Woke up without alarm at 5:40am Monday morning, April 19th, 2010… Today is the day!! This is the legend… this is THE 114th BOSTON MARATHON!
Night before, We met with 25+ other Cleveland-area runners and support at LoConte – a great Italian place in the North End for the pre-race dinner. My stomach was still stuffed full in the morning! By 6:20am we were out the door and walked the mile to the bus loading area at Boston Commons that would take us to the starting area in Hopkinton. The air was electric, and the Botanical Gardens and Park were in beautiful spring bloom. Great way to start the day!
The bus ride was in a school bus (#6 – same number as Andy’s bus at home!) and took almost an hour. The marathon distance of 26.2 miles never seemed so long – driving it to a remote start for a point-to-point race drives the distance home!
Upon arrival at the Athlete’s village, I met up with some Cleveland friends (Mark Durno, Jerry Crabb, Jim LaMastra, etc). We had time to finish our pre-race preparations and talk a bit before starting the next 1 mile walk to the starting line. You cover an amazing amount of distance just getting from your hotel to the starting line on race day! More than 28 miles and it took 3 hours and 20 minutes (longer than the race itself) from hotel to starting gun!
10:00am the gun is fired – and it is GO TIME! Well – sort of… From the 6th corral, it took us almost 5 minutes to get to the actual starting line and begin running!
Now… this course is legendary for it’s difficulty… the first 6 miles are downhill, and packed with fast runners and loud fans along the street. It is so easy to get caught up in the moment and feel no pain and over-do it in this section. Most people have made this mistake and paid dearly late in the race where the larger uphill sections are and the race really takes its toll.
I developed a race plan that held me back for the first 8 miles in particular, and kept easy during the first 16 miles (the start of the hills)… this way, I would be fresh for the hills, and the fatigue that generally sets in around miles 21-26. I followed this very closely, and it worked well, I’m proud to say!
The weather was pretty good for race day… 50F at start and 60F at finish (a little warm, but not horrible)… sunny… biggest challenge would be the 15-20mph steady wind that alternated between headwind and crosswind. What I didn’t realize until mile 23 was that the wind was dehydrating me faster than normal – I often overdo my intake and salts and get a sour stomach by mile 19 or 20 – so this spring, I cut back in training and followed that during the race. The wind was causing me to “dry out” quickly – as evidenced by the numerous salt cakes on my face, neck and arms.
Anyhow, everything felt good and strong (and easy) in the first 6 downhill miles. The crowd was amazing! Many little towns a long the way – seems like everyone was out to cheer us on to Boston that morning.
I was just a few seconds faster than my goal pace for this section – so I held back well and my HR reflected that. My legs felt great, and ready for the rolling sections of miles 7-16. I saw Tim Walsh and Kim at mile 7 – was nice to see them!
I more or less held my mile-by-mile paces along this section. I still felt great, drank when I was thirsty and motored along, enjoying the sights and sounds of the race.
Approaching the half-marathon point in Wellesley, I could hear the screaming tunnel approaching of the girls. What a noise and what a lift! I hit the half-marathon at 1:34:58 which was about 7:17 pace. Just about on plan for a 3:09 finish.
I was still feeling great and relaxed coming into Newton Hills – which started around mile 17. Now, it was time to allow the body and mind to work as my pace and effort plan kicked it. The hills were hills. It isn’t that they are tremendously steep, but that they are longer and come late in the race, when people are often overly tired and they start to fall apart. Three good hills in Newton, before Heartbreak Hill (at mile 20.3).
I felt humbled and excited at the base of Heartbreak Hill. There is a statue there to commorate it. A lot of history of this race has occurred here – leads lost, souls broken. Not me, not today! I felt fantastic, and knowing it was the last significant effort / hill, I allowed myself to run strongly but comfortably up the hill. Focus was on good form, and controlled breathing – it’s a long hill (0.4 miles) and no reason to spike it here – there is still 10k of racing left! I felt fantastic at the top of the climb – it was lined with thousands of screaming fans… what an incredible place – especially because I felt so good still!
From here on in to Boston, it is a general downhill. Now it is time to let the legs fly and see what I have left. I felt great and dropped my pace down to 6:55-7:05 for the next couple of miles. Could see the city (and therefore the finish line) approaching. I was on pace to be about 3:10 at this point. Then just after completing mile 23, something started “pinging” the back of my legs… both of my hamstrings were starting to twitch… cramps were on the way – which is rather unusual for me in a marathon. I hadn’t taken in enough salts and fluids to match with what the wind was taking out of me. (This apparently was a common theme, as I’ve never seen so many people cramping up – and everyone I spoke to after the race seemed to have the same problem). I took out a Nuun tablet and started to suck on it (since I wasn’t near any water at the time). Too little, too late.
Boom, my right leg went totally straight – hamstring full locked up. Dammit! Had to stop moving for a good 30 seconds to try to stretch through it and relax… I knew what had to be done, and crunched into 3 E-caps right in my mouth, and grabbed a water bottle from a kind spectator… I chugged most of the 20oz bottle on the spot and walked through the cramp, swishing the saltiest water in my mouth to try to speed absorption.
It worked, and after another 30 seconds of walking and swishing, I was able to get restarted. I ramped my pace up to 8:00/mi for a quarter mile, and everything felt OK again… so I pushed it right back up to a 7:00/mi pace again to try to salvage a good time and at least BQ again! By this time – the CITGO sign was approaching! The “one mile to go” monument that everyone looks so forward to. This was it! The last mile of the Boston Marathon!
There are two uphill sections in the last mile that on any other day, look like nothing – but after 25.5 miles and the hills of Newton, they are a bit more real.
As I turned onto Boylston Street, I could see the finish line off in the distance. I was going to finish THE Boston Marathon, and in a respectable time! The finish line seemed to take forever to come to me… I looked around for Amy… She saw me, but I didn’t see her.
I crossed the line at 3:14:30… my second fastest marathon ever (within 56 seconds of Flying Pig), and on a more challenging course. While I was disappointed to not have gone faster, I was thrilled that I held to my race plan and felt so great throughout the entire race (with the exception of the cramp-fest from 23.5-24.0). I felt surprisingly good after the race… almost like I hadn’t pushed myself hard enough during the race. Holding back for the first two thirds of the race was a good strategy, maybe next time I can push the mid-section pace a little more – and keep the salt intake higher! : )
I was glad that my first experience in Boston felt good and “easy”… it raises the bar for my next return… now I know better what to expect, and maybe how to race it harder, without destroying myself too early.
Time to give myself a couple days off, and then shift gears to the triathlon season – which starts in June!
I’ll write separately about the amazing 5 days in Boston that Amy and I had together. It was our first real trip together without the kids and we had an absolutely fantastic time! Boston is definitely our kind of town! The people were great, the food was amazing and the city was so interesting! From the history dating back to the 17th century, to the harbor cruise and waterfront, to the modern transportation and city amenities. It was so great for me to travel with someone to enjoy all of the sights and sounds (vs my business trips around the globe alone). We had a fantastic time – and really enjoyed the time alone together! I love this woman! : )
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