I know there will be no surprise or suspense when reading this RR about my final time and result.  The news seemed to have flooded the Internet seemingly before I even crossed the finish mat.  Given that, I hope as you read this I am able to convey some of what I was thinking and feeling as this weekend and race unfolded.  Sorry, but as always, be forewarned.  There is a long road, and there are a lot of words leading to the end of this one.  Skip to the "Just the Facts" section at the bottom if you wish.

 

I had been on this silly BQ quest for several years, ever since all the various race predictors began to line up almost exactly with my required BQ time of 3:45 and change. (Male 55 to 59).  I had made a couple of unsuccessful BQ attempts - one a big physical bonk, the other one a mental one.

 

I had begun to wonder if perhaps it was not meant to be.  I'm no Spring Chicken anymore and the years are getting higher.  I have a good friend who has a race timing business and if I asked I'm sure he'd give me a sponsor's exemption into Boston.  And I could always go the Charity route as I have many friends I could hit up (like all of you!) and the means by myself for that matter.  But I'm determined if nothing else and I really wanted to do it the old fashioned Smith Barney way.  I was going to Earn it.  So I kept on training and set my sights on Columbus.

 

DW and I arrived in Columbus early Friday evening and were immediately hit with the cold weather.  It had been 93° and muggy when we left S. Florida and really had not begun the Fall cool down yet.  The upper 30s, low 40's in Columbus went right through us.  Saturday night/Sunday morning (raceday) was forecast to be the coldest night of the year so far - low of 30°, high of only about 47° or so.  But no rain was called for and the winds would be manageable.

 

I had raced on a similar cold day in NYC 2007 - my 3:52:18 PR race - but this was going to be even more chilly.  I really didn't know how to dress having little experience with it.  So I got up on Saturday morning, bundled up, and went out for a short 2 mile warmup with a few striders at 7:30 AM - the exact same time as the race on Sunday.  This would give me a good gauge on what to wear on raceday.  I ended up running the "warmup" at 8:41 pace.  Oops.  Some "warmup".  I wanted to get back inside the hotel I guess.

 

If anything I was overdressed as I was a little surprised at how much I worked up a sweat on that tiny run.  Mission accomplished though as I knew after that how I would dress.  I also realized I would need a hat so I decided to look for one at the Expo.

 

We went to the Expo right after they opened at 9 AM on Saturday morning.  It was held in the Columbus Convention Center and as we were parking I was shocked to see the number of cars at that early hour.  Hundreds of them at least.  It turned out the Expo was being held adjacent to a big National Cheerleading contest.  The hallways were an odd collection of short skirts, glitter, eye makeup, and ribbons in the hair against a backdrop of running shoes and dri-fit running jackets.  As I began to wander over closer to the bevy of cheerleaders, DW gently but firmly led me in a different direction.  I found one vendor who was giving away free caps in exchange for an email address so I jumped at the hat.  I don't even remember what they were selling but I'm sure I'll know soon enough.  I now had the clothes I would need for raceday.

 

DD1 lives close to Dayton.  And at the last minute DD2 and family had decided to drive all the way down from northern Michigan to DD1's place - an 8-1/2 hour drive - with 2 little ones.  No way was I going to make them trek over to Columbus on both Saturday and Sunday.  So the plan was for DW and I to dash over to Dayton to see the family and then dash back to Columbus to meet up for an early dinner with Holly, Dg, and (hopefully) Rosie, the Rocket Scientist, and Buckeye.  DD1 had just moved in to a new place and we enjoyed seeing it and visiting with the kids.

 

We scooted back toward Columbus.  Fortunately we had satellite radio in the rental car so we could listen to the first half of the Gators game while on the road.  Unfortunately the Gators were playing poorly and it was not going well.  We arrived right as halftime was about to start.  We sat in the car for a few minutes and listed to a little play-by-play.  DW throught about dropping me off and finding herself a Sports Bar somewhere.  But she thought better of it as all the bar signs seemed to begin and end with "X" in this part of town.  We walked inside and there was Holly and Deb (Dg).  Hugs all around and we sat down.

 

I had met Deb before and was anxious to see her again.  And I was really excited to finally meet Holly in person.  We run similar paces and her determination was always inspiring to me.  Sort of a kindred spirit sort of thing.  She turned out to be as lovely, friendly, and down home as I expected.  Her love and pride in her family came through loud and clear, especially her "Princess".  About a half hour later in walks Rosie (Barb) and the Rocket Scientist (Ralph) who had run the Indianapolis Marathon earlier that day.  We were all happy to see them, me especially as we were unable to hook up with them a few months ago in Florida.  (Sorry, I took no pictures here.  Dumb.  Holly has a good one I'm sure she'll post.)

 

At one point during dinner Holly asked me what pace I was planning to go out at as we hoped to run together at least for a while miles till we saw how it was going for each of us.  I told her I was planning to start out really easy and let the day's pace come to me.  She then asked "How easy"?  Again I did not give her a specific number, though I'm sure she was looking for one.  I was not going to set an arbitrary pace though obviously I had a goal of 8:35 in mind.

 

After Eugene where I had my dreadful Bonk at mile 16, Dr. Dale told me that the way to run a Marathon was to let the pace for that day come to you rather than force some pre-determined pace.  He had also mentioned that a well-run Marathon is much like a Progression run which is why it's good to run a few of those during training.  Aamos had suggested I run the first mile at 9:00 pace, the 2nd mile at 8:45, before settling into MP of 8:30s.  And Tinman had written to me recently that the first 10 miles should be easy, the second 10 should be moderate, and the last 10K will be hard but that you're close to Home.  He told me to run a pace where I would get to mile 15 feeling fine.  I knew all of these things of course.  But to hear these experienced and gifted runners and Coaches ... well, I'm smart enough to know to listen.

 

I slept only okay the night before.  I had had a fairly sane Saturday for me, where usually I'm a basket case.  But the familiar self-doubts and knowing what racing 26.2 miles feels like were there for me in my dreams.  But all in all not a bad night.  I got up, got ready, and went down to the lobby to meet Holly, Dg, and Buckeye.  We had all planned to meet there since my hotel was only a block from the start and it was Cold.  Holly and Deb arrived right on time and we settled into a big meeting room the hotel had set up for beforehand.  (It turned out Buckeye wasn't feeling great and begged out of the dinner.  And then we missed him at the hotel.  Sorry!)

 

Eventually it was time to hustle over to the start.  Right by the State Capitol Building there was one line of runners who headed left and another line that headed straight.  We wondered which to take and decided on straight.  Wrong choice.  We ended up having to fight upstream against the traffic to get Holly's extra stuff Checked.  The other way would have avoided much of the race crowd.

 

I took the lead at one point and started pushing through the humanity.  "Excuse me!  Sorry!  Thanks!  Oops, sorry about that foot."  We made slow but steady progress, got to the Check Truck.  Debbie was right behind me, but no Holly.  Where could she be?  We looked and looked but never saw her.  Now we're way at the back of the pack - literally - with no chance of getting a better position.  15,000 runners or more.  I told Debbie (who wasn't showing any nervousness but I'm sure she must have been) "This is No Problem.  This is Perfect.  This will keep us slow and easy and not go out too fast."

 

I'm fairly tall and could see over the crowd.  I could see on the Big Screen at the Start Line that the race had started but no movement way back here.  After what seemed like forever the mass began to slowly move.  I told Debbie "Walk to the Start Mat.  Don't run any earlier than you have to, even if others race by".  And then I gave her a hug, wished her well, and started off.

 

As I crossed the starting line I glanced at the clock to see how far behind I was.  It said 10 minutes something, but I didn't really take note of the exact time.  That not knowing would prove to be very eventful.  At that moment God spoke to me and said "Don't look at the time, just run".  The Garmin has multiple displays.  I immediately changed my Garmin display to one that did not include the Overall Elapsed Time.  Instead I settled on a display showing Overall Pace, Current Lap Pace, and Distance Run.  (I'm not going to apologize for having Faith in my life.  I felt His hand pushing me many, many times on this day.)

 

It was predictably crowded.  But I was determined to run easy at the start and let the pace come to me no matter what that pace might end up being, even if that meant I didn't reach my goals.  I wanted to run this one well.  I settled in and tried to pass slower runners and walkers only when I could do so easily.  I had to bob and weave some of course, but I tried to do so without using any excess energy.

 

Mile 1  -  9:41

Mile 2  -  8:51

Mile 3  -  8:48

Mile 4  -  9:10

Mile 5  -  8:34

 

There was a slight incline in mile 4 and my flatlander roots showed themselves.  But as I did in NYC, I decided to run even effort on the flats and the uphills and try to make up time on the downs.  Mile 5 sees me finally on pace.  Now 5 miles are gone and I'm off BQ time by 2 minutes 10 seconds.  But I don't know exactly how much though as I'm not looking.  I just glance periodically to the Current Lap Pace to make sure I don't get overly exuberant and try to make it all up too fast.

 

I really enjoyed this part of the course.  We wound East out of downtown into residential areas of large mansions that in some cases looked like Castles.  The trees were brilliant shades of Yellow, Orange, and Red.  We don't have this in Florida and I soaked in the sunrise, the Fall colors, and very chilly football weather temps.  I was cold but not overly so.

 

Mile 6  -  8:30

Mile 7  -  8:47

Mile 8  -  8:35

Mile 9  -  8:19

Mile 10  -  8:32

 

This last section took us through German Town on the south end of Columbus.  Neat homes, row houses, and shops.  There were many Bands playing all over the course - both the High School School/College variety and Rick Bands.  The course they had set up is sort of a big three leafed clover winding around Downtown as the middle parts.  This made for easy spectating as family and friends could get from one spot to the next without having to go far or hurry.  And with all the downtown hotels, the downtown was pretty well attended.  DW had planned to meet me at Miles 9, 13 and then at the Finish Line.  I had already ditched my jacket at about Mile 6 and I was thinking I might ditch the long pants at mile 9 when I saw DW there.  I was also anxious to tell her that I had started 10 minutes back.  She feels these marathons right along with me and I knew she'd be worried and freaking out that I was having a bad day.

 

But she wasn't at mile 9 or we just missed on the timing.  I had on my "good" long pants (having smartly decided against cotton sweat pants the night before) and I really didn't want to throw them away.  So I kept on the long pants.  This was another Helping Hand as we turned north at mile 11 and headed into a 6 to 9 mile headwind.  No big deal, but enough to make me chilly again.  I pulled the hat down lower and made sure the gloves were back on.

 

I concentrated on being as efficient as I could.  Every time I saw a turn coming up, and there were a bunch of them, I ran directly toward it.  I took almost every turn on the in side so I wouldn't add any excess mileage.  I tried to run straight down all the straight-aways passing people as I was able.  I followed my nutrition plan to the letter, even taking that last GU at mile 24 when it tasted like Elmer's Glue.  And I ordered around the poor water table volunteers relentlessly by yelling out exactly what I wanted.  At one point I failed to close off the top of the water cup enough and splashed yellow Gatorade up into my right eye.  That stung, I couldn't see for a while, and I hoped I wouldn't topple over some poor runner.  Don't do this when you race.

 

Mile 11  -  8:31

Mile 12  -  8:41

Mile 13  -  8:25

 

First I spied Rosie and Ralph.  It was a big pick me up to see someone I knew as I was beginning to really worry about the slow first four miles and whether I could make it up.  About a half block on, at mile 13, I saw DW up ahead.  I moved over to give her a quick hug.  When I moved on she yelled out "I Love You!  Run Faster"!  It turns out she was worried about my 10 minute late start.  I had forgotten to tell her.  And I also forgot to tell her that Rosie and Ralph were only half a block away.  I learned long ago to do as she says, so I tried to run faster.  At this point the Half runners split off and headed for their Finish.  I grit my teeth and ran on trying not to think about how good it would feel to be done and munching on a bagel.  The "easy" that was supposed to last through 10 ended at 8 or 9 and the "moderate" was taking over earlier than hoped for.  This was not going to be easy but I already knew it wouldn't be.

 

I had been looking ahead all morning for curly ponytails that might be Holly and had had a few false alarms.  Then about mile 14 or so, I looked ahead, saw another pigtail; this one with a yellow MM shirt on.  I had found her!  I hurried forward to catch up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.  We were going to be able to run together after all!  She asked how I was doing and I told her "Okay.  About as well as someone who's run 14 miles would feel I suppose".  We both commented on how mean it was to have us pass the HM finish area.  Hot chocolate (or something stronger) was quite tempting.

 

Miles 14 and 15  -  17:44

 

I missed a mile marker here somewhere.  Probably right about when I saw Holly.  She has a strong, solid stride that is fast and a joy to watch.  These miles went by quickly as I was very happily distracted for a while.  We passed a couple of water steps and at each one I would get ahead of Holly by a couple of seconds.  We'd meet back up right away.  But at one of them she yelled out "You go ahead.  I want to run 8:48s or so."  I had been seeing 8:28s on my Garmin during this stretch so perhaps I had been unwittingly making her go quicker than she wanted to go.  She added "And if I catch up to you I'm going to drag you a$$ over the line".  So I did as the lady told me to and went on.  (Holly, you don't know how often I thought of what you said as I ran the last miles.  I cannot thank you enough for what you did for me here!)

 

I had not wanted to sound too negative but the lap paces I had been glancing at told me I was running nicely at BQ pace but never much less than that.  And on the odd times I'd see an 8:0 something, I'd reel myself back in.  I wasn't sure I was making up any ground on my lost time.  Mile 16 is where I had bonked at Eugene and I did not want another Death March.  I wanted badly to have something left for the last 10K where the race would really start.  "Don't look at the time, just run".

 

Mile 16  -  8:29

Mile 17  -  8:21

Mile 18  -  8:46

Mile 19  -  8:55

 

Tinman's "moderate" miles had turned noticeably slower and hard at around mile 18.  Not a good sign.  Was this going to be one of those slow downs where you can't do a darn thing about it not matter how hard you try?  But the feeling would ease some even though it never again felt comfortable.  I was helped along during this last stretch by the Ohio State University campus.  What a stunning sight!  I tried to distract myself by thanking the students who came out at what I knew to be an unGodly hour for college students.  I have one.  I know.

 

Mile 20  -  8:36

Mile 21  -  8:21

 

One of the interesting things about gunning for a 3:45 BQ time is that the pace is almost exactly 7 miles per hour.  So the hope for the past several years had been for me to be at mile 21 at 3 hours.  I couldn't help myself.  I ignored His voice.  For the one and only time during the whole race I looked at my Overall Elapsed Time.  It showed 3:02 and change.  Oh no.  All along I sensed I was behind a little but was hoping I would have been closer.  The Average Pace had come down to right where I needed to be (8:35 or so), but with the extra tenths you inevitably run, I knew that wasn't an accurate pace.  If this was going to happen I would have to run the last 10K at better than goal pace.  That is not "easy".  That is not "moderate".  That is just damn Hard.

 

Mile 22  -  8:19

Mile 23  -  8:05

Mile 24  -  8:43

 

I'm passing people by the dozens.  Really, I've been passing runners the entire way (I estimate maybe 4 to 5,000 marathoners?) but now I'm really clicking them off.  There was a slight incline for most of mile 24.  I knew that was coming up and I knew my time was going to be very close.  I remember cursing loudly at the course designer for this mile.  Holly had laughed at me earlier when I complained about some imperceptible incline when I was running with her and she said "What Hill???"  Being a flatlander I can feel every little bump in the road.  I was hoping Holly hadn't caught up to me and wasn't nipping at my heels.  I steeled myself as best I could as the Mental Demons are screaming at me to "Slow Down!  You've got a PR by multiple minutes.  Slow Down"!  I ignore it.  I may not make the BQ.  But it wasn't going to be because I didn't go for it.

 

Mile 25  -  8:23

Mile 26  -  8:12

Last  .23 miles -  1:34  (6:49 pace!!!)

 

Normally I would have checked my time at mile 25 and tried to calculate what I needed to do to make it.  But the voice inside me kept saying "Don't look at the time, just run".  I still had no idea where I stood.  When I rounded the last corner to the Finish Line I caught sight of the Finish Line Clock.  It read 3:55 and change.  With my 10 minutes plus at the start this was going to be nip and tuck.  I sprinted with everything I could muster.  I remember apologizing to the course designer here as it was all downhill to the Finish.  I crossed over a finish mat but the Finish Line and the Balloons were still ahead so I kept on going.

 

Earlier, when I knew it was going to be close, I told myself "Finish Photo be Damned.  I'm going to press that Garmin stop button the instant I cross the Finish Line."  I stumble across it, push Stop, and slowly move forward, hesitant to look.  I reach down to change the Garmin display to see my time, fully expecting with all my heart to see a 3:46 or 3:47 ..... but knowing full well I had done everything I could do on this day.

 

 

 

 

Oh.My.God.

 

I looked again to make sure I wasn't seeing things.  18 seconds to spare.  If it had been 3 or 4 seconds off of 3:45:59 one way or the other, I would have had to wait and worry about the Official Time.  But the Official Time certainly wasn't going to be off by a whole 18 seconds.  I had done it!

 

I threw my arms in the air, jumped up and down like a madman, and yelled out loud "Yes!"  And then I did it three or four more times. Other runners looked at me like I had lost it.  Others smiled with me.  I glanced over and there were my DD's and family watching me and yelling.  I told them I had made it by 18 seconds.  The kids yelled "Yay Grandpa!"

 

 

I went back to the finishers chute, got my medal and waited for Holly.  I knew she was no more than a few minutes behind.  She seemed a tiny bit disappointed she didn't PR but really that was only by a few seconds.  She is (and always has been) a lovely, strong, intelligent, dedicated runner.

 

We got our baked potato coverings and grabbed some Carbs and drinks.  We met up with the family.  The little ones were playing in the Bounce Houses that I thought was a nice touch for the race.  Keep the kids happy!  I called DW to find her and i gave her the news.  She still thought I had missed the BQ by many minutes.  Holly left a message for Erika, I texted dAAve (glad you didn't crash!), and that's all it took for the Internet Wave to take off.  You all are too much.

 

Once we were done running and done generating our own heat, I started to shiver uncontrollably from the cold.  DD1 gave me a sweatshirt which helped warm me up a bit.  After about ten or fifteen minutes I started to feel warm again.  I hugged my DW again and the tears just started flowing down my cheeks.  Tears had fallen in other races under different circumstances and there was no holding them back today.

 

Holly had talked to Dg earlier and we heard she was at mile 23 and was hurting.  (Imagine hurting at mile 23?).  Holly, DW, and I headed over to get a good vantage point from which to watch and cheer for Debbie as she finished up.  I really liked the finish chute here because it was downhill.  No matter how bad someone was hurting it gave them the opportunity to finish strongly.  I could tell many runners were feeling the hurt but they mostly all managed to run it in.  And there was Dg coming in!  Looking as bright and sunny as if she'd just stepped out for a morning stroll.  I could tell she would finish up just under 5 hours and she did (she had the same 10 minute plus late start I had).  You honestly could not tell she had been running.  Congratulations Deb!  You are a Marathoner.

 

DW and I had to scoot off to check out and get back over to Dayton.  I hated not being able to go celebrate somewhere with Holly and Deb but family calls.  Sorry, friends.  Maybe next time!

 

So what made the difference this time?  The weather change is certainly one big factor.  It’s hard to be confident when our Summer H&H goes on and on for month after month.  I felt like I could run forever on Sunday.  And certainly the Tinman approach has worked.  Running easy was hard to do after finally becoming used to running at MP.  But like he said it would, eventually the easy pace gets faster at the same effort level.  I did notice that.  He had me run only one 20 miler (there were multiple 18s and 19s though).  That was a bit disconcerting for a mileage guy like me.  But he wanted to keep the legs fresh.  And they apparently were.  dAAve on KR has noticed a similar advantage to doing Quality over Quantity for us elder types.

 

So many of you have been behind me on this silly quest of mine through all the ups and downs.  I won't attempt to name names as I'm sure I'll leave someone out that I care about.  But you know who you are!  A Big Heartfelt Thanks.

 

The funny thing is that I don't really care all that much about actually running Boston ... all those hills are likely to kill me.  I probably will of course - I put too much into this to not run it.  But I really most enjoy meeting and partying with as many of you as possible and seeing the sights in that great part of the country.  Not sure about whether it’ll be 2010 or 2011.  DW doesn't know "how many more of these marathons [she] can do".  These are her exact words.  I'm sorta tired too but certainly happy I completed this journey.

 

 

Just the Facts!

 

Official Time:  3:45:40 (19 seconds to spare)

 

BQ good for 2010 and 2011

6 minute 38 second PR

 

First Half in 1:54:21

Second Half in 1:51:19 (3:02 negative split!!)

 

Last 10K in 52 minutes flat (a sweet 10K)

 

Age group 37 of 155 (the last Male 55-59 to qualify!)

Overall 1328 out of 6000 approx?

 

Bill

Bill - you made me cry!   I am so happy for you and love every word of this report.  {{{Hugs}}} to your lovely DW and I hope she can endure at least one more marathon.... BOSTON!!

 

Congratulations!!!!

A BBQ race!  I was so happy for you when I read about this on the daily yesterday. But this heartfelt report really brought home how long of a journey this has been for you.  Wonderful report and--of course--excellent race.  Congratulations! Enjoy the glow for a while; you deserve it.

 

Coincidentally, I just got my Boston confirmation e-mail today, so I also get to look forward to meeting you and the rest of the gang who will be there.  See you then!

Bill,

 

Great Report and Great Job!!

 

Can't beleave I missed you guys as went back in that room three times looking for a tall guy and two ladies ... figured that would be easy

 

Your Clock time was like 5 - 6 minutes ahead of me so I am sure I was one of those you flew by somewhere in mile 24 - 25.  That Mile 24 did suck with uphill and into the open wind (especially that one section that had all those purple banners blowing just to make the wind seem harder).

 

Good Luck in Boston ... You Earned It the Old Fashon Way! 

Thanks Bill\

 

Great report.......And a huge congrats on your accomplishment. You worked very hard for this.

Yay Byll!  Congrats on a great race, and a great RR, and a BQ too!  Really awesome that you had enough left in the tank for that final kick to the finish, and a nice negative split. 

 

And extra cool that you got to meet Holly, Rose and Ralph, and see dg again.  I'd love to meet you at a race someday, but if you don't like hills I'm guessing you won't be coming to Colorado. Maybe a flat race on one of the coasts someday...

Bravo, Bill!   You made my heart happy!   A real victory.

Byll,  I am so HAPPY for you.  You have worked so hard for this BQ and that final sprint....wowsa.  Nice negative split too.  Glad you could also meet up with the other folks, and stick to you plan of just running and not looking at the Garmin.