston, so expecting good things there.
Ok, time to bask a bit. | 
