Notes
The 127th B.A.A. Marathon - 2:36:37
Okay, this one was pretty sweet! My buildup had a lot of ups (solid MV 20, solid 4x3, solid Upton) and downs (bad New Bedford, overall lower mileage than I’d like). I didn’t really feel like I deserved to be confident going in, but I told myself that I really wasn’t trying to run that fast (6:00 pace) and it was all in my head.
Weather was really perfect today, cool and overcast with not too bad wind and some showers to keep the humidity at bay. Relaxed in the village with a big group and then started the race in a pack with Shaun / Dozer / Colin / Matt, which was a first for me and really exciting. After a mile 2 in 5:46, I knew that I could have a lot of fun running with the group but it would end in pain so I let them go. Just sorta floated along with the guys around me, and kept dropping 5:50 after 5:50. It was faster than planned, and I really didn’t feel spectacular, just *fine*, but I thought “eh let’s see what happens”. Kept rolling and figured I would pay for it later, really wasn’t feeling prepared at all for the hills. Took a GU every 30 minutes as scheduled which I think helped. The first hill was challenging, but I was able to get back on pace afterwards and that was kinda the story for all the hills - I didn’t push it at all up the hills and just tried to keep it steady in between. Came off of heartbreak with something left in the tank! Didn’t blow up at all down Beacon, slowed a bit by hey, it’s the end of a marathon. Was pumped at the finish and ran through the line to meet up with the guys. Great day all around for GBTC and especially for our champions Shannon and Bobby! Love this club and the race!
Definitely need to go back through my training and figure out what worked for this one. Maybe just had a good day 🤷♂️ onwards and upwards, next rabbit to chase is Chicago!
380th man
APPENDIX: Pacing Notes
Checkpoint/2022 (Prev PR)/Actual Time/Diff
5k / 18:57 / 18:14 / -43
10k / 37:23 / 36:23 / -60
15k / 55:53 / 54:38 / -75
20k / 74:36 / 73:02 / -94
HM / 78:41 / 77:02 / -99
25k / 93:22 / 91:24 / -1:58
30k / 1:52:10 / 1:50:11 / -1:59
35k / 2:11:22 / 2:09:22 / -2:00
40k / 2:30:51 / 2:28:15 / -2:36
Finish / 2:39:30 / 2:36:37 / -2:53
Interesting, I jumped out to a fast pace compared to 2022 and kept that up to about 25k - 2 minutes faster to 25k (start of the hills, more or less). I ran almost the exact same pace as last year through the hills, and hit 35k with no more time "gained" - then had a stronger last 7k than last year to get to the almost 3 minute PR! Not bad.