This was the second event of 10 I am doing to fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in memory of my friend Adam D. Milne.
The last few weeks of training which included some 20+ mile runs did not go well. I started exhibiting the classic overtraining symptoms: difficulty keeping pace during workouts, high heart rate, slow recovery, etc. Then I got the big symptom – a severe sinus infection which kicked the crap out of me. So, a few weeks prior to the race, I already knew that it was probably not going to go well. At the very least, I figured I should be able to finish (which is all I really managed – spoiler alert!). Of course, I’d give it a shot at a PR or re-qualification, but I’d have to know if and when to let up to avoid knocking myself out early in the run.
As I feared, I had overtrained. At first, I was maintaining a pretty decent, yet modest pace, but my heart rate was in high zone 4 or low zone 5 the whole time. After about 17 miles of that, I figured if I didn’t ease up, finishing might be off the table (bearing in mind also that I need to run another marathon in two weeks). It took slowing down to a 9+ minute mile to get my heart rate low enough and running at that pace worked over my quads much more than I’m used to. I still managed to run all the way up Heartbreak hill. The uphills were preferable at that point. With all the downhill it was getting too painful so I did a bit of walking in those section and even had to a bit on the flats. Up until the last mile, I kept going slower and slower, but picked it back up a bit for the end. Overall, I’m glad I realized a few weeks back that it was probably going to be a off-day for me. Had I been in denial about it, I think the mid-race realization would have been crushing. Instead, I don’t feel bad about this one at all. It was my slowest marathon time yet, but it’s still the Boston Marathon and that’s pretty awesome.
Time: 3:40:46, pace: 8:26
Place: 10778/24338 overall, 7932/14057 Men,
3463/4931 M18-39
Age Graded: 57.5%
Do you have one of those cool topo maps with your split times? I love looking at those.
Also, looks like at least the weather was much nicer than a couple of years ago, or at Thanksgiving at least!
RE: topo map… it can be done. It’s a bit of effort though, so I’m not real motivated to do it for a personal worst.
But maybe.
Do you feel the lack of a moustache, or other manly facial hair, could have contributed to your performance? Perhaps a month or so concentrating on solely facial hair (ie not running) could reap dividends.
There is only one way to know for sure!