Today I ran the Baystate Marathon with hopes of qualifying for Boston. I needed to run 4:00:59. It was a bit chilly - mid 30s at the start and got quite windy for the second half of the race. The temps were great, the wind not so much. I was right on track thru 20 miles I went thru at 3:01. I had an hour to run the last 10K.
My legs were feeling very tight, but I kept trying to stay at a 9 min mile pace. I had my Garmin set to show me my lap time every 1/2 mile so I could tell if I was on track. I began to slow a bit, but still was running around 9:30 which would get me in on time. My Garmin lost the satellite at mile 22 so I lost track of my pace. I was able to check my time at the mile markers and knew that I was continuing to slow down. At 25 miles I still had 12 minutes to make it in. My legs were getting more tired and tight, but I kept telling myself not to give in. The race finishes in the minor league baseball stadium so we entered the stadium and had to run the perimeter on the warning track. I tried to kick it in a bit because I knew it would be close. My Garmin only showed me the hours and minutes, but not the seconds, so I wasn't sure exactly how much time I had. I turned the last corner and could see the finish line, but I couldn't see the clock. With about 10 yards to go my quads completely locked up and I toppled forward landing with a splat on my hands and knees. I tried to crawl, but the finish line volunteers kept trying to help me to stand. I couldn't stand so I kept begging them to let me crawl. Finally I crossed the line doing some sort of crab-like crawl with the volunteers holding my arms and me moving my legs. It was so extremely embarrassing. As soon as I crossed the EMTs got me on a stretcher and took me away. I stopped the time on my Garmin. When I got into the back room the nurses and doctors were wonderful helping me. I felt fine, my legs actually were Ok by then too. I couldn't focus my eyes enough to see the time on my Garmin. Eventually my husband and 2 DD3s were led in. Luckily the girls didn't see me fall, though my husband did and was quite freaked out, though he said he was yelling at me to keep going when I was trying to crawl. He said the whole stadium was cheering for me. His only regret was that he didn't take a picture of me while I was crawling. NICE!! I'm sure I'll be in the pictures of the other finishers who ran by me. My husband checked the time on my Garmin and it was 4:02. I missed qualifying by a minute. Actually my official chip time was 4:01:57, so I missed it by 58 seconds. After an hour and a Gatorade they let me go. In talking about it afterwards, my husband and I decided I probably wouldn't have made it in time even if I hadn't fallen. I really don't think I was on the ground for a minute. How absolutely frustrating. On the one hand it's a PR by 25 minutes, but I'm really disappointed.
I'm not sure what's next for me. I guess I'll take a few days to see how I feel. Thanks for reading.
Cindy
My legs were feeling very tight, but I kept trying to stay at a 9 min mile pace. I had my Garmin set to show me my lap time every 1/2 mile so I could tell if I was on track. I began to slow a bit, but still was running around 9:30 which would get me in on time. My Garmin lost the satellite at mile 22 so I lost track of my pace. I was able to check my time at the mile markers and knew that I was continuing to slow down. At 25 miles I still had 12 minutes to make it in. My legs were getting more tired and tight, but I kept telling myself not to give in. The race finishes in the minor league baseball stadium so we entered the stadium and had to run the perimeter on the warning track. I tried to kick it in a bit because I knew it would be close. My Garmin only showed me the hours and minutes, but not the seconds, so I wasn't sure exactly how much time I had. I turned the last corner and could see the finish line, but I couldn't see the clock. With about 10 yards to go my quads completely locked up and I toppled forward landing with a splat on my hands and knees. I tried to crawl, but the finish line volunteers kept trying to help me to stand. I couldn't stand so I kept begging them to let me crawl. Finally I crossed the line doing some sort of crab-like crawl with the volunteers holding my arms and me moving my legs. It was so extremely embarrassing. As soon as I crossed the EMTs got me on a stretcher and took me away. I stopped the time on my Garmin. When I got into the back room the nurses and doctors were wonderful helping me. I felt fine, my legs actually were Ok by then too. I couldn't focus my eyes enough to see the time on my Garmin. Eventually my husband and 2 DD3s were led in. Luckily the girls didn't see me fall, though my husband did and was quite freaked out, though he said he was yelling at me to keep going when I was trying to crawl. He said the whole stadium was cheering for me. His only regret was that he didn't take a picture of me while I was crawling. NICE!! I'm sure I'll be in the pictures of the other finishers who ran by me. My husband checked the time on my Garmin and it was 4:02. I missed qualifying by a minute. Actually my official chip time was 4:01:57, so I missed it by 58 seconds. After an hour and a Gatorade they let me go. In talking about it afterwards, my husband and I decided I probably wouldn't have made it in time even if I hadn't fallen. I really don't think I was on the ground for a minute. How absolutely frustrating. On the one hand it's a PR by 25 minutes, but I'm really disappointed.
I'm not sure what's next for me. I guess I'll take a few days to see how I feel. Thanks for reading.
Cindy
And you DID PR!! 
