Boston 2009 Race Report

Boston Marathon 2009 ... 2nd Boston, 6th Marathon. Good intentions that never came to be. I thought twice about posting this because my splits were, well, almost embarrassing. Goal going in was approx 3:30, ~8 min pace. My 2nd Boston went something like this ...

Didn't sleep too bad. Was asleep by 9:30, tossed a little, but then woke up a 3 am and had a hard time going back to sleep. Finally got up at 4. My parents dropped me at Boston Common at 5:45, boarded one of the first buses and I was on my way. Arrived at the athlete's village and the temps were low 40s with a wind. I found a spot under a tent and sat down to relax. Nothing too major pre-race, everything went fine.

The start ... wave 1, corral 13. National Anthem, then the fly over ... that always gives me chills. It took about 8+ minutes to get to the starting line from my corral and then we were off and running. I felt good through the first half ...

Mile 1 - 8.21

Mile 2 - 7.58

Mile 3 - 7.57

Mile 4 - 7.52

Mile 5 - 8.05

Mile 6 - 8.00

Mile 7 - 8.02

Mile 8 - 8.01

Mile 9 - 7.55

Mile 10 - 8.03

Mile 11 - 8.05

Mile 12 - 7.56

Mile 13 - 7.57

Not too bad eh? I thought well, maybe this year will be different ... uh, nope. First, I had to stretch a cramp in the left hamstring during mile 14 then had to hit the porta potty at mile 15 - (necessary or I would have never stopped).

Mile 14 - 8.50

Mile 15 - 9.52

Mile 16 - 8.26 tried to come back but just wasn't the same after stopping ...

Then I hit the Newton Hills that rocked my world ... and not in a good way either.

Mile 17 - 9.28

Mile 18 - 10.13

Mile 19 - 10.14

Mile 20 - 10.11

Mile 21 - 10.33

I really tried to rally at this point now that the hills were over; but honestly, my legs had taken a beating at this point and were starting to really hurt.

Mile 22 -9.10

Mile 23 - 9.30

Mile 24 - 9.16

Mile 25 - 9.51 (not real sure what happened here)

Mile 26.2 - 10.57 ( which is 9.07 pace)

So I rallied slightly and brought the pace back down a minute per mile, but not enough. Final time 3.50.51. 8.49 pace. 2nd time I've ran Boston and 2nd time I failed to re-qualify.

Now, this is Boston and I find it an honor to run. I am happy that I have completed the 26.2 mile trek again, but not happy with the result. This is definitely not my last Boston. I will learn how to run the course.

Next up ... Polar Bear Tri on 5/2, Bedford Rotary 12K on 5/16. Bad races only motivate me. It's going to be a fun season ...