Very cool - GO DEV!!!!!

He's slowing a bit...2:40 at 35k, 3:13 projected time. Damn fast still.

"Tri Yoda" finished in 2:59.

Gotta be gettin' pretty hot out there. Way to go Yoda - sub-3 at Boston!! C'mon Dev - dig DEEP!

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"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

efernand has just finished...3:09:45 net...great job.

Way to go Eric!

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Jim

**Note above poster works for a retailer selling bikes and related gear*

Dev just finished...3:19:49...great job as well.

RSum716 just finished (3:22:19 net) seconds in front of rkling (3:22:32 net). Terrific job guys!

Absolutely - great job! Thanks for the updates.

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"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

One more...Sparky finished with a net time of 3:44:18....way to go.

Hope you all had a great time.

Outstanding! Congratulations to all...hope they're all sitting around a table at the Sam Adams brewpub near the finish line hoisting a well-deserved 'recovery beverage'.

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"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

Thanks everyone.

Tough race. I think it was deceptively hot. With the head/cross wind, and low humidity, the sweat dried quickly. I finished moderatley dry, but with lots of salt on the face and shorts. I chugged a whole bottle of water right after I finished, and could barely tell.

I went out very conservatively and built into the race. My HR built slowly throughout with only small increases on the climbs. I saw many people 'going backwards' after the halfway point, and especially after 16. Mile 26 was my fastest mile (7:00) and it felt great to finish strong. I still was hurting at the end and afterwards, but not as bad as my other marathons or IMs.

I almost even split, 1:34:25/1:35:20. Looking at the results, I could see lots of people who went out looking for a sub 3 marathon and collapsed.

Hey guys, thanks for the cheers.

There are three elements that makes this "A Race" special

1. Live Television Coverage

2. Helicopters

3. F-15 Fly past on the final note of the Star Spangled Banner.

If you have not raced at Boston, make is a point to be there some time in life. Every step is worth it. Its not quite as hard to qualify for as Hawaii, so it makes it a more achievable goal for your average man or woman :-)

It was not an "on day for me" for sure. I had some kind of a stomach bug on the go...oh well, suck it up and deal with it. In the first 21K, my stomach went south. Two porta pottie breaks and nothing was absorbing. By the halfway (1:31 chip time), I was hoping that my body would turn around and I could get back into the race, but it was just not happening.

So just past halfway, I decided to "play it safe" and shut down the race and switch to "tourist mode". I had a 7-8 hour drive home post race, and I did not want to risk my health and end up in the medical tent. I've been there before and don't want to be in a medical tent again.

In 15 marathons, I had never ever walked a step and never "toured" an A race. This time I did. I got shake hands with tons of kids, high fived a kid with Down's syndrome cheering, took a 1 min "comfort walk on heartbreak hill" (it is amazing how easy that hill is when you walk...except it takes forever, so I decided to run).

In my three trips to Boston, I had never really absorbed the sights along the course as I did. I still had to make two more porta potty breaks though in the second half. I really got to appreciate the course, trotting through the final 21K in 1:48. My legs felt like was doing an Ironman and my speed was pretty well the same as some Ironman days. I really enjoyed the final one mile from the Citgo sign to the Boyleston finish. This is what the race is all about. When I did the "Citgo One Mile to Go Virtual Camp" in march, this is what I was working to...except I was hoping to run run 6:30 mile pace at that point, not a 6:30 kilomter pace !!!



Aside from having stomach issues, I don't think my legs had the speed in them to do the ambitious 3:05 that I was aiming for. I had lots of endurance (trotting in 3:19 on an empty tank), but I left the speedwork till late. In the past, I have gone with the lower mileage on the run, lots of XC skiing and more run speedwork and downhill running on the treadmill at 4 min/k. This year, I went with run volume and left the speedwork till late. It was not enough, even if I was "healthy".

By the way, that little 3:19.49 was a lame attempt out of getting out of doing a fall marathon. Since I need a sub 3:20 to qualify for next year, I put a final surge on as I turned onto Boyleston, realizing that a 3:19 would ensure that I am in for next year.

Triyoda was a stud, going sub 3. It was nice to meet him pre race. I missed total tri stud Eric Fernando.



I got home at 3 am after the race. At 6:45 am on Tuesday morning, my son woke my up to congratulate me on my finish. I've always told him that in anything in life, the final outcome is not important, but effort is. He saw my time on-line with my wife and said, "Great job, you finished. Don't be disappointed with your time, its the effort and finishing that counts". Words of wisdom from a 8 year old ! He also took my finisher medal to school that day to show his classmates and teacher. How cool is that ?

Dev

Hey Mthammer, that quote from Juma Ikangaa is too cool. He won the first marathon I ever watched. Back at the 1982 Montreal Marathon, he was first across the line. I was a 16 year old high school 100 m sprinter guy back then...how did I get roped into the long course stuff ?

thanks for posting updates. had a good time and definitely needed several brews over at cheers to dull the pain in my legs. looks like several people had great races. the newton hills were a humbling experience to say the least. like eferdinand said, it looked like quite a few people were flying at the halfway point, only to blow up later in the race. the crowd support helped keep me hanging on as i was dying by mile 20, but i'm looking to pace it smarter in future races.

on a side note, an additional thanks to devashish paul for putting together the virtual camp, as having that high mileage foundation salvaged a performance i was very happy with, after my training fell apart with job commitments. definitely a great experience this past weekend.

Sorry to hear you had a tough race Dev. Glad to hear you toughed it out and enjoyed yourself along the way.

Boston certainly is a very special event. Probably not the best place to try for a PR, but certainly a great, and unique, experience.

Now I have to start getting into shape for Muskoka. Are you going to be there?

Eric, I agree, Boston is not a PB course, especially for me, coming off the winter with 5 extra lbs of upper body bulk from ski race season. In any event, you did awesome

I've already switched over the tri mode as of this morning.

I did my third road ride of the year this morning (60 min) and did my first swim in 6 months at lunch (2K) ! When you trot through a marathon, you don't trash the quads to badly. I was even able to walk down the stairs to the subway right after the race.

I plan to be in Muskoka. There is a 5% chance that I might get roped into doing our local marathon (www.ncm.ca) on May 28th, in which case, my first race would be Tupper Lake on June 25th, but I've done both Muskoka and Tupper Lake over ten times, so I want to be back for both ! Are you on track to defend your top amateur title at Muskoka ?

Dev

Hey Dev, good job. Boston is indeed a very cool experience. Well done, even on cruise control...!

Yeah, I always liked that quote - didn't realize it at the time, but apparently Ikangaa still holds a record for one of the intermediate split times at Boston. Sorry to hear about your G.I. troubles, but I'm glad to hear you came away with a positive experience. I'd say that's a damn fine effort, especially for an early season marathon. Sounds like that's a pretty sharp 8-year-old you've got there. Recover well and have a great season!

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"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

I am going to take it easy for a little while. My left hip and right knee were bothering me during the marathon, and I am still walking funny. My girlfriend (3:23 at Boston) and I rode our mountain bikes up to Coldstone (ice cream) last night, and I am heading to the pool tonight.

When we were heading back to the hotel, the line for the T was out onto the street! We opted to take a leisurely walk through Boston Commons.

The goal for Muskoka is to get a slot for IM Moo, hopefully I'll be in similar shape as last year. I am thinking about doing the Triple-T in OH 3 weeks beforehand though, and that might slow me down some.

...Erik, if you race at 80% of your fitness from last year, you'll bag a Moo slot at Muskoka. Good luck at Triple T. That looks like a cool event.

I'm going to stick to light swims and bikes for at least a week, but it is nice to switch over to tri training !

Dev

Dev,

You are a stud. I am still hobbling around today. I am not doing any training (not even swimming) until at least next Monday. I am not even doing Tupper this year, because I am not sure I will have had enough recovery by then, to go really long. I'm waiting for Timberman. It was fun meeting up with you Canucks before the the race. I met up with the HFC striders (Hurtin For Certain) after the race, which was quite appropriate for how I was feeling.

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"When I first had the opportunity to compete in triathlon, it was the chicks and their skimpy race clothing that drew me in. Everyone was so welcoming and the lifestyle so obviously narcissistic. I fed off of that vain energy. To me it is what the sport is all about."

Tri-yoda...you are the stud. You went sub 3. If you went 3:20 you'd be ready for the bike today...

No bailing on Tupper Lake. You'll be ready to rip.

Good for you making the best of an off day!

Another poster wrote: "on a side note, an additional thanks to devashish paul for putting together the virtual camp, as having that high mileage foundation". I want to second that. I did my first ultra marathon Saturday (30 miles) and had a fantastic time. I would have never even considered an ultra if it hadn't been for your virtual camp.

Thanks! I now have a very cool finishers belt buckle!

....hey, congrats on running an ultra. I can' t imagine running more than 26.2 miles in a day !