I am back from a great weekend in Boston for the Boston marathon. I want to start by thanking all the Boston area deads for their work in setting up the encounters. Robin, thanks for setting up the prerace dinner on Saturday night, and Val, thanks for setting up the bagel brunch on Sunday. Sorry we couldn't make the bagel brunch, we tried, but the logistics of getting from the hotel to your place were too much for us to work out the day before a marathon!
We left Houston bright and early on Saturday. At first it seemed we would not be taking off, as we sat on the runway for over 1/2 hour in Ellington Field. That put us in very late to Bush Intercontinental Airport on the far north side of Houston and we had quite a sprint to catch our flight to Boston. But from there, it was smooth sailing. We got to our hotel early enough to check in, go to the expo to get my race packet and make it to the Saturday night NE dead dinner. Didn't have time to buy anything at the expo that day, it was a nut house there, and we wanted to get to the dinner as soon as we could. We had a blast at the dinner. Seeing all the deads from all over. Making new friends, seeing old friends. I'd mention names, but there were so many there, I know I would miss some, so let me just say, I enjoyed seeing all of you! I understand that this was the largest dead gathering at the Boston marathon in quite a few years.
Sunday morning, I get up real early to go to synagogue, then return to the hotel and Gaye and I go to breakfast and the expo. As in past years, I get the "official" BAA jacket for 2002 and a short sleeve t-shirt. I am thinking this could be my last Boston, so I definitely want some
souveniers. The jacket and shirt I bought will do that just fine. We head back to the hotel (I had forgotten the directions to Val's) and then we head to Val's for the bagel brunch. It quickly appears we won't be able to make it. We will have to take the green T line into town, transfer to the red T line, go back out, then transfer to a bus. The T line is jammed, I am forced to stand, and we can tell we won't get there before 11:30 or noon and I will be on my feet much too much for the day before a marathon and reluctantly, we go back to the hotel. The logistics are just too difficult to get there. Sorry we missed seeing all of you again. We take it easy the rest of Sunday and after a good
pasta dinner, it's to bed.
Up early Monday morning, I catch the T line to Boston Common and then the bus to Hopkinton and settled down in the Athlete's Village. Although I knew no one there when I first arrived, the common purpose we all have in being there breaks the ice real easily and soon I am hanging around with a small group, exchanging marathon stories. Evenutally, I found a few
friends from Houston and even had some dead encounters, running into R. L. Bynum and another dead whose name escapes me at the moment. As the time for the start neared, I headed to the corrals. I ran into Carl Jess and after leaving him at his corral, I went into mine and ran into Marc Frommer.
Now, before I get into the race, for me, conditions were not that good. I knew it would be warm and humid (as I recall, it was 100% humidity when I got up Monday morning and was still over 70% humidity when I finally finished) I hydrated like crazy on Sunday. Kept peeing all day long. Yet, I felt dried out when I got up Monday. Hydrated like crazy in the hours before the race, and kept having to go to the porta potties. Even had to make use of someone's lawn as I walked to the starting line. Drank at every aid station. Yet, I still dehydrated. But I am jumping ahead, let me get back to the start of the race. Unlike past Bostons, I didn't see or hear the helicopters which are normally present. I suppose it was due to the heavy and low cloud cover. Eventually, the gun went
off and it takes me 4:56 to reach the starting line. We are now off!
The first few miles go well.
Mile 1 - 7:19
Mile 2 - 7:13
Mile 3 - 7:13
Mile 4 - 7:19
Mile 5 - 7:39
Now, it should be stated that the first few miles are downhill. I do not believe in paying for the same hill twice. I relax and let gravity pull me down. I train to do this.
Mile 6 - 7:31
Mile 7 - 7:24
Mile 8 - 7:40
Mile 9 - 7:43
Mile 10 - 7:55
I have settled down by now, but I also sense I am in real trouble. I am having to work much too hard at this point in the marathon.
Mile 11 - 7:58
Mile 12 - 7:53
Mile 13 - 7:54
Let me tell yall, the Wellesley women are fantastic. As in past years, by the time I clear the college, my ears are ringing. I also feel refreshed, ready to take on the next 13 miles. Or so I think. The worst is yet to come.
Mile 14 - 7:59
Mile 15 - 8:19
I can explain. It must have been a hill. :-))
Mile 16 - 7:37
Ah, a downhill. :-))
Mile 17 - 9:10
I see Gaye Davis during this mile. It was good to see her. She can tell by the look on my face that I am in real trouble. REAL trouble.
Mile 18 - 9:13
The only NEXTEL alert I got on my home email was at the 30K (18.6 miles) mark. It clocked the time as 2:39:03 PM EDT, my average pace as 0:08:24, my estimated finish time as 3:40:04. I wish. I wonder if that is based on gun or chip time? At any rate, we passed over chip recording pads at the start, finish, and every 5K, but this was the only report to come through on the automatic system.
Mile 19 - 9:00
Ok, I gotta warn all you you. It doesn't get any better. For that matter, the rest of my marathon is downright ugly. The splits coming up are not for the faint of heart. I am dehydrated. I am tired.
Mile 20 - 9:48
Mile 21 - 10:34
I walk a short distance, maybe 100~200 yards. I could feel a cramp coming on and had to relax my leg. As I start to walk, I feel a tad dizzy. It goes away quickly.
Mile 22 - 9:25
Mile 23 - 10:44
Mile 24 - 13:20
I don't want to talk about it.
Mile 25 - 13:18
I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.
Last 1.2 miles - 12:52. Yes, I was running here. This was as fast as I could go. People were passing me like crazy.
My finish time? Official Gun time 3:55:10. Chip time 3:50:09. I figure I walked about 2 miles in the last 5 miles. I am disgusted with myself. But I will say this. As always, the Boston Marathon crowd support is wonderful!! I was hearing "GO TEXAS" (I always wear my Texas flag shorts when I am out of state) for much of the course and it really helped. Particularly when I was in trouble, the crowd continued to cheer me. After the finish, as we were walking back to the hotel, people would come up and congratulate me! The support in Boston is just fantastic! BTW, I have found that walking back to the hotel after a marathon does wonders for my legs. At first I am walking real slow, having trouble with curbs. But by the time I got to the hotel, I was almost walking normal.
It took me a while to recover. What works for me is Coca Cola (settles the stomach) and chicken soup (in the form of one of those Instant Cup of Ramen Noodle Soup - chicken flavor). I don't want to go to the post race party, I am too beat up, but I tell Gaye, let's go to dinner at 7 pm. At 7 pm, I say, let's go at 7:30 pm. :-)) By then, my stomach has settled and we head out for dinner. After passing a lot of restaurants completely jammed, we go into a place called "Blue Cat Cafe" on Massachusetts (near Commonwealth) and I have some fabulous grilled salmon. After we got back to the hotel, about 9:30 pm, I was finally able to pee. Yep, I hadn't peed since just before the start of the marathon, around 11:30 am that morning.
The next day we head to the airport for the trip home. I spend my birthday going from airport to airport. Boston Logan to Bush Intercontinental in Houston (IAH). Changing terminals at IAH, we find terminal B has a blackout! Police and National Guard Troops all over. With all the construction going on, a construction worker probably cut a power cable. After a while, the power comes back on and we leave for Ellington Field on time. Ellington Field is near my house and it is a short drive home from there. It feels good to be home!
Well, marathon 23 is in the books. Not my best, not my worst.
Looking at my official stats (as published on the BAA web page):
8875 Halpin, Dennis B. 48 M Houston TX USA
Checkpoints
5k - 0:27:30
10k - 0:50:52
15k - 1:14:36
20k - 1:39:25
Half - 1:44:41
25k - 2:04:21
30k - 2:32:03
35k - 3:02:23
40k - 3:40:25
Finish Pace - 0:08:59
Official Time - 3:55:10
Chip Time - 3:50:09
Overall - 8692 (out of 14137 finishers)
Gender - 6379 (out of 9018 male finishers)
Division - 2434 (out of 3311 males in my age group)
My next race?
Beach to Bay Marathon Relay in Corpus Christi on May 18. After that?
The DRSWC in Indianapolis! See yall there!