"PRIOR PREPARATION PREVENTS PISS POOR PERFORMANCE"

The Boston....the report will follow, soon.

April 20, 2015, The Boston Marathon

I've been to 11 previous Boston Marathons since 2000 and I never know what to expect when it comes to the weather except that I know there will be some. 

I went this year expecting to BQ for 2016 but all my best plans did not come to fruitition. I felt like I was finally over an injury that I encurred in November of 2014 but it was not to be so. 

Race day morning I got up around 6 am and did all the things you do to get ready for the race and got out the door to jump on the "T" and make my way to the Commons where you load the bus. As I got to the commons the volunteers were hard at it getting runners mated up with busses and on down the road to Hopkinton. They were really being efficient.

I loaded up and quickly found a seat next to a  young guy from Canada who told me that Boston was his second marathon ever! The first question out of his mouth was, do you have any suggestion on how to run Boston? I wanted to tell him that because of the rain and 20 mph winds it would probably be better to just go back to his room and watch the race on TV. But I didn't, I just gave him my best game plan to run a smart race at Boston considering the weather conditions.

After a short stay in the Athlets Village and meeting bunches of new people from all over the world the announcer called out my wave (3) and corral (7) to report to start stagging area. It was about 41 degrees, raining and the wind was whipping around. I finally got to my corral where I got in some last minute stretching and went over my running plan silently in my head. 

I wanted to start the race a bit slow and hold it out to about 5 miles or so. So then I was off to the races with about 7 thousand of my closest friends from old corral #7 and the rest of wave 3 and 6 other corrals. The start was pretty normal and I was feeling pretty good about the whole situation. 

The rain had really started in earnest and the winds were in my face with gusts up around 20 mph. I settled into about an 8:30 minute per mile pace which was quite comfortable. This was all going well.

I did managet to see my "peeps" at the biker bar on the left side of the road where I took a small cup of beer..... As I continued down the road my left leg started to bother me slightly with Quad and Hammie pain. I continued to run down thhe road hoping it would just be a phantom pain and go away....much to my shugrin it didn't go away and continued to increase in pain. I decided at about mile 6 that I would not be able to met my pace requirements and do a BQ at Boston this year. I in turn told myself that today was going to be a fun run and I would get myself down the road having as much fun as I could getting my self to the finish line. And so I did.

I took time to talk to other runners, encourage others do their best and reach out to the crowds for vocal support myself and others. I think I heard my "monicker", TOM SLICK, called out with best wishes about 10,000 times during the race. Dam that was nice.

Well I didn't set any new records except to mark my PW for a Boston Marathon and overall slowest marathon....But I finished and got the medal and t-shirt.

I started with bib #22051 and ended up 24488 overall at the finish. That gave me an 11:oX minute per mile pace and a lot of time to enjoy the wind and rain and about 26000 felow Boston Marathon runners. I finished with a 4:51:12.

It was a fine day and I can't wait to get back there in 2016. 

tyi....

Very easy recovery jog....very easy!

W/O

2.62 mile recovery run, with time in the weight room. It was a bear but I can see how I will improve...I'm going to sign up for the Big Cottonwood Canyon Marathon in September....to get my 2016 BQ!