Boston Marathon - RunMarathon


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Boston, Massachusetts
United States
Boston Athletic Association
45F / 7C
Overcast
Total Time = 3h 34m 58s
Overall Rank = 8756/25000
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 1362/
Pre-race routine:

It was nice sleeping in for a race for a change. I got up around 5:30 am and had a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee, took a shower and got ready to leave for the start line at 6:30. I drove to the start with a new friend who was down with his family. He rode with me so his wife and kids could sleep in. We arrived at the Athletes Villiage and walked down to a friends house near the corrals that has hosted runners on race morning for the past 20 years. It was great to have a warm house to relax in when it was cold outside. Meeting runners from all over the place was great and the fact that there were 3 bathrooms in the house was even better!
Event warmup:

I wanted to run a bit to warm up and try to get the plumbing moving along. I ran around the block a couple times (about 3 miles), stopped in a porta john and took care of business. Ran a bit more and back to the house and hung out for a while. I had eaten a couple of bananas and was sipping on water and Gatorade so I was peeing like a race horse. At 9:45 I started walking down to the start (a block away), got almost there and had to turn around to "empty the pipes" again. I'm on the toilet and it's 9:55 and the race starts at 10:00. Nothing like cutting it close!!
Run
  • 3h 34m 58s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 08m 12s  min/mile
Comments:

The gun went off and I stood still for a couple minutes before finally starting to walk. It was 6 minutes before I finally made it to the start line at an easy jog. My plan was to run 8:00 miles which would have put me at 3:30 and take in everything about the Boston Marathon experience that I could without pushing too hard and getting hurt. My training has been pretty poor in the past few weeks and any expectations of a "fast" marathon was out. I started out running very slow and could not believe the number of people running as far as you could see in front and behind, it was just a massive wave of runners! The noise from the crown was deafening at some places. I was carrying 12 gels diluted in water and 20 oz of Gatorade, a 20 oz water bottle, and a camera in a case. The plan was to take a hit of gel every 15 minutes and a swig of Gatorade between the hits of gel. I stuck to the plan and pretty much had the cruise control set and it seemed to be working. I took a few videos along the way and had to make a pit stop at mile 10 not to mention a few short "stops" at Wellsley. The quads really felt the downhill around mile 15. The uphills from miles 16 through Heartbreak at mile 21 felt okay but the descents after each of those hills beat the legs up pretty good. The crowds at BC were loud as hell and I actually lost track of the miles. I saw 21 and the next mile mark I saw was 24! What a great feeling that was! The last 2 miles were tough, the little hills were taking a big toll on the legs. The turn on to Boylston Street was a relief. I had taken the camera out to video the finish. You could see the finish line but it never seemed to get any closer. After a minute or two my arm was killing me from holding the camera but not enough to turn it off! What a great run!!
What would you do differently?:

Nothing! Maybe next time I'll try to run for a better time.
Post race
Warm down:

Not much of a warm-down. Standing in line to turn in my chip and get my finisher medal. Walking a few blocks to get my clothing bag then another few blocks to get the bus back to the start line. A 45 minute ride back to the car, just enough time to really stiffin up. I managed to get back to the hotel to shower up before driving 5 hours home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Once again, lack of serious training.

Event comments:

The Boston Marathon ........ is there anything else to say?


Profile Album


Last updated: 2008-11-16 12:00 AM
Running
03:34:58 | 26.2 miles | 08m 12s  min/mile
Age Group: 1362/
Overall: 8756/25000
Performance: Good
5K Laps: 24.31 - 24.31 - 24.44 - 26.22 - 25.36 - 26.15 - 26.04 - 25.36
Course: What can I say about the most famous marathon course in the world?
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5