Today's Run - 4/19

Today was the day I have been training for since December.  I did not have any trouble sleeping but still woke up before my 5am alarm.  I got up, showered and got dressed to go run my first marathon. 

Emily and I left the hotel to find a diner to grab breakfast.   We walked to the only 24hr diner in Boston for breakfast.  We entered the dinner to find the place pretty much empty, and the wait staff jumped into action once we sat in a booth. 

I needed to get a good mix of carbs and protein for the this meal; it was 6am and I had ~4 before the race and ~9hrs before I would eat a meal again.  I ordered banana pancakes, scrambled eggs, some banana bread and a coffee.   As we waited for our food the owner came over to talk with us. He told us about the diner's history and different movies that were filmed there.  He asked where we were from, if I was running the marathon.  Although he did not claim to have run the Boston Marathon and it was doubtful he ran at all,  he had lots of advice about the course and how to complete it.  He was very nice and as we finished up breakfast he gave me some banana bread and a coupon for a free breakfast the next day ONLY IF I completed the race.

We left the diner and walked to the Boston Common to load the buses to take me out to the Athlete's Village in Hopkinton.  We arrived at the Boston Common a little before 7am.   Emily and I were watching in amazement of all the runners ascending on the common and by 7am the lines were starting to get long.  As we took a few pictures of the crowd a woman asked if we would take a picture of her and her boyfriend.  After taking her picture, Emily noticed that the woman's bag showed that she was from Charlottesville!   We introduced ourselves and spent the time in line and on the ride to Hopkinton talking about Charlottesville, recent races we run, training, raising money for charities and the overall experience.  It was nice to connect with someone to pass the bus ride.   The bus ride was fairly somber, runners were reading newspapers, eating breakfast, talking about how many times they have run Boston, and debating what will be the hardest part of the race.

 
We arrived at the Athlete's Village a little before 9am.  I had hoped to get to the Michael Carter Lisnow Respite Center before the race but there really was not enough time.   I had been drinking water all morning so the first thing I did was stand in line to use the porta-potty.  That killed about 30mins of time!  

I headed into the main village to check things out. To create the Athlete's Village, the BAA took over the high school athletic fields, put up tents to serve water and food, created walls of porta-potties, and constructed a scaffold for the local announcer to survey the crowd.   There were people everywhere!  Runners doing yoga, dressing, eating, and doing warm-up runs.   I found a spot in the main tent to sit down, eat some more banana bread, drink more water and wait until it was time to head to starting corrals. 

With about 45mins to go, I took off my warm-up suit, put on my bib and cut a couple holes in the trash bag I was sitting on to use it as a wind breaker.  I decided I better use the porta-potty again before heading out.  This time the line was not as bad.   As I waited the local announcers gave commands about starting times and other general information.   The announcer notified the crowd that Massachusetts National Guard F14 would be flying over head.  About 2Mins later 4 F14 came roaring across the tree line.  He said the planes would fly the 26.2 mile course in 4mins, and the crowd ahh and then groaned knowing that they had a bit longer of a journey.  The planes few over at ~10am to mark the start of the race.

I followed the crowd to the Buses to check our bags and then head down to the starting corrals.   The starting corrals were ~1/2 mile from the athletes village and it was a good walk to warm up a bit.   The crowd was in a good mood as we walked to corrals.  We got to my starting corral at about 10:20 and waited for the Wave-2 starting pistol to fire.  Once the gun went it took about 15mins before I hit the starting line to offically start the race.

I started out feeling good the runners moved pretty a quick cadence, and I fell into an easy pace.  The spectators were great in Hopkinton to start the race.  The folks cheered and lined the street with extended hands to give the runners High-Fives.   I spent most of the race on the left edge of the runners to get a good view of the crowd.

My goal was to run the first 13miles at 9min pace and I started out a little quicker than that averaging a 8:50pace.  I was happy with that considering it was downhill and I had heard the bad stories about starting out to fast.  As I ran through the first 5K I started to gain confidence and was really enjoying the run.  I was trying to soak in the crowds and what was going on.  Driving the course helped as I picked out things I remembered.  I counted the number of Dunkin' Doughnuts, looked for the Framingham Train Depot and different churches along the route.

I got through the first 13miles just as I wanted at a 9min pace!  I was feeling pretty good and thinking that my plan had worked exactly like I wanted.  A little before mile 13 I noticed my left foot felt like it was starting a blister, and my left calf was starting to get tight.   I continue to push on modifying my gait a bit to see if I could loosen up my calf.  I found that running on flat roads hurt the most when I landed on my mid-foot.  I concentrated to land heal first and see if I could stretch my leg as I ran.   I quickly realized that this was something that I was going to struggle with for the next 13Miles.

The sounds of crowd started to grow more intense the closer you get to Boston.   The first big crowd interaction after the start is at Wellesley College.  The girls were out in full this year with signs for free kisses for runners and screams that made me think I was one of The Beatles.   As I left the girls of Wellesly my leg cramp really set in, forcing me to stop and stretch it.  At about mile 15,  I stopped because my left calf muscle had completely cramped up and a specatator offered me Advil as I was bent over in pain.   I suppose it could have been just about anything she gave me, but  they kicked in at about mile 18 right before the start of Heart Break Hill climb in the Hills of Newton.  I do remember seeing the Fire Station and thinking here come the hills.

Heart Break Hill is well named, not because it is overly steep but because it goes on for a long time which can break your will to run.  The crowds were great and almost push you up the hills.  It was a great relief to get to the top and know that I had made it through the hardest parts of the course.

Coming out of the residential setting of Newton and into the more urban setting of Boston College was a big change in spectator attitude. The Boston College students were out and mostly drunk to cheer on the runners and I needed every ounce of energy they could spare.  The Boston College energy somehow got me from mile 22 to 25 with my left leg cramping but not as bad as earlier.  The CITGO sign began to taunt me once it came into view.  It never seemed to get any closer, just staying on the horizon.   At a water station I saw a volunteer with a UVA shirt on, I called out Wahoowa! as I took the water cup.  Once we hit mile 25, the pack started to pickup up speed and I worked to keep up.

The crowds continued to grow the closer I got to the finish. I pushed on towards the end and my thoughts started to turn to finding Emily near the finish line.  I was not sure where she would be and even if I would see her.  I turned onto Boylston St and I could see the finish line structure in the far distance.  I moved to the center of the road to so that I could see the entire scene and the crowds.    With about 2 blocks to go, I heard a group calling my name and saw Emily waving a sign "Run Doug Run!".

I darted over to the rail where she was and stopped in for a hug and kiss on my way to the finish.   After seeing Emily, I had a burst of adrenaline which helped me get to the finish line.  I crossed the line with my arms up and a smile!