I was not originally planning to write about my experience
racing the Boston Marathon, however, considering the epic conditions and the
stories and accounts from other races, I thought I would share my experience.
Leading
up to the race it was clear the conditions were going to be less then ideal.
Forecast called for 40 degrees. Perfect, I would love a 40-degree day. It also
called for rain. Not ideal, but my last marathon was run in the rain. Put those
together and it’s a cold day. Then the kicker; we would be running into 20 mph
winds with gusts up to 30 mph. That adds for a unique challenge. Its an epic
race, so why not add in epic weather.
Dana ran
Boston in 2007 when a Nor’easter came through. That year there was talk of
canceling the race, something that has never happened. We were able to use her
experience to my advantage. She suggested I bring an extra pair of old shoes I
could wear to the start and throw away so I could have dry shoes and socks when
the gun went off. This was probably the best choice I made.
My race
day clothing choices were compression shorts, race singlet, arm warmers, and
gloves that could pull off or over my fingers if they got to cold or to warm.
My throw away cloths were a long sleeve tech shirt from a race, a ¾ zip pull
over from a different race, and wind pants. When we got to Boston I decided to
buy an extra throw away hoodie and sweat pants to help keep me warm. I figured
it was better to have extra clothing instead of not enough. I also decided to
buy a cheap hat I could throw away if I wanted and found a compression SKINS
singlet to wear under my singlet to add a layer and help hold in my body heat.
The actual race day weather did not worry me, I knew the challenge would be staying
dry and warm waiting for the start.
Race
morning was exactly as predicted. Dana and I woke up, ate breakfast, dropped
off my gear bag so I would have dry and warm cloths right when I finished, and
headed over to the buses to take the athletes to the start. I was looking
forward to riding the bus, thinking it would be dry and warm. It was dry, but
not warm. It was cold enough that I could see my breath. It became even more
uncomfortable on the trip as I suddenly had to use the bathroom about half way
there. By the time the bus parked and we were let off the bus (I happened to be
in the back row) I had to go so bad my gut hurt. It was so bad, that less than
5 minutes of using the rest room I had to go again. Next time, I will make sure
to use the rest room right before getting on the bus.
After my
two bathroom breaks it was time to try and stay dry and as warm as possible.
The athlete’s village is set up on a baseball field of a high school. There are
two tents. The first one is on the grass. The second was partly on the infield
of the baseball field. The second tent looked to have more space, so I walked
over and I soon learned why. The rain had soaked the infield and half the tent
was just sitting in mud. Turning around, I went back to the first tent to find
a place to sit. Stepping over some snow and into the tent it became obvious it
would be hard to find a place to sit as it wasa packed! Everyone is shoulder to
shoulder sitting down with even more standing. I walked around and eventually
found a sliver of a place to sit down. After laying down a trash bag I had
brought my butt then became acquainted with the cold ground. The time was 8:15
am. 1 hour and 45 minutes to the start and 1 hour before wave 1 would make the
walk to the start corrals.
Normally
at the start of a race, especially a marathon, there is a feeling of nervous
excitement. On this day there was more of a feeling of misery, with everyone
trying to stay dry and warm. I made a choice to not think about it or let it
affect me, just focus on staying warm. I curled up as tight as possible and
waited.
After one
more bathroom break in which the wind was strong enough to blow my poncho
completely around, it was time to walk to the start. To get there, you had to
walk across a muddy field and through an ankle-deep lake that had formed.
Seeing the misery of other athletes who had little clothing on and whose shoes
were getting destroyed by the rain, mud, and walking through the lake, I was
never happier to have the extra throw away clothing and dry shoes and socks to
change into.
The walk
to the start is a long and by the time I waited in a long line to sue the
bathroom again, which was now probably more times then I do on a normal day, and
got into my coral, we were 10 minutes from the start. With two minutes to go
the sky started to rain cloths as everyone started discarding their extra
clothing and you could finally feel the excitement one normally feels at the
start of a marathon. Although I believe everyone was more excited to just get
running and warm versus running the Boston Marathon.
The gun
went off, the race started, and being in coral 4, did the slow walk to the
starting line. Crossing the line it was time to put all the training and my
plan into action. I had broken the race up into 6 sections, to focus on one at
a time. It’s always easier to think of the race in smaller parts versus one big
26.2 mile race The first 4 miles, then 7
miles to mile 11, 5 miles to mile 16, another 5 to mile 21, 3 miles to mile 24,
then the last 2.2.
The first
4 miles is mostly downhill. The plan was to use theses miles to warm up and run
conservatively. The first half mile is a steep downhill. Steep enough that if
you are not careful, you will lose control, slip, and have a hard crash on the
wet road. In fact, this did happen at one of the early aid stations as someone
slipped on a cup and went crashing down. I believe he was ok as he hopped up
and continued to run. The first 4 miles were executed just as I wanted with my
first mile being my slowest of the first 13 despite the steep early downhill.
The
second section was 7 miles to mile 11. This was mostly flat with a small hill
leading to mile 11. As I started this section, soaked to the bone, fighting the
winds, and looking at the crowds a smile crept across my face and I thought to
myself, this is awesome, this is fun. Settling into my pace and a smile on my
face, I pushed on. The rain continued and would continue all day with times
where it felt like a monsoon. We were running into the wind, but I never really
noticed it except when those gusts of wind blew through. If runners were a
little spread out, those gusts made everyone become a little cozier with each
other. It was during this stretch that right above my left knee start to hurt,
along with my left hip flexor. This was an issue the weak leading up to the
race. I was in Cedar Rapids for work and during my cool down on the Tuesday
before, running down hill to my hotel I felt the same pain, but worse, and to
the point where I could not really run the last quarter mile. It concerned me because
if it got worse, I would not able to run and it would be a long, cold walk to
the finish. It eventually went away but flared up after a quick bathroom break
at mile 9 (yep, 5 times on the day, the cold makes you have to pee more). It
felt worse this time, but nothing I could do, so I told myself it will go away
and it did after about 1 mile.
Passing
mile 11 I was now onto my third section of the course. The one that took me to
the start of the hills at mile 16. It was around here my quads started to hurt.
A bit early for that, but I contribute it to being cold before the start along
with the first 4 miles being mostly down hill and the extra stress downhills
put on the quads. At mile 12.5 you run past Wesley College and the stories of
how loud the girls of Wesley are live up to the hype. It was at mile 12 that I
could first hear them and I thought they would be 10 rows deep. Running by,
there were a lot of them, but they were making more noise than I thought was
possible. If you just heard them you would think there had to be at least twice
as many. Many were holding signs asking for kisses, others were pointing to
their lips, while others just screamed and gave out high fives. I did not
indulge in any kisses, but I saw other runners run up to the young ladies and
either give or get a kiss. No kisses on the lips, all on the cheeks. Soon after
I ran through the half in 1:23:25, a pace of 6:22 and 6 seconds faster then my
goal pace of 6:28 (under 2:50 marathon). I was feeling a little tired, but all
in all I felt good. It was the hill leading down to mile 16 that became a
problem and that really wrecked my quads. I knew I was really going to have to
suck it up.
This
5-mile stretch would take me up and over 4 hills to mile 21. Each hill is at
least ½ a mile long and the last one is the famous heart break hill that ends
at mile 20.5. The hills run separately would not be a big deal. After 16 miles,
it’s a different story. My plan was to run them conservatively because even
when you get over heart break, you still have over 5 miles to the finish. Some
runners seemed to pick up their effort on the hills, I just let them do their
thing and I stuck to my plan. It was on the 3rd hill that I heard
someone yell “Looking good Nick!” I was to the side of the road, kind of by
myself (other runners were further over to my right), so I knew it was intended
for me. I do not have my name on my singlet or race bib, so it was someone who
had to know me. I have no idea who it was, but it was nice to have some support
at the part of the course.
The hills
took a little more out of me then I would have liked, but at mile 21 a pace of 6:35
miles would get me under my goal of 2:50. Miles 21 to 24 are mostly down hill
(there are some up hills, but it’s a net down) and my plan was to let gravity
do it’s job and carry me down. There was only one problem. My quads were
screaming at me, they felt like they wanted to rip open and a downhill when
they feel like that are not friendly to the quads. Gritting my teeth, I pushed
on and mile 22 was a 6:33. From there, it was a struggle. My next split was a
6:55. I knew I still had a chance to break 2:50, just needed to get the legs
moving. Unfortunately, it was not to be. My next 3 splits were 7:19, 7:36, and 7:30.
I kept pushing forward and running on guts. The famous Citgo sign that marks 1
mile to go came into view. I knew it would take a while to actually reach it as
it is farther away then it looks (It’s a big ass sign). I reminded myself of
this and focused on pushing forward. Passing the Citgo sign I knew I would not
reach my goal time, but I would still PR unless I stopped to walk.
The
entire Boston Marathon course has only 5 turns the entire race. Two of them
come in the last ½ mile. I had checked out the final stretch the day before on
my shake out run and when I hit the first of these two turns, I knew I was
almost finished. The rain was still coming down hard and the three blue lines
that were painted into the street to mark the course were running and a blue
puddle in the middle of the street had formed. Then it was the final left hand
turn on to Boylson street and 600 meters to go. I had two choices, run in easy
and still get a PR or finish strong. This is Boston, so the choice was obvious.
Finish strong! It was not an all-out sprint, but it still hurt. But then the
pain went away as I let in the roar of the cheering crowds. All those who were
standing out in the cold and rain were screaming loud enough that I forgot
about my legs. Their cheers carried me to the finish line and as I crossed it,
I raised my right arm in the air. Victory! The cold, rain, and wind stared at
me and I did the only thing you can do, I stared right back and smiled. I
stayed the course.
Right
after the race I still felt fine. There was no chill. However, it was a long
walk to gear check. During this walk and waiting in line at gear check, I
caught the chill and started to shake. Even after getting out of my wet cloths
and into dry and warm clothing I continued to shake. It took awhile to meet up
with Dana and my parents and it was a long walk to the hotel. I was shaking
uncontrollably and looking forward to a hot shower. We finally got back to the
hotel and walking in, the staff and the Hyatt Regency started to cheer. They
cheered for every runner who came in. Two hours later, they were still lined up
and cheering. It brought a smile to my face. After getting upstairs to our
room, I took the best, most well deserved, 30 minutes hot shower of my life.
