About 6 weeks before the race I was on a long run (20 miles) with my dad. About 5 miles in knee starting giving me some trouble. I cut the run short after 14 miles. Becuase of this I only got in one long run. Going into the race I was still hoping that I might be able to Boston Qualify again this year (last year I can a 3:30:42) although I knew my training wasn't quite up to par. The first 7 miles of the race were awesome. Even Veyo wasn't bad. However, after getting over Veyo (around mile 9 or 10) I knew that this was going to be a tough race. I starting really struggling mentally and physically. I had borrowed my husband's Garmin that has the race time predictor. I kept using that and maybe in hindsight that wasn't a great idea for me mentally. About mile 10 or 11 my right achilles tendon started aching. I knew that I could deal with that so I pushed through it but starting stopping for Icy Hot at the aid stations. At mile 19.5 I felt a sudden, sharp, stabbing pain in my knee that forced me to walk (with a painful limp) for a little bit. I took some Excedrin at the next aid station which helped. At this point I was just hoping to finish in under 4 hours. I started to get hot and I got tired. The last two miles were especially difficult for me.
After looking back on my data I had an average heart rate of 180 during the race. I believe that this signifies that my cardiovascular shape is lacking compared to my muscular shape. In other words, my legs can run a lot faster than my heart is ready to handle.
My dad did end up qualifying for Boston and is planning on racing it in 2018. I plan to train better and qualify at another marathon (Revel Mt. Charleston?).
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