My Dad gave me a ride up to the marathon start in Bath. The temperature was about 44 degrees, with overcast skies. The forecasted high was going to be 62, and that wasn't supposed to come until 1 or 2pm, so the temperature and conditions were just perfect. Shortly after I arrived I spotted Matt in the crowd. We chatted for a bit and I wished him well.

I made my way to the starting line and found the 3:15 pace group. My plan was to try to stay just ahead of them for a long as I could. I spoke with the pacer at the expo on Saturday and was a little nervous about his plan (even pacing, 7:27), since BAA doesn't give you that extra 59 seconds anymore. So, my strategy was to find the 3:15 pace group and try to stay just ahead of them, as I was shooting for a BQ at 3:15:00 or below. Pace-wise I wanted to shoot for as close to 7:20 as I could for as long as I could, figuring that I would fade a bit toward the end just as I did last year, and end up around 7:24 or 7:25 avg, which would be just under 3:15.

I started out the first mile and was quickly able to get to my 7:20 target pace, and thankfully it didn't feel all that taxing. The first few miles are mostly downhill though, so that certainly helped. I resisted the tempation to try to pick it up too much here, figuring that getting into a rhythm at my target pace was a better thing to shoot for early.

Soon after the start I spotted my "marathon friend" from last year, who I had run almost the entire race with last year and joked afterwards that we would see each other in 2012, both shooting for 3:15. And that's exactly what happened. I was chatting with her and her training buddy for quite some time and it felt just like old times.

The first small hill at mile 4 felt just fine - no issues. I had planned to push the downhill on the other side and I did so, coming in at 7:11 for that mile. It didn't tax me much though - it was free speed. After that downhill and a small uphill I came into the tiny town of Savona, which never fails to deliver a loud and large crowd of supporters. Just after Savona I took my first salt tablet and had several shot blocks, as I was starting to wane a bit energy-wise.

It was about this time when I first spotted these two guys cheering everyone on in white jump suits, bowler hats, black canes and jock straps on the outside of their suits. I couldn't place where I had seen that costume before, but then someone else near me said "A Clockwork Orange" and it hit me - they were dressed as "Droogs"! (if you've never seen the movie or read the book - look up "droogs" here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_(film... ). The costumes were very authentic, right down to the fake eyelash below the eye. These guys were on bikes and kept on showing up at various points in the race. Each time I passed them I made references to the film - "Hey Droogs, where's my milk?" (referring to the Milk Bar from the film). "Hey Droogs, where's the Ultra Violence?" And the last time I saw them they said they where going off to buy some milk. They were a welcome distraction.

The flat 3+ miles into Campbell and the 1/2 way mark were pretty uneventful. I was right on target with my 10 mile split. I did notice that my Garmin was already proving to be .1 miles short of the actual distance. I picked up my pace a bit to compensate for that, thinking again of the lack of a 59 second buffer with the new BAA qualifying times.

My kids, Mom & Dad and Sister were waiting for me at the half-way point. My youngest daughter gave me a full water bottle of HEED and cheered me on. It was over very quickly though. I knew I would see them again a couple more times though.

Just past Campbell was the second bump (its really not much of a hill), and it was no big deal. I did notice, however, that the 3:15 group was right on my heels at the top of the hill - I guess they were really striving to keep an even pace. Coming down the other side I was able to pick it up again and in the end I gained a few seconds in that mile, and again positioned myself ahead of the pace group. The stretch from mile 15-17 was a little rough. I had another salt tablet and downed a PowerBar gel that I picked up on the course. I rarely do that, but the shot blocs I had been using up until that point hadn't been giving me much of a boost. The Power Gels did, however, and as I came into Coopers Plains (mile 17-18) was feeling good again.

Miles 18-20 went pretty smoothly, but the 3:15 pace group had caught me again. I wasn't going to fight it this time. I figured I would just try to stick with them through the tough 20s and pull ahead toward the end. Once I passed the last small incline at mile 21 I was starting to feel a bit fatigued. I started pounding the shot blocs and Power Gels I had left in an effort to ward off a fade. This seemed to work pretty well, as I found out later my splits for miles 23-26 were some of the fastest of the race for me. I was feeling fatigued, however, but mentally I was doing better than I was at miles 16-18. I just kept thinking about how much I wanted that BQ.

I saw my family again at mile 24, and this time my neice and nephew were there, too, as my nephew's Cub Scout troop was manning the water station. My youngest daughter somehow managed to charm her way into a volunteer's shirt and start handing out water, too. She was very proud of that shirt and wore it to school today :)

After mile 24 I reached for my last 2 shot blocs (I was out of Power Gels by that point) and, of course, dropped them as I took them out of my water bottle holder's pocket. At that point I didn't sweat it. I figured I was close enough and I had consumed enough already that I would be fine.

My plan all along was to start to pick things up when I turned onto Williams St. just before mile 25. Happily I was able to do so. I had tunnel vision at this point, staring at the road 10 ft in front of me and not really paying much attention to my surroundings. Williams St. is very long, and as soon as I spotted the turn onto Bridge St. I looked at my watch and realized that I was in pretty good shape, but it would still be tight.

The right turn onto Bridge St. went fine, but I knew the incline of the bridge waited for me soon afterwards. It was very tough getting over it, as it had been the last two years. Once I was going down the other side, running next to the Wegmans where I worked during high school, I looked for my family, as I asked them to be there at the left turn onto Market St., figuring I would need a lot of extra encouragement at that point. (They barely made it over in time - as it wasn't all that long after mile 24 of course!)

To my surprise, my hometown friend John was also there. He is a marathoner and got his BQ at Wineglass in 3:14 several years earlier. He came out and started running with me, pushing me to pick up my pace toward the end and not to let up until the finish. That really helped. I was squinting really hard and when I first spotted the finish line clock it was at 3:13:30 or so, and I was still a good distance away at that point. I was somehow able to keep up the new pace he had set for me until I crossed the finish line. I found out later I ran the last .4 mile at 6:30 avg.

Just like last year, I kind of fell into the arms of one of the volunteers, and another one came to hold me up after she saw that I was having a rough time recovering. They actually brought a wheel chair over and asked me if I wanted to sit in it. Gosh - I must have looked like I was going to die! Knowing how important it is to keep moving after a race I declined, and a couple of minutes later I was slowing moving down the line.

I met up with my family a couple minutes later. And then shortly after that spotted Matt and was very pleased to hear that he has also made his BQ time.

Finish Time: 3:14:08

Half split: 1:36:57

Second Half: 1:37:11

Mile splits (note: my Garmin had 26.4 total)
7:20
7:22
7:21
7:23
7:23
7:23
7:11
7:26
7:22
7:26 ("10" miles = 1:13:37)
7:24
7:26
7:26
7:19
7:21
7:25
7:22
7:27
7:21
7:24 ("20" miles = 2:27:32)
7:23
7:24
7:22
7:22
7:20
7:14
last .4 6:28 avg

This is a GREAT race. And I'm not just saying that because it ends in my hometown. Fast course. (Usually) great weather. Great schwag. Nice post-race party. Highly recommended.