Arrived at the Athlete's Village and found a spot in the food tent, hung out with a friend of mine and met some new people, all in all it was a quick morning. Dropped off my bag and headed to the starting line in corrale #4. Not really sure how I felt, part of my problem for this race is not having a set goal in mind other than to run as well as I can and enjoy it. I would have like to have run around a 3:10 or even a 3:15.
Off we went, my plan was to go out slow and let the legs warm up, it was not easy to do that with it straight downhill and the other runners screaming by me. Hit the first mile in 7:44; mile 2 in 7:20, mile 3 7:22.
I feel I am at a good pace, knowing that my legs are now warmed up and I figure I can start to pick it up.
Mile 4 7:08
Mile 5 7:20
Mile 6 7:17
Mile 7 7:22
Mile 8 7:20
Mile 9 7:23
Mile 10 7:18
Hit mile 10 at 1:13:34; feeling decent not great, I figure I am on pace for possibly getting under 3:15.
Mile 11 7:16
Mile 12 7:09
Mile 13-14 14:23 must have missed the button on my watch at 13
Hit the first half in just under 1:36, pretty happy with that, but my legs are starting to feel it, the downhills are taking their toll on my quads.
Mile 15 7:26
Mile 16 7:17
Mile 17 7:44
It was at this point that my left quad is starting to feel very sore as well as my right hamstring, which seems to always do that. It was clear that the last 10 miles were not going to be smooth at all, especially, with the hills approaching.
Mile 18 7:43
Mile 19 7:39
Mile 20 8:02
Hit mile 20 at 2:28:13; 7:25 pace, I need to run under the last 10k in under 47 to break 3:15, which I quickly figure that is probably not going to be possible. My legs are completely tired, each stride is becoming a struggle, I tell myself to gut it out and do your best and enjoy it, being this is the
Boston Marathon.
Mile 21 8:23
Mile 22 7:44
Mile 23 7:59
I am hanging in there, not exactly blazing but still making progress, I wanted to stop a few times during this stretch but the downhills, eventhough they were painful, seemed to allow me to keep going.
Mile 24 8:03
This is where it got tough, I passed through mile 24 and hit the water station and my right hamstring cramped up, it brought me to a complete stop. I started to try and stretch it out but it was not feeling much better and had this horrible thought that I was not going to be able to finish. It did improve and off I went again, taking some small strides but moving nonetheless.
Mile 25 9:28
Moving along and then of course my left hamstring cramps up, at least it was not nearly as bad as the right one. I now only had one more mile to go, I trotted off and resolved myself to enjoy it, the crowds were great, made the turn down Boylston and just took it all in, although it did seem to take forever to get to that line.
Last 1.2 10:19
That was a tough course, but it does feel good to have run the race. My legs are very sore and I did not feel very well after the race, could not seem to warm up, but I did feel better after getting some warm clothes on and receiving a much needed massage.
It is a race that I will never forget and it makes all the training worth it. After a year of marathon training and 4 marathons in 10 months, it is time to take a break and possibly do a fall marathon after a summer of delving into the world of triathalons.
Congrats to all those who completed the Boston Marathon.