Thankfully, as the miles wound down I realized that as long as I limited my walk breaks to the brief uphills and kept running Nike Air Max 720 Femme around 9:00/mile for the rest, I’d come in under the 3:43:38 that I ran in my first ever marathon. This wasn’t saying much, but it was enough motivation to keep me moving forward. I don’t much recall entering the city, but I vaguely remember seeing the Citgo sign, and I managed to muster a pretty solid effort for the final half mile from Commonwealth to Hereford to Boylston. After turning onto Boylston, the finish line Adidas Superstar Femme appeared in the distance, but it seemed like it was still miles away. The noise of the crowd pulled me forward, and somehow I managed to get my pace back under 8:00/mile during that final stretch. I gave it Nike Roshe Run Donne all that I had. I crossed the finish line in 3:42:12 – my second slowest of 8 marathons.
Not long after I crossed the finish line I began to feel dizzy – it got so bad that I asked if I could sit in one of the wheelchairs that was stationed along the side of the finish chute. After a few minutes, I hadn’t improved, so they wheeled me into the med tent, where the person attending to me took vitals and asked how much water I had taken on the course (too much). They indicated that I was caked in salt from evaporated sweat, and they were concerned that I might have mild hyponatremia. I had also started cramping severely in my quads Nike Air Max Classic BW Dam and calves, and I was having some difficulty talking since my jaw muscles felt like they were going to cramp as well. Thankfully, after a few cups of salty chicken broth and about 20 minutes of lying on my Nike Air Max 90 Femme Rose back, I began to feel much better and I was able to check out. The med tent was hopping, and at one point I heard them announce that there were no free beds – apparently I wasn’t the only one who’d had some difficulty, and I saw a few people who appeared to be unconscious as they were wheeled in.Given all that I went through on Monday, it would be easy to say that I’m disappointed and that I had a lousy time. However, my reaction is actually quite different. Running Boston was a hard-earned reward, and one that I will not soon forget. It reminded me that one can never take a marathon for granted – “respect the distance” is an Nike Air Max 90 Dames oft repeated mantra among marathon runners, and it’s one that I did not heed in the months leading up to Boston.There are so many factors in terms of race execution that I can point to that contributed to my Nike Air Vapormax Mujer crash, with my fast early pace and my temperature/fluid intake issues being the most likely candidates. However, the reality is that the major reason why I had such a rough outing was that I didn’t put in the necessary training to handle the distance. In fact, I had only run one 30+ mile week since last October, and that was the week I ran the HAT 50K. You simply cannot run a hard marathon effort on such minimal training mileage, and I knew that going in – I just failed to adapt my strategy to that reality. If I had to do the race over, I would have dropped back a few corrals and gone out at a 7:50-8:00 pace. I’d much rather Nike Air Max 2017 Mujer have run slower throughout and enjoyed the experience than take the reckless and stupid approach that I did.It would be easy for me to dwell on this race performance and beat myself up about it, but that would Adidas Superstar Femme serve little purpose. The better option is to view Boston as yet another of many learning experiences and move on – it will make me a stronger runner going forward. It was an unforgettable weekend, and an amazing race that I am honored to have been a part of. I’m already feeling the need to train hard and redeem myself, but I’m thinking about taking a break from marathons for a bit and focusing on 5K’s this summer and then shooting for a half marathon PR in the Fall. Marathons beat me up physically, and this body needs a break from the pounding. For now I just want to run for fun for a bit and not worry abut training for Adidas ZX 700 Femme a particular goal – summer vacation is only a few short weeks away and I can’t wait!