Notes
Now that was a SLOG-FEST! Thank heavens for crowd support, water hoses, hydrants, ice and kisses in Newton!
My plan was to run it smart and enjoy it best I could. I figured I would try to run about 30-40 minutes slower than goal time had the wx been good so was hoping around 4:00 hours. That meant an average pace of 9:10 which I actually held pretty closely until the hills. I took an eGel before the "experience" and took 4 more at 6, 11, 17 and 21. Carried a Poland Springs water bottle with me and at each water stop would take two cups... one for the head and one to drink. Then would often grab a third to refill the water bottle. I would sip on the bottle between water stops. I figured gradually hydrating by sipping would help even out the swings in dehydrating. I also did Gatorade 2x. I really felt the heat and made a point of hitting every hose, sprinker, shower, misting or hydrant stop. Many times I would stop and tell the person with the hose to soak me. It would feel good for about 4-5 minutes then I would heat up again. I would put ice under hat, and would hold ice on back of neck and in hands. Got a popsicle from a kid around mile 19 and it was heaven. Started chewing on ice anytime I could get some. It helped.
Had name on shirt and it was a huge help. When I got down or tired I would swing to the right side of the road and slap five and hear people scream out my name. At Wellesley College the sirenes were all screaming out my name and saying kiss me. I stopped and gave one girl a kiss who kept screaming at me. BC there were crowds all chanting Dave, Dave, Dave... louder and faster. It really pumped me up.
I definately faded a bit in the hills, but never had to walk. I kept the cadence fast, and stepped lightly (even though my shoes were filled with water.)
Compared to last year where I set off way too fast for the first 10 miles of the race, this year I forced myself not to pass anyone for the first 10K and then at mile 7 tried to get into the groove of 9 min/mile. I leaned forward and really increased the cadence on all downhills. I never did get the trashed quad feeling like last year which caused me to walk several time. Then again I was running about 1:15 average per mile slower this year! Lesson learned reinforces that you cannot go out too fast. My fastest to slowest pace was about a difference of 1:10 (if you don’t count the first crazy mile.) Compared to last year it was about a 2-3 minute difference from fastest mile to slowest. It reinforces the theory that for every mile you go out too fast you pay dearly for it later.
I was disappointed in the weather and the fact that in essence all the training for a new Boston PR went down the drain. Happy that with all the training and factoring in the extreme heat I was not too far off of my extremely under prepared NYC marathon… less than 10 minutes. Makes me think I would have made original goal for Boston of 3:26. I think had I run it smarter last year I would have avoided the crash and burn I experienced in Newton. This year, despite the heat I felt steady.
Really had the dizzies once I crossed the finish line and had a few medical staff ask if I was ok. I think my Blood Pressure was low due to dehydration despite all the fluid intake. I didn’t pee until 5:00 PM from 10:10 AM.
Angry at BAA for allowing those who chose not to run to get a free pass in next year, and those who did run knowing that a BQ would be virtually impossible will have to requal. Seems unfair.
Glad its done. Happy for all the good wishes, support from my family, and even the article in the Journal Tribune!
Now do I run Sugarloaf or not?
5k 10k 15k 20k Half 25k 30k 35k 40k
0:27:23, 0:55:41, 1:23:52, 1:52:42, 1:58:54, 2:21:51, 2:51:31, 3:21:38, 3:51:18,
Finish: Pace Proj. Time Offl. Time Overall Gender Division
0:09:18, 4:03:49, 4:03:49 9354 6562 311