A PR in Boston

112th Boston Marathon
Boston, MA
2008 Boston Marathon Bib #4347
½ Marathon Split: 1:29:29
Finish time: 3:00:06 PR!! 1250 OA 6:52 pace

I can now see why everyone wants to run Boston at least once in their life. This was an awesome race with the most supportive crowds I've ever seen.

The day dawned cloudy and just a tad warmer than I expected. Still perfect running weather as I met my teammates at MIT to catch our charter bus to the start. Having our own bus (shared with other running teams) was great as it meant having own own bathroom along the way and at the start. I fueled up with a bagel, peanut butter and a banana. A quart of Gatorade and some water provided pre-race hydration. About an hour before the start we made our way through the mass of humanity to drop off our clothes and enter the corrals. Starting in the 4th corral, I managed to get right up against the rope separating us from the third corral. Five minutes before the start, the clouds disappeared. Darn. Some last minute Gu and water and a filling and disposal of my "special needs" bottle *a very useful item for guys* and I was ready to run.

The first mile was slow and even more crowded than I expected. I made my way through the crowd without any real sense of urgency simply looking to move up and avoid contact with any other runners. The crowds here were already much bigger than I imagined they would be. Around mile 3, I caught up to two of my training partners who started a corral behind me. Somehow, they managed to move way up to the 3rd corral after they dropped the ropes a minute before the start. Since we all run about the same pace, and all had a sub 3:00 goal, I decided to run with them until mile 10. My race plan called for me to run the first 10 miles by heart rate staying about 5bpm lower than my overall target HR. I hoped that this would keep me from going out too fast and destroying my quads on the early downhills. The next miles were spent cruising along chatting with my buddies and handing out high 5s to some of the kids along the sides of the road. As we approached mile 10, I knew I had a decision to make. My partners were both complaining a bit about the heat. I felt fine and was starting to hit a really nice groove. By mile mile 11, I decided to just go with my groove and let them follow if they wanted. I wasn't sure how long this grove might last but 2 miles or 15 miles, I knew that I needed to ride it as far as I could since I always seem to struggle with miles 15-20 of a marathon. I took off and cruised on into Wellesley. The girls here were everything I had been told to expect and while I didn't stop for kisses, I had fun encouraging them to scream louder and really fed off of their energy. The next miles on into Newton were steady and felt great. My legs were definitely starting to feel the effects of all the early downhills, but I continued to run controlled and comfortable. I passed the halfway point at 1:29:29. Since the second half hills usually cost a runner about a minute, I knew that I was cutting it close but was right where I wanted to be.

The Newton hills weren't as bad as I expected. I talked my way over and down each hill reminding myself to shorten my stride on the uphills and not get too carried away on the downhills. About this time, I caught up to Joe, one of our club's fastest Masters runners and a much stronger runner than me. He was really hurting. Joe injured his foot the week before and was just trying to gut this race out. I offered him some words of encouragement and pushed on. Our running club had an aid station set up at mile 20.5. Starting at mile 19, I was really looking forward to seeing everyone. At mile 20, I moved to the right side of the road and started looking for our signs. Our crew had put up signs all along this mile encouraging Team Red Lizard and I really enjoyed seeing them. Finally just as I started up Heartbreak Hill, I saw our station. I really wanted some water at this point. I was wearing my fuel belt and carrying Gatorade and water. I still had plenty of Gatorade, but was out of water. I still wanted to take a Gu at mile 22 and had that sticky taste of sports drink in my mouth. Unfortunately, I grabbed a bottle of clear liquid at the Red Lizard station that turned out to be Gleukos instead of water. I took about 3 sips and decided that this was exactly what I did not need and pitched the rest. I cruised over Heartbreak and down the backside. At the next slight uphill, I caught Len, another clubmate that I never expected to see today. As I approached, I thought we might run together for a while. When he saw me, he told me to just go on. His hamstrings were shot and he was just holding on now. Man, this course was really taking a toll.

The BC crowds were amazing. I think they were louder and more encouraging than the crowds at Wellesley. Unfortunately, the Gleukos was now beginning to cause my stomach to tighten a bit. I really feared that I might have to stop and puke, but a cup of water at the next water stop and a cool sponge from a spectator helped to calm everything back down. Somewhere around mile 24 I caught my first sight of the Pru. I knew now that I would finish and that I should be able to hold my pace in doing so. My quads were at the hairy edge, but as long as I didn't do anything stupid on the remaining downhills, they should hold up. Here, I also caught another clubmate that I never should have seen. Poor Win had stepped off to the side of the course trying desperately to stretch out a cramp. I tried to offer some encouragement as I passed, but he was not looking happy. Just past the Citgo sign, my stomach starting acting up again. A couple of belches helped to hold off any chance of tossing up my last Gu. The crowds now were incredible and I started to pick up the pace. I knew that 3:00 was going to be close, but I wasn't quite sure which side of the clock I would come down on. As we made the final turn, I couldn't believe how far away the finish line looked. I just asked my legs to give me whatever they had left and pushed towards the finish focused only on finding a clear path through the carnage around me. It felt like I was passing 20 runners for every runner that passed me. I raised my arms in triumph as I crossed the line and stopped my watch. 3:00:08. Ugh. I figured that I might have started it a tad early, and that I had stopped it at least a second late, but there was no way I could get 8 seconds. As I made my way through the finish area, I met up with Tim, our Sunday run leader. He had faded at the end and finished in 3:00:30. That meant that I passed every one of my training partners, despite the fact that at least 4 out of 6 are probably stronger runners than me. In that respect, this race was everything I could have hoped for.

In the end, I'm disappointed that I couldn't find 7 seconds somewhere, but I ran the race I wanted to and executed my plan exactly. I also more than beat my number which was another goal since the numbers are assigned based on qualifying time. Boston was an amazing experience and I will certainly run it again someday. The next time, I may just run for fun and really take in the sights and sounds. I missed many of the landmarks along the way since I was intent on maintaining focus on my pace and effort.