Boston Marathon April, 2011

Oh Boston, the course that can go really well or leave you a little heartbroken. Well I finally had my year of where training had to shift in priority this season and as a result I knew going into the race I wasn't about to set any new PRs. I got myself to the start line, gave it my best, and finished which to me in the end says a lot more about my character than giving up or only allowing myself to run when I know I'll PR. Trust me it was a tough thing to do!

This past December I recorded my fastest marathon time in Sacramento at the CIM marathon (3:04)and after the marathon I felt burned out with running. This is primarily due to training for two marathons per year for the last 5 years consecutively. On top of that trend this past year was one of changes and to disconnect from everything I booked a trip to South America for the winter holiday. Vacation was exactly what I needed and I got back in early January to start the new year off fresh. I returned relaxed but not in the mindset for starting up training for Boston. I come back to my running crew who was running strong from continued training since December and here I felt like mush and lost all fitness I had from December. I contemplated for several months not running Boston and forfeiting my entry this year. But as most people know about me I value being loyal with my word. Several of my friends feared continuing with the training cycle would cause me to get even more burned out since I wouldn't enjoy the training or run a PR in the spring. Ultimately I decided to continue with training knowing I would just get in what I could to be prepared for 26.2 at Boston this year.

I ran 20 miles less per week on average than I normally do when I'm putting in a quality effort with training and I did not do any cross-training with weights which was part of my routine previously. There just wasn't enough time in my schedule to fit in the normal routine which was a little disappointing but I learned to accept it. I focused on logging the long runs I needed to get a comfortable endurance base and ran the typical Boston tune up races - Ft. Steilacom 15 Miler and Mercer Island 1/2 Marathon. Both races I ran approximately 2 minutes slower than I ran the prior year giving me early indications that I wasn't where I was previously even with the endurance base established. All of this led to the starting line at Boston...

Boston Marathon
I showed up to Boston without a race strategy or plan for time. It felt like it was my first marathon all over again - completely unprepared. The day before the race I was walking by Nike Town and noticed they were doing the pace bracelets which when the thought of selecting a projected time crossed my mind. I knew where I sat with projected marathon times based on the tune up races I ran and that landed around the 3:10 goal time so I went with that pace. I remember going back to my room that evening and chatting with my friends Katie and Larry about that pace should be okay since it's at least running 15-20 seconds slower than we normally run when in shape. Katie reminded me that it was still going to be tough and at that time I didn't think it would be that tough of a effort but I was quickly reminded of how hard of a effort 3:10 pace is!

Larry and I train together in Seattle and since our qualifying times were the same we were seeded in the same starting coral. Larry similar to me had training take a backseat for this year's Boston and we both showed up to Boston with the goal of finishing. Weather started slightly chilly with a tailwind present. After a few miles in the sun kicked in and it turned out to be the perfect running weather - a little too warm for arm warmers! I kept Larry in site as we clipped off the miles through the first 10K establishing a steady pace in target with the pace bracelet goal of 3:10. Larry was running a little ahead of me and I fell off a pace slightly at the start since I had a nagging foot pain that I wasn't sure would go away. I kept reflecting on one of Tom's tips "pain and energy levels wane in and out". It took through the 10K for the foot pain to either go away or I stopped thinking about it completely. I saw my friends Cathleen & Paige come by and both looked really strong as they passed by.

Through the 1/2 Marathon mark the pace seemed steady and legs felt okay although my mental focus was in and out a lot as I kept reflecting on my training preparation in my head which was not sending a positive energy flow through my body. As I started letting this thinking in my pace seemed to drain alongside - amazing how powerful the mind can be in one direction or the other. I passed through the 1/2 way mark and kept things together as I ran towards the hills that I'd be climbing from mile 16 through 21. The start of the climb up the hills was tough and I knew my friend Katie would be waiting for me at Mile 20 which was helping keep me focused. I felt bad for Katie knowing she was going to jump in with me at Mile 20 and I was going to be running off pace and a little out of it from the exerted effort this race was requiring. Katie jumped in at mile 20 which helped quickly snap me out of the slump, but everything in my body at that point was hurting. Mile by mile I kept debating the thought of stopping but then internally fought myself on that each time thinking "No, you're not a quitter!". That's right I'm not so I kept going knowing that at this point finishing was most important to me. I knew there would be friends tracking me online wondering what was going on with my time and friends that knew exactly what was going on with my time. I had to just put all of that aside and just do what I wanted at that point which was to stay with Katie and get to that finish line. Every step the last 4 miles was so painful, quads felt so tight and knotted up. We finally got the Citgo sign which indicated 1 mile to go and I started breaking it down in minutes. 8 minutes, 5 minutes, etc… You can do anything for 5 minutes. Finally reached the homestretch on Boylston and the crowds were crazy. I let the energy from the crowds carry me to the finish line.

This year's race wasn't my greatest, but I'm proud that I finished and gave a good effort!

Nutrition
· Pre-Race Routine
○ Wake up call: 5:50 AM for breakfast
○ Nutrition: Oatmeal, honey, almonds. Banana. Coffee.
○ Charter bus picked us up at the hotel @ 7:15am
○ Continued drinking water liberally until an hour before the race.

· Race Nutrition
○ Chocolate Excel Gel at miles 5, 10, 15, 20

The Stats
For reflection I included my 5K splits from last year's (2010) Boston Marathon where I had a PR and ran really well. Interesting when I break it down by the 5K splits and see that right out of the gate it wasn't going to be the same race… Nice thing is that Boston is there every year and when I want give it my best again I can.

Overall Place 4167 o 23879
Female Place 427 of 10073 (Top 7%)
Age Group Place 348 of 5202


Race Splits

2011 Boston Net
5K 0:22:11
10K 0:44:23
15K 1:06:28
20K 1:29:00
1/2 Marathon 1:33:51
25K 1:51:44
30K 2:15:38
35K 2:40:22
40K 3:05:03
Finish 3:16:11

2010 Boston Net
2010 Boston Net
5K 21:35
10K 43:39
15K 1:05:47
20K 1:27:59
1/2 Marathon 1:32:47
25K 1:50:18
30K 2:13:14
35K 2:36:18
40K 2:58:18
Finish Time 3:07:34



Next up - Berlin Marathon 2012!! :)