A good race. I met most of my goals. 19 minute PR and 12 minutes under Boston Qualifying. That will allow me to register on the Wednesday after registration opens. Not a guarantee I'll get in, but at least I won't have to wait the full week. I had put a lot of pressure on myself this time. I'm 10 lbs. lighter than I was at Top Of Utah in September (I weighed in at 145 the morning before the race) and I've been running a lot faster, so I really expected to BQ this race.
Almost didn't make it to the starting line. Four of us were waiting for our ride. He didn't arrive on time, so I called him and discovered that his alarm had not gone off. But he made up for it with some sweet Dale Jr.-like moves down Washington Blvd. and luckily the buses were a little late so all was good. I lined up just ahead of the 7 minute pace and took off. I was pretty close to the front so there weren't any congestion problems. Most of the crowd was behind me.
1 0:06:46 A good start. Maybe a little faster than I planned, but it felt good so I went with it. I wasn't sure how much gravity would help with the downhill stretch at the beginning, so I thought I would hang with a 6:50 to 7 minute pace for the first 8 miles or so.
2 0:07:02
3 0:06:52 I started getting warm, so I decided it was time to shed the throw-away cotton shirt. It was a $1 DI shirt that I had cut at the collar and the bottom, so I tore it off Incredible Hulk style. It worked really well to take it off without messing with my visor, sunglasses or iPod.
4 0:06:52
5 0:06:50
6 0:06:50
7 0:06:57
8 0:07:06 This is where the downhill ends and the course goes slightly uphill for a few miles. I just wanted to hold on to a pace below 7:13 at this stretch.
9 0:07:11
10 0:07:07
11 0:07:21
12 0:07:18
13 0:07:18 Feeling really good up until the half marathon point (exactly the same as last time) when nature starts to call. I run through the half marathon starting line with people calling my name, telling me good job (names were on our bibs). As soon as I pass the crowd, I dive into one of the port-a-johns and drop a deuce in record time. I run out of the can and, for a number of reasons, wearing gloves doesn't seem like a good idea anymore.
14 0:07:55 This is where the hill is. Not a bad hill, only about a half mile long and I keep up a decent pace. I down my third gel at the top.
15 0:07:51 Maybe I swallowed that gel too fast because the gut starts grinding pretty hard in two places. I know it will go away, but it's really hurting most of this mile.
16 0:07:32 Gut still grinding.
17 0:07:42
18 0:07:15 Time to start running down the canyon. I should pick up some good time here.
19 0:07:30 I'm not picking up any time.
20 0:07:46 I'm running downhill, I'm supposed to run faster.
21 0:07:46
22 0:08:00
23 0:07:45
24 0:08:32 Out of the canyon. This is where it will start to really hurt.
25 0:08:59 I start feeling like I'm going to puke and even throw up a little in my mouth, but there's nothing I can do about it but just keep on running.
26 0:08:37 The last mile is up Grant Street. I'm not running very fast, but it's all I've got. I see Paige, she's yelling "you got it babe!" Some of the back-of-the-pack half marathoners are walking toward the finish line, at least I'm passing them. When I cross the finish line I'm kind of dizzy. Somebody asks "are you ok?" I said "I don't know." He must have thought I said "sure, I feel great" because he just told me to continue on and get my medal. I saw Jim along the rail and chatted with him for a bit. He ran his first half marathon and finished in 2:20. I told him I was proud of him and then went into the finishers area and just sat there for a while. I felt much worse than I did after my last marathon. After a few minutes I saw Paige by the fence and she gave me a hug and started crying telling me "you did it, you did it!" I've never gotten a massage after a race before, but I did this time. The girl giving me the rub down asked if I was going to run another marathon any time soon. I told her that I was planning on doing Pocatello in August, and I probably will, "but right now, I don't want to." So, that's it. I'm a little gimpy now, but pretty soon the pain will be gone and I will always know that I qualified for the Boston Marathon.
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