Because he missed it, and is not one to play the cheerleader while I run the most prestigious marathon in the world, he had to do another, and soon, so as to qualify for himself. Ok, that's great, and I'd certainly rather go to Boston with both of us running it, and if the roles were reversed I'd be doing the exact same thing!
Hence, this race recap. Not originally on the schedule, but when Bill came to me and said, "let's go to NYC and the Hamptons for a long weekend at the end of September, just you and me." I bit, and said, "of course I'd LOVE that!!" Then he added, "Oh, and by the way, there's a marathon in the Hamptons that weekend that I'm going to do, want to do it as well?" There's the catch, oh well, sure, why not!
Here's the other dilemma we face with this whole Boston Marathon quest; Bill is already planning to do a 50 mile run in the Grand Canyon (Rim to Rim to Rim) 4 days AFTER the 2013 Boston Marathon. So, even if he did qualify at this marathon, and because of the timing of Boston Registration (the week BEFORE this marathon) - He can use the qualifying time for either the 2013 Boston Marathon (if it's not full), or the 2014 BM, which would be his preference. He certainly does not intend to run a marathon 4 days before a 50 mile trail run in the Grand Canyon!
What's the dilemma, you ask? Well, that means that now, although I have qualified to run the BM in 2013, if I intend to run the 2014 BM with my husband, I needed to RE-qualify at this race in order to be eligible to run it! UUGH! And, the kicker is, this race is only 5 weeks before our Full Ironman in Florida! Would that be enough time to recover and give my all for the most important race of my season?
Pressure! Pressure that I do not want! I trained hard for this marathon and hoped that the added training, along with a flat course at sea level, would lend to an easy, fast marathon. If there were ever a contradictory statement, that is it! An easy, fast marathon!?!?! No such luck!
The weekend was full of tourism in NYC and in East Hampton,
RACE DAY
I did all the usual pre-race routine, drank pedialite on Thursday, laid around a lot on Friday, ate pasta and chicken for dinner, and went to bed early. I woke in the morning and ate oatmeal and a protein shake. I drank EFS on the way to the race. I warmed up for the race for about 10 minutes to get my legs and heart moving. I felt good and was excited to start. This is a small marathon (about 500 participants), but they also have a half marathon that had 2500 participants. We all ran together for the first 6 miles, then the paths split.
When the gun went off, we were off and running! I knew the plan was to hold back for the first half and keep my heart in low low zone 3, make it feel easy and know that I am holding back. I did that and was right on pace (8:20). The only problem I was seeing was that my Garmin GPS was showing a .1 mile discrepancy according to the course (and not in the right direction!) - My watch showed the course was actually .1 miles longer at every mile than the race mile markers were showing. That was not a big deal, at the time, my pace was on and I knew I'd be able to pick it up 2nd half. And I hoped the discrepancy would work itself out! I stuck to my nutrition plan and took a gel every 3.5 miles and water at every aid station. I also took enduralites and pre-race capsules at about the middle. The weather was PERFECT the entire race! mid 50s to start and mid 60s to finish, and overcast the whole time, with a few drizzles here and there. The course was winding and pretty, along the coast for part of it and through mostly rural wooded roads.
By about mile 12 I realized that the distance discrepancy was getting larger, .1 mile had turned into .17 miles. If it did not fix itself and the course was actually long, I would have to run .17-.2 miles extra and still be under 3:40. For someone who barely made the 3:40 cutoff (by 11 seconds), that would mean a minute or more of extra running to cram in somewhere and still make my BQ time! I began to pick it up and still felt great, but was going as fast as I felt was possible, knowing the distance I had left to go. From mile 12 on, not one person, male or female, passed me (like I said, it's a smaller race, but I was still cranking!). I began to pass many of those who had passed me earlier on in the race. By mile 20 I was concerned, my pace was still right at 8:20 (8:23 is the limit to make it under 3:40), but if I had to add in an extra tenth or more of a mile, I would not make it. I pushed harder and started really passing people in the last 6 miles. By mile marker 25, my watch said 25.2. I realized then that the course was not going to correct itself and I could not bank on that! I pushed it even more, to near red line for the last mile (which ended up being my fastest mile of the marathon!) - I turned around the last corner to see the finish line and saw the clock reading 3:40:08 - I had been sprinting, when I saw that, I was deflated and slowed just a bit, crossing the line at 3:40:25. Oh come on, you say, couldn't you sprint and make up that last 25 seconds?! NO!! I could not, I knew from about mile 20 that I may have to do that and I gave it all I had, and on this day, I came up short.
As I crossed the finish line, the announcer said, "Rachel Lyons from Lone Tree, Colorado finishing in a great time, her significant other had a great race as well, finishing in the top 5 earlier today." Wow! I though! That was the first news I had about how Bill had done. We had passed each other once during the race on a long out and back, and he looked strong. I was so excited for him and when I found him he told me he had run it in 3:08! His BQ time is 3:10. He did it!! And he won his agegroup and was 5th overall. I ended up 12th Female overall and 3rd in my AG (small race!).
Part of me wanted to be disappointed in my result, but I simply could not be. I knew that I gave it my all. I ran an exceptional race, for me, and felt great and was able to crank it up quite a bit for the last few miles. I had several people come up to me after and wonder how I had so much energy in the last few miles! Little do they know it was not so much energy as it was desperation! As I review the race in my mind, the ONLY thing I could have done differently to make the time I was shooting for, was to run faster in the first half, which I could have done, but then I would have been in mid to high zone 3 and who knows how that would have affected my pace in the 2nd half. It was simply not meant to be for this race on this day.
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