Boston

This morning I was reading the race coverage from the Boston Globe and one of their writers said it best when describing her race (note she ran 3:23).

“For some runners, just finishing the Boston Marathon is a
victory. I am not one of those runners.

I say this with the utmost respect for runners motivated purely by the sense of accomplishment that comes with crossing the Boylston Street finish line. I applaud their enthusiasm, determination, and wisdom. They are smarter than runners like myself, who arrive in Hopkinton confident we can outwit the course and coax a fast performance out of our bodies, certain we can somehow control the unpredictability of a 26.2-mile test of mental and physical endurance.

Once again, I learned that the course always wins, as my quads tightened heading toward Heartbreak Hill yesterday. And the more I ran, the more the chilly temperatures and demoralizing headwinds felt like the course's coconspirators. The combination did everything it could to throw me out of rhythm and off pace.”

I think this sums up my feelings best.

By now you probably know I didn’t finish Boston in the time I wanted. The question becomes why, or more importantly why did I have the problems I had. I have thought about this a fair bit. One thing I did differently was try to drink a lot of water in the week leading up to the race. One thing I tend not to do is hydrate well before a race so I tried to do that last week. I ate a bit less, drank much less alcohol and drank a fair bit more water.

Race morning was pretty typical Bagel and cream cheese for breakfast clif bar an hour before the race. I had 6 clif gels with me and took 4 (miles 3, 8, 12, 16). I took salt at 9, and 14, then 2 at 21. I can’t drink the Gatorade endurance they serve on the course so went with only water. This is exactly the plan I used at my 3:00:42 qualifier.

My training was much stronger for this marathon than last fall. I was targeting a 2:55 – 3:00 finish, with a planned 1:28 – 1:29 split in the first half. Take it easy and pick it up or run even home. (I have a 1:22 half PR).

I didn’t use my HR monitor yesterday because I almost never look at it in a race. I did notice I was a bit sleepy before the race even yawning which was not really normal, not that I get over hyper before a race but even for me that was a bit more relaxed then normal. I debated turning my watch on or not or just running by feel.

I started easy and hit mile 1 in 7:20ish. This was right where I wanted to be. I picked it up a bit and hit screwed up my watch by mile 2. From then on it was just looking at the clocks. I was running mostly easy and holding back, letting people pass and trying to block the wind a bit when I felt it gusting. I ran very even splits for 20K each 5K within 5 seconds or so.

My first clue that something wasn’t right was around mile 12 I felt my right quad tightening. (Another odd thing I noticed was that I was chafing behind my knees (from salt) something that has never happened to me before.) I tried to slow a bit and took my salt (succeed caps) earlier then planned at mile 14. I was still running pretty strong albeit a bit slower trying to keep it from cramping when somewhere in the next few miles my stomach started to shut down.

I think it was after the gel at mile 16. At mile 19 I threw up. I was run walking at this point and trying to get in water. At mile 21 I ran into a blue box and went to the bathroom. Felt like I was peeing a fire hose. I came out and saw a team mate and tried to run with her, picking up the pace. Maybe 200 yards later both my legs locked up. I stopped walked it out and started running again easy. Took 2 more salt pills at the next water stop. The rest of the race was go as fast as I could with minimizing the angst in my stomach with 2 more stops to throw up. One was my own fault. I took one cup of Gatorade and tried to dilute it with a cup of water to get more electrolytes. That lasted less then a mile.

Finally, I reached Boylston Street and picked it up just enough to get in under 3:30. The thing about Boston is it takes no prisoners. If it is not your day you are cast aside and others run by. If you are strong you run by others. It is unlike any other race. What do I mean? Ultimately, I slowed by 1 mpm in my average pace. During that time I lost over 6,000 places. I finished in a time that would be considered at least good in most races. In Boston it barely made the top 3rd of the field.

Today my legs are a bit sore and I am looking at marathon guiding and debating taking another shot this spring. Not sure yet but don’t be surprised to see a May marathon race report. Remember I never said I was smart.