Dream Success

Well, the race was 4 days ago and I'm still trying to process how it all went down. The goal time was 3:40 which would qualify me to run Boston in 2010. My official time was 3:33:47 and I have no idea how that happened. That's not true. Here's how I think it happened:

1. I only ran 3 days a week but they were mostly all quality runs. There weren't too many slow or easy days.
2. Tuesdays and Thursdays were shorter runs that I was usually around 7:45 pace so my body was somewhat accustomed to running a faster pace.
3. Saturday morning long runs were absolutely brutal. An 18 miler in 6 degerees in hilly ass Rock Creek Park stands out in my mind. If they weren't cold they were hilly like something fierce (shoutout monkey!) I felt like I could run anything after a few of those long runs which probably helped more mentally than physically.
4. I'm not severely anemic anymore. Oxygen really helps when you're trying to run.
5. I tried carbo-loading though I'm not sure if I did it for long enough. Seemed to have more energy though.
6. I almost never drink caffeine except for long runs when I have blocks so during the race when I was eating copius amounts of goo/beans/blocks I felt a little buzzed from the caffeine.
7. Dave ran the last 10k with me which helped immensely even though I didn't have enough energy to smile or respond except for blurting curses every few steps when my feet cramped.
8. I have a high tolerance for pain
9. Which has helped start to straighten out my hammer toe.
10. At the start I introduced myself to the 3:40 pace guy who was super obnoxious. After I told him I was going to try to keep up I secretly prayed we wouldn't be together for almost 4 hours. The goal was to stay ahead of him so I wouldn't have to hear his voice. He got dangerously close at mile 21-ish.

There's my list. Here are the overall stats: