For the first time ever, I stuck with the pacers.  It was really nice not to have to worry about my pace every mile, or focus so much on when I find myself going too fast or too slow.  I had the option of staying with the 3:40 or the 3:50 pacers, obviously a huge difference between them.  I made the decision to stick with the 3:40 and 10 miles in there was still 15-20 of us.  One by one they were getting picked off, until there was just two of us at mile 26.  He (we even lost a pacer) used the 'smart pacing' strategy which took into consideration the hills, so again it was nice to not have to think about it.  I looked down at my Garmin quite a few times and only saw 7:30, 8:09. 8:30 and 8:45.  I found myself thinking that every one of those paces was too fast and too slow at different points in the race, so I learned how skewed (screwed) my natural pacing abilities are.  When he was doing 7:30 I remember thinking that I was going to have to drop back, but the next thing I knew were were up over 8, so there was lots of times where we gained distance and then had recovery periods.  Life was utter hell after mile 22.  I had told myself that I wanted to stick with the pacers until mile 18, and was impressed to still be there at 20+, but then it started to fall apart (but I did not hit the wall!!!!!!!!).  The only thing that really saved me was the pace going up and down, because you could feel relief at points.  I didn't drink anything at the final two aid stations, but walked as slowly as I could to get any ounce of energy back.  I looked at the distance on my Garmin probably 42 times after mile 22.  Then I got to mile 23 and kept doing the whole 'oh only 3 miles left', then I stopped to walk, giving into defeat of the pacer disappearing (keeping in mind that time would have me qualify for Boston), but started back up < 10 seconds later.  When I got to mile 24, he slowed down, my legs felt a little better, I could think a little more clearly, and I realized that I'd be really mad at myself if I got that far and was 60 seconds or 120 seconds too slow to qualify...so close.  When we got past 26 he stopped completely and told me to go as he had to drop back in order to keep 3:40, so we were a little ahead.  The last half mile felt like 2 miles and there was a strong headwind, but I knew how proud my husband would be up there as he saw me stagger in 7 minutes faster than my goal time, 17 minutes faster than my PR, and at around 3:38:40 after finishing that same course the year before in 4:25 (less mileage, bigger butt).

So 2009 I ran 42mpw with no speedwork and did a 3:55, and with additional years of running, by 2011 with weekly intervals and tempo and up to 60mpw (avg 55) I did 17 mins faster.  My victories are a PR, a much better time than I thought I'd get, I DID NOT HIT THE WALL, and I began planning my training strategy for my next marathon within minutes of finishing - for the first time I didn't vow to never ever run again. 

Watching London online. Might run a bit afterward, then nap

Wow, Gen!  Great race, and nice to see all those miles pay off big time!