They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result..
Okay, I think I get it now. Message received. I need to stop going out too fast.
Split Time Diff. Pace
5k 00:20:12 20:12 6:30
10k 00:41:29 21:17 6:52
15k 01:03:23 21:54 7:03
20k 01:25:54 22:31 7:15
Half 01:30:44 4:50 7:06
25k 01:48:36 17:52 7:22
30k 02:12:13 23:37 7:37
35k 02:37:12 24:59 8:03
40k 03:03:06 25:54 8:21
Full 03:14:06 11:00 8:04 (7:25 overall)
I missed my 10k PR by 23 seconds! (and then I had a fairly tough 20 mile cool-down run.)
5,058th overall, 4,522nd among men, and 884th among men aged 40-44.
I make excuses, like, “Well, since the first half is mostly downhill, I should try to bank time.” Or “It’s in my nature to go out too fast.” It’s time to race with my head and not my heart. I think my pre- and during-race nutrition and hydration was spot on. I feel more confident about this than I have before. I think my training between Louisiana and Boston was well executed, and a good program. The biggest flaw in my training program was recovery. 50-60 miles per week is not that big of a deal. 50-60 miles per week (when I sleep less than 4 hours per night for 4 nights of the week), is really tough, and doesn’t allow my muscles to fully recover. However, the goofy sleep cycle is part of my life for the time being, and I’m not going to change it for the sake of becoming a marginally better runner. If this is the best I can do without changing my lifestyle, so be it.
I know this sounds like I am upset with my performance. I'm not. It is a good time, I think. PR's don't happen in every race. And every race is not Boston. I have never had an experience in my life like this race. I could start writing now about all of the non-racing intangibles, and cool things I experienced, and maybe never stop.
The last time I had a million people cheering for me, it was....
Edit: I decided to go back and add some Race Day Anecdotes:
I wore the cargo pants that I cut the grass in to the start. When the family was seeing me off, the kids were confused.
I had been given some advice to bring garbage bags to sit on with me to the athlete’s village. So I brought 2. When I got to the village, I pulled them out to sit down. That’s when I realized they were “scented” garbage bags. HEAVILY Scented garbage bags. People around me were aware of this. I rolled one out and sat on it. A British guy walks up and sits down next to me in the grass. I asked him if he wanted a bag to sit on. He was pretty happy about that, so I gave him the other one. He pulls out a vat of Vaseline, and starts rubbing it on his chest, and offers some to me. I say “no thanks, I’ve got the band-aids going.” He offers again, grabs a huge wad of the stuff, jams his hand down the front of his shorts, and starts vigorously applying the jelly, all the while talking to me with a big smile. He gets up to move on to his next spot, and I turn around to the woman behind me, who is laughing. “What just happened here? Am I being punked?” Is there etiquette for this situation?
I left all my shed-able stuff at the village. It was pretty warm. From the village to the start, it was a longer distance than I was anticipating. Everyone was running to the start. I was kind of surprised by that. There was a lady that had a full medical supply table set up on the way to the start. What a nice person! The 15-20 guys on the opposite side of the street had a big sign that said “DOUGHNUTS BEER CIGARETTES” That was pretty funny. They were yelling at all of the runners, while holding up their beers, saying “you know you want one!”
The only time I really got choked up about the race was in the first mile. I qualified for this thing 18 months ago. That is an awful lot of build-up. By the time I got to the finish, I was so beat down, I think I missed out on some of the experience.
I was pretty upset with myself for having to walk about 10 steps on Heartbreak Hill. I was even more upset when a photographer jumped out and started snapping pictures of me walking. That will get you moving again.
I saw Rattle Trap around this time, and since we never met before this, I imagine it was weird to hear someone yelling “Go Rattletrap, go!” Easily identifiable outfit, you’ve got there. I was pretty far way, and I had to yell “Oh yeah, I’m Tom K.” Maybe I should have started with that.
My family planned to see me @ mile 22. They were not all in the same place, and I think it is a miracle that I saw everyone in 3 separate groups. First, on the right side of the road, I only saw my brother and his fiancé, because he started dancing around like Yosemite Sam shooting guns in the air. He definitely stood out with that move. After I waved at him, he pointed diagonally across the street at my mom and dad. They gave me big cheers. Spouse and the boys were a half mile later on the left. They had their “Tom K scares me. Because he’s wicked fast” signs. I almost passed them, and saw them at the last second. I went over and gave Spouse a kiss, and got high fives from the boys.
I knew that my PR chance was gone a long time before the “1 km to go” sign on the underpass. But I decided to make a big push at the end, anyway. My legs said “no.” I made a couple of surges, but nothing would stick. I kept moving because of the ginormous crowd. I didn’t want to stop in front of those people.
I wanted to get a big family finish line picture but that was not possible. Spouse was pretty sick, and had already returned to the boat with the boys and my folks. My brother met me at the family meeting area, then we walked back to the boat and went out to dinner. Lots of chowda! I didn’t make it to the 27th miles stuff at Fenway or House of Blues. I was just too beat.
The finish line picture thing worked out okay. Apparently, there was a professional photographer named Melissa Jill, who was taking pictures of the race about 20 feet from where Spouse was camped. She captured the whole meeting with me and my family. She sent the pictures to us, and they are just great! So, if you know someone who is getting married in the Phoenix area, please have them look her up! http://www.melissajill.com/blog.cfm?postID=1492&boston-marathon
The whole week we spent in Boston surrounding the race was a huge success. This family vacation will be tough to beat.
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