Northeast PA

1

Boston Race report (Read 177 times)

    Thanks for the well wishes and the congratulations! Well, it certainly was a lot of fun, well everything except the actual race. The weather was nice all weekend, we went up Thursday night and came back Monday after the race. I spent Friday volunteering at the expo handing out packets. Got to meet a bunch of people and got a free windjacket for volunteering. If you ever go i highly recomend volunteering if only for the free jacket. Got a nice little race pace, well slightly faster, run in on Saturday and then spent Sunday just relaxing after watching my wife run in the BAA 5k on Sunday morning. That was a nice little event, if I go back I might consider doing that too. Race morning was a nice 40 degrees when I got to the athletes vilage in Hopkinton at about 7:30 AM. The shuttle bus ride from Boston takes about an hour to get out there. Found a nice spot, laid out a poncho on the damp grass and laid down to relax until it was time to head to the start. By the time I got to my corral it was about 45 degrees and very comfortable, ended up starting with shorts, singlet, armwarmers, and light gloves. The gloves came off after about a mile and the armwarmers were rolled down after a few more. Spent the first five miles or so telling myself "let these people go and run your own race." I started in the second corral and I think that many people in the corrals behind me also had vidions of going under 3 hours. It felt like I wasa getting passed by a lot of people, but I learned my lesson last year and did not get sucked into the fast flow in those early downhill miles. After mile 5 I found things evening out a bit and noticed that I was amongst a relatively stable few runners, there were still people passing us and we were passing people, but I could keep my eye on about 5 different people and know that we were all going about the same pace. From miles 5-15 i just focussed on trying to maintain even miles and cruising along, I wanted to get to the hills feeling pretty fresh still. once I started hitting the hills I was feeling pretty good and really started to focus on keeping the legs turning over at the same pace. The first few hills went pretty smoothly, and as I got to heartbreak I was feeling pretty good knowing that the tough spot was almost over. It was almost too easy going over. At mile 21 once I crested heartbreak was when I knew the test was going to come. Last year I was in about the same position, but just didn' thave the legs to go back to my regular pace and lost about a minute a mile over thlose final 5 miles. Mile 22 was right back in the 6:30s and then I knew that I still had my legs under me and if I focused I would make my goal. Those last 4 miles were no fun at all. I knew I was where I wanted to be, but I also knew that if I slowed at all It was not going to happen. I didn't have a lot of time to play with and a couple of bad miles would cost me. Once I passed the 25 mile marker and got under the little overpass I had alot of motivation to push through that last mile. The crowds are incredible and the noise once you get into downtown is awesome. I knew I had just 2 turns left to make. I made the last turn onto Boylston street and that finish line just seemed so far away! It was no time to start cruising and taking everything in, I still had a good strech of pushing to do to ensure my finish. I wasn't wereing my contacts so I couldn't see the official clock until I got to about 100 yards to go and could see that it still read 2:59:** That gave me the last motivation to get under it while even the clock time was under 3hrs. I went across the finish mat and under the clock with it still reading 2:59:58 and what a relief it was. I don't know that I will ever do another marathon again at full effort. I enjoy leading pace groups and covering distance at a more comfortable pace so much more. Real racing is not alot of fun for me. If I go back next year, it will be to cruise the course, see the towns along the way and take in the full atmosphere of the event. I think that will be every bit as much fun, probably more.
    2010 Goals
    Succesful pacing jobs at Shamrock (3:20)...
    VTU 100 Ultramarathon - finish
    at least 250 miles/mo., 3000+ miles for the year
    Carl A


      Great job in staying focused on your goal! The Boston site had a tracking feature, so I put your name in and every once in a while I'd see how you were doing - it looked like you were doing a fantastic job of keeping your splits even and running your race. Nice report - Hopefully, if everything goes perfect with my training this year, I'll be able to qualify in the fall and make the trip there next spring. Thanks for the inspiration!

      Speed my steps along your path, according to your will.