TrainingI had a fairly intense but fruitful training block from late December through March and included two 90% age grade race efforts, a 15K in February and 8K (at the national masters championship) in March. Averaged 70 miles a week, felt great throughout, and this was my best marathon build-up as a masters runner.
Pre-raceHad a whirlwind weekend in Boston, arriving Saturday afternoon and staying with my cousin and her husband in Brookline Village. Sunday had a great breakfast meet up with Rochey and Grambo. Have known Rochey for nearly a decade and finally we got to meet! Then we did the expo--quickly. And we did have a chance to briefly meet JBM so that was an unexpected treat. This was my morning to be a social butterfly and we made our way for another meet up at Tracksmith. Did a 25 minute shake out with Rochey along the Charles River.
Race morningyou know the story of the cold, wind, and rain. The biggest impression I got was getting to the bus line in Copley Square at 6:15 to see how everyone everyone looked so grim-faced. No smiles. And the tone at the athletes village wasn't much better. I hunkered down in Tent 1 for a couple hours and got ready.
Startline photographer said smile, I thought are you kidding?
The RaceMiles 1-5: 7:07, 6:58, 6:51 6:42, 6:57 (34:36)
It was wet and not all that wonderful, but a great feeling to be moving after being chilled and wet at the athletes village and start line. I was holding back through the thick traffic.
Miles 6-10: 6:33, 6:47,6:53 6:51 (1:08:33)
Just got into a rhythm, flowing with the crowd, don't know where that 6:33 6th mile came from but at the time didn't even catch the split. The rain and wind were constant but every 15 or 20 minutes we'd be soaked with a deluge of heavy rain that would last for about 5 minutes. Likewise, every mile or two you'd get awful gusts of wind. I tried to draft as much as I could, finding people who were bigger than me! The crowd was thining a bit but still it was like an intense freeway commute with a lot of people darting and weaving through. I felt pretty good, but groin and sholders were chilled already.
Miles 11-15: 6:53, 7:02, 6:52, 6:52, 6:53 (half 1:29:53; 15 at 1:43:14)
More of the same. Rain, wind, more rain and wind. And lots of runners. Wellesley was kind of a kick, you could hear the screaming from a long way off, but I was warned by friends not to veer or make any eye contact with those sirens or they'd jump all over you and you might not ever return. However, they were behind barriers so I gave a couple high 5s and ran by. Quickly.
Miles 16-20: 6:49, 7:16, 7:58 (shirt change), 6:54, 7:10 (20 miles at 2:19:26)
Of course the Newton hills are where the going gets interesting and hard. I felt my legs getting tired at 13 but under the contitions that'd be expected. Had planned to meet my son at 17.2 or 17.3, where he'd be armed with a choice of dry shirts or gloves. I rolled up and down the first couple of the Newton Hills and felt decent, but legs were by now numb and shoulders cold. So when I found him, we figured a change would be good so while he jogged along side me I whipped off the long sleeve polypro shirt and put on a nice dry merino wool top to fit under my singlet.
That felt so great. For about 10 minutes I was recharged. But we got hit with another deluge of rain followed by strong wind gusts in Newton.
And the rains came down--our 4th or 5th deluge
Miles 21-24: 7:33 (Heartbreak), 8:02 (loose shoe lace), 7:51, 7:56 (starting to hurt)
I've heard a lot about Heartbreak and while it's not that steep, it is fairly long and most of the 21st mile seemed uphill. Felt good to crest it. My current hopes and dreams were to run 7 or under for as long as I could, maybe to the finish. At this point it didn't look like a sub 3 was possible, but with a low 3s on this day would be pretty fine.
At 21.7 miles I noticed my shoe was untied. Knowing that my condition and reaction time were only going to get worse, plus navigating the wet streets with hundreds of other runners at the same time, I figured I had better tie it. That took 45 seconds (at least) of fumbling with laces and saturated gloves. A nearby volunteer said her hands were too cold to help.
This was the unraveling and I never recovered.
It took a half mile to get my rhythm back and never did feel that loose stride that you want on what normally would be the easiest parts of the course. My stride shortened and cadence slowed. So I was relegated to 7:50 mile pace and starting to lose some ground although some people were really hurting.
Miles 25-26: 8:55, 9:52
Fading into a blue fog
This was not your normal glycogen bonk. I passed my cousin at 24.5 in Brookline Village feeling okay, but by the time I got into view of the Citgo sign near Fenway I was getting bleary and seeing white horizontal lines. I couldn't move my legs, breathing was shallow. And I started to feel dizzy. So close, yet I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it.
Stopped to walk once in the 25th mile when I got dizzy. And somewhere near the underpass with just a half mile to go everything seemed bluish and dreamy. I knew I was in a race but it didn't seem real either, like the moments when you just wake up or are about to pass out from fainting. So not a blackout but some moments of what I'd call a blue out. I had to remind myself to keep going. Lots of people were passing by but there was a lot of hurt to share. Not until I got off Commonwealth Ave and onto the final turns and onto Boylston did I feel that yes, could hang in long enough to finish.
I crossed in 3:12, a good chunk over what I felt I should have but just relieved to finish.
Post-race apocalypseAbout everything else with this race was fantastic. They do a wonderful job. The post-race was a debacle. I was delirious and had to walk three and a half very long blocks to the gear tent, where I could get my warm clothes. On the 2nd block they finally shrouded us with space ponchos. I asked for assistance. So they relayed me down the long walk with volunteers and a medical assistant who asked a few questions and must have deemed I wasn't quite yet med tent material so passed me onto a volunteer who pointed me to the bag tents. Got to the bag pick up and had to wait, shivering like mad, for 45 minutes along with a thousand other runners most of whom were in no better shape. We huddled in our silver ponchos with chattering teeth. Frustrated, like silvery salmon stuck at a dam. It was surreal. At long last I got my bag and hobbled to a nearby lobby and I got changed back into dry clothes and called my son who was waiting nearby. He said it had been one hour twenty minutes since I'd crossed the line!
After a subway ride, we ambled slowly to my cousin's. Then a hot drink and bath. I was okay again, although moving slowly, by 4 PM.
PerspectiveWell it quite didn't turn out how I had wanted, even when I modified expectations due to the weather. That low 3 seemed very possible until the last few miles. But that hope was washed away passed the tripple blue lines on Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue. This is my slowest road marathon, by a pretty wide margin. That weather system was simply brutal. It won. At least in my case.
Nevertheless it was my first Boston and I did finish, given the conditions that was an accomplishment. Also, ended up 4th in my age group and will get a special BAA t-shirt for that. Bling is always good. And last night I got around to watching the full replay of the race. A lot of the elites struggled, in fact only a handful out of dozens looked okay going in. Knowing that everyone out there, even some of the best in the world, also had to push through a lot assuaged my disappointment. This was an extremely memorable weekend and racing under epic bad conditions.
Kudos to all the runners and thousand of volunteers and support. Boston is an amazing event.
