I have always known that the more help that you can rally into your marathon and triathlon training the better off you are. So, about two months ago, while preparing for a mid week pace run I decided to bring along my new Garmin 405 GPS watch. With this great little GPS device comes a virtual training partner that, with only a few hours of research and study along with several instruction sessions with Ward, I could adjust his pace to whatever time I desired. He was a great addition to our pace runs. We found out that he didn't even slow down when we grabbed a water bottle or stopped to retie our shoe. I could get continual feedback on whether he was either 7 seconds ahead of me or behind by a slight margin. I began to rely on the knowledge of exactly where he was since he did such a great job of maintaining a consistent pace. This guy became another great training partner on our LHS group runs. He and I seemed to get along pretty well. I have begun to call my virtual training partner Vert for short. He spells it VErt not Virt and it rhymes with Bert.
I was glad to be going to Boston along with my new training partner. Karen and I had tried to get together prior to our 10:30 start, in the athletes village, but with 27,000 others there it was not an easy thing to do. Vert and I started off together in the 18th corral. He was set on going out at an 8:40 pace but I wanted to push that envelope a little. Believe it or not, I got the jump on him from the very 1st mile. From my previous marathon experiences I knew that this was probably a little too fast but the first 4 miles down hill and the adrenaline rush tended to lull you in. I was hoping to build in a 30 second cushion on Vert that would be eaten up later on in the big hills. I was pretty thoughtless though as I worked myself away from him. It wasn't hard for Vert and I to get separated in that huge Boston crowd. My watch showed that by 4 miles I was kicking his tail by 30 seconds. I easily held on to that lead through 10 miles. I was working pretty hard milking the crowd for support and not really worrying about my buddy Vert. I thought he would do just fine back there with the slower 8:40 pace group.
The Boston course is so unlike the other courses that I've experienced. The downs and the ups tend to hit you pretty hard if you don't show proper respect. I could see that Vert was closing the gap on me and then he actually caught and passed me as I labored on the first real hills @ miles 16 and 17. I had enjoyed pounding down those easy miles just too much and my quads couldn't handle the uphill pull. Karen and Pat passed me somewhere on or before Heartbreak Hill and I never even saw them. By then I was having to take short breaks to massage my quads. As much as the motivation of the crowd and the thoughts of my family waiting for me ahead, I could not overcome the pain. I would pause, grab and knead the muscles just above my knees for a few seconds and then try to get back to running.
By now Vert had left me in the dust. He displayed the same disregard for me that I had had for him in those early miles. What goes around comes around. By now, the down grade was hurting my quads just as bad as the inclines were. So, I'm sure that I was an awful sight only running for 3 or 4 minutes between my breaks. I came across Team Whetstone at miles 16 and 22. Mary Beth and Christi yelled out just as I succumbed to my quad pain demanding a break. Jackie, Kenny, Jessica, Joe and Chelsea were just 20 yards down the road so I got an extra GU and a few more electrolyte pills from them to help me get to the finish. I wrestled through the last few miles struggling to keep my quads in motion. I managed to finish in 4:09. Vert probably broke the tape right at his predicted time of 3:47. I wasn't able to find his time in the official race results though. But, I know that he ran a consistent evenly paced race which is much better than my overconfident aggressive approach. I have limped around all day today, hobbling down every set of stairs. I'm confident that my buddy Vert will be ready to go again tomorrow with you guys while I'll still be at home nursing my quads in the whirlpool.
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