Boston Marathon - RunMarathon

wow. what can i say................well, alot actually so here it goes!!! this "journey" for me is a byproduct of training for ironman wisconsin 2011 so this was a "A minus" race for me. initial plans had my family and others heading out to boston the wednesday or thursday prior to raceday. then got some news that changed everything to to point that i wasnt going to be able to do boston at all. thats when bscharff stepped in and planted a little seed in my wifey's ear over on facebook. his comment was simply, "why not do it, you can catch a late flight on sunday night and return on monday night. easy".....well the lovely spouse saw that and actually agreed to it (honest, with no prompting from me, her reason was simply, you already registered and spent that money so it would be like we are actually saving money by not spending so much on hotels and eating out while all of us were out there!). hey, a smart husband doesnt argue with his wife so i "sadly" agreed!!! BUT THEN the plans that changed everything fell thru which left me with the quick turnaround flight all booked and reserved. looked into changing it and found out they wanted double what i paid to change it so i decided to try standby for the way out and keep the return as booked. standby worked out and i arrived in beantown at about 5 PM and got to the hotel (stayed with gofish and her hubby "juice", thanks again guys!) at about 530 PM and got settled and then off the the restaurant where they had 7 PM reservations (rabians or something like that, italian and f'n delicious!!). but we didnt get seated until a bit after 8 PM.........spaghetti with meatballs and then back to the hotel to get stuff together for the race and hit the sack.

alarm goes off the next morning and i take care of things. stomach a bit "grumpy". get dressed and go down to the lobby to walk around a bit and use the bathrooms there. back up to the room to meet up with juice, back to the lobby to meet others and then over to the busses for the ride to the start. uneventful ride and got to the athletes village a bit after 9 AM and in need of the portapotty (see "event warm up"). over to the corral, toss my "throw away sweats" in the bag and wait for the start.

off we go!!! about a half mile in i get clipped on the side of my right shoe just perfectly that it unties!!! so in my infinite wisdom i proceed to have the following discussion in my head:

me: uh oh, i think my shoe is untied......crap, yep it is.
Head: dude, deal with it, keep running you'll be fine
me: ok, sounds good....wait........im not even at the mile mark
Head: DTFU sally, deal with it!!
me: yeah i guess you're right, you are smart......um WAIT!! IVE GOT 26 MILES TO GO, IM STOPPING AND TYING THE DAM SHOE!!!
Head: ok, you win.

so off to the side to tie. goes quick with no issues and back into the flow of traffic. amazing to see soooooooooo many people with their hands out wanting high fives. i indulged the littles kids i saw. first 5k comes and goes and im right on pace (high end goal was 2:49:59) and feeling GREAT! kept on going just staying comfy and about mile 11ish my tummy issues are back. mile 12ish i decide i need to hit the next portapotty or there will be a need for a clean up on aisle 5 situation!! hit the portapotty (sorry to whoever used it after me!!!) and back out i go. hit the half at 1:25 so still on pace. keep consistent and hit the girls of wellesly. everything i have heard about the course and the peeps have been spot on. except for this. true, i heard them way before i got there but i wasnt prepared for the LOUDNESS! seriously, i was running on the right side of the road and about half way thru this point i switched because their screaming was actually hurting my ear!!! so past them now and still marveling at all the people lining the road. also thought at this point........."man, where did they get all those f'n oranges from??" it seemed like everyone had oranges and handing them out at this point!!! took a couple here and there and hit the hills. no problems until about 18.5 when the tummy issues arrived once again, but with more power!! so, same routine as before as i totally demolished the next portapotty i saw!! (again, wouldve hated to be the next one in there!!) back on the road i go and although slowing down some still feeling good. mile 25ish some cramps in the hammies arrived and then the struggle began. could feel the course and pace taking the toll and by then all the people cheering just became flat out annoying!!! (appreciated tho!) gimped in across the line, and got ready for the finishers photo and...........GOT CUT OFF BY SOME GUY IN A STUPID RED SHIRT!!! el jerko i say!!! whatever! so take the slow walk thru the finishers chute, stumbling in the beginning on tired legs but by the time i got handed a bottle of water i was walking alright. thru the chute, bag of food, medal then out and back to the hotel, shower, over to the airport and fly home, landing at 730 PM monday night.

not much, things happen sometimes that just kind of happen. looking at my splits i could theoretically say that i could take the time off for the pitstops and i would end up around the 2:53:30 range...........but the oficial time is what it is!! either way, i went after my goal, ran a great race and had a fantastic time in doing so!!

thanks to all who tracked and supported me throughout this experience, very very much appreciated!!!!!

the walk back the hotel!


um...........tummy issues?


if you get the chance to run this or even to just go out and watch this, do it. it is an experience worth doing at least one time!!!