Getting back to Boston

No running today. Full day of touristy stuff in greater Boston, including the Revolutionary War swing of Lexington-Concord. Hoped to run when I got back, but the trip back took about four hours, finally arriving well after dark. That's OK. Hay's in the barn training wise. Missing a four-miler ain't gonna matter.

Pace-wise, probably the easiest run I've had the whole cycle. Effort-wise, not so much. Ran on the beach at Chatham, about a 1.2 mile section of beach that I ran back and forth on twice. Sand wasn't that much of a problem, since enough of it was semi-hardpacked that it wasn't too bad, but I had to scramble over rock jetties about every 200 yards, which slowed me down greatly and increased the work level. So the average pace was nearly 12:00.

Tomorrow I plan to do my dress rehearsal run; not sure if I'll go to Boston to do it or run on the bike trail here. My trolley ride yesterday took me down Boylston to the finish line, and we've walked past the Citgo sign which marks a mile to go, so I've seen that end of the Boston course. Might go to Hopkinton tomorrow, or maybe not. We'll see.

Dress rehearsal out of the way. Decided not to go up to Boston to run it; things like how to take a shower afterward entered the consideration, plus what the family wants to do for the rest of the day. So I did my run on the bike trail here in Chatham -- ran three miles to warm up, stretched a bit, then set off at GMP. Tried not to look at my watch too much, just establish a comfortable pace. Turned out that comfortable pace was about 7:40. Then slowed down to a GA pace and logged another three miles on the way back to the cottage.

Wow. Now we're down to four days (and one cross-country flight). The three time zone jump actually works in my favor, I think; I'll be inclined to go to bed early and get up early, so a 7 a.m. start Pacific time will be no problem (10 a.m. Boston time, 9 a.m. in Arkansas). Get up at 6 or 6:30 according to my body clock, and that's be PLENTY early to get to the start without feeling rushed.

I just feel like I'm going to have a really good race -- that I'll BQ with minutes to spare. Don't care if I get under 3:20, and probably won't unless I can actually accelerate in the final 10K, but sub-3:25 would be nice. I feel I can manage that if I manage the race well -- and get my carbs and fluids reloaded in the next three days. Anyway, a recovery run tomorrow, maybe a really short one Thursday before we go catch my flight, a few strides on Friday, then hammer it for 3.5 hours (or less) on Saturday, and hopefully my two years of work will pay off.

Day of messed-up plans. Whale watching cancelled because of bad weather. Didn't call the seafood store in time to get our planned lobster dinner. Didn't get downtown in time for Pam to pick up a birthday present for her mom as planned. But I did finally get my run in, a slow 4-miler through the Cape Cod fog.

Tomorrow, we try again to see the USS Constitution at Charlestown Navy Yard, then I go to the airport to catch my flight for Oregon, and Pam and T drive up to Vermont to visit a high school classmate of Pam's. I'm glad it's getting down to brass tacks. I'm getting antsy, and I'm a little grumpy, and so is the rest of the family. I want to get this race -- this BQ -- over and done with. No run tomorrow. I'll jog a little and do some strides Friday, then Saturday morning is the whole enchilada.

No run today; spent the morning with the family, the afternoon in the Boston airport, and the evening on a surprise nonstop flight. The original flight was delayed at least 90 minutes, maybe more, and I couldn't be sure to make my connection in Newark. So they found me a seat on another airline, nonstop, leaving three hours after the original flight but arriving an hour before the first itinerary got me here.

Spent much of the flight thinking about the race. Is 7:50 pace too slow? Is 7:45 too fast? Don't know. So I'll play it by ear, see how I feel on the course, and adjust accordingly. I still think I probably went out a few seconds too slow in Memphis, and it may have cost me the BQ. Maybe I'll be running 7:50s all day, maybe I'll be running 7:40s. We'll see.

Tomorrow, drive to Newport, hopefully drive the course, get my packet, and hit the spaghetti dinner before an early bedtime. Speaking of which, it's bedtime now.

Now the nerves are hitting. I've done everything I can. Train, taper, carbload, I've done it. Now I have to go out there and do something I wasn't sure I could -- run a marathon in less than 3:31. I know I can now, but I haven't done it yet. I have to do it. No excuses. The weather looks good, the course is favorable, no aches and pains, the dress rehearsal went well, the strides went well except for nearly getting tackled by a loose dog on the beach. But I have a deadline: Finish 26.22 miles in less than 211 minutes. Do that, and I'll be back in Boston next April. Fail... is not an option. I will be in Boston on April 19.

Not sure how soon I can get on here to post results or an RR. I'll try to get the time up quickly and do a detailed RR later when I can.

In about 15 hours, I'll know the answer.

No big race report here. Suffice it to say no BQ, bad cramping and a miserable last two miles. I was still under BQ at 24 miles, until the calves followed through with long-threatened full-blown cramp. Volunteers tried to get me to DNF after I finally picked myself off the ground after 2-3 minutes ono my back. Didn't quit, kept walking, then jogged the last .4 downhill to the finish.

Next up -- a major cutback on my summer mileage, a reassessment of my nutrition/GI issues to see why I keep cramping in races, and a fall marathon somewhere. Probably Memphis.

If anyone wants to read my RR in gory detail, go to the Runners World Online forums, Marathon Race Training, and click the sub-3:20 thread. I'm Spiderpig on there too.