Notes
Felt great going into this fall marathon with a goal of sub 2:49, and as close to 2:45 as possible. Training and mileage was about where I wanted it to be considering it's been a long year of racing across different distances and disciplines. Only nagging ache was my right knee, but nothing major that I couldn't fight through during the race. The weather was absolutely perfect on race morning: 40's, overcast, no wind (not even a breeze), and dry. Pacing strategy was to go through each 5K between 19 and 20 mins, the half in about 1:24, and try to really bring it down after mile 20 for the final 10K. Right away my right leg felt dead through the first 5K, but I still managed to go through in 20 mins. It was the same feeling that I had at Bermuda with the slight hamstring tear, but it just got worse and worse at Bermuda. Right leg finally loosened up after the first downhill 8 miles of the course. In my opinion, the infamous downhill start of the race isn't very beneficial unless you really know how to take advantage of it. It's a fine line if you decide to roll the dice and be aggressive. I played it conservatively and didn't go out as hard as I should have (in hindsight). EJ went for it and it definitely paid off big for him in the end. I went through the half in 1:24:30 (future reference: shoot for sub 1:22), and was feeling better and better as the race went on. Only one minor issue reared its head at this point: I had changed out my laces on my sneakers the day before and I didn't lace it back up as high as I should have. Not a huge factor, but little things like this will add up over 26.2. It just becomes one more thing to think about while you're trying to stay relaxed and chase down a PR. My feet definitely felt loose in my sneakers and I could feel a hot spot developing. First time in a long time that I've had this issue while racing. We hit the 2+ mile "trail" section around mile 15 and it was difficult to really pick up the pace. More effort to sustain the same pace. EJ caught me around Mile 20 and I had no response. He started to pull away, but I managed to keep him in sight for the rest of the race. I could only maintain a steady pace over the final 10K. Didn't have the push that I wanted. The first of 3 hills appeared at mile 24, and didn't really slow me down. Middle hill was manageable, but the final hill at 25.5 just took the wind out of my sails. It's a tough quarter mile climb that flattens out, so you can't even see the finish line down the street. To make matters worse, there were banners for other events lining the finishing area, so it was really hard to gauge when to make the final push. It was basically Boylston St with a big hill and a couple of false finish lines :/ Missed my PR by 1:30+ minutes, but what can you do other than learn and move on. One positive: one of my better marathon splits (positive split by only 2 minutes). Take away: be a little more aggressive through the first half if I want to go sub 2:49. Congrats to all of the amazing performances by everyone on the team at Steamtown and Chicago. Great stuff!