Made getting a BQ a goal in 2021. I'd thought my open marathon days were done after 2016 but thanks to injections in knees/toes I noticed I wasn't so miserable on long runs so I opened up to the possibility of making the commitment. With the help of a newly engaged coach(Phatknot from here on BT), I accumulated a level of run fitness I hadn't had in almost 15 years. Four failed BQ attempts and made it on what I figured would be the last one with enough buffer over qualifying standard that I got the bib.

The training arc to race day in Boston was just so-so and by the standards of my fitness during the qualifying attempts, I was a little undertrained. Once again and as per usual, I see that undertrained>overtrained. I'm making a(another) mental note about that..

Anyhoo, I knew what to expect about the course and its profile; many, many hours watching videos shot on GoPro and the like. My impression was that if approached cautiously on the front half, I could do an ok result and I made getting a qualfying time for next year the soft goal. 8:35/mi pace would get me past the standard with an extra five or so minutes of buffer. Game plan: start really slowly and save the quads/legs for the hills in Newton.

I think I executed pretty well; kept a close eye on pace through the early downhill miles, hit up every other water station, took a gel every three or so miles and generally kept the focus on the second half of the course. Crowd support was intermittently awesome early but after a few miles it's darn-near constant; the local communities are really supportive. Tough to overstate this aspect..thank you one and all for coming out.

I felt good past Wellesley(I freely admit moving over to the fence so I could high five the co-eds) and got to the Newton hills ready to run, not shuffle. I crested Heartbreak Hill and the next couple of downhill miles were close to my fastest of day. Felt awesome to be running at that point vs. the usual mile 22+ death march.

I faded the last 2 miles or so but kept moving forward and got a slight negative split. I missed the standard by a little more than two minutes and actually getting a bib for next year would have meant around seven minutes faster, so not really close to the A goal. I'm perfectly fine with that. The other goal was to feel like I'd done the day justice in terms of performance; I ran the whole thing, passed way more people than otherwise, and finished the run feeling like I was carrying my shield, not being carried on it. Crowd support dynamic; never seen anything like it. All course long but when you're in the last mile or so, it's almost deafening. Very, very cool and pretty much signature part of the day.

So the quest is ended. Except for the post-race fact that I'm seriously considering trying for a late summer qualifying race because I really, really want to come back..ASAP

Shoulda/Coulda..I dunno, I would have liked to have qualified for next year and I can see the part of race where that got away from me, but not a single shred of regret..I really enjoyed the day.

Picked up drop bag and waited for my kid/sherpa.

As a completely unexpected fringe benefit, a musician I'm quite fond of, Matthew Sweet, was playing at a theater across the street from my hotel.