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Comments: At the gun it takes me and the rest of my corral a little under two minutes to get accross the line. I knew from other's race reports that the first mile you are basically stuck with the pace that is given, but it was still frustrating not to be able to stride out a bit and let the legs go. First mile was around a 7:08 or so which was off of what I wanted. Mile two was much of the same but I was able to pick out a little more breathing room and it was in the 6:55 range, or right near the 3 hour pace goal. 3 was better with a 6:48-ish. But it was about there I started to get frustrated with my HR. Even though I was not working that hard and my breathing was easy, my HR was through the roof and wouldn't stay below 180 (my LT is about 176 or so). I knew that that would be bad news if it didn't come down because through the first 5k I was totally above LT and the lactic acid was just building in the old muscles. Wonderful ..... I knew I had to be smart and back it off a bit to see if I could get it back down. I didn't want to as my pace was where it needed to be and I wasn't feeling like I was working that hard but I had to start damage control for the HR. I kept checking and it wasn't really going down even though I was incrementally backing off the pace. By the 10k I had felt like I backed off a lot but my pace was still a 6:53 average (versus a 6:51 at the 5k). Still at the high 170's to 180 range I was shaking my head and forcing myself to slow more. By the 15k mark I finally had the HR down into the correct range of mid to low 170's and my overall average pace had fallen to 7:01 or so. This was when the sign of the doom to come hit ...... not one but BOTH calves started twinging. Threw me for a loop. I had been hydrating fine and took my Gu at 5 miles as planned and before the start had peed nice and clear so I wasn't dehydrated. How in the fu-k could both legs be cramping only 9 miles into a marathon??? I expected to get some twinges as usual but not until around the 22 or 23 mark, not this frickin' early?? It was right then and there that I knew for sure it was going to be a really long day on the road ....... We had gotten more rain starting around the 6 mile mark or so and this persisted on and off for the next 7 or 8 miles. By the time I got to the W girls at around the 20k mark my pace average was down to 7:11 and it was steadily declining. And I wasn't even to the hills yet. I did give a few high 5's and gave one of the girls a peck on the cheek (for the whole Boston experience since this is the only time I ever plan on doing it) but I was still starting to feel the slide down. There was no way in hell I wasn't going to finish, but my goals were totally out the window at this point. After the pure crescendo that is Wellsley it was much quieter through the half mark and I was still on pace (on paper) to hit my BQ time of 3:12 or better. But I knew that wasn't happening with the way the legs felt. I was starting to get twinges in other muscles by then, not just the calves. I was still hydrating as much as possible and had taken another Gu at 10, but it wasn't helping. The next few miles were just slogging through the distance and knowing that the Newton hills were coming. I didn't know quite what to expect, but I vowed to run the whole damn way up each one no matter what. I hadn't walked yet and I sure as hell wasn't going to let myself walk up them! First one was long, but manageable even if 95% of the people were passing me. Tried to recover on the run into #2, slogged up that one and tried to recover for #3. While going up number 3 I had to laugh because this dude came by saying"This is what it's all about, climbing Heartbreak Hill in Boston!" Ummmm, hate to tell you dude ...... that's the NEXT hill, not this one, even I knew that ...... Some guy running near me said out loud what I was just thinking, but the other guy was already out of ear shot. After getting through #3 I knew there was only Heartbreak left. I gritted the teeth, rolled my eyes every time I looked at my watch for mile splits as they were skyrocketinging faster than Google's stock and just pressed on. I got to the base of HB and just slogged on. Ran the whole thing and sighed a little relief at the top. Once you crest the main part there is a slight decline before a short incline and people were taking off with their eyes on the prize only 5 miles away. But that's about the time my legs decided they had had enough of this running sh-t and decided to lock on up. About a half mile from HB I had to stop and massage out some charlie horses from various places in both legs. I stretched and massaged and tried to run on. No dice. I could run about 3 or 400 yards or so before the muscles would lock up again. The next three miles were walk - massage - walk - jog - lock up - massage - walk ........ repeat. After the hills I still had some hope that I could squeek out a sub 3:30 if I could somehow run the rest of the way. Not anymore after the first bout. After the Citgo building it was down under one of the roads and then snake through some other buildings to Boyslton St. After attempting to run anything remotely downhill or uphill without success I walked the underpass and when I got back to level ground I said "this is it, you need to make it to the finish." As my Road ID has engraved on it ..... "Suck it up, Buttercup!" I grit my teeth and ignored the twinges and cramps and did my best Ironman Shuffle. I made the turn onto Boylston and saw the big blue banners ahead. The crowds were deep, the road was wide and there were people all around grinning as they suffered the last few hundred meters. I pointed at the banners as I made the turn and saw them and said "That is what it's all about!" and kept pushing. No way in hell I'm going to walk accross that line! I pull the shoulders back, strighten the jacket out and do my best to run in with my head up and a few fist pumps. As I get near the finish I do the rockin' metal salute with a few pumps keeping my head up and smiling for the cameras. One of my worst races to date, but I finished the Boston Marathon! What would you do differently?: Not sure. Since I have no idea why my body decided it would "have none of this excercise crap today" I don't know how I could have made it better. Maybe backing it off early on and not trying to push the pace when it was obvious so soon that it wasn't going to happen that day. Perhaps I could have run 15 - 20 minutes better by throwing in the pace towel early on instead of the progressive decline that happened. :shrugs:  Post race
Warm down: Walked through the finish area got my mylar space suit, some food, dropped off my chip and got my medal. Hobbled to the family meeting area and Dave found me. Hobbled for a bit and then waited while he went to get his car and drove us home. What limited your ability to perform faster: Whatever bug it was that made my HR stay high and whatever it was that caused me to start cramping so early. I can't blame my training because I was well set for the event. Maybe I peaked too early and the half marathon I did in March was my "A" race conditioning and not this one. I really don't know why I had such a crappy race. I felt good about everything all the way up to the first few miles. It just wasn't my day to shine. Event comments: I had a great time overall, just a bad race. Boston's reputation as the spectator supported and best marathon "experience" is well earned and truly amazing. I was surprised that I wasn't upset by such a crappy performance from me, but realized that the fans cheering you on, the kids who beam with joy as you take an orange slice from them and the overall positive vibe even in the worst conditions in years makes this an amazing thing to have earned the honor to participate in! How can you really have a "bad day" when you just finished the Superbowl of marathons! Last updated: 2007-01-09 12:00 AM
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United States
Boston Athletic Association
49F / 9C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 9584/
Age Group = M 18 - 39
Age Group Rank = 3106/
I had laid all my stuff out the night before so up at 4:50, got dressed in most of the race stuff except shoes, socks and jacket and threw on the "throw-away" sweatshirt and pants to keep warm until the start. Hopped in the car with Dave and he drove me down to the buses. Once on the buses it was about a 45 minute ride to Hopkinton with one stop to assist a bus that had broken down and take on some of their passengers. Got to the athlete's village and quickly headed through the muck to the big azz tent they had set up. Grabbed some Gatorade and found a small patch of grass to sit on and wait the hour until we had to go line up.
At about 9:10 I took off the throw-away clothes and got suited up with my race stuff and shoes. I put everything in a bag and went to the information tent to donate them to charity and walked to the start. It was lightly drizzling but the wind was down and the temp. was not ridiculously cold. Took a pair of the knit gloves they were giving out as well as two little tea towels to wipe off.
I picked up another Gatorade as well and ate my Clif Shot Bloks and drank the energy drink on the way to the line and stopped for a pee break along the way, noticing nicely that it was relatively clear which meant I was hydrated well - which had been one of my worries with flying up Sunday morning and then going right to the Expo. and walking wround. I got to the corrals and it had picked up a little with the rain. That ended a few minutes later and it was almost a pleasant time to start. Light winds and little precip. Chatted with my fellow corralers and thought about running with someone who also had a sub 3 goal in mind.
Uh, right ...... it's a marathon .....