THE BIG DAY (CAPITAL LETTERS) Part 1 - 6/16/12

I can't believe it - the Marathon is freakin' here!!!!  As I left off in the last post - we both woke up energized and very excited.  The weather was shaping up to be nice (though maybe a little warm) after a threat of storms the night before (that would move in as we finished the race, thankfully).  We were at the starting line... with almost 8,000 of our new best friends.  I ate 4 Gu packs over the hour leading up to the start - thinking I would get a nice base going and some caffenne to boot.  Not sure if it worked, but it was worth a shot.  We had our "sweat-bags" full of post-race supplies (including Erin's phone), so we snapped an "insurance photo" before the race for good measure:

I am ALL that is MAN!!!

They had a medical tent with sunblock and Bengay.  Yeah, I rubbed them both on.  Combine that with my lack of deodorant, and I was the best smelling and sexiest Beast on the course!  The crowd was electric!  The Star Spangled Banner was accompanied by the flyover of a couple of jets (which was awesome), and we took our spots in the 4 hour pace group.  There was no turning back.

Pacing:  Well, I just looked back at all of my entries, and despite talking about pacing a lot, I it looks like I never laid out my goals.  Everything sort of changed after the leg injury(ies), but it went something like this:

Worst Case:  "Finish - under 5 hours, hopefully (baring a huge injury)
Good Case:  Finish in 4:30
Great Case:  Finish in 4:15
Best Case:   Finish in 4:00 or better

Before the injuries set in, you could have sold me on 3:54-3:50 as best case (better than 9:00 mile average), but I put that one to bed.  Aside from that, my goal was to eat a Gu every 4 miles and hit water and Powerade as I could.  I had a big pocked on the backside of my shorts that I would keep stocked.  Yes, I was in nothing but shorts, shirt, a chest strap, and a diaper full of Gu packs - I was dead sexy indeed!!!

Without further flub-bubbery, the race!

*Note - I'll throw out my stats at every official check point.  My A.S.O.P (Average Pace over Stretch) will give you my pacing for that particular stretch of run since the previous checkpoint - NOT overall.  This gives a better play-by-play.

START:  Watch Time: 0:00 (Gun time - Roughly 3:35)

I won't focus on the gun time any more than that right there, but it's important to remember that Boston Marathon qualifying (and official times in general) are based on gun times.  Since that really didn't bother me, ehhh...

My Heart rate was 140 before the race started.  I was pretty excited.  Therefore, it was no surprise that after the first mile (at 8:55 pace), my HR was close to 168.  This would not do for 26.2 miles, but it was flat and I chalked it up to being nervous.  Surely, the pace group would slow up a smidgen an my HR would drop down to the 150's.  Ha.

Mile 2: 8:55 pace - 170 HR
Mile 3: 8:55 pace - 172 HR
Mile 4: 8:59 pace - 172 HR

You get the idea, it was getting a little upsetting.  I felt fine, but I knew I'd pay for this before the race was over.

10K - First Checkpoint - Time: 56:02 - *A.P.O.S.:  9:02/mile

This was a fun reflection point for me.  Back in 2008, when my left foot was toast and I could hardly run (and weighed about 195 lbs), I ran a 10K in Wichita.  It was only a 10K, and it took me just over 56 minutes to do.  I had to walk some, just due to the sheer pain in my foot.  It was a very rough time - funny now that my leisurely paced 10K on the front end of a marathon is now 56 minutes.  I felt like, if anything, I'd accomplished something today - just from that.  Now, I've run 10K's faster (my record being just over 45 minutes in 2009), but it was a special thought.

Our pace leader was the model of perfection and pacing.  He tried to keep the group energized and excited, which was a nice distraction.  I just felt like I had a hard time keeping up - always felt like I was running to catch him.  He was consistent - same pace up hill and down.  That was a little rough for me, but like a trooper, I kept at it.  My HR had not declined.  I had already hit 180 on a few of the hills and was constantly holding in the low 170's.  Nerves?  Who knows... Was I slowly digging my own "marathon grave", or would I get this figured out?  In spite of myself and my HR, we kept on.

I could tell that Erin was hardly sweating, but I was doing enough for both of us, so it was okay.  The temps were in the low to mid 70's by this point, but we saw clouds in the distance, and we were getting really nice tailwind breezes off the lake (cold!) which helped mentally as much as anything.  I was hopeful that the coulds would bring cool weather and maybe some rain!  (No storms, please!).

13.1 Miles - Second Checkpoint - Time: 2:00:20 - A.P.O.S.:  9:18/mile

I was actually a little shocked - our pace guy slipped up by 20 seconds!  Actually, just the opposite - I was very impressed that we were holding so consistent in our pacing.  By this point, my HR was approaching the mid to upper 170's per mile, so I had a feeling that everything was starting to catch up with me.  I didn't feel like I had overexerted myself to that point, but I noticed that getting that extra kick to hold the pace up a hill was tough.  I think Erin began to notice it too.  It wasn't that I was slowing down or anything, just that I was concentrating a lot more and wasn't as talkative. Maybe the point I knew it was getting difficult was in the "water zones".  Either our pace leader liked to sprint through them, or it was really just a bigger effort to catch up to him right after we made it though.  I didn't stop in these zones, but I did slow to get water, eat a Gu, and drink.  I think around mile 13, I knew I was in for a LONG day...

Part II?  Stick around...