A Test of Strength and Will

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Tracks: 111th Boston Marathon - April 16, 2007

The weather turned out fine...there was plenty of rain and a wailing wind the night before, but by the time the race started it was only drizzling with occasional gusts, and by the time I got to Boston the sun almost came out. I was in the 4th corral (out of ~22) where most of the runners qualified at around the same time as I did: over 3 hours, but under 3:10. I talked to a couple of guys and they said their goal was to break 3 but with the weather they weren't sure anymore. I thought the same for a while, and because I only got 3 1/2 hours of sleep on top of a red-eye flight the night before, I didn't know what would happen.

In the end, I believe that both weren't a factor in my inability to finish under 3 hours. I think my concerns about not running enough long runs were valid. I was running at an almost perfect 2:58 pace until about the 22nd mile when I started to slow down. However, I didn't crush as badly as in the Vancouver Marathon and was able to get a personal best. I think the additional training, not stopping once along the route even when getting a drink (took a drink every 5 miles and 2 gel packs at mile 10 & 17), and better pacing helped. The problem once again wasn't my cardiovascular state but pain in my legs and overall weakness in my body. Those are definite indicators of my body not being used to long runs.

The course itself was quite challenging with a number of rolling hills including the infamous "Heartbreak Hill" at mile 21 (~80 foot elevation gain) which caused considerable pain in my quadriceps. Of the five marathons I've done so far, this was the hardest course.

So... I'm disappointed that I didn't go under 3 hours because of all my preperation for this race and I thought I could do it (up to about mile 22). The big takeaway is that I have to do more long runs; the stuff in the middle is not as important. On the positive side I beat my PR, didn't stop once, and got through the last two miles OK (those 15 minutes were up there on the list of the most physically painfull moments of my life).

I'll be switching over to cycling shortly until the fall when I'll run another marathon (one I haven't done before--Portland perhaps), and of course I will try to break 3 hours again. Never give up!

Total: 111th Boston Marathon; (3:04:08; 7:02 pace; 1186/12567 male; 1248/20640 overall)

P.S. I unfortunately didn't get a chance to see any of the elite athletes such as Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya, Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia, or Uli Steidl of Shoreline who got 12th place!