The marathon began in downtown San Jose on a cool but comfortable morning. The out and back marathon course mostly took place on a paved bike trail. It was about 50 degrees at the 7am start and sunny. My intentions going into the race were to qualify for Boston. For my age group that meant a sub 3:10:59. I trained hard enough to make this a realistic goal, so I was pretty wired when the gun went off. Despite my high energy, I had trouble maintaining a 7:04 minute pace. Mile one was about 7:30 and mile two was about 7:20. I quickly became frustrated by mile three knowing that I was off pace. Despite this, I knew I had to stay composed because it was so early in the race.

The aid stations along the course were well supplied and had great support. My only complaint about the course was that the trail we were running on (Los Gatos Creek Trail) was still open to the public and that meant families of bikers whizzing by runners on both sides.

Miles 1-10 went by very smoothly, just a bit slower than I had planned. I knew that eventually I would have to make up time; it was a matter of how much. At the half marathon point we ran around the Los Gatos High School track and then looped back onto the course heading back. My half split ended up being 1:37. As I rounded the track I did the math and realized that I was on pace for a 3:14. I was quite upset with my half time but I knew that I had it in my legs to neg. split. Miles 13.1-14 began and ended with a steep uphill climb. This was quite disheartening because I knew I would have to pick up the pace and this stupid hill was in my way.

After I cleared the annoying hill I knew the rest of the course was virtually flat. At mile 15 I felt fresh and knew I needed to make my move. I made the decision to zero out my watch and pick up the pace. It was a new race now and I wanted to forget about the first half. I covered miles 15-19 at a 6:24 pace. My legs felt fresh and all I could think about was hard I trained and how much I wanted to get Boston. I felt I had earned it and went for it. At mile 20, I had to slow the pace down to about 6:50. I didn’t want to destroy my legs just yet. I needed them for another 6.2. Mile 22, is where I started to feel the results of miles 15-19. I knew I only had 4 miles to go, so I just put my head down and ignored my aching lower body.

The crowd support at miles 23 and up were great. They were really energetic and armed with water hoses. As I hit mile 24, I looked at my watch and realized that this is going to come down to the wire. My watch read 2:57 just past mile 24. As many of you know, by this point my legs felt like absolute dog crap. I knew I had to dig deep and I had to go for it. I pounded out the last 2 miles or so and made an attempt to sprint the last 200 yards to the finish. I knew that the official clock was just to the right of the finish line. But I don’t even remember looking at it. I just wanted to get to that line.

As I ran across the line and was given my medal and bottle of water I wasn’t sure if I had made it. I looked at my watch and I forgot that I had zeroed it out; it read 1:34. I was so out of it I still wasn’t sure if I had made it. My brother, who was at the finish told me my time—3:11:11. The qualifying time for my age group is sub 3:10:59. Yup, 12 seconds. I had to laugh. I couldn’t believe it.

Am I pissed off? I haven’t decided yet. I did PR, I did have fun and I had no injuries. Boston would have just been the icing on the cake. I’m more disappointed than anything. I know that I went out too slow, but I also know I never stopped to pee or break stride to get gels, Gatorade, or water. All in all, it was a great experience and it will only fuel my desire to train even harder.