Boston Marathon - RunMarathon


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Boston, Massachusetts
United States
Boston Athletic Association
53F / 12C
Overcast
 		Total Time = 3h 19m 8s
Overall Rank = 3645/20000
Age Group = 40-49 (I'm 49!)
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

4-12-06:

Pre Race Prediction:

My custom is to make a time prediction a week or so before a BIG RACE. Thus, I am going to say that if I can break 3h20' at Boston (which would be a PR by over 6 minutes, I'd be a real happy marathoner. I think it is doable. If I were racing on a quicker marathon course, I believe a sub 3h10' would be achievable...however, this is Boston..so, 3h20' is the "Gold Standard" for lar dog!
Event warmup:

We had a chartered bus to the start line, so we were able to stay on the bus instead on sitting around at the athletes village. The warm up was basically the walk to our coral which was #9. That meant about 9000 people were in front of me
Run
  • 3h 19m 8s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 07m 36s  min/mile
Comments:

There was a huge crowd and it was VERY congested for the first 10 miles. This probably helped to "hold me back" instead of charging out too hard.
What would you do differently?:

I think I ran a very smart race in Boston
Post race
Warm down:

I took an ice bath for 10 minutes after the race. A sauna the next morning, and a massage in the evening

Event comments:

My previous PR for a marathon was 3:26. Getting a 7+ minute PR on the Boston course is something I will cherish for sure. My pre-race prediction came true to run 3:20 or better. My run training consisted of 3X runs per week, and my longest run prior to Boston was just 15 miles max...Plan to take some time off and recover...




Last updated: 2006-01-26 12:00 AM
Running
03:19:08 | 26.2 miles | 07m 36s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 3645/20000
Performance: Good
I left my heart rate monitor off and decided to run "by feel" 1/2 marathon split was 1:37:52, so I did not slow down that much on the 2nd half
Course: The Boston course exposes your weakness. The downhills at the beginning rough up your quads, and leave you drained for the hills on Newton, culminating with Heartbreak Hill. More has been written about this course than any other running race in the world.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5