Notes
I felt like I was in legitimate 6:10/mile shape for Boston based on my long runs and tempos. Given the heat, I modified the plan. I thought I had an excellent plan laid out with gels every 30 min (high sodium,) additional salt tabs every 5 miles, Gatorade at every aid station and water over the head, starting at mile 1, to keep the body temp down. I also raised my pace plan to 6:23s with a backup of paying close attention to my HR. I do all my training by HR and I know what pace equals what for HR. I was figuring a 163-165 HR would be 6:20 pace taking the heat into account.
So, the race plan was 6:23s for the first half but with a hard cap of 172 for a HR on the hills and looking for an average of 163-165. I figured I would run even splits or even negative split with such an easy pace. I had no stomach issues going into the start (unlike CIM.)
I lined up about mid pack in corral 1 with 15 minutes to the start. Even standing there for those 15 minutes, the sun was beating on us. It was hot.
Gun goes off. I am on plan. 6:23 @ the mile and deliberately backed off on the first uphill. HR higher than I was expecting right away.
6:25, 6:22, 6:21 (all quick miles but HR is way high for this pace.) I’ve run these miles faster in training at a 155 HR. So I back off a little more….I am sticking to the plan.
Mile 4 to 5 is all gradual uphill and I deliberately back off to 6:43 then 6:27, 6:29, 6:36, 6:31. I can’t believe how high my HR is now. I am averaging 170 which is normally sub 5:50 pace. I ran a 10 mile progression run that averaged 5:50 pace in the buildup for Boston at an average HR of 168. I decide to back off even more.
6:46, 6:48, 6:42, 6:44 through Wellesley. Hit the half in 1:26, avg HR for the half is 169. Even though this is ridiculously slow and I’ve been backing off, I feel medium at best. It is now really hot. I am dumping water on my head, carrying ice in my hands and rubbing my neck with it and drinking a full cup of Gatorade at every station. Gel every 30 min, salt every 5 miles, without fail.
6:58 at 15 brings the HR down some. I catch a much faster BAA teammate at mile 15 and say “hi.” We agree that this day sucks. The 7:07 at 16 was not deliberate. Quads are crampy. 6:54 down the steep hill out of Wellesley and the quads cramp at the bottom. Game over. From there it was full survival mode. I tried to cool off, kept with the salt and Gatorade and the plan of gel every 30 min. Could not get it going again. Once the quads cramped, every step was super painful and the down hills after heartbreak were, well, heartbreaking. It was so damn hot.
Caught my brother in law, Brian, who is a 2:40 PR and had just run 1:13 half, at mile 22. He had blown on heartbreak and we got each other to the finish. The last few miles were so awful. My quads were right on the verge of cramping again the whole way and I could not speed up. But running 9 min miles just prolonged the agony. The crowds were huge and cheering “go! You can do it!” and I hated them all.
Bottom line? I suck in the heat. I know this and I’ve proven it throughout my athletic career. I need to pick my races carefully and Boston this year was just bad luck.
3:16 flat. A far cry from the low 2:40 shape I felt my training indicated. Marathon #2. Check!