My last post was a race
report for the Boston 5K race, which is held two days before the Boston
Marathon. This post picks up where that
one left off.
Saturday, April 19
Race weekend is a time
when I get together with various running groups. My first meet-up was Saturday afternoon. Saturday was the warmest day of the weekend,
and I had some free time after lunch, so I went for a stroll through the Boston
Public Garden.
There’s a statue in the
garden called Make Way for Ducklings. On
marathon weekend, the ducklings are often dressed up. This year, the people doing the decorating
outdid themselves.
One of the groups I
always see in Boston is called Boston Squeakers. We met at Time Out Market. Getting there on the T was a bit of an
adventure. Time Out Market is near
Fenway Park, and I was going there about the same time that people were heading
that way for the Red Sox Game. Every
train was packed.
Tiem Out Market is a good
place for groups to meet, because there are dozens of long tables. There’s also a variety of food and
drinks. Our squeaker reunion lasted for
about two hours. Then a few of us went
out to dinner together.
Sunday, April 20
I had
breakfast with two friends who were also in town for the Marathon. We went to The Friendly Toast, which is a
brunch spot I had never been to before.
After
breakfast, I did a workout at the hotel and organized all my clothes for the
race. Then I headed out to walk around
town a bit.
Sunday
is the day that various running clubs get together for group photos at the
finish line. I belong to three groups
that were meeting for group photos. The
first one was Marathon Maniacs. They
always meet at the finish line at noon.
The
next group is called the World Marathon Majors Challenge Group. Runners in this group aim to run all of the
marathons that are collectively called the World Marathon Majors. They met at 12:15.
The
last group meeting for a photo was Boston Squeakers. They met at 12:30. After this group photo, I had lunch with two
of my squeaker friends.
In the
afternoon, I had another meet-up at Time Out Market. This time it was with members of the 50Sub4
club.
Time
Out Market has about a dozen restaurants, including one with pizza. After most of the others left, I stayed to
have dinner.
I went
to bed early, so I was already sound asleep when the fire alarm went off at
9:00 PM. This is the third time I’ve
stayed at a hotel that had a fire alarm while I was sleeping. It’s always the night before a race.
I
heard a few short bursts of an alarm buzzer that was too loud to ignore. Then I heard a PA announcement. I sleep with ear plugs, so I couldn’t hear
the announcement until I took out one of my ear plugs. By then, I had missed part of it. I was only semi-conscious, so I didn’t hear
it clearly. What I thought I heard is
that some floors might need to evacuate, but to wait for further instructions.
I
probably should’ve got up and got dressed, but I just wanted to go back to
sleep. After that, it was quiet for a
while, and I may have fallen asleep again.
After
a while, I heard the alarm sounds again, followed by another PA
announcement. I had my ear plugs in
again, so I didn’t hear this one at all.
I convinced myself that if we really needed to evacuate the building,
the alarms and announcements would be continuous. It got quiet again, so I stayed in bed.
When I
heard the alarm sounds a third time, I got up.
I took out my ear plugs in time to hear them say, “All clear.” Then I went back to sleep.
I
slept for a few more hours. I woke up
some time after midnight. Then my mind
was immediately on the race. My body was
ready to go back to sleep, but my mind was active. I tried to get back to sleep, but I was awake
for the rest of the night.
Monday, April 21
Monday
was race day. The third Monday in April
is a state holiday called Patriots’ Day.
The marathon is a big part of the Patriots’ Day celebrations, making it
a community event.
The
start is in Hopkinton. Most runners get
there by taking school buses that pick them up at Boston Common and drop them
off at Hopkinton High School.
Some
running clubs arrange for their own buses to take them to Hopkinton. I’ve been riding on a club bus for the past
several years. It costs extra, but it
has some advantages. Instead of being
dropped off at the high school, we get to stay on the bus until it’s time to
walk to the start corrals. The club
buses park at Hopkinton Elementary School.
There are plenty of port-o-potties near where the buses are parked, and
the lines there are much shorter than the lines in the Athletes’ Village at the
high school.
I was
lucky to be able to get a room at the same hotel where club buses pick us
up. I could board the bus any time after
6:15. The bus left at 6:45.
The
ride to Hopkinton took about an hour.
That gave us a lot of time to sit and wait before the race started. I knew several people on the bus, and I
brought some water and snacks.
To get
to the start corrals, we first had to walk over to the Athletes’ Village. From there, we walked the rest of the way along
the same route take by the runners who waited in the Athletes’ Village. In all, it was about 1.4 miles of
walking. I allowed plenty of time. There are port-o-potties set up around the
parking lot of a CVS that’s right near the start corrals. I stopped there for a final bathroom stop
before walking to my corral.
Boston
weather can change significantly from day to day. On Saturday, it was unseasonable warm, with a
high of 82. On Sunday, it was unusually
windy. On Monday, we had weather that
was nearly perfect for running a marathon.
The temperature at the start was in the mid-50s, and it didn’t change
much during the race.
The
race is divided into three waves with staggered start times. I was in the third wave, which started at
10:50. We were seeded into start corrals
based on our qualifying times. I was in
the second corral of my wave.
My
qualifying time was 3:26:56. Everyone
else in my corral had a similar qualifying time, so I was surrounded by runners
who were most likely aiming to run a time in the 3:20s.
I run
dozens of races each year, and the qualifying time I submit is always my
fastest time. I ran my best time on a
course that descends 3,700 feet. I can’t
run that fast on a more typical marathon course. My goal was to break 3:50, but I was
surrounded by runners who were much faster than that. One of the challenges in pacing myself well
was to ignore the runners around me. If
I kept up with them, I’d start way too fast.
Adding to this challenge, the first four miles are downhill.
The
first mile starts out sharply downhill.
I ran down the hill at a pace that felt comfortable. I knew better than to push the pace. Most of the runners around me were starting
faster. I did a good job of ignoring
them and just running my own pace.
The
course is marked in miles, but early in the race, they also had signs at each
kilometer. The first mile was mostly
downhill, but it turns uphill right at the one kilometer sign. Going up this hill, I maintained the same
effort as before. I didn’t worry about
slowing down. I didn’t want to expend
any extra energy on this hill.
I
needed to run an average pace of 8:45 per mile, but I knew some miles would be
faster and some would be slower. I was
hoping to keep my effort consistent. I
ran the first mile in 8:22. That was
faster than my target pace, but I expected that.
The
next three miles were also mostly downhill.
I ran them all at about the same pace.
After four miles, I was already 90 seconds ahead of schedule for a 3:50
finish.
Starting
with mile five, the course leveled off.
Some miles were slightly uphill.
Others were slightly downhill.
For the next several miles, there was verry little net elevation change.
Although
my target pace was 8:45, I could now afford to be about 10 seconds slower than
that over the next nine miles. If I did
that, I would reach the halfway mark right on schedule.
In
mile five, I kept up the same effort as before.
I wasn’t sure if that would give me the pace I desired. I had to wait and see. As it turns out, that mile wasn’t as fast as
the first four, but it was still a little bit faster than my target pace.
I
tried to ease up a bit in mile six, but my pace was still about the same. Now, I was starting to get concerned that I
was running too fast. On the plus side,
I was doing a really good job of ignoring all the other runners. Everyone was passing me.
In
mile seven, I did a better job is easing up on my pace. I slowed to 8:59 in that mile after doing the
previous mile in 8:39. It momentarily
shocked me to see that I slowed down by 20 seconds. I had to remind myself that this was the pace
I needed to be running.
Mile
eight was slightly uphill. I picked up
my effort, because I didn’t want to run any slower than the previous mile. I ended up running a little bit faster.
At
nine miles, we passed a lake. The wind
was blowing across the lake, and the breeze felt good.
Over
the next few miles, I was running a reasonable pace. Overall, however, I was still ahead of
schedule.
Runners
who have finished the last 25 Boston Marathons are members of the Quarter
Century Club (QCC). These runners have
special bibs on their backs with their names and the number of consecutive
Boston Marathons they’ve finished. QCC
members no longer need to qualify for the race.
As long as they keep finishing each year, they get guaranteed
entry. They also get to start in the
second wave, which gives them extra time to finish.
As I
was catching up to QCC members, I went out of my way to congratulate and
encourage them. I hope to join the QCC
someday, but it’ll take me another 11 years. By then, I’ll be in my 70s.
About
halfway through mile 13, I reached Wellesley College, where the students come
out and make a lot of noise for us. I
estimated I was about 70 seconds ahead of schedule, so I could afford to slow
down enough to take out my phone and take several pictures.
That mile was my slowest of the race, but I thought I was still ahead of schedule by about 25 seconds. When I reached the halfway point, I was shocked to see that I was actually 15 seconds behind schedule. My watch had been consistently giving me splits before I reached the mile markers, and the disparity had been growing. I realized now that my actual pace, on average, was about three seconds slower than the splits I was getting from my watch. I had to adjust for that in the second half.
I had
two goals for this race. My first goal
was to break 3:50. My second goal was to
run negative splits, which is challenging on this course. At this point, if I didn’t run negative
splits, I also wouldn’t reach my time goal.
I’ve
run lots of other racers after only getting a few hours of sleep. I usually feel tired before the race, but I
don’t notice it once I start running.
The lack of sleep doesn’t hit me again until sometime in the afternoon.
This
race has such a late start time that I wasn’t able to shake off that tired
feeling. I had felt tired since the
beginning of the race, and now it was already afternoon. I felt like my effort so far had been quite
reasonable. If I struggled in the late
miles, it was more likely going to be the lack of sleep that would catch up to
me.
For
the first half of the race, the wind was coming from the south, so it was a
cross-breeze. Now, the wind had
shifted. It was coming from that east,
making it a headwind. I had mixed
feelings about that. The breeze out of
the east would keep me from getting hot, but I didn’t know if it would be
tiring.
The
next three miles were downhill, and I used them to re-establish my pace after
having a slow mile going past Wellesley College. In mile 14, I picked up my pace enough that I
was now keeping up with the runners around me.
I sped up to 8:28 in that mile.
Mile
15 was also downhill, but not as much.
In that mile, I was just a few seconds under my target pace.
In the
second half of the race, I started to see digital clocks showing the current
time of day. To be an official finisher,
you need to finish by 5:30 PM. These
signs helped back of the pack runners know how much time they had to finish.
At
about 25K, I began a half-mile stretch that’s sharply downhill. Here, I sped up enough that I was passing
other runners for the first time. That
caused me to have my fastest mile of the race.
Just
before the 16-mile mark, I entered the town of Newton. The next five miles would be the toughest
part of the race. This section has
rolling hills. There are a total of four
hills. I knew exactly where each one
would start, and I knew exactly what each one was like.
The
first hill starts right where you enter Newton.
It’s a gradual climb, but it’s fairly long. On this hill, I challenged myself to keep
running my target pace, even though it took more effort. That hill was tiring, but after cresting the
hill, I had almost a mile to recover before the next one.
I saw
a spectator holding up a sign saying, “Welcome to Newton. Have a Fig Newton.” She was handing out Fig Newtons. If you didn’t know, Fig Newtons were named
after Newton, MA, so I couldn’t resist eating one.
Another
spectator was holding a sign saying, “I ran a 5K once.” I pointed at her and said, “I ran one on
Saturday.” That got a laugh.
When I
reached the 17-mile mark, I was pleased to see that I had run faster than my
target pace, even though that mile was mostly uphill.
At
17.5 miles, I made the right turn onto Commonwealth. This is where the second hill begins. This hill isn’t as long, but it’s
steeper. If I tried to maintain the same
pace going up this hill, I would tire myself out. Instead, I focused on maintaining a steady
effort. My time for that mile wasn’t as
fast as the previous mile, but it was still pretty close to my target pace.
After
cresting that hill, I moved to the right side of the street, to look for my
friend, Eliot, who was volunteering at the next aid station.
The
next hill was still more than a mile away.
Mile 19 is like the calm before the storm. I made good time in that mile.
The
third hill comes early in mile 20. This
is the smallest of the Newton hills, but I’ve learned to respect it. After cresting the other hills, you come back
downhill. After this hill, the road just
levels off. If you’re tired at the top
of this hill, you’ll still be tired when you start the last one. I gave up a few seconds in mile 20, but
overall, I was still on pace.
The
last of the four hills is Heartbreak Hill.
This hill starts out with a gentle grade, but it’s a longer hill, and it
gets steeper near the top. You’re going
around a bend, so you can’t see the whole hill when you start it.
Going
up Heartbreak Hill, my goal was to run at a pace that wouldn’t wear me
out. I was willing to give up some
time. What I didn’t want to do is wipe
myself out. I was slow on this hill, but
I knew it would be followed by a long downhill stretch. If I had enough energy to run well there, I
could make up the time I lost on Heartbreak Hill. There was a banner across the road at the top
of the hill, so you can see where the top was.
My
time for mile 21 was 9:20. My legs felt
heavy after Heartbreak Hill, but I was able to recover as I started running
downhill.
Mile
22 is all downhill. I adjusted my
stride, and I increased my cadence. In
this mile, I ran past Boston College.
The students there were cheering just as loud as the students at
Wellesley College. This is another
highlight of the course.
I ran
hard all the way through mile 22, using the downhill to try to gain some
time. I ran that mile in 8:28, but I was
disappointed that it wasn’t faster.
After
that, the course started to level off. I
didn’t know if I could keep up a fast enough pace when I wasn’t running
downhill. I fought to keep up with the
runners around me.
I was
most of the way through mile 24 when I caught my first glimpse of the giant
Citgo sign. It was still about a mile
and a half away. When I got there, I
would still have a mile to go.
I kept
up a good pace through miles 24 and 25.
At the end of mile 25, I had to go up a small hill to reach the bridge over
I-90. It’s only a small climb, but it
made my legs feel just as tired as they were at the top of Heartbreak Hill.
As I
reached the Citgo sign, I had exactly one mile to go. There’s a line across the street. I checked my watch. To break 3:50, I needed to run the mast mile
in 9:27. I knew I would do that. I had run faster than that in the mile that
included Heartbreak Hill. If I could put
on a strong enough finish, I might be as much as a minute faster than that.
I ran
under the Charlesgate bridge, which is painted with the words, “Boston
Strong.” I kept going and started down
the ramp to go under Massachusetts Avenue.
I wasn’t able to pick up my pace going down the ramp, but I fought hard
to maintain my effort coming back up on the other side.
I made
the right turn onto Hereford and worked hard to charge up the hill to get the
Boylston. By the top, I was starting to
slow down.
After
turning onto Boylston, I could see the finish line in the distance. It was about three and a half blocks
away. At first, I was just keeping up
with the runners around me. With a block
and a half to go, I was finally able to speed up.
I
finished in 3:49:07. I ran a Boston
qualifier with less than a minute to spare.
I ran negative splits by more than a minute. It’s the third straight year that I’ve run
negative splits on this course. That’s
never easy.
A lot
of people were stopping to take selfies just past the finish line. I kept moving as quickly as I could until I
reached the volunteers with finisher medals in the next block. The Boston medal is always my favorite.
Next,
a volunteer wrapped a heat sheet around me, and another added a piece of tape
to hold it in place. Now that I was no
longer running, I really needed that heat sheet. The wind felt much stronger on Boylston,
because of the way the wind gets funneled between the buildings. The temperature had dropped into the low 50s,
and the wind seriously felt cold now.
In the
next block, I accepted a small bottle of Gatorade from a volunteer, not knowing
the food bags would have a larger bottle of Gatorade plus a bottle of water.
When I
got to the end of the finish area, I only needed to walk one more block to get
back to my hotel. When I got to my room,
my first priority was taking a hot bath.
I had
a ton of post-race food, but I only ate a fraction of it. It was already 3:00 when I got back to my
room, and I was planning to have dinner at 5:30.
I had
dinner with several of my squeaker friends.
When I looked at a map, it didn’t seem like the restaurant was that far
away. It was about a mile, which was a
long way to walk after finishing a marathon.
We were talking well into the evening.
Tuesday, April 22
I flew home on Tuesday. In the airport, I saw several other runners wearing their Boston Marathon shirts or jackets. Some were still wearing their medals
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