Once again, the Boston Marathon lived up to the hype. It was a 26.2 mile parade into Boston, with
people cheering almost the entire way.
I do remember a moment around mile 8 or so, where it was quiet, just a
lot of hot sweaty people running and breathing.
Every other moment I was surrounded by a cacophony of cheers and
cowbells.
Morning
I left my hotel room with plenty of time for a casual walk
to the buses at Boston Common. The
morning was already warm, so I didn’t need any throw away clothing. I was meeting my family at the end of the
race at the family meet up area, so I didn’t have a gear check bag. We were only allowed to bring a small bag
onto the bus, about the size of a gallon zip lock bag. In mine I had, a space blanket I kept from
RnR DC half marathon, a clif bar for second breakfast, a bottle of water, and
my on course nutrition (gu chews and base salt).
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| In Hopkinton - Thanks MarathonFoto! I'll be buying my photos as soon as I find more of me on course. My bid kept spinning around on me so I've had to hunt down photos. |
I boarded one of the waiting yellow school buses and grabbed
a seat next to a friendly looking lady :D We ended up chatting the entire trip
out to Hopkinton about families, working from home, Common Core pitfalls, running
clubs, etc. She was awesome, and
basically who I want to be in 9 years (she was 9 years older than me and running
her best times ever in the marathon distance).
Once we arrived in Hopkinton, I found an area under a tent
and took a little break laying on my space blanket. Eventually I needed to pee so I stood in line
for the porta-lets. While in this line,
I did more chatting with folks, but also noticed how the sun was beating down
on us. The medical folks were walking up
and down the lines offering sun screen.
It soon became apparent that it was much hotter than the advertised 62
degrees. Later reports said the temps at
race start were closer to 75. Once I’d
finished my business, I went back under the tent, grabbed a banana from the
food table and sat down to eat a banana and a bit of my clif bar, this was
about 75 minutes before race start. At
this point, I only sipped on water, so I wouldn’t have a sloshy stomach.
The Race
As we were walking to the race corals the heat became more
and more prominent in the chatter around me.
I was wearing my arm coolers, so I grabbed water from the folks just
outside the corals to pour over my arm coolers, I soaked them, however with the
amount of people around me and lack of breeze, they didn’t start cooling, until
mile 5 or so.
The start was CROWDED and HOT. I could smell the running humanity around me,
and there was no break in the wall of runners.
You were running the pace of the people in front of you, no other choice,
unless you wanted to waste energy by dodging around folks – not the best idea
with 26 miles to run.
At this point, as I started the third mile and was at an
8:20 average pace because of the crowds, I realized that it was the perfect
situation for a hot day like this. I
made sure to take a sip of water and dump water over my head and down my arms
at EVERY aid station. Boston has aid at
EVERY MILE MARKER. I stayed on top of my
nutrition and took in salt about every 30 min.
It was hot, and folks were not prepared for it. People started walking around mile 9. Several
times, I stopped to help someone who was cramping and share some of my salt
with them.
Side note: There were plenty of mom’s to be out there that
had qualified fast, and they were taking it slow. They had great signs on their backs to let
you know they were moms to be and would be stopping at aid stations, etc. Way to go ladies!!
The opening towns passed in a blur, and eventually I was in Wellesley. I could hear the screams before I could see
them, a wall of people on either side of the street with funny signs and hands
held out for high fives! I ran down the right side with a high five for
all. Awesome. Big smiles on my face.
Miles 13 – 15 felt like they took a long time, and right now there isn’t much I remember about them. I think it was during this time that I
grabbed some ice being given out by a spectator and tossed it down the front of
my top and heard a guy exclaim, “that’s crazy she just put ice down her shirt!”. The ice felt great but also melted almost
immediately.
Around mile 16 or so, I grabbed a Cherry Popsicle that
someone was holding out from the side of the road. It tasted like HEAVEN! So cold, YUM, and not
too sweet after the chews that I had been eating.
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| This is how the crowds make you feel! |
I saw my husband and BFF at around mile 22? (They would know
that better than me) and at that time I was in a good zone, however I was just
getting over some stomach cramping that caused me to miss a couple of “feed
times”. This may have impacted me a bit
at around mile 24 when the wheels started to fall off a bit, but part of me
just thinks that no matter what you do, mile 24-26 is 99% force of will needed
to keep you moving forward. I just kept
telling myself that if I walked I lost all chance of running faster than 3:45
(the BQ time for “mature” women like me).
I saw the CITGO sign in the distance and in the space of a
few minutes went from “AWESOME!!! CITGO SIGN I’M ALMOST TO THE FINISH” to “Oh
GOOD LORD, WHY ISN’T GETTING ANY CLOSER!?!?!?”
My legs were SCREAMING at me to stop, but it wasn’t that I didn’t stop,
I couldn’t stop. In that moment, on that
day, it wasn’t an option. Going much
faster didn’t seem to be an option either, haha, but my brain really held up
for me in those closing miles, I didn’t walk, I didn’t stop, I just kept
running.
So, what made that possible?
I believe that it has a lot to do with the fact that I had belief in
myself. From all the different races I’ve
run, in all the different circumstances, I knew that I had what it took to
finish that race. Also, importantly, I
had SEVERAL long runs under my belt.
Long runs in which there were times when I didn’t “have it” but when I
stayed the course and kept my wits about me, things came around. Or they didn’t come around but I knew that I
could hold an 8:30 pace without issues, if I just relaxed my shoulders and let
the run come to me. I just kept checking
in on my form and breathing… really breathing and relaxing and just ran.
I have never been prouder at the end of a race. I’ve run fast marathons, 9 minutes faster in
fact, but I’ve never had a smarter race, given the conditions of the day and I
consistently pushed down the negative and found a way to reach my goal on the
day.
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| Eyes on the prize! |
As I closed in on mile 26, I saw the stream of runners in
front of me making that right turn onto Hereford, and I knew I was going to
finish another Boston Marathon. There is
no other feeling like the one you get as you make that right-hand turn and
power up the LAST HILL. As I turned left
on to Boylston street, the crowd was raucous.
As I’m running in my narrow tunnel of awareness, I see a
signed American Flag flap in front of my face.
I look to my left to see a Veteran, running with a leg prostheses,
carrying the American Flag to the finish line.
I said to him “way to go!!” but it was drowned in the incredible volume
of cheers that preceded him, as people would see him approach, on his run to
the finish line.
I ran on, towards that beautiful yellow and blue line,
crossed it, and kept running, not yet understanding that I could, in fact, now
stop.
After the Race
It took a second or two, but I did realize that I’d
finished. I stopped my watch and was
elated to see 3:41, which is a BQ and stands to possibly be fast enough to get
me into the race next year.
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| Always special, always an honor |
Big Smiles! I grabbed a water handed to me. Big Smiles! I
received my medal. Big Smiles! They tied
a space blanket around me. Big Smiles!! I
started walking through the food line… ooh not feeling so good. I rounded the
corner after food, heading to the family zone… not feeling too good. I started to cry because I couldn’t find the
sign for where I was to meet my family.
A nice volunteer asked me if I was okay. I told her where I was trying
to go and she gently turned me around and pointed to the sign that had been to
my left.
The shakes had started and I felt SO COLD. Alex and Rachel found me and after a bit of
standing around we started to head toward where my Mom and Dad were with the
boys. Then I started to have severe
cramping in my intestinal area, oh no!!
Rachel asked me if I had any salt and I started to whine that it had all
spilled out and pulled out the canister.
She looked at it and said, no, there is a lot in here still. I swallowed all that was left. We sat on the ground and honestly about 5 min
later, I felt better. I think I lost a
lot of electrolytes out on course… my shoes had salt rings on them.
We walked back to the hotel, about 1.5 mile walk, and by the
time we got there I was starting to feel pretty okay. After a shower, I was still sore and moving
slowly, but feeling much better. Food still sounded awful, but I could eat
about 3 hours later.
That is the long and technical version of the race. The day I ran with my head and my heart. :D
Details
Strava Data: https://www.strava.com/activities/946827721
Nutrition Plan:
7:00 am - Coffee
7:30 am - Honey Peanut Butter and Banana, start sipping
water
9:30 am – Clif bar and banana
10:50 am – Race Start
during race – every 15 min 1 GU Chew, raspberry for first
half, black cherry (caffeine) for second half (the caffeine is probably
inconsequential, but I think it works, so it does). Hit of Base Salt every 30
min. Sip of water every mile.
I ended up missing a few chews… when I had the cherry
popsicle instead, and when my stomach started to cramp towards the end, I
thought I could make it the rest of the way without so I stopped eating chews.
Wish I would have taken more salt. I may have been sweating
more than I realized and my body had only experienced one “hot” run this spring.
Lessons Learned
-
Confirmation that it doesn’t help to dodge
around people in a crowded race
-
Nutrition plan may still need tweaking – going to
try a different chew see how my stomach feels, but this was by far the best my
nutrition has gone in a marathon.
-
Slow and steady is necessary in the heat
-
Believe – I know it sounds like a cat poster but
it’s true
-
Going in to “meditation while running” mode
helps me get through the down times.
-
There will always be a down time in a marathon, make
sure you have the tools you need to handle it.
-
Fusion Gear ROCKS! No Chaffing and I was pouring
water on myself the entire day.
Loved the report, great race Jill, it sounds like you ran so smart. Great job!!
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