2015/05/01

Boston Marathon

This post may seem a bit late going up, but the reasons why will become clear over the next couple posts. I will make up for missing last week by posting 3 blog posts in the next few days, as time and motivation for working on them allowed. So now, without further ado, here is my Boston Marathon race report.

My stay in Boston was not a long one. I flew in Sunday and headed right towards the race expo. The Boston subway system (called the T) is only mildly confusing, and I figured things out with minimal wandering in circles. I packed light knowing I would be carrying everything I packed around Boston for most of the day.
Boston Marathon Expo
 I picked up my bib, wandered the expo for a while, bought some Clif bars for breakfast the next morning, then met Sharon and one of her friends for lunch before heading out to find my lodging. I tried Airbnb for lodging for the first time this trip, and the place I was staying was a studio in Roxbury, an easy 10 minute ride on the T from downtown. The room was small but very nice, perfect for a one night stay before racing. I dropped off my stuff and headed back into town for the prerace pasta party. It was pretty crazy around there, the expo was busy, but expos usually are. The pasta party was the first time I realized how big this event is. The food was good and seconds were fair game, so I left well fed. I even tried some of the Sam Adams 26.2 brew. Then I headed back, read for a while, and got to bed early, since I needed to be on the T to Boston common at 6:00 the next morning.
Boston lodging - simple but effective
 Race morning was chilly, and promised rain. I packed up my stuff and hit the road still half asleep. I greatly dislike racing in the rain and cold, but there was nothing to do but go for it. Mark Remy posted some great advice for how to deal with the rain.
Mark Remy's Boston Strategy
 I got to the start area several hours before race start. I found a bagel and banana, a couple sample sized Clif bars, and a bottle of water and hunkered down under my space blanket to wait. Finally we started wandering the 1/2 mile from the start area to the actual start line. I ran into a couple Minnesota skiers, Andrew Kromroy and Erik Fagerstrom at the start and then it was time to go.

I was in the first coral of wave 1, so I was close enough to watch the leaders explode off the start line and down the first hill. I settled in and tried to keep the pace in control amidst the energy of the crowd and pretty good downhill. Racing felt relaxed and the scenery was pretty great. The cold and very humid air was great for running in, but also prompted a need for a bathroom break. There are many porta-poties along the course, so I hopped in one around mile 10, the first time I've had to take a bathroom break in a Marathon since my first go at the Birkie Marathon way back on my 28th birthday.

A couple miles later was Wellesley College. This was the loudest part of the course, and the tradition there is to kiss one of the college girls out cheering, so I found a likely candidate hanging over the guard rail and gave her a quick smooch. I also gave out a couple hundred high fives all along this stretch. The excitement along the course was awesome, and I was still dry, so I was feeling pretty good about things at this point.

That feeling wouldn't last however. About mile 15 the rain started, and about mile 17 the hurting started in earnest. My toes really wanted to curl up in my shoes and soon some blisters started popping up. I went back and forth for many miles with a guy wearing a shirt that said "Max's Dad" and for a couple miles before I saw what was on his shirt I couldn't figure out why so many people were cheering for backstab. Yeah, maybe my hearing and cognitive abilities weren't the best at this point in the race. Heartbreak hill came and went. It was a decent sized hill, but upon reaching the top I couldn't help but compare this to the first steep pitch of Summit ave on the Twin Cities marathon course, except without the next 3 miles of continuing uphill to follow.

Boston College was another great pick-me-up with many more high fives shared with spectators. Things continued to hurt in the final few miles, and the urge to walk grew stronger and stronger, but I held to about 6:15 mile pace and kept chewing up distance. Things were very wet at this point, so my mood was on the decline. At mile 25 with a 2:45 finishing time pretty much guaranteed and looking forward to next weekend, my motivation fled altogether and I kind of cashed it in and ran a 6:55 last mile, getting passed by gobs of people in the process. Even while this was happening I was very frustrated with myself, and still continue to be now thinking back on it, but I just couldn't get my racing focus back until about the last 200 meters where I at least put in a good finishing surge.
This is about how conditions looked when I finished.
After the finish I was immediately freezing and tried to fight through the fog of my brain and keep focused on getting to dry, warm clothes.I kept my momentum and made it to the subway stop where I started to work my way through the food bag I was given at the race finish. I got my stuff and got back to the finish line to congratulate Sharon who I amazingly found in the bag drop area. We got a hot chocolate and swapped some quick race impressions before she headed off to relax and I started wandering my way to the airport.

As a final note for the race report part of this post I have to say that the city of Boston, the fans, and the mob of volunteers at the race made this a great event, even if the weather and my attitude weren't pointing to a good day I will have a lot of good memories from the race and will have to head back at some point.

I had a couple hours before needing to be at the airport, so I headed to a Dunkin' Donuts for a Boston Creme filled donut and did a little exploring before the cold and my sore legs convinced me that waiting at the warm, dry airport where I could sit down wouldn't be the worst plan in the world.
Boston Creme filled donut, post race local cuisine

Exploring town on post marathon legs

South Station, last stop en route to the airport
After a short nap and a couple flight delays due to the continuing rainy weather I hopped on a plane and left cold, wet Boston for sunny Las Vegas (although it wasn't actually sunny when I arrived there at 2:00 AM). Tune in next time for my continuing adventures in the American West.

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