Back
from a great weekend in Boston.
Yep, ran my second Boston marathon.
Had a good race. But to start the story properly, I have
to go back a
year,
to Boston 2000. Had a wonderful
weekend last year too. At that
point,
I didn't know if I could make it to Boston this year. Oh, I knew
I
was still qualified for this year, but the problem was the closeness of
Passover
to the Boston marathon. The
marathon was after Passover, but I
would
have to travel on Passover. Very
tough to do. The problem is
meals. I figuured I would have a year to think
about it. Then in
November,
running an ultra marathon, I broke my foot. Yall know that
story
(see Rocky Trails Report, November 2000).
A great story, but at
that
point, I figure, forget Boston. It
is six months to Boston and I
have
a broken foot, facing at least 6 weeks of zero running, followed by
some
form of rehab. However, when I get
my cast off, my doctor tells me
he
doesn't see any reason why I can't do Boston (yes, he is a marathoner
too),
so with his blessing, I sign up for Boston. When I start running
again,
I have spent 5 weeks on crutches and 2 additional weeks in a
walking
cast. It is now mid January. I have four months to get back
into
marathon shape from scratch. Now I
did cheat a bit. On Dec 31, I
ran
(more like a slow slow trot) 1/2 mile.
At a 13 mpm pace. But it
was
a
start.
Yet
here I was, April 16, in my corral (number 7) in Hopkinton.
But
my foot wasn't the only obstacle to overcome. The other was Pasover.
I have always observed Passover
closely. I couldn't see myself
breaking
Passover
early to travel. What to do. What to do. Then I figured it
out. Leave late on Saturday, April 14. That means I only have to work
out
three meals. Saturday night
dinner, Sunday breakfast, Sunday lunch.
Further
research showed I could get a kosher for Passover meal on the
airline. Ok, I have it all worked out. I mail in my entry and get my
airline
and hotel reservations.
Now
to get to training. I have to ramp
up quick. I am at close to zero
weekly
mileage. The week of 1/14-20/01, I
run a total of 19 miles, with
a
long run of 5 miles. I'm starting
from scratch all right.
1/21-27/01
weekly mileage 26.8 miles, long run 8 miles
1/28/01-2/3/01
35.25 miles, long run 12 miles
2/4-10/01
37.4 miles, long run 15 miles
2/11-17/01
45.2 miles, long run 18.2 miles
2/18-24/01
46.2 miles, long run 21 miles
2/25/01-3/3/01
46.2 miles, long run 18 miles
3/4-10/01
56.3 miles, long run 21 miles
3/11-17/01
50.2 miles, long run 18.2 miles
3/18-24/01
46.3 miles, long run 15.3 miles
3/25-31/01
50.7 miles, long run 28.7 miles
4/1-7/01
44.1 miles, long run 10 miles
4/8-15/01
35 miles, long run 13 miles. I am
ready.
With
a suitcase loaded with Passover foods to get me through Sunday, Gaye
and
I leave for Boston on Saturday, April 14.
The airline comes through
with
a Passover meal for me. Stuff I am
sick of from 7 days of Passover
so
far, but it is a meal I can eat.
We arrive in Boston early (yes, the
airline
got us there early!!!!) and then it was to the hotel. We check
in
around 9 pm and are asleep by 10 pm.
It has been a long day. Up
early
Sunday morning, I have my breakfast of coffee, matzah and hard
boiled
eggs in the hotel room. Yuck. Then it is off to the expo. I get
my
packet, buy some stuff, then back to the hotel room for lunch and
rest. I am watching the clock. At 8:07 pm I can have REAL food. We
look
for an Italian restaurant nearby.
Eventually, we end up at the Uno
Pizzaria
next door to the hotel. I load up
on pasta and back to the
hotel
to sleep.
The
alarm goes off at 5 am. I get up,
get dressed and have a quick
breakfast
of coffee and a bagel. Last year,
I ate breakfast at a nearby
IHOP
before the marathon. This year, I
went to look for the IHOP...and
found
a hole in the ground. The entire
block had been torn up for new
construction. But I had a backup plan. Before Passover, I gave Gaye my
bagels,
power bars, and GU and she had brought my bagels (and my power
bars
and GU) for me. At 6 am, I head to
the T station and I get to
Boston
Common in time for the first bus to Hopkinton.
I
go to the food tent, get a cup of coffee (my third that morning),
another
bagel, and go to the other tent to relax.
By 9:30, I am tired of
freezing
in the tent and go outside into the sunshine to warm up. I
finally
meet some friends from Houston and sit with them. Have another
bagel,
then at 10:30 I begin my preps. I
decide on a short sleeve
t-shirt
and shorts. My TEXAS FLAG SHORTS,
of course! Pin my number on.
Around
11:15 am, I head to the starting corrals.
It is
not
the same as last year. You can
only run your first Boston once.
It
seems
more like just another marathon.
But I am excited to be here...and
I
think to myself, it could be my last.
At
noon, the race starts. It takes me
4:15.74 to get to the starting
line. I cross the starting line, and off I
go. My splits start off
looking
good, and I think, can I requalify???
Mile
1 - 7:30.23 whoa too fast for my first mile (I have subtracted the
4:15
to get to the starting line)
Mile
2 - 7:37.79
Mile
3.1 - 8:17.01 I can explain this.
I forgot to hit my watch at 3
miles,
and didn't hit it until the 5K mark.
Mile
4 - 6:39.94 See above note.
Mile
5 - 7:51.00
Mile
6 - 7:43.30
Mile
7 - 7:38.73
Mile
8 - 7:47.42
Mile
9 - 8:08.45 Ok, my first slower than 8 minute mile, but I can
explain. Right after passing the 8 mile mark, I
really have to go. The
porta
potty is in use, so I pull off on the side of the road with lots of
other
runners and do what I have to do.
Spend about 30 seconds there as
runners
go by. Hear my name called out a
few times.
Mile
10 - 7:47.26
Mile
11 - 7:54.24
Mile
12 - 7:47.20
Mile
13 - 7:32.91 Those Wellesley women are wonderful!!!!! Just like
last
year, I pick up speed as I go by them and I feel full of energy
after
Wellesley College!!
Mile
14 - 7:48.92
Mile
15 - 7:47.43
Mile
16 - 7:23.23 Must have been some down hills here. :-))
Mile
17 - 8:15.77 Followed by some up hills. :-)) Ah yes, this the mile I
saw
Gaye on the side of the road and ran over to slap her hand! :-))
Mile
18 - 8:19.12 And more uphills.
Mile
19 - 8:12.09 And more uphills.
Mile
20 - 8:38.47 And more uphills.
Mile
21 - 9:07.49 Heartbreak Hill.
Enough said.
Mile
22 - 8:16.65 Downhill finally
Mile
23 - 8:37.34 Still plugging away.
Mile
24 - 8:55.16
Mile
25 - 9:19.28 Start feeling nauseas.
Slow a bit.
Mile
26 - 9:10.36 I see Gaye on the side lines. I do what I can to kick.
Last
0.2 Mile - 1:54.93
Done!!!
Total
Gun time, 3:36:17, chip time 3:32:02
Marathon
21 is in the books. And Boston
number 2. I get my medal, then
struggle
to the buses to get my clothes.
Now, I loved doing Boston.
Yall
do a great job. But whoever came
up with the lamebrain idea of
putting
the buses with clothing for bib numbers 5000 - 10000 on that side
street
had rocks for brains. It was an
absolute zoo getting our
clothing. It takes forevever, but I manage to
work my way down to my
bus,
the last one of course, and get my clothes. I then work my way to
the
reunion area. I still haven't had
anything to drink. I am nauseas.
I
get the food pack, some orange juice, water and slowly stagger to the
letter
H. Gaye is there and she takes my
picture (I am afraid to see it,
I
must look like hell). She helps me
get my warmup jacket and gloves on,
as
I am freezing. We stagger down the
street back to the hotel as I
drink
the orange juice. We duck into a
building (a hotel I think) and I
sit
on some steps while she helps me get my warmup pants on. I finish
the
oj and on to the hotel. I slowly
start walking better and by the
time
we walk the 1.5 miles to the hotel, I am almost walking normal. We
see
other runners still going by the 25 mile mark. Up into the hotel,
Gaye
gets me a soft drink which helps me feel better and then I shower
and
get dressed. After showering, with
the TV on, I see runners still
finishing.
At
6:30 pm we head to Vinny Testas restaurant to meet the other deads for
my
and Mike Sheldon's birthday. Yep,
we both spent our birthdays running
the
Boston marathon!!! Yes, that is
right, I didn't tell yall at the
start
of my report that it was also my BIRTHDAY!! I told many of my
fellow
runners as I ran that it was my birthday, even told the volunteer
who
helped me at the finish line that it was my birthday! Oh and another
BTW,
wearing Texas Flag shorts got me lots of "GO TEXAS" as I ran. Plus
a
lot of hook em horns. Well, didn't
want to spoil it by telling them I
am
an Aggie, not a T-sip, so I just took it as positive cheering!
Anyway,
it was great to finally see the northeast deads that evening.
Due
to Passover, I had missed the pre race northeast dead events.
I'm
home now. Unpacking. Going through the 98 emails that came pouring
into
my machine when I logged on.
Next
race....Beach to Bay Marathon Relay in Corpus Christi, Texas on May
19!