Boston Marathon 2012

Me pretending to be a runner...

Where to begin..

This was one of the coolest experiences of my life. When the opportunity was presented to me 6 weeks or so ago to run the marathon for charity with a real live bib number and such, I just couldn't pass it up.. I have always wanted to run Boston, this was just my final kick in the pants to actually roll the dice. I have no endurance background whatsoever, and truthfully I dislike running anything over a 400m in a WOD, but this was just something I have always wanted to be able to say I did. 

Looking back, my training was pretty half-assed for this specific event even with the notice I had.. I just love CrossFit style workouts and weightlifting much more than I am ever going to like running, so I ended up doing a lot of stuff leading up to it that probably didn't help me all that much on race day.. But whatever.

That said, absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the weather that I faced today. I'll explain as I go through the play-by-play, but this whole experience went from "cool athletic endeavor I want to do well at" to "I just want to stay out of the hospital today"..

If I were to do it again, I would obviously do it with more notice, with a more cohesive plan, and I would do it with a friend who was going to stay with me the whole time, going at it alone was cool at times, but lonely at times too.. I think having someone would have been helpful. Obviously hindsight is 20/20.

Getting right into it.. (sorry if I skip parts or details, if I do, its simply because I was delirious and forget)

So we stayed at the Laborer's Training Center in Hopkinton about 2 miles from the starting line, which was great because we did not have to battle any traffic or stress on the morning of... I just woke up, showered, ate a bunch of eggs, bacon, coffee and fruit, and got dressed for the day. I decided a little while back to do the race in my Inov-8s because they are the only shoes I have been training in that did not give me blisters, and they force me to run the more POSE running style of a mid-sole strike, no heel-toe action.. Which is great for the joints (my knees and back don't hurt at all today as I write this) but really tough on the muscles, especially the calves.

Around 930 AM, we got to Athlete's Village and I was so overwhelmed. More people than I could have possibly imagined were scurrying around taking their final nervous pees, putting on body glide, and writing their names on themselves. I knew in the back of my head how the Boston Marathon is one of the more prestigious and sought after running events in the world, but I did not exactly process just HOW seriously people take this. Everyone looked like that had done nothing but run and starve themselves for 6 months.. I don't want to be a dickhead or all elitist about this, because I don't mean it in that way.. But runners have exactly the body type I would never EVER strive to have. Flabby arms that look like they could never do a pull up, terrible hunched over posture, and sinewy tan legs in short shorts. Sorry people, I am sticking with weight training. Yikes. (It was also at this point that I was just like "Damn, I am way out of my league here"..)

The temperature started to warm up to that point where everyone was applying their final coat of sunscreen looking around like "Ugh, this is going to suck" as we were sitting in the shade and already breaking a sweat.

My attitude sort of changed on the march from Athlete's village to the starting line as I started to look around and see a lot more of the shirts saying things like "Running for my son" or "Every stride is to beat cancer" and more things of this nature. This sort of perked me up because I was just thinking how much bigger this event was than me. SO many people running for SO many different causes and important things, and here I was just trying to check an item off my bucket list.. 

In what seemed like no time we were at the starting line and off we went.. I promised myself I wouldn't waste any energy running around people and gunning out of the gate, which I actually stuck to.. My first 5k pace of about 11 minute miles was pretty much exactly what I was trying to stick with, given the heat.. My original goal was 10 minute miles, but I upped that goal once I saw the forecast, and abandoned that goal entirely at about mile 17, as I will explain. The downhill, the adrenaline, and the slow chosen pace made the first 5k feel like I was not even trying, felt like a complete walk in the park.. I remember thinking "I could do this until Thursday".. (wrong)..

My major fears heading into this were:

• Exhaustion/dehydration/etc.,  basically anything that would require me going to a medical tent.
• Blistering
• Chaffing
• Legitimately injuring something like a hamstring, ankle, knee or toe.. Something that would just royally have pissed me off if it prevented me from finishing..

I ended up way overdoing the hydration, I stopped at legitimately every single water or Gatorade station for a few sips, which completely slaughtered my final time because you had to come to a complete stop and walk every time you did that and prance to avoid all of the refuse of rotten old cups from the thousands of people ahead of me (the stations were about every half mile, ballpark).. Fortunately I never succumbed to dehydration along the way, so I guess I was better safe than sorry on that front. I never ended up blistering or chaffing as I sort of assumed I would, which was lucky, and the only part that really hurt was my right hamstring, that I never could seem to quite loosen up after about mile 5. It wasn't debilitating, just sort of annoying.. Like when you feel like you need to crack your knuckle but it won't quite release..

After the first 5k, I told Patricia basically "You can go ahead, I don't want to hold you up, because I am planning on walking a little after every 5k to gear up for the next segment".. Fortunately she went right on ahead and ended up setting a PR in the heat... B-A-N-A-N-A-S... She is fucking amazing.

I thought I could sustain something to the degree of "run 5k or so, walk for a minute or so, repeat" for the whole thing.. This turned out to be pretty much correct for the first 10 miles or so. I ran the vast majority of that part and felt really, really good.. There was plenty of shade, I drank plenty of water, I didn't need to eat anything yet, all was going well..

I saw Nora and her sister at Mile 8 which was my first viewing of someone I knew on the sidelines, which made me really happy and carried me through to at least the halfway point near Wellesley College.. (PS college students are getting way younger, every one of them looked about 11 holding up the "Kiss me" signs.. Stayed way away from that, looked like a lawsuit waiting to happen)

I made it to the halfway point at about 2 hours, 30 minutes, which is high comedy considering the winning Kenyans do the whole thing in less time than that.. But in my head I would have been totally happy with a 5 hour finish, given the weather, my experience, and my training..

Here's the part of the race I was not prepared for.. The re-fueling portion.. And the mental "wall"..

So I knew you had to eat something over the course of the race, I just never really figured out what.. I was hoping people would just sort of hand out bananas and power bars and all would be well.. As it turns out, there were way more water stations than food stations and I was just completely and utterly unprepared for this. Patricia had given me some extra little energy gummy things that sat well but didn't really fill my stomach, which continually pounded in hunger. I eventually made it to Mile 15 or so and got a banana from outside of Whole Foods and plowed that shit down.. I did not at all take into account the process of trying to digest while in a race.. I tried to run way too quickly after eating and felt banana at about my Adam's apple, and was just like "Fuck, you need to slow it down or you might yak".. So I walked about a quarter mile hoping my stomach would settle, which it thankfully did and I was able to jog it from about that point to Newton Wellesley.. I saw my dad (who works at the hospital) and that was a really pleasant moment, because I was not sure if he would be able to track me at work well.. Right after the hospital was the Power Gel station, which I gladly ate because I was famished at that point..

Right before the turn at the firehouse I saw Nora again and then KT and Byerly which perked me up a lot, I needed a boost because I was starting to burn out a bit.. I made it to the hills and with the state of my legs I made the executive decision that I would walk the uphills and run the straights and downhills as best as I could. It was seriously less efficient to try to run up the hills at that point, I was legitimately passing runners by walking at a reasonable brisk walk pace.. And I think they were trying a lot harder than me. I saw Lauren and Leigh from FCF around HB Hill and that was another boost I needed because the hills were mentally draining..

At Mile 17...

At some point during the hills I realized my time was all fucked up and I was not going to grace any record books today.. But I sort of flipped the switch from "I want to do as well as I can" to "I just want to finish this come hell or high water, I don't care if I finish at 8 PM tonight".. I saw so many people in medic tents, and so many people just crapping out that I pretty much wanted to forego doing my absolute best and just make it to the ending. It was so discouraging seeing all the people drop like flies.. I was really scared... Every single step at this point felt like it might be "the one that makes my calf cramp up".. Seriously.. my legs were just not conditioned for this heat at all...

Some dude at the corner of Grant St. & Comm Ave was handing out freeze pops.. Best idea EVER.. This was the most satisfying thing I had all day.. The cold and sugar combo was amazing at the time..

One thing I have forgotten to mention until this point.. the Spray Stations.. So, I fully understand the intent and appreciate the nice gesture.. But people from Hopkinton all the way through the Newton hills had their personal house hoses turned on  and were spraying runners at will.. At first, this was awesome because frankly I was hot and the water was cold.. Easy solution.. But after a while I was like.. OK. My shirt is soaked, I don't need any more.. I think I almost chaffed on my nips because of all this spraying and wetness.. I think I legit got sprayed with water 20 times willingly, and 85 times against my will just because I was running on the wrong side of the street.. No exaggeration.

I slowed down considerably through the hills for obvious reasons and when I made it to BC I thought I should pick it up a little because it was mostly downhill and the students were awesome in that portion of the crowd, lots of awesome cheering between Lake St and Roggies... (and lots of Natty Light cans all over the ground.. ahh the good old days)

The  final major turn onto Beacon St. is one of the biggest mindfucks ever.. Because that is the first point that you can truly see Boston, its right there in front of you.. But there is still 3+ miles to go.. It's basically this mirage you think you may never make it to.. I saw Sarah K and Greg at the turn unexpectedly which was awesome.

I did the best I could through Brookline, but at that point I was 100% in survival mode, half death-marching, half running through the crowds, trying not to let that "one bad cramp" happen. Also, there is so much less shade in this part of the race, that I felt like I was melting.. Mentally I was so checked out around Mile 23.5.. I remember thinking "I think they must have taken the Mile 24 sign down, because there is no way it hasn't been a mile since the last one".. It felt like it took absolutely forever.. Fortunately I saw Tyler from FCF, and then most of my roommates drunkenly cheering loudly which helped me out a TON.. I needed a pick me up so badly here..

Once I got into Fenway, I tried to relax a little and smile again knowing I was going to finish, and that it was only about another mile and a half, just a matter of time.. From here on in I basically ignored the heat, ignored the pain, and just went one foot in front of the other the best that I could.. Once I turned onto Hereford, there was no turning back... The last 600 meters or so is pure heart.. My legs were just for show at that point, they felt like they had no strength left in them at all.. Saw a few more friends on the last 400 meter stretch and that carried me into the finish, where I almost didn't even know what to do with myself.. Like I almost couldn't believe it was over, felt like it was never going to end.

Final 200 meters...

What a day... 10 years from now I am not going to give a flying fuck that my time sucked, I will just care that I got the medal, finished it, and did so with 6 weeks notice with absolutely no background in this stuff, in grueling conditions.. Mind over matter.

Technically, I beat the Kenyan Mutai who won the whole thing last year because he dropped out at mile 18 with cramps.. Tortoise beat the Hare today.. KABOOM.

My main takeaway from this was that I probably won't be doing anything like a marathon or a triathlon any time soon, it's just not my scene..  I would rather do almost any other sport or lifting competition for fun before I do this sort of thing again.. I especially would not elect to put myself through that in that heat again.. When your mind is more worried about legitimate health concerns instead of your pace or your form, you know you probably shouldn't have been out there.. That said, it is amazing what the human body can do sometimes..

If you need me for the next two days, I will be resting and eating ice cream.