Conditions were BRUTAL! Last week, I was shooting for 2:55, but given the forecast leading up (cold/pouring rain/strong headwind), I dialed that back to an a goal of sub 3 and a b goal of getting into next year's race. I was running with a close friend today and it was his 10 consecutive so was fortunate to tap into his wisdom of the course/conditions. We started off the first 5k conservative. I pushed the pace a bit for the next 10k and wasnt feeling great at the 10 mile point. Around that time, my shoes got so water logged that the inside soles came unglued and were bunching up under the arch or my right foot. I had to stop around mile 11 to fix then had to stop again right accross from the Wellesley scream tunnell sitting on a guard rail to rip the sole out. Around mile 14, the same thing happened to my left shoe so had to stop to rip that out. Ran without soles for the final 12 miles, but actually made the shoes feel much lighter. I faired well through the first 2 newton hills, scaling the pace back a bit, but started feeling pretty bad after the 3rd hill. I fought my best through heartbreak than put in a quick mile or two through BC and entering Brookline. I was feeling really nad through the next few miles and realized 3:05 was going to be out for today. Once I got over the hill by the Citgo sign, I pushed the pace the best that i could or the final mile. I turned onto Boylston and tried to surge for the final .2-.3, my calves/hamstrings started locking up during the final 100 meters but i fought through the pain to finish. Hopefully the BQ - 4:24 is enough to get in for next year as I dont want to think about running another marathon until Chicago this October. Mile splits per my watch were: 7:15,6:53,6:53,6:40,6:49,6:36,6:41,6:50,6:46,6:51,6:57,6:47,7:18,6:51,7:37,6:41,7:15,7:15,7:02,7:11,7:33,6:55,7:08,7:19,7:30,7:36,6:50 (final .2). | 