Welcome

In my hotel room and my wife is reading a book so I might as well spill this out while it is fresh in my mind. I was talking to my wife about this race and I started to realize the things I think went well and how important it is to put those things down for me to remember and to share with others. I set a goal of 2:35 shortly after the St. George Marathon. I really enjoyed that race but it left me wondering what I could do without PEDs (performance enhancing downhill from Kevin). I thought that just getting another 2:36 on a more honest course after a solid block of training would be a good accomplishment so I set a goal of a 100 second PR.

Pre race. In addition to the normal routine of banana, bagle+pb&j, coffee with almond milk and gatorade to sip on (had it at 5:15 which was much more than three hours pre-race) I had a power bar and a gatorade pre race lime that were given out at the village.I met up with James, Kevin and Kevin's crew and hung out until we were called. The village was great - not cold and I kept movement to a minimum - Kevin knew of a place where the crowds were slightly less intense. A long walk to the start had me singing the final count down for several minutes. The sun was warm on my back after I shed my prerace sweats and I decided I would need to keep cool and hydrate. After the elites were introduced, the race started right on time and we were off.

Plan was to run over 6 for the first 3. Off the starting line, I was struggling to slow down with the people all around me going gangbusters. I successfully got myself over 6 by the end of the mile and it felt like a leisurely run. I took water at the first aid station, sipped a little and doused the rest on my back. I decided to take water for three stations and gatorade every fourth station with most of the water going on my head and back. I also decided to go with my original plan rather than stay at 6 because I was feeling good and I dropped the pace little by little. First three were 6:01, 5:56, 5:50 (18:31 5k; 5k splits are based on BAA results which had me about 9 seconds behind the clock at the start). Somewhere around this point, I tucked in behind a crew of 6-7 BAA runners thinking they may have my time goal. I followed them religiously and tried not to focus on pace or strategy. Next three were 5:42 (whoops), 5:58 (whats going on here) and 5:49 (ok well that's a 5:50 average so I'll take it - turns out only mile 4 was off target). Of course, my Garmin isn't matching the mile markers and when I hit 10k at 36:49 (18:18), I decided to abandon the BAA crew (I wanted 18:05s). Mile 7 was overzealous (5:42) and then I started to get into Josh's marathon groove. Running the effort I wanted and feeling good just cruising (5:49, 5:51, 5:48, 5:51). 15k was 54:50 so an 18:01 5k that felt really good. Somewhere during mile 9, I remembered to take a GU even though I was feeling ok (citrus). I hit 12 in a 5:41 and I was feeling good. Then those crazy Wellsley girls really gave me a good shock. They screamed so loud, I couldn't help but put out my hand for a few fives and read some of the funny signs. This was the first and last time I interacted with the crowd. My ears were ringing for a bit. 20k was still looking good at about 1:12:56 (18:06 5k) so I was happy with my splits and pacing. Mile 13 was 5:52 (a little slow and I blame the girls) and the first half was 1:16:53 (about 20 seconds above target but most of that from the intentional slow start).

It was around mile 13 that I started to feel the outside of my right quad. It didn't hurt but I knew it was going to. I dropped a salt tab (it fell apart with all the soaking so I got less than half) and two advil right at the onset of the discomfort. First three marathons, initial discomfort happened at mile 13, 15 and 19 respectively so I took this as a bad omen since Salt Lake was the only race I hit the wall in. From here on out, I knew I had to be mentally tough and execute the strategy to carry me to the finish without falling apart. 14-16 were 5:50, 5:54 and 5:40 (big downhill) so four consecutive miles where I knew I was falling off pace but just slightly.  I was afraid my fastest splits were behind me but I kept drinking water and splasing myself and racing.  25k was 1:31:08 or 18:12. Not great coming up to the hills but not far off. I took my second GU during mile 15 (mocha).

I felt ok on the first two hills (the uphills were actually kind of a nice break) and was encouraged to see 5:59, 5:59 for miles 17-18 (in line with a silly goal I had to not let a mile on the hills go above 6:00). I then sped down the hll in 19 and got a 5:47 which restored my confidence in running with the pain (not getting a lot worse -1:49:34 for 30k or 18:26). After running 5:15 pace during this mile, my left quad and calf both throbbed and I decided I shouldn't run that fast anymore and I should shorten my stride. Miles 20-21 were 5:59 and 6:12 and I was encouraged to be staying on target over the hills.

I'm in pain but this is Boston and now it's time to go! 5:32 for mile 22 (that was fun but I don't know if I have another one of those)! 35k in 2:08:00 or another 18:26 which was better than expected (I was no longer thinking about 5k splits at this point). I took another GU in mile 22 but I wasn't hitting all the aid stations now. I think in the last five miles, I doused myself once or twice, took one sip of gatorade and used one sponge. The crowds are thick now and the emotion carried me. 23-24 were 5:46 and 5:51. I really wanted to slow down but I realized everyone around me was in the same pain house and I threw in a surge going up the hill in mile 25. I passed maybe 10-15 runners and got a 5:53 (staying on pace is now separating me). 40k was 2:26:16 or an 18:16. Still hurting but carried by emotion, I threw in another surge in mile 26 and passed another handful of guys and got a 5:50. I just tried to hold it together until the end and finished following a guy in but not sprinting (I tried sprinting in in Ogden on bad legs a year ago and I still have a bad glute to thank for it). Last part was 2:14 (garmin had it at 26.38 so maybe a 5:52 pace to finish - 1:17:24 second half; 2:34:17 and a 2.5 minute PR!).

I was hurting pretty bad and could barely walk the mile of tears to the Common to gather my stuff and get out of there. In the end, it was my feet that were killing me. I think the Hyper Speeds are very fast but they offer no support and my feet were sore all over. I knew I had a blister on the bottom of my left foot but they just killed and I was limping pretty good (no thanks, leave the wheel chair for someone else please).

Overall, I got what I wanted and I am happy with the result. Congratulations to all those who ran and to the city of Boston for a wonderful show of pride and perseverance. Also, a thanks to Utahrunning.com for the elite racing team invite and gear. The jersey had people screaming Go Utah! at me throughout. Finally, a big thanks to Jake for help designing my workouts on this buildup and his encouragement throughout. Definitely a big positive for me.

The strategy and the result.

Plan     Actual

*I knew the course ran long on the Garmin so I prepared to for that in my pacing strategy thus the 2:20.