Going into this race, I had a solid 18 weeks build up without any major injuries. Most of the MP (marathon pace) workouts were done at 6:30/mi and my body felt comfortable with it. There were a few workouts that I couldn’t hit the targeted threshold or interval paces. My 2021 weekly mileage had been in mid 40s before starting the training plan in August.
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A goal - 2:50
B goal - 2:55
C goal - about 3:00
Actual (GPS) - 2:49:16, 26.30mi, 252W, 168bpm, 182spm
Training plan - Pfitzinger 18wk/55mi (+10mi on peak weeks)

Goal A was overreaching, none of my MP workouts had ended with a 6:29 mile. B was my safe goal, I could confidently run this race as a really hard workout with avg 6:30-6:40. C was the respect-the-distance goal, there is so much could go wrong in a marathon.
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Race day morning:
I hopped on the 5am bus with friends from downtown Sac to Folsom. The bus was full of banters, it calmed my nerves. We stayed on the bus after it arrived the start line to keep warm. Then we parted ways. I got water, had bio break, then lined up at the start.
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Mile 1-10:
Positioned myself between the 2:45 and 3:00 waves (self seeded). We crossed start line about 30 sec after the gun went off. I quickly found myself swallowed in a sea of runners shuffling left and right to find their spaces, as I was doing the same. By mile 6 I had already run an extra .07 miles, which I was trying to avoid.
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Downhill on mile 1. Small hill on mile 2. Cruised through mile 3-6 with few downhill stretches. Then settled into marathon pace soon after.
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The morning was 45 degrees, but warmer than the expected 39 degrees with high humidity. I tossed my gloves soon after mile 3 and was sweating heavier than I wanted to.

Mile 10-20
Glutes and hamstrings started to feel stiff by mile 10 (they’d been tight the entire week). I tried to stay relaxed and shuffle one foot in front of other to stay loose. Banked few seconds in the mile 10-13 downhill miles.
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Ran into a friend from IG at mile 11, we’d planned to run 2:50 together but couldn’t find him at the start. I led him through mile 20.
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I crossed the halfway point at exactly 1:25:00 (half of my A goal), luck or precision? You decide. Either way I was poised to hit 2:50. My garmin said 13.2 at halfway (.10 extra) avg 6:28, so I’d need to go 1-2 sec faster per mile to sneak under 2:50. No problem I thought, I could pick up the pace.
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At mile 18, some runners started walking here. My pace continued to drop as my energy level dropped steadily. I aimed to stay near 6:30.
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Mile 20 - 22
This is where “the race starts” . Soon after mile 20, a pack of women flew passed me from behind. Their strides looked determined and effortless. They were likely going for 2:45. A few of us tried to latch on but failed.
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Mile 21 and 22 were tough. Many runners started walking. I felt tempted to do the same. Fatigue started to set in, I was losing focus. I was losing sight of A goal. So I swung my arms as hard & wide as possible to keep the momentum up. I looked at my garmin, pace dropped from 6:25 to 6:27, then 6:32.
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I trained hard to get here, I am NOT throwing in the towel now. If I can’t run I’ll walk, if I can’t walk I’ll crawl. I’m going to get this done.

**Most marathoners will find the the toughest part of the race to be the last 10k. I dedicated this race’s last 10k in memory of 3 people who recently lost their battles to cancer. Jim - a beloved neighbor, husband & grandfather. Steve - my ex’s father, he was an artist with a gentle soul. Herbert - the director who hired me on my first career job.**
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Mile 22 - 26.2
After the last small hill on the bridge, we emerged from suburb to downtown Sac. The crowd support was reinvigorating, I felt a sudden surge of energy pumping through my body.
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Luck favors the bold. As I entered the last 5k, my legs were not cramp-y so it was time to drop the hammer. I was running this stretch like the last 800m of a 5k, passing runners left and right.
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With 400m to go, a final turn on 8th street, I spotted the clock and it said 2:49:xx, I sprinted to the finish line and shouted “BOSTON!”. Chip time 2:49:13. That’s a 15min BQ with a 47sec negative split on 2nd half (Also a NYC qualifier too). In 2019 I BQ-ed by only 17sec. That’s it, I’ve done it, I’m going to Boston.
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Post race:
There were 5-6 cameras at the finish, I felt like a D-list celebrity. After a volunteer put the medal around my neck, I quickly spotted my support crew and they signaled me to a rendezvous point. My legs started to cramp, my hormone was out of whack, I held my left hamstring with one hand and the crowd barrier with another and started sobbing. Then I found my crew, held my spouse and cried some more. We went to the beer garden, I enjoyed an ice cold beer then I treated myself with a big bowl of ramen afterwards.
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It was my magical day. Thanks for reading.