and it went a little something like this.

GOt in a 63 minute run today and was able to do it an a pretty decent pace, at least it felt like a decent pace. NO idea how fast or how far.

The first mile of the Boston marathon was in about 625, but I'm not really sure because I started my watch about 10 seconds before I got to the mat. Once I passed the one mile mark I reset the watch and let game began. The paces went like this: 634 629 634 632 634 638 638 640 634 637 636 621 636 641 629 639 655 619 609 613 622 634(.2miles).

At the 4 mile mark I was passes by a little guy wearing a mini mouse costume, and I told my self I would never run another marathon again if a man in a minimouse costume beat me. I let him go but was really hoping I would see him later so that this wouldn't be my last 26.2. I was feeling pretty good here and it almost felt like a weekend long run. The pace didn't feel forced, and I was really relaxed. THis continued until about mile 11 where I began to get nervous about how my legs felt. My legs felt a bit fatigued and the hamstring that has always been pretty tight started acting up again. But, hey its a marathon, there are many stages and things happen. The most important part is realizing that the fitness is there and once the training is complete mental strength is what really makes the marathon. I continued to have this strange feeling of uncertainty until the right turn, eventhough I was starting to pass many of the people who passed me in the first 6 miles, including minimouse.
When I made the right turn I knew I had this thing , but I wasn't goint to let things get nasty until after the hills. SO I made sure to stay relaxed through the hills and not feel like I was giving a really hard effort. This was by far the best part of the race, eventhough it was mentally challenging to hold back. People around me were starting to drop like flies by the last hill. Once I saw the BC campus and realized that I was through the hills I was amazed that the hills were already over. Even after all of the times I have run those hills I could have sworn that there was one more left. I guess not. At this point it was on. NO one around me looked like they wanted to go, as a matter of fact it was quite the opposite. Except for one girl who blew by me on the down hill at the BC campus before the second right turn. I couldn't believe she was closing the way she was. I figured I'd hang on to this chick and see what she was all about. This was probably the best thing I could have done at this part of the race. She was rolling on the down hills but didn't have the strength on the ups and couldn't hang with the pace. She got dropped at coolidge corner, but I think she was still on my tail, at least that is what I kept telling my self. The last 10k of the marathon was the only time felt like I was in race mode, and it was all about how much can I take, and how hard can I push this. Even with the constant hamstring and calf cramping throughout the last 6.2 it was just about relaxing, pushing through and running the last 10k as fast as I could. This is the part of the marathon I really enjoy. I knew I ran the first 20 the way I was supposed to, everyone else is hurting I'm hurting too, but I know from my past shorter races what the hurt feels like and how long I can endure it. I have run faster paces for longer, so 6-620pace should be a breeze. During the last 2 miles of the marathon I felt like I had constant crampiing in my calfs and hamstrings. Serious knots, clemintine orange size knots in my hamstrings that were only relived by me mashing my middle finger into the knot while running. It would go away only to return 20 seconds later. Then in the calf only I couldn't reach this knot so it was just relax and run through. THis is how the entire last 2 miles went, but thankfully they were sharp and quick cramps that went away, and not cramps that completely locked up my legs. They only locked up my legs for seconds at a time.

Then we crossed the finish line and it was all over. THe pain was very great, but it was a good pain that was worth the 2hr 51min and 36seconds.