Race Reports
OK I'll go first. My 4th Marathon and 1st Boston. Despite my L knee issues I had late last fall into and thru January I was able to complete enough training and felt very good. Coulda shoulda woulda used a bit more training (downhill) and maybe 4-5lbs lighter but otherwise I was ready. Wave 2 Corral 1 was a good place to start without many people in front. No matter how much you read or hear about going easy early I found this to be impossible. Downhill , adrenalin etc starts you out fast. Ontop of this I didnt even feel as if I was working my cardio system at all HR felt extremely low (dont race with HR). Anyway you guessed it . Much faster 1st half and much slower 2nd half. I started to feel Quads at 8-9 miles and said this aint gonna be pretty. After the half way point I knew it was gonna be painful. 16-21 was tough and slow due to hills and purposely slowed way down. Last 5 I was coming unglued and looking at watch going backwards a world of hurt. Times 5k splits went 22:50 , 23:04 ,23:12 23:40 , 24:10 ,25:09 , 25:37, 25:26. Halfs 1st 1:37:56 2nd 1:46:44. Total 3:24:40 pace 7:49. New PR by 1 min 21 sec. All things considered I am very happy with results and execution. Just not sure if it woulda come out any better if I forced myself to slow down more earlier or not. Some other stats that are interesting my fastest miles were 2,3, and 4 all around 7:13 , slowest mile was 21 (the hill) at 8:40 and last mile was 8:25 (that included a stop for a kiss to my number 1 fan Heather about 200yds from finish). I was calulating whether or not I had time to stop and still make the 3:25 time before I stopped. In the end it worked out but that finish line was getting further away as the clock was ticking down!
Comments
Things I learned: I did not do enough downhill running, spent to much time on the treadmill this winter and did not taper as well as i could of. Lots learned.
I wanted to avg a 8:55 pace and ended up with a 9:43 which is due to lots of walking. My legs were killing me, I was getting stomach cramps, etc....
Although I suffered I still managed to enjoy all the sights and sounds, like the Drag Queen, the Welsley girls, Santa Clause, the guy playing the drums on his deck, the signs and especially the crowds.
It appears that everyone else on the team had great races, so congrats to you all. Now, onto what i really like to do - multisport training.
Happy and fast recoveries everyone.
5k 10k 15k 20k Half 25k 30k 35k 40k
0:21:24 0:42:50 1:03:58 1:25:12 1:29:54 1:47:16 2:10:32 2:35:21 3:00:04
Finish: Start Offset Pace Proj. Time Offl. Time Overall Gender Division
- 0:07:17 3:11:00 3162 2885 522
I was an idiot! See above splits if you don't believe me. I had planned to make this a B race and take it easy as I took some extended down time after Clearwater to heal my PF. Had ESWT 11.5 weeks before Boston and my first long run was 5.5 weeks out as it took 6 weeks before I was allowed to go long. I ran a single 18, 20 and 22 miler but tried to run the hack otherwise as written although I only got 15 weeks of training due to a late start joining up. I lost some weight and got below my goal weight and my run fitness started to improve in the past 5-6 weeks.I still planned to run conservatively but once I got to Boston and heard the weather report, I got greedy and decided to roll the dice and go for a sub 3 attempt as it was to be my last Boston for a long, long time. I am NOT a runner I have decided. This was my 3rd marathon and 2nd Boston( not counting Ironmans).
I followed the MN pacing strategy but instead of trying to run the 3:01-3:02 my Vdot predicted, I tried to run sub 3 (6:45/mi). I didn't feel too great early on but instead of backing off, I pressed on until past the point of no return. I didn't go out too quickly and followed the MN protocol well but at just too aggressive a pace. Tried to run very quietly and efficiently but upper legs were feeling sore even early in 1st 15K. I felt better doing my long runs without a taper and doing OS bike workouts all week than on race day! Just not my day.
One good thing I did was formulate a solid nutrition plan. I carried a bottle so I wouldn't have to battle crowds in 1st 4 mi for water stops and had my own formula in it. Then at miles 6, 10, 14, 18, 22 I had a gel and water and took a Gatorade at 8, 12, 16, 20, 24 and occasional water at other stops. My stomach felt great and I didn't bonk like I did last year at mile 18 when I was in better shape and ran 6:45/mi until 18 when I blew and ended up at 3:07.
So basically, I rolled the dice and continued to ignore ALL the warning signs simply because it was Boston and instead of aiming for a doable sub 3:05, I attempted a miracle and paid the price. the last 16 miles weren't much fun at all and my RPE climbed as my pace slowed. My slowest mile was an 8:10 on Heartbreak hill but I was running high 7's and low 8's in last 5K despite giving it all the gas I had. Even my finish sprint was only @ 7:22 pace.I had 26.40 mi on my Garmin@ 7:14/mi.
To summarize: Good= got some good running and got my body weight down to race weight and lowest since college by a couple lbs.
Bad= lost mind in Boston and decided to run 10-15 sec/mi above my ability and suffered mightily for it.
Plus, I thought it was warmer than ideal and tailwind was less than promised and made it almost like running in a vacuum w/ no wind to dry off my sweat and cool me in the sun. Apparently this didn't hurt Mutai or Hall though...
Congrats to all my Boston peeps. Great to see you guys at lunch!
My run could best be described as "average". It was neither fantastic, nor terrible - pretty much down the middle. I knew that if my legs felt spry after 10k, I'd be looking to break into the 2:53-2:54 territory. If they felt heavy, I'd be looking to salvage a sub-3:00. Per the theme of the day, I found myself right in the middle. I hadn't been sleeping well throughout the week, so I figured that I wouldn't be bringing my A game. After the first 5k, I calibrated my time to a 6:40 pace and managed my deficit accordingly (the math for a 6:40 pace is quite simple).
Once the initial descent leveled out, nearing 10k, I could feel some fatigue in my lower back and hips. For the 10 miles preceding Newton, I focused on trimming my form and holding things steady. I dialed back a bit as we approached Wellesley, knowing that I was still a few miles away from the "work" section of the course. I was good with my calories and hydration throughout the race, but around mile 15 I started to feel stale and disconnected. As we approached NWH nearing the fire station, I ran past some friends that were going absolutely nuts, and that gave me a nice mental boost heading into Newton.
The Newton section was everything that I had formulated in my head. I shortened my stride and chopped it apart, passing droves of decelerating runners. I kept my breathing level and let my glutes/hams do their thing. The 4-5 mile stretch that everyone dreads was about as good as I felt all day - but that's just my kind of terrain. After clearing the descent at BC, I could sense that the downhills were starting to wear on me. My quads grew unresponsive to the slight forward lean that I rely on when descending, so I had no choice but to increase my cadence and rely on my lower legs (a.k.a. chicken legs) to carry much of the load.
Early on, I was setting my line through the shade because the sun was getting warm. Once we hit Boston, the shadows converged with the crosswinds and zapped me with an arctic blast every 1/4 mile or so. I was preoccupied looking for a friend between miles 24 and 25, but once I got into that stretch I was ready to be done. My deficit was pretty much locked in at 3 minutes, and I couldn't muster up a final kick, so I just mailed in the last 2k and took in the experience. As I made the turn heading south toward Boylston, it reminded me a lot of IMLP on the final stretch heading down into the oval (same energy, but much louder). Perhaps the longest part of the race is that last stretch when you're actually on Boylston. The finish line can't come fast enough.
I came in sub-3 without having to kill it. My splits were reasonably consistent, but I still left 2 minutes on the back half of the course. Despite the positive split, I'm not sure that I would have executed it differently. I didn't fade in the last 10k, so my early pacing was within range. In the end, it was an average kind of running day, and I have a new found respect for "the Boston".
The Start – wave 2, corral 4; setup in the front third. My first Boston but marathon #16 in past 7 years.
My plan was to PR, aiming at 3:28 cutting a 2 minute margin from my BQ – PR last spring. The goal pace was 7:56 but since GPS consistently under report paces by 4 to 6 seconds I would use 7:50. The Data Tool lists my MP @ 7:48 based on a half marathon PR 2 weeks ago so I figured if I was having a good day I’d be reasonably safe.
Pacing strategy: EN style
Miles 1 – 5 @ 7:55 (+ :05)
Miles 6 – 16 @ 7:40 (- :10)
Miles 17 – 21 @ 8:00 or slower based on max HR below 172 (+:10 or more)
Miles 22 on @ 7:50 (at pace or best effort)
Holding back from the start is always tough but being imbedded in a river of moving bodies makes it harder still. Even so I managed to let the rabbits go mostly. I even paused to pee in mile 1 resulting in an 8:18 mile. The next 4 averaged 7:52 (a little too fast) but the 5 mile average was 7:57 – right on target.
The middle 11 miles were to be at 7:40 and 8 were within +/- 2 seconds – how is that for ninja execution?. Overall average for this section was 7:41 – again perfect pacing. I did begin to feel the downhill starting around mile 12 into Wellesley. At first it was the lower quad just above my knees. I knew it was going to hurt bad later on.
Heading into Newton I decided to be more conservative and held my HR down below 170 instead of 172. My thinking was that the quad fatigue already spreading up my thighs and anything I can do to minimize the deterioration would be good. I was hurting and it was going to get worse…. Despite that, I did manage to hold it together thru the hills, mostly. Pace for the hills was 8:34, slightly slower than desired but managing HR and not burning all the matches was critical.
As I started the decent from Heartbreak, the quads really started to light up. By now the burning in my thighs went from knee to hip flexor on every stride. I longed for a flat road because the steeper the grade, the slower I ran – it just hurt too much. Mile 22 @ 8:06 degraded to 8:29 by 23. Now cramps were getting unmanageable and I was forced to stretch and walk in mile 24. Pace had degraded to 9:53 and the wheels were off the bus. Mile 25 was even worse with more cramps, stopping to stretch and walk it out – pace at 10:02. I resorted to counting paces to keep things moving. Count to 12 and start again. Stay in the box…. 1, 2, 3,…, 11, 12…1, 2… The final mile was at 9:09, pretty respectable after the previous 2 miles….
The bright spot in the darkness of the last miles was finding Carole in the crowd as I emerged from under Mass Ave. That made me smile and gave me what I needed to finish.
Final time 3:37:02 @ 8:17 (my Garmin had my pace at 8:10 reinforcing the 5 to 6 second under reporting)
Overall: 9692 / 23879
Gender: 7395 / 13806
Division: 831 / 1924
Final thoughts
It was great to have the privilege to run Boston. Not my best finish or a PR but it was my third best finish of 16 races. I executed my plan perfectly for as long as I could. In hindsight it may have been too optimistic but everything leading up to the race supported my plan. Unfortunately my durability on the downhills did not. On paper it looked like a fast course, I was wrong.
I liked the course, it was interesting to run in a crowd the entire way. I had never run in a race that big before. Fans were really something, especially the Girls of Wellesley. Organization, logistics and support were amazing. On the down side, I found the noise painfully loud at times and had me wishing for ear plugs. It made it very hard to stay inside my box when the pain got bad.
Bottom line – Mount Desert Island still rates better in my book for overall experience and scenery.
These are great reports! I will cut / paste mine below as I put it in the general race report forum on the main site...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This was to be my first "real" race back post the bike crash of May 2011, when I broke my hip. I had qualified in 2009 with a 2:59:42, so my dream goal here this weekend was to go sub-3. At the end of the day, I fell short by about a minute but I am super pumped with my performance. Thanks to everyone for your support…if you want more details, read on!
The Training
Overall, this has been my strongest winter in a long time. The bike fitness is up there and while I am STILL a few lbs too heavy, my run has been very solid. I had some good long runs in the low 7s pace-wise, so I felt like a 3 hour race could be within reach.
The Planning
My personal history has been about 5 minutes slower than my PB (2004 & 2005), so I knew that I was asking a lot of my body and fitness. Given the fact we'd have a solid tailwind and that I was rested from training by spending my time packing the house, I thought what the heck.
I drew up a pacing plan to put me at the finish in 2:59 and change. Basically the goal was to hold back a bit over the first five miles, then solid running through the hills…not lose too much time, and then bring it home strong. For more details on my pacing strategy, you can read the full Boston-specific post here: http://www.marathonnation.us/race-execution/the-ultimate-boston-marathon-overview-part-3-a-racing-strategy/
To be specific, my goals were:
It always looks so easy on paper, doesn't it!
The Execution
I slept well and had a good breakfast. The ride out was uneventful until little Emma threw up in her car seat as we got to Hopkinton! So much for it being all about me…we quickly got her cleaned up and I got dropped off. I walked about 20 mins into town, and was surprised to find that the bag drop was up at the school…another mile away. I ran up there, dropped my bag, had my pre-race gels, ran to the start via a shortcut, hit a port-a-john and was in my corral with 2' to the start -- super close! Fun to meet Jeff Ku from LA, one of the new members of Endurance Nation…what are the odds he'd be standing next to me? (Update, Jeff killed it with a 2:55!!!!)
You can see the chart for specifics, but here's how it went for me.
First few miles it's already hot and I am thinking of being conservative. I am trying to stay hydrated and run a bit slower than the goal pace here. I haven't hit my stride but not sweating it. Really running cautiously on the downhills.
In the middle, the pack opens up slightly, but I still have no mojo. Still feel like I am chasing my paces instead of having them just slot in for me. Wellesley was awesome, and seeing my family just after Mile 14 was a huge boost. I was mentally out of the game, thinking I was done for a sub-3 but at halfway I saw I was at 1:30:23…which included a 27 second pee break…so I wasn't totally done.
We hit the first hill at mile 16 and I was worried….but bam, my legs felt awesome! Flew up the hill and through the turn to Newton. But any downhill didn't feel so good, and this would only get worse. I'd fly up all the hills past folks…only to be passed on the downhills like I was standing still. By mile 18, my legs felt like they do 2 days AFTER the race…and I knew this wasn't good.
I kept on my paces, and actually did pretty well in the hills. When it came time to turn on Beacon and bring it in…I just could't get the pace up on the downhills. Even on the slightest downhill I'd be passed…only to regain more time on the ups. By mile 23 I decided to go for it…but just didn't have the smoothness in my stride.
Looking back on the data, I could have gone sub-3 with the right final 5 miles…but who plans on suffering on the DOWNS all through the end of the race?
The Wrap
It's hard not to be so thankful at the end of the day. My amazing family supported me through the crazy training and on this special day. I got to see some new and old friends, and make a few more. I laid down a PR for Boston, only a minute off my best ever marathon, which came before my bike crash. The fact I can run is crazy; the fact I am running this well given everything is a true testament to the power of family, TEAM, and the amazing sport we all share.
Now it's time to recover, sell this house, go to Disney…and THEN think about Lake Placid.
Thanks for reading!!!