Obviously some sicko out there changed this day for everyone, some more than others. I was already on a bus headed back to my car.
So, a muted celebration for the sub-3. I am definitely an example of how NOT to run Boston. 1:26:11, 1:32:32 for the 2 halves. Meh, it was fun trying though. Definitely my worst bonk and most painful finish in a marathon, but I hung in there, even as I struggled to run 7:30 pace at the end.
Hope everyone from the blog is ok. Tough, sad day when it's all said and done.
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*Based on some comments I got, I think I will fill in the details of the race. If nothing else, I'd like to have the (good) memory of the race for later.
Ok, so everything leading up to the race went great, I think. Good taper, good carb load, good sleep, stress-free travel to the starting line, etc.
My splits are the mile-marker splits -- I turned off auto-lap on Garmin and tried to just click the button at each mile marker (missed a couple though).
Miles 1-5 - 6:45, 6:30, 6:32, 6:33, 6:36. The first 4 miles are downhill in this race. Mile 1 was frusturating in the crowds, but in hindsight it was probably good for me to be pace-limited by the mass of people. In every other race I've run, the crowds thin out pretty soon, but not this one. Overall, it didn't bother me, except you smell a lot of farts...
Miles 6-10 - 6:31, 6:34, 13:07 for 2 (6:34 pace), 6:34. Here's where I messed up, I think. This was basically a flat stretch and I was low 6:30s all the way. I seriously thought I was in 2:55 shape, but this was more like 2:51-2 pace. I think I could have saved the bonk by just going a little slower here.
Miles 11-16 - 6:35, 6:30, 6:35, 6:32, 6:43, 6:33. Ok, these are the rest of the flat/downhill miles before the Newton hills. Again, just a few seconds slower might've saved me. I was really loving the crowds and the course though...having a great time! My family was all waiting around mile 14 and I got to dish out some high-fives.
The cheering section! My 2 kids are covered up with posters, but the other two are my cousin (the 11-year-old) and my wife. We stayed with my aunt in Providence for 5 nights and they were such great hosts.
Miles 17-21 - 6:58, 7:02, 6:51, 7:09, 7:23. The Newton hills - 17, 18, 20, and 21 are uphill and 21 has Heartbreak. Mile 19 is kind of a break. Really, they weren't bad hills, I just thought I had conserved more energy than I actually had. I told myself before the race that 7:00 would be ok. But when 21 rang in so slow and I felt so depleted, I knew I was in trouble.
Miles 22-26.2 - 6:53, 7:12, 7:09, 15:15 for 2 (7:38 pace!), 7:12 pace for the 0.22. Even with the downhill, I couldn't keep up. I went from calculating what I would need for sub-2:55, to what I would need for sub-3. Like I said, I've never bonked this bad. It was very hard to keep running. Everytime I'd hit a mile marker, I just could not believe I had so long to go. I just kept telling myself not to walk, and I'd get it. Even with a mile to go, I wasn't sure - I was at 2:51-something but I did not think for a second that I had sub-3 in the bag...I just felt terrible. There were literally hundreds of smarter runners whizzing by me, kind of embarrassing. Thankfully the race ended and I plodded across the line in time, relieved and happy.
I think with better pacing I might've gone a couple minutes faster, but this was fine. I went for it, based on what I thought I could pull off, and still came away with a decent result. Ended up about 1500 spots ahead of my bib number, not bad.
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I wasn't planning on running Boston next year but I almost want to do it out of spite for the bombing.
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