Yeah having to bag drop in Boston was a pain wasn’t it? I did keep an eye out for you in the athlete village but was waaaay too busy… especially having not met before.
I did come across a Clapham chaser at the finish but he was bent over and didn’t look in the mood for a chat 
. Didn’t look like your Strava photo either so assumed it wasn’t you 
Wouldn’t have been me if you saw them at the finish, as I was well behind! Did see him. He came past me fairly early on and had a brief chat. Didn’t know him myself
3 really top runs there, very well done @stenard @Tupperware @jeffb enjoy deserved post race beer and food!
Well done Tupperware, stenard and TRO, looks like you are in next year?
Pretty much as mentioned above, the buses were a bit of a faff and the bag drop but it worked well. Couldn’t believe how many aid stations there was either!
Really well supported but those rollers from 25k were tough on the legs. Was gritting my teeth at that point, then struggled to up the pace after them. Thought I was going to do 3:14 but that underpass with 800m to go just cost me. Was also a lot of traffic for me. Reckon the course is worth a few minutes compared to somewhere flat like Manchester.
I actually felt quite comfortable aerobically but didn’t think the legs would have enough.
So, pleased with that as I had to factor in training for the 70.3, and had Covid in February that cost a few weeks of no training then easing back in, and all the walking in the last few weeks. I should probably thank fruitthief, Tupperware and buzz for all those torture sessions on a Thursday
Tupperware- great performance, obvs left your sandbag at home
Stenard- worth a go at the sub 3, you’d have wondered what if otherwise and you’ve been feeling rough the last couple of days.
I’m going to crawl back into town later for some food and maybe some Guinness 
Well done @jeffb , @Tupperware and @stenard , great performances.
@TROSaracen , you have all the info you need for next year
I think I was just trying not to black out at that stage
I think Quite a lot of people thought nymac was something to do with New York as they were shouting at me
I wondered what was going on at 20k. My right ear was ringing for a while after that
People I was running near were talking about approaching that college. Will give that a read. That’s the one interesting part of a point to point. We actually passed through quite a lot of places…keen to find out a bit more about them.
In other news, no idea what’s gone wrong with my club vest, but I’ve got absolutely destroyed just behind my armpits / on my lats. Never had that before at all. Its excruciating. I couldn’t actually deal with the pain of fully submersing in the shower. Sleeping is going to be interesting 
This is the worst side, but the other side is also similar. It’s red raw.
I have similar but not as bad and only on one arm, I did forget to put vaseline there…I also have a sunburn mark in the shape of my vest around my shoulders and neck🤦.
The glamorous life of marathoning
That explains all the noise at that point, I think someone running next to me mentioned it and vanished for a few minutes
Looks painful, I had a top on and was alright but I tend to get rub around the elastic on my compression shorts. Head is a bit red as well! I had some splat on but not on the forehead as it’s not pleasant when the sweat goes in your eyes.
The day after, and a chill out day means some time looking at what actually transpired.
The above summary is very noticeable in the data.
On the big descent prior to climb #1, I was running some of my fastest of the day. And whilst my pace drops, I picked it straight back up again at the crest.
Climbs #2 and #3 saw slower ascents, and slightly reduced recapturing of speed. But I was still broadly on track for sub3 if I could have done the same after heartbreak.
What didn’t help was misremembering the course. I thought heartbreak was between miles 19 and 20, whereas it was actually between 20 and 21. I knew there were four climbs, but I thought maybe I’d miscounted, or one of them had been less noticeable, and that maybe I’d already done it. So to then come across it when I was already feeling drained was a bit of a mental blow.
You can see the pace plummeted versus the other climbs. The legs were gone. And whilst I tried to use the downhill to get back up to a meaningful pace, it wasn’t really enough, and as soon as it levelled off, I knew it was game over.
This is definitely a course that needs a lot of hill practice in training. Something I definitely did very little of. The downhills are probably more important than climbing. If you can benefit from the pace gain without any drawbacks, then it can be a fast course. Doubt I’ll ever come back in all honesty, but without doubt that would be the thing I’d change if I did.
Achilles is in pieces this morning. Need to hit up a physio when I get back and get to the bottom of it. It’s been an issue since about 5 weeks out from Mallorca, flaring up out of the blue, and despite settling again over the winter, I never truly felt it was right. Have buried my head in the sand a little bit, wanting this race out of the way as I was fearing the advice might be to stop running. But now is the time to sort it. Its making each and every run a nervous affair, and I want to get back to running care free again.
That was probably a big reason I avoided descending fast in training. It was stressing my achilles so tried to avoid mucv of it, despite my coach steering me towards a lot more than I did.
That was pretty much my experience in 2013. I was super conservative on the early descents, or so I thought.
Really thought I was going to crest heartbreak and thunder into Boston at pace but got to the top and my legs were done. Everything else was willing, but I just bled time to the finish. Was also hobbling far worse than other marathons after.
Good job!
Very interesting. I had no idea the course was that hilly.
Great pacing and a negative split 
Whilst I knew about the climbs, and the early descents, what I hadn’t factored was the general rolling nature of all the rest of it. You’re pretty much never running on the flat. It makes it really rather hard to get into any kind of rhythm. Very much at odds with most of my running the past few years
Thanks, always do first 6 miles slowest, middle 14 race pace then try and drop the hammer at 20. Couldn’t quite hold sub 7’s to the finish but very pleased overall.
5:33 inside my London 2023 GFA so tempted to do that.
Might try those tactics on Sunday with my GFA attempt.
I’ve found it a really good way to approach marathons, always go well with the approach and am far less beaten up after. Takes a bit of nerve to be behind schedule and trust you can pull it back.
I think the first 6 slow miles are key, really relax, get the HR down, tune out the day and the crowd and they become freebies leaving you with a more manageable 20 mile race! I like to have my HR c140 for these miles.
Feels fantastic when you are passing people in that last 6 miles.
Good luck!
Percentage wise, how much are you backing off for that first 10k TRO?
