2010 Thunder Road Marathon

As discussed, this race recap is from the viewpoint of an injured spectator, not a competitor.  That said, I'm quite pleased with how things turned out, as I was able to hit six different spots along the course without ever getting stuck in traffic.  Since my parents had already planned to watch the race, they agreed to come with me and help me support my friends.  So, who are those friends, exactly?  I'm glad you asked.

I've only met Jordan Kinley, and while I was curious to see if he could break the course record of 2:24:20, I had a feeling I'd never see him as he would be too far ahead of everyone else.  There's Billy Shue, who ran about a 2:43 in this race last year and has steadily improved since then.  Then there's Daniel Eggers and David Brinkley, familiar names to anyone who reads this blog, both with stated goals of breaking 3:10 in order to qualify for Boston.  Then there's Mike Oelz, who has dealt with nagging injuries but unlike me was smart enough not to run through them.  Oelz had told me several months ago that he just wanted to be around 3:30.  Finally, there was Philip Martin and Justin Riddle - two childhood friends of mine who decided to take on this task as a new challenge and said their goal was to simply finish after being a bit banged-up going into the final week.

With my parents in tow, I had a course map and a tentative plan to follow everyone.  I knew Rob Eggers, Daniel's dad, would be at mile #5 - the corner of Providence and Sharon Amity - and I hoped to run into him so that we could coordinate our viewing activities.  We made it there shortly after 8 and, by the looks of how fast the runners were that passed us, had just missed Kinley and the other leaders.  There were a LOT of runners moving well - mostly half-marathon competitors, for sure.  I met Danielle Crockford and her husband Chad at the CRC Halloween party, where we shared marathon goals and they basically gave me lots of good advice.  She came by with Brian McMahon, the 3-hour pacer, and some other runners.  I watched them pass and kept my eyes peeled.  I was looking up toward the turn when I heard Brinkley shout, "Hey Jason - Happy Birthday, buddy!"  I turned around and saw him wave at me, trotting along at a comfortable 7:00 pace-per-mile.  My mom got a kick out of that.  About a minute passed and I began to wonder if we had missed Eggers.  I thought it odd that he and Dave wouldn't have tried to meet and run together at the start and, knowing Eggers, realized he probably showed up too late to get a good spot in the corral (it turns out that's exactly what happened).  Not long after that, he passed by with the race shirt on his chest and a goofy smile on his face.  Oelz spotted me in the crowd and shouted my name not long after that, and when we saw Philip and Justin we cheered for them before leaving to go to the next spot.

I drove well out of the way to avoid course traffic and made it down Selwyn Avenue to where Queens crossed it on the Booty Loop.  I got there just in time to shout, "Let's go, Billy!!!" as Mr. Shue streaked by in an orange-and-black blur.  Here I found a large group of Queens girls cheering the runners and passing out noisemakers and balloons.  I retrieved a little plastic clapper and took the time to elicit sympathy by explaining to the girls that I had planned to run in this race before being injured.  Awww, you poor thing!  The course was still jam-packed with runners as the half wasn't quite finished.  I spotted Brinkley and cheered for him as he reached out and slapped my hand.  When Eggers came by I informed him that David was about thirty seconds ahead, and later found out that he had closed on him before having to stop to urinate.  We hopped back in the car and scooted over to the South End area to the intersection of Camden and Tremont - just before mile #15.

We got to the corner and there was a group playing Christmas carols right in front of Pike's Restaurant, a South End favorite.  My mom was greatly amused and started snapping pictures of them.  She enjoyed it so much, in fact, that we had a hard time pulling her away later.  We missed Billy Shue but caught some of the other front-runners, as well as Danielle and Brian again.  Running with them was a guy in a CRC singlet that I'm pretty sure was Kevin Ballantine.  I cheered for Danielle and noted that they were way, way ahead of Eggers and Dave, who were nowhere in sight.  If that group is pacing for 3 hours then my boys were going to be cutting it close to break 3:10, I thought.  I spotted them, running together with no one else close at the moment, and cheered wildly as they came by us and turned up Tremont.




Eggers, in front, with Brinkley on Camden Avenue on mile 15.

 David told me later that Eggers caught him somewhere in the Morehead Street-Berkeley Avenue section and that they ran together through miles 13-15.  Shortly after they passed us in the spot above, they agreed to part ways.  "I looked down at my watch and saw a 6:39 mile so I decided to hold back a bit," David told me later.  After starting slow, Eggers was beginning to gain ground.  My parents and I, along with Rob, drove over to the intersection of Parkwood and Davidson - just before mile 20, I believe - to cheer the boys on at what was no doubt one of the more desolate stretches of the course.  There was a man playing music on loudspeakers at the intersection, and once again I made it to the corner just in time to cheer on Billy Shue.  He looked like he was zoned in but was all alone by a wide margin - no one anywhere near him on either side.  I had no idea what place he was at the moment.  As the other runners came through, mostly alone, several looked confused as to which way to go so my mom took it upon herself to start pointing up the street and shouting encouragement.  The Brian-Danielle-Kevin group passed us again and we cheered them on.  I was pretty sure Danielle was the second female at that point but there were several women that looked to be within striking distance of each other for the title.  When Eggers came past us this time, he was a lot closer to them and was passing a lot of people.  We shouted and hollered as he came through, knowing he was doing well, and waited for David.  I finally spotted him about a minute later and began to worry about him.  I knew he would finish but he looked like he was beginning to question things.  The 20-miler was his longest run so he was about to enter uncharted territory.  I shouted at him to stay strong and remember all that training...

We made the short drive up Parkwood to catch everyone again at the corner of The Plaza, just before mile #22 - I think.  When Brian and Danielle approached, I told my mom not to cheer for Brian because he was the pacer.  We both shouted encouragement, then Brian turned around with a crap-eating grin on his face and said, "Yeah, thanks!"  - to which my mom replied, laughing, "Not you, her!"  I doubled over in laughter before quickly composing myself - because there's our boy Eggers!  Holy freakin' cow!  He was several minutes behind Brian and Danielle at mile 15 and was now right on their heels!  He was passing people like they were standing still and looked like he wasn't even breathing hard.  We got back in the car, afraid we might miss him at the finish from trying to find a parking spot uptown, and when we drove by the runners on Parkwood we were able to shout more encouragement at David.  I could tell he was slowing down but I now realized he had been running well under 7-minute pace for most of the early part of the race, so I was confident he could still break 3:10. 

Thanks to my dad's extensive knowledge of the area, we found some shortcuts and a VIP parking spot on Davidson Street for the finish.  As a few runners came through I looked up at the big clock and saw "2:52," meaning we weren't too late.  I found Eggers' wife, Katie - who is about eight months pregnant with their first child - plus her sister Kristen and Dan's mother.  Let the waiting begin.  I couldn't see very well so I moved up the chute a bit and found Emily Barrett and Kati Robertson, who told me that Jordan won the race easily but missed the course record by 26 seconds - a bit cruel - and that Billy ran a personal-best time of 2:41 or so and finished fifth.  Several of the other front-runners were out-of-towners and one of them was 50 years old, which is very encouraging to those of us who just turned 29. 

We saw Brian and Danielle turn on MLK Jr. Blvd. and head towards the finish, and it was announced that Danielle was the top female.  In a classy move, Brian held back to let her savor the moment and she raised her arms in the air before crossing the line just under 3 hours.  I knew Eggers wouldn't be much further back, and sure enough there he was, booking it up the street.  From my spot on the side of the chute, I looked up at the clock, saw it was just a few ticks past 3 hours, then looked back at him.  I threw my hands in the air and shouted, "Boston Q, baby!  Easily!!  You're my boy, Eggers!"  With a huge grin on his face, he ran over to me and slapped my hand before heading into the chute with a clock time of 3:01:50.  I later found out that his chip time, which is official, was actually 3:00:40.  What that means to those of you not versed in race timing is that he made it to the starting line of the race 70 seconds after the race started.  In other words, he had a bad starting spot and had to fight through a huge crowd the first few miles.

All of which makes the performance that much more impressive.  A 3-hour marathon is an excellent mark, by any standards, but to me it's not Dan's time but how he did it that stands out.  He ran about 1:34 for the first half and 1:27 for the second - a negative split of 7 minutes!  His fastest mile was #23 - how often do either of those things happen in a marathon?  I feel it's important for me to recognize this, not only because it's awesome, but also because the excitement of seeing Dan do so well had temporarily washed away my disappointment in being injured.  It also helped me realize some errors I had made in training and strategy, but that will be detailed in another post.

After waiting around for a bit, I saw David fight to the finish for a time of about 3:14.  I knew he would be disappointed that he didn't hit his goal, but a 3:14 marathon debut on a tough course is something to really be proud of, and I was happy for him.  It was tough for me to see this knowing I would have been up there with him, but those feelings will also be detailed in another post that will likely have to be edited for brevity in order to maintain a PG rating.  I saw Theoden Janes of "Run With Theoden" fame come through the finish chute under 3:30, and I went up to introduce myself and congratulate him.  He was surprisingly friendly and chatty for someone who had just run a marathon.  Not long after that, Mike Oelz showed up with a look on his face that said, "Thank God this is over, and someone remind me to get some new friends."  Good race, Oelz, and don't worry, we're definitely going to make you do another one soon.  Mike is getting married next summer, so congrats to him and Emily.  We saw Philip Martin come through about ten minutes later and Justin  Riddle another five minutes after that, and everyone was hugged and congratulated by yours truly after they came out of the finish chute. 

All in all, I had a blast out there today, and I'd like to add that watching a marathon is a lot more fun than it sounds.  If you have a friend running one in your city, I strongly suggest you get out there and support him or her.  I could tell by the faces we saw - even those of runners who didn't know us - that our support meant the world to them.  Plus, it's a pretty neat way to view the city and understand the experience.

Full results here.
Daniel Eggers' excellent race recap here.
Theoden Janes' recap, in which he gives me a funny shout-out, here.
Read what the reigning two-time champion had to say about his race, here.

I'll leave you with a few quotes from what the participants told me:

"Very, very happy about (the race), Jason!!  I came in with some big goals and that helped push me to a 3-minute PR from last year on this course.  I went out hard during the first half shooting for a goal that I wasn't ready for yet and tried my best to stay with the #3 and #4 guys during the first half, but was able to stay strong and dig deep during the 2nd half to run a big PR from last year.  It was great seeing you at Parkwood-Davidson!!!"  - Billy Shue

"Basically, I made some rookie mistakes.  But I learned a lot from the race.  It took me 53 minutes to run the last 10k...which hurt me.  I know what 'the wall' feels like, but I can also say that I gave it everything I had and left everything out there on Saturday.  I've analyzed every way I should have run that race, and basically just ran it like a rookie."  - David Brinkley

"Ummm..NoDa supports runners."  - Justin Riddle

"I can't wait for you to get a marathon under your belt - it's such an experience.... I averaged 6:49 pace for my second half - whew!"  - Daniel Eggers

"First half was fine.  Brevard (I think he means Caldwell Street) was tough.  Other than that the course was fine with the exception of my legs.  Glad I did the marathon.  I know what I need to work on for training so that I can run the next one quicker."  - Mike Oelz

"A marathon is a complete physical and mental drain, but the reward at the finish is worth every ounce of pain."  - Philip Martin

'Til next time, folks - thanks for reading!

Decision Time

I left my doctor's visit less terrified about my long-term status but no more encouraged about Saturday's race.  I trust my doctor because he happens to be a marathon runner; otherwise I wouldn't have bothered going to see him.  He poked and prodded my lower leg for awhile, did some x-rays, and informed that it didn't look at all like a stress fracture - but also said that he didn't see how I could run a decent marathon with shin splints.  Continuing the conversation, he stated the obvious - that I could sit out and rest and hop in another local marathon in February, such as Myrtle Beach, which had been my secret backup plan originally had I found myself in his office the day before the race.  We left the conversation as follows:

Him:  "My advice as a medical doctor is to sit out and not run for awhile.  My advice as a runner, knowing how much work must be put in for a marathon, is to give it a go if you feel you should but drop out if it doesn't feel better early in the race."
Me:  "That's exactly what I'm going to do - see if maybe it loosens up but I assure you I'll drop out if it doesn't."

Fast-forward to this afternoon, when I met Eggers at the convention center to go check out the expo.  I found myself wishing I had brought deeper pockets because they were carrying Nikes for 50% off.  We picked up our packets and did a test scan of our chips to make sure we were who they said we were - I didn't want to have that problem again - and looked around for a bit.  Everywhere, people were repping their running-related products.  We found a booth that said something like, "Hippie Running Inc." and a smiling girl that looked like...well, a hippie.  Eggers rummaged through a pile of head-warmers that had peace signs and various other symbols on them before deciding that they weren't warm enough.  We found the Charlotte Running Club booth and I met Aaron Linz in person for the first time.  Eggers asked him questions him about the club and the race and if he thought Jordan Kinley would have any competition in defending his title.  Aaron said he thought not but figured the half-marathon would be very fast, given the number of people also in town for the Cross Country Club Nationals to be held at McAlpine later in the day.  I told him that I was trying to run the race with severe shin splints, and he sheepishly wished me luck while adding that compression sleeves probably wouldn't do anything and certainly weren't worth forty bucks.  We joked about how everyone was telling me that Lance Armstrong ran his first marathon while suffering through shin splints.  Hey, if Lance can do it... I thanked Aaron for always responding to my e-mails and told him I thought the CRC was well worth the recently introduced membership fee.

After the expo, I headed to my parents' house to open my birthday gifts and eat a large pre-race dinner.  Those are all things that I enjoy - my parents, birthday gifts, and large pre-race dinners.  In lieu of pasta - thanks, Mom! - I had salmon, rice, a salad, and some bread.  We were scheduled to have a conversation about where I wanted them to show up to watch me at various parts of the course, and to have me detail a plan for them to travel around.  Instead, I decided I wanted them not far from the start of the race.  That way, if I had to drop out I wouldn't have to sit there and be carted around in a rescue vehicle; instead, I could ride around with my folks and cheer on my friends.  We set the Bojangle's at 3rd Street and Charlottetowne Avenue as our meeting point, at which I would either give them a thumbs-up or hop in the car.

Think about how absurd that sounds.  On my way home, I finally came to my senses, picked up the phone and informed my parents and my friends that I would not be racing.  I was obviously devastated at this awful turn of events but figured I'd rather run my first marathon at full strength.  Besides, I couldn't even run to the stop sign at the end of my street without tripping.

Time to get a Professional Opinion

I set out for an easy 4-mile run yesterday, hoping my leg would just hurt at first, as it had a few weeks ago, and then feel better after awhile.  That was not the case.  I was wearing the old shoes so I didn't bother re-lacing again and again, but I had to stop and stretch at least once a mile.  I would be running along, in pain but still keeping my stride, when the dull ache/numbness/giveout would occur.  Towards the end of the run I tried running faster, which actually felt better, so there's something positive to take from all this.  But I could barely walk when the run was over and continued to stretch - constantly.

With the help of Brandon Hillis, I did some research and self-diagnosis and this looks a lot like shin splints.  The dull ache and numbness are symptoms common to shin splints.  I put the word out on Run with Theoden's Facebook page that I thought I had shin splints and wanted to know if anyone had ever run a marathon in such a condition.  I also described how everything felt.  Everyone was very helpful and essentially came to two conclusions:  (1) yes, you can run a marathon with shin splints.  It's going to hurt like hell but should not cause any long-term damage at all.  Get some compression sleeves and take painkillers. 

I'm not even going to say what the second conclusion was.  Let's just say that I have decided to visit the doc to make sure this is something I can run through before I proceed on Saturday.  The pain would not bother me; fear that I may be doing some unknown damage would.  I have an appointment for this afternoon and honestly, I'm optimistic.  I just need peace of mind.

Apologies for slacking, again...

I have slacked off in a big way right as things are really starting to get interesting.  I have several posts saved that I just need to edit and update.  When I get time I will try to go back and posts some pictures of the family time over Thanksgiving, as well.

Damage Control

I went to the grocery store last night to get several bags of ice, dumped it all into a large cooler, and dipped my left leg in it for as long as I could stand it.  I immediately felt a lot better and continued to do some serious stretching, as well.  Any stretch that involves pulling the shins back seems to feel like heaven, and I can walk around for a bit afterward feeling perfectly normal.  The normalcy doesn't last long, however, and I have found a new pain up near the tibia, just below the knee.

I have already decided to switch back to the old shoes.  The new shoes certainly didn't cause this; it's been an issue for weeks and just got worse all of a sudden.  That said, the shoe switch was an incredibly stupid idea and may have expedited the process.  When I'm this close, every detail matters.  I'm going to take two days off and then see how I feel on Wednesday.

Uh-Oh...

I didn't make plans to run with David, but he and I both agreed that an easy 10-miler would be a good long run for what would essentially be the last run of the training cycle.  The race is less than a week away and I'll need to do some short runs this week to keep the legs awake, but the work is done at this point.  I set out in the early afternoon to do my lovely Freedom Park/Independence Park loop, which is actually about 10.4.

I made it a mile down the road and felt good.  I thought to myself that I may finally be able to report here that I felt fresh again.  I had thrown myself in the meat grinder and come out fine - for the most part - and I was ready to rest and get my mind ready for the big day.  I made the turn from Randolph onto Colville, then down Providence and towards Freedom Park.  Here I was less than four miles in and my left leg started to tingle and feel that numbing, dull ache again.  Come on!   This is getting old.  I stopped at a bench to re-lace the kicks and felt better at first.  I made it around the lake and to the 5-mile point and noted that I was running just over 7 minutes a mile and that it felt easy to most of the body.

Things began to unravel after that, however.  Shortly before I made it to the Metropolitan on the greenway, my left leg did that little dull ache/giveout thing that it had done the previous Wednesday, and I had to stop running.  I walked for a bit and tried not to freak out.  I re-laced the shoes - again - and spent a few minutes stretching my shin, calves, and groin.  I knew I needed to call it a day but I wanted to get closer to home before walking the rest of the way.

I started running again after I passed the Metropolitan and felt OK at first.  Come on...we have come so far...just give me one more week... I stopped to stretch at least once more, made it through Independence Park in a bit of pain but still running well, and then things got worse, once again.

I was a little over a mile from home when my left knee started to hurt, the dull ache came back, and my shin fell in again.  I did the stretching/re-lacing routine again, only this time when I set out to trot the leg said, "Uh-uh, big guy.  We're not doin' this any more."  I was done for the day and tried to compose myself as I walked the remaining mile-and-a-half home. 

It was time to come up with a plan to run through this thing - if possible.

Breaking 'em in

Things have taken a turn for the colder here in Charlotte.  It was sleeting after lunch when I went by the Bank of America Corporate Center to open up for a valet event.  There was no precipitation when I got home but obviously it was still cold.  I decided to run my 7-mile loop again, hoping my legs would feel better than they did Thursday (I took Friday off).

The shoes didn't feel as bad as they did the other day, but I was still pretty uncomfortable.  I couldn't tell if my left leg situation was getting worse or if I was just having that much trouble adjusting to the new kicks.  I stopped a few times to adjust the laces but again, I felt like I was working harder than I should have been.  I ran the 7 miles in 7:26 pace.

Short Tempo in the New Shoes

My new shoes arrived last night, finally.  Normally, I would never dare switch shoes this far into the training cycle but this is the same pair and I felt the newness would help ease some of my aches and pains.

Boy, was I wrong.  I set off down the McAlpine greenway to do six miles at race pace, right around 7:00, and felt extremely awkward and uncomfortable in the new shoes.  I managed to hit each mile right around 7, and ended up averaging a nice 6:56 for the whole distance, but it was work.  The rest of my body was working harder to avoid running funny in the new shoes.  As I got near the end, my legs began to feel numb, and at one point my left shin, the one that's been bothering me, somewhat gave out in a dull ache.  Not a good sign.

I began to see that the shoe switch was probably a bad idea, but I wasn't ready to trust the old pair for the race, so I decided to stick with these, with a plan to wear them all over the place for the next ten days to get them broken in faster.  Hopefully it will work.

First Common Market Run

I was going to do a short tempo run at race pace today, but Kati Robertson needed a running buddy so I put it off until tomorrow.  I met her at the Common Market in Plaza-Midwood and we were joined by Emily Barrett and a dude named Ben.  This place is a meet-up point for one of the more popular Charlotte Running Club group runs every Thursday.  The market is just over two miles from my apartment so I decided to run there, and then the four of us took off down the road to do a four-mile loop.  As Emily led the way, I followed her and we chatted about life.  The pace was much slower than I was used to, but that felt fine as I have no need to run hard at this point.  I did force things down closer to 8 minutes per mile by the end of the run, however, and when we split up back at the market I ran about 6:30 pace on the way home.  Thanks to that, I remarkably managed to keep the average pace for 8.4 miles at just under 8:00.

Officially Registered!

I am pleased to announce that I am officially running in the Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon next Saturday, December 11.  So, how exactly did we get here?

Back in the summer, I made a commitment to start running to stay in shape, eat cleaner, and get to the gym.  I kept putting off the gym part, however, and it quickly became apparent that I was going to be a full-time runner again.  My goal at the time was to train to get into decent shape, then train hard to get into racing shape so I could compete in a lot of the local road races, most of which are 5k or 10k. I knew Eggers had already planned to do the local marathon.

Dan had one marathon under his belt already - the Fort Lauderdale A1A Marathon from this past February.  I killed some time at work by reading his race recap, and I found myself overcome with inspiration.  I thought about how the marathon training would include some heavy mileage but would actually be a lot less intense than training for 5k, and could be a great way to build up a base before switching to lower distances.  Then, I noticed the date of this year's race:  it was my birthday.  I was in.

Let's get into the details of this race and how I plan to perform:

History

Charlotte has been putting on a marathon since the late 1970s, when the running boom was in full swing here in the United States.  The winners were regularly running under 2:20, which is elite by any standard.  The Charlotte Observer Marathon suffered a scandal, however, when the race director was convicted of mail fraud about then years ago and the Observer pulled its sponsorship, effectively ending the race.  In 2005, another marathon was introduced, called "Thunder Road," with an attempt to build a NASCAR theme.  Boogity-boogity, let's go racin'!! (that's Darrell Waltrip, kids).  Last year's winner was Jordan Kinley, who recently announced that he's going to run it again.  You can read his excellent recap of last year's race here.

The Course


The Thunder Road Expo is held next Thursday and Friday at the Charlotte Convention Center.  That's where I'll go to pick up my packet.  I skipped out on the course preview runs that Run For Your Life sponsored, but I did take the opportunity to drive most of the course ten days ago.  Naturally, we will start and finish uptown, with the starting line being somewhere around Tryon and 1st Streets, which is exactly where we started for the Komen Race a couple months ago (Was that really a couple months ago? Wow!).  From there we will leave uptown on 3rd Street and make our way over to 4th, which becomes Randolph, then turn down a road called Colville that takes us to Providence.  We go away from town on Providence before touring the affluent Foxcroft neighborhood at the edge of Southpark and Myers Park.  This part of the course is essentially my back yard.  I have run down Colville and these sections of Providence and Randolph more times than I count in the last eight months.  Obviously, that's a good thing - but this gets better.  We leave the Southpark area by way of Sharon Road, turn down a street called Chilton and do the Queens Road loop before heading to Morehead.  This section is all a part of my 7-mile loop that I've done quite a few times recently.  I expect fantastic support from the neighborhoods throughout this part of the race.

I had some trouble staying on track with my car, because the map isn't labeled that well on the site, but the halfway point is somewhere on Morehead Street.  This is where things will get interesting; suddenly, there won't be nearly as many runners (there is also a half-marathon which uses the same course, I believe).  The course takes us around South Tryon and through the South End area after leaving Dilworth, and we run along Mint Street, headed back uptown.  This will be a neat stretch because we run right towards Bank of America Stadium.  From here we head north on 4th Street and come back up Trade, right past the arena.  At this point, I plan to take my 3rd and final gel packet, although I will probably have a 4th one on hand just in case.  The 18-mile mark is somewhere around the arena.

We leave uptown again, this time on Caldwell Street, and head towards NoDa.  I am really looking forward to this part of the course because I have always wondered what it would be like to get shot at in the middle of a 26.2-mile race.  In all seriousness, this stretch is considered to be the most mentally challenging part of the course because there is no spectator support, the pack continues to thin out, and the area is a bit drab, to put it nicely.  Things will get fun after that, however: I'm told the party crowd gathers in Plaza-Midwood as this course runs right by Thomas Street Tavern and the Penguin.  Spectators have been known to offer drinks to runners, and I'm sure some of the stragglers will take them up on the idea. 

At this point, I decided to head home but I can tell you that we make our way over to Hawthorne Avenue, which features a famously awful hill, and from there head back uptown to the finish line near the convention center.  Hopefully I will still be alive at this point.

Objective

When this training cycle began a few months ago I figured I could run Boston Marathon-qualifying time and I set that as a goal.  That time is 3 hours, 10 minutes - I'm told they accept 3:10:59 - or 7:15 pace per mile.  That seemed awfully daunting back in September and I thought about adjusting the goal to around 3:20 or so.  Then, something happened:  I started running really well, and Boston Q seemed possible again.  Then, I started running even better and began entertaining crazy ideas of breaking 3 hours.  Look, things would have to go really well for me to break 3 hours.  That's a 6:52 mile for 26.2 miles.  Not only would I have to run very, very well, but I also wouldn't be able to afford any extended bathroom breaks or stretching sessions during the race.  I have decided that 3:00 would be the ultimate goal but 3:05 more reasonable, and if things don't go as well as I hope I will be more than happy with the 3:10/Boston time.

So, that's that.  I do believe my training has prepared me for this thing.  I still feel a little banged up but I think I have time to switch to a new pair of shoes and I believe that will help, so stay tuned!