Not the best day for a marathon weather-wise, but I am satisfied with the result given the circumstances. I would rather have rain and wind than heat, so at least I stayed cool and never felt thirsty. I woke up at 3:50, made coffee and ate. I thought of a funny line for the body glide I used for the first time and copiously at that "Oh the places you'll go!"
I left at about 4:15 and parked near the buses. I got on an early bus and talked to a fast 56 year old from Montana. Once at the starting area, I made a pit stop and then tried to warm by the fire. It was cold but the rain was worse and I learned some good tips by watching others brave the rain like bagging shoes and bringing a poncho. I met up with James Clissold after my third bathroom break and we stayed together until the start. He gave me a blanket to stop the convulsive shivering and I think that was a big help.
I started with Chad Robinson with a half goal of 1:24. The first 8 were right on target at 6:22 but my Garmin was counting the miles a bit short. Chad was wearing Altras instead of Crocs and he had to tie them twice in the first 8 miles. I sympathize because mine are always coming loose. After the second time Chad stopped, I didn't see him again. This was when we were in the valley and the wind and rain let up for a few miles. I found myself running with Jason Blackham from that point on. We didn't really help each other, but he led some and I led some. The rain returned at some point between 13-17 (how some can give a mile by mile recap, I have no idea) and it continued for the rest of the race in varying degrees. At mile 15.5, my right quad started to stiffen. My right calf also noted its distress but that went away. At mile 18 or so, my left hamstring started to tighten. I was kind of waiting to fall apart, but I kept up ok with the downhill canyon miles. Around mile 22, Jason passed me and I held on to him for dear life. Without him, I wonder whether I would have slowed but I just tried to keep on his heels. At mile 25 on the turn from 18th to Grant, I tried to push it and caught Jason. Immediately, my left hamstring locked up. So I let up a bit and kept going. About 100 yards before the finish line, my family was there to cheer for me. I looked at my watch and realized I could still beat 2:52 if I pushed it. I sprinted to the end with their encouragement.
I am very excited that I didn't blow up in the last 6. I slowed, but I never had a sub 7 mile according to the Garmin.
I finally found my Garmin USB stick. Official splits and HR: 1 6:19.8 141 2 6:25.0 151 3 6:21.3 149 4 6:17.4 148 5 6:21.8 148 6 6:19.8 150 7 6:27.5 149 8 6:25.3 148 9 6:36.8 149 10 6:28.2 149 11 6:38.7 150 12 6:37.7 151 13 6:36.4 155 14 6:39.4 154 15 6:45.5 155 16 6:26.8 153 17 6:35.6 155 18 6:23.6 153 19 6:34.8 152 20 6:41.8 151 21 6:37.5 153 22 6:35.6 153 23 6:29.7 154 24 6:43.7 158 25 6:51.7 158 26 6:53.8 158 27 1:42.2 162 (.27 on the Garmin for a 6:18 pace) Official first half 1:25:00; official second half 1:26:56; average heart rate 152. I think I did well with nutrition pre-race and during. I had to go at about mile 6 but somehow held it until the end.
First Boston qualification and a PR of 29 minutes 40 seconds. Had I thought of that, perhaps I could have pushed a bit more for a round 30 minutes. As always, this leaves me wanting more.
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