My bags were packed, the dogs were eaten, and the breakfast walked (Yeah, I know, I'm riding this joke like a dying water buffalo in a persistence hunt).
I gave Rachel a quick kiss before she headed off to real work. She told me not to come home if I didn't break 2:50. Ah, the love of my life!
While going through my mental checklist, with only about 15 minutes before I had to head out to the bus stop, I realized I had overlooked one major thing. My pacing strategy!!
In the hustle and bustle leading up to Boston I never once thought about how I was going to specifically tackle my sub-2:50! I'm typically very anal about my pacing strategy for my runs, especially marathons, but I completely bonked on this one.
I had previously played with the well-known spreadsheet specifically developed for Boston pacing a few weeks prior, but I didn't really study it in detail.
I quickly fired up the laptop and plugged in 2:49:59 into the spreadsheet, and the simplest thing that I noticed about the pacing was that I just had to roughly hit 20 minutes per 5K to reach my goal. Well, that was simple enough, but these things are never right..............
My dad had the day off from work (supposedly he works for the only company in MA that actually recognizes the greatest holiday ever, Marathon Monday!), so he drove me the 3+ miles from my apt to Cawley Stadium where my over sized chariot awaited me...and the rest of the Boston bound GLRR runners.
The Boston Bus is the best part about being a member of GLRR. Well, besides being able to drink with Glenn Stewart that is.
(I once knew a man from Buckingham...)
The whole package includes the ride into Hopkinton (on-board toilet at no extra charge), a pre-race massage, a warm place to hang out before the race, bag check, post-race massage, hotel rooms at the Park Plaza, and all of this for the price of putting up with Fil! You Just Can't Beat That!
We all mounted up and were rolling by 7AM, on the dot, all thanks to the crack organizational skills of Gerard Ottaviano (congrats on #28 in-a-row!!) and his crew of Boston volunteers, including Cathy O'Donnell!
(This is why you don't want to be late for the bus)
I finally got some sleep on the one hour ride down to Hopkinton. Unfortunately, I was seated next to Fil, so I had nightmares the whole way.
(Yeah, that's a 2:33 Boston Marathoner behind me...and Titus)
Once we got to the Athlete's Foot Village, I decided to stay asleep.
(Could someone check his breathing)
At least I managed to stay awake long enough for the group picture.
(...who liked to do a lot of things that rhymes with Buckingham.)
There was only one thing left to do and that was to hurry up! and wait...and enjoy these fine photos taken by team photographer, Jimmy Lee Shelton.
(why is there a homeless man on our bus?)
(and this was just EJ's shit)
(touch it Bash, you know you want to)
(wait, that's just Scotty Graham giving another Lowell Sun interview)
(the rest of EJ's shit)
(it sure does, it sure does)
1 comments:
Hey, I just noticed you called me a homeless man. I can live with that.
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