So, I’m sure everyone is wondering how the 113th Boston Marathon went. So here it is.

I started out fast, then I picked it up and went even faster, and then I used up everything I had left!!

And then for the second mile……..

No, no, no, just kidding.

The race was amazing, and it went pretty well. I must say though, Boston is a tough course. Toughest I have run yet. It is neither for the faint of heart or weak of foot. The hills, both up and down, are positioned to break even the best of runners. The race begins 26.2 miles straight shot West of center Boston in the town of Hopkinton.

The course starts for the first 16 miles with a huge net elevation decrease. But don’t let that fool you, there are quite a few rollers throughout. Once at 16, for the next 4-5 miles, you have a series of 3 large hills rolling right back up to where you started. Once you crest the third (the infamous Heartbreak Hill) you are confronted with another series of downhills bringing you right back down to the bottom again. You have another brief uphill on your way to the finish for a little under a mile, and then for the first time in the race you have flat road (2/10 of a mile) as you coast to the finish.

I trained very well, with quite a bit of hill work. The uphills went splendidly. However, underestimating the role of downhills in this race, those bad boys broke me by the end. I rolled into the 13.1 mile mark right on time at 1:30:00 (yes, exact; how’s that for great pacing). Everything was going to plan. I continued my pace through 16. Having a touch of time to spare, I pulled back on the hills just a smidge, to prepare for the last 5 miles. Body felt great going up the hills. I could hardly feel them (made me love all those hills I hated doing in my training). Then I crested Heartbreak Hill (still feeling great, nothing I haven’t done a hundred times in training), and was hit with more downhills. About 30 seconds into the downhill stretch, I realized my quads were blown apart by all the downhill running in the beginning. Then it occurred to me, this race requires as much downhill training as it does uphill training. Those next 5 miles felt like someone had ripped my leg muscles right clean out of me L. At that point, I realized that I might not hit my goal of under three hours. I decided to start damage control right away, and readjust. I decided since I wasn’t going to make the 3, then just control myself, and make sure I make the qualify time for the next year (under 3:10:59). That is exactly what I did. I strolled into the finish line at 3:09:27. Not bad. It was an amazing day, perfect weather, AMAZING crowd support. Really was one of the best days of racing I have ever had; I almost don’t even care at all that I didn’t hit my goal; I know I’ll do it next time. And, I can’t wait for next time, I’ll train even harder and faster then I did this time, and I’ll include downhill training this time too.

So, that is my race. I’ll get some footage and pics up soon. Leave a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts. No major training for the next couple of weeks, just small easy exercising. Real training will resume in about 3 weeks. Looking forward to it. Until the next entry, go out and enjoy the nice weather.

Cheers!!