Getting this over with. I wrote this up on the train home last night, mostly for my own benefit, but /u/FlashArcher would call me out if I didn't submit it so here we go.

Apologies for the long report. I have many thoughts about this weekend.

Race information

• What? Boston Marathon
• When? April 17, 2017
• How far? 26.2 miles
• Where? Boston, MA
• Strava https://www.strava.com/activities/946768293

Goals

Pictures

Photo Credit: ToyStory3_WasOkay Moose!

Training

Training went incredibly well. I finished Pfitz's 18/55 last fall, kept mileage up to prep for an ultra, hit my first 70 miles during Super Week, and then started the 18/70.

I was training for sub-3, but had a few indicators that was probably too slow. By mid-January, I hit an 18/10MP at 6:45's (8 seconds faster than 3:00 pace). At the end of January I had a random long run where I ran a 21 miler at sub-3:00 pace sort of accidentally. At the end of February I had a random long run with the last 10 sub-7:00/mi, and the last 5 sub-6:30. And then Pfitz's 18/14MP I ran in 6:40s or better. All of these were in Central Park, which has a decent amount of hills.

Then on top of that I ran the NYC Half in 1:17, so after some reevaluation I decided sub-3:00 was definitely too slow of a goal. I'm worse at marathons than I am at halfs, so the McMillan Calculator 2:41 was way off, the /u/callthebluff Calculator 2:50 seemed too fast too, but 2:53 felt possible on a good day.

Race Weekend

I met up with a bunch of Meese, which was a lot of fun. The girlfriend and I spent too much money in Tracksmith. Easter with the family was awesome, and I saw home-friends which was pretty great too. But the best part was Mrs. BB no longer believes FoBo is trying to catfish me. That's a win in my book.

Meeting a bunch of you was definitely the highlight of the weekend.

Pre-race

Slept well, woke up at 4:45 and had my brekky. My dad dropped me off at the bus and I met a dude who was doing some really cool research on modeling engine combustion with supercomputers. I met up with a few Meese in Athlete's Village, though in traditional reddit meetup style we gave our real names instead of usernames, so I haven't connected the dots with who was there yet. And then went to the start.

I used the bathroom in the start corrals, did a 2 minute jog and then immediately ran back in line for the bathroom, sigh. Stomach felt off.

Race

The plan was to start off conservatively, going no faster than goal pace through 17 to save energy, see where I felt at the hills, and then push after Heartbreak. With a goal of sub-2:55, that meant 6:35-6:40/mi.

I've run Boston before (negative split successive 5Ks the entire race), so I know the hills, but I haven't raced Boston. So I was looking forward to it either way.

Miles 1-10

First 3 miles were insanely bottlenecked, moreso than I remember the first time I ran it. But I was okay with that, after the first mile I had caught up with people running around my speed and managed to click off miles at goal pace. Stomach was feeling real queasy, so I kept sidelong glancing at where the nearest portapottys were, but so far it wasn't urgent.

By mile 5, my heartrate was above 170. Not a terrific sign, it's usually in the high 150s or 160s at this pace. But it was hot, so I figured that was okay. I wasn't struggling to keep pace, but in retrospect it was probably a little more effort than it should have been.

Point being, I felt generally "okay", but by mile 6 I knew my A and A goals weren't in the cards today. Eh, tough break, but I still felt a 2:55 was in play.

By mile 8, the heat was sorta getting to me. I popped a salt pill, and resolved to dump water on my head every water station after that, which really, really helped. Started my gel plan around here too - half a gel every 2 miles until the finish (~4 gels). Still, I had been hitting splits like clockwork, so things were going pretty well.

6:40, 6:44, 6:31, 6:34, 6:45, 6:35, 6:31, 6:37, 6:35, 6:35

Miles 11 - 16

I was feeling tired by the time we hit the Wellesley Scream Tunnel, not a great sign. It was seriously louder than I remember, really is one of the best parts of the course. Anyway by here I knew my B goal was at risk, but the clock kept ticking smoothly, and figured I could rally once I passed the hills. I resolved to take it easier than planned on the hills at the risk of a minute or two just to make sure I had something left at the end.

6:36, 6:35, 6:40, 6:35, 6:48, 6:30

Miles 17 - 21

Newton Lower Falls hill was tough, but I slowed down effort and managed it pretty well (6:54). Still, it had gassed me and now I was getting nervous. The Firehouse Hill gassed me even more (6:59), pace was what I wanted but effort was creeping up too high. I slowed down my effort drastically here knowing I wasn't through it yet. After a downhill, we then hit "the second hill" (aka third), and I barely had anything at the top of it (7:02). In a dazed state I honestly wondered if that was Heartbreak, thinking I miscounted, and then I saw Heartbreak. Oh, right. Slowed down more, hit the top of Heartbreak (7:53), and I was toast. The clock was broken.

6:54, 6:59, 6:52, 7:02, 7:53

Miles 22-26.2

I just had nothing left at this point. GPS shows I walked three times in mile 22, then once per mile after that. The downhills weren't even easy, I was struggling breathing, my heartrate hit 180 a few times, and my legs were dead.

I at least managed be running when passing most of the people I knew, including some friends I didn't know were going to be there, which was amazing. Ran over to Mrs. BB at mile 25.5, I didn't really care about my finishing time at this point. And then jogged it in.

8:18, 7:36, 8:15, 8:29, 7:56

Finish: 3:04:43

Post-race

Walked into the Plaza for a beer and food, and the whole staff was cheering everyone coming in, which was pretty cool. Had a snack, and then got on the train home. Everyone on the train was complaining about times, and weirdly most of us brought our own beers for the ride, so we all had a nice "terrible race" cheers.

Final thoughts

A year ago I asked for more failed race reports, and /u/FlashArcher has never let me forget it, so here you go, big guy. Still, it's tough to think about and I'm still a little bit raw, but this was not a good day.

Revisionism says it could've been Death by a Thousand Cuts, but I don't know how accurate that is. It was hot, yes, but I think I managed that relatively well. My allergies had been bothering me for days, but my breathing didn't get hindered until the end. There were hills, but I had trained exclusively on hills for months. I had GI issues, but they went away and I managed my splits fine while that was happening. My heartrate was in the 170s real early, but I felt okay. My legs didn't even feel super heavy, and they're not crazy sore right now, so I don't think I hit a lactate issue.

Plus, all of the above would just result in slower paces, not what happened to me. I think it felt like a glycogen wall. I'm questioning my pre-race diet, and I don't think I changed my diet to include enough carbs prior to the race. Glycogen wall is kind of the only thing I can come up with, but that also means that I was probably running faster than my fitness, which really sucks because I thought my plan was on the conservative side (and I thought I was getting better at estimating marathon fitness).

I know it was hot, I know it's a tough course, I know almost everyone had a bad day, but currently what's disheartening is if it were just slower paces, I could be okay with that. But it was a full bonk, which stings.

So, disappointed overall. I appreciate all the support thrown out in the thread and chats. I definitely appreciate my running friends and you'ze guys who understand what a bad race feels like, because having a real talk about what went wrong is so much more cathartic to me than the dozens of friends and family who think I should just be proud that I finished lol.

What's Next

This race really messed with my headspace. I need a break. I'm running New Jersey in two weeks, pacing for 3:45, so I'm hoping that resets some love for the distance. Then the BK Half in May, and an ultra in June. And then I'll start training for Chicago & New York (only racing one of them). But at the moment I'm not really looking forward to any of it.

Gonna go out for a short jog today sans-watch to just enjoy it.

This post was generated using the new race reportr, a tool built by /u/BBQLays for making organized, easy-to-read, and beautiful race reports.