Hi All,
I'm finally able to get to my computer to write up a report on Boston.
I knew going in that this was a rather stupid thing to try. After
injuring my calf in early December, I couldn't run for the rest of the
month. January, February, and March had mileage of only 19, 9, and 15
miles. Half of those runs ended with my limping back home with a
reinjured calf. Three weeks before Boston I started to try and run again,
starting with just a few miles on the treadmill. Those three weeks were
still low mileage, 20, 22, and 18 miles (counting the 4 miles Marc, Mika,
and I did on Sunday morning). My longest run was only 7 miles and that was
done only once. In essence, I was going into a marathon completely
de-trained and 15 pounds over my racing weight.
I had very modest goals for Boston; have fun and run/walk about
4:30. Turns out that was way too optimistic.
I started with my corral, #7. I stuck to the right and ambled towards the
start letting as many folks go by me as I could. Right after crossing the
start I ran into Ken Cotton again who was in my corral. He decided to jog
along with me a bit since he was too smart to try and race hard in the
heat. Ken and I chatted as we jogged and watched as the crowds flowed
around us. Three times I was almost brought down by young women tripping
me from behind however and I was beginning to wonder if someone had taped a
"trip me" sign on my back.
My fastest mile (the only one that didn't include any walking) was #2,
still a pedestrian 9:06. Ken finally wished me well and moved on ahead at
around 5 miles. I was still thinking of maybe finishing at around 4:30 at
this point. What a joke.
The heat quickly got to me and instead of just planning on some walking
breaks at the aid stations, I decided to make use of my HRM. The plan
quickly became to jog slowly until my HR reached 82% then walk until it
dropped to 67% (160 and 140 bpm). I ended up walking a lot and on some of
the hills found that my HR never went down below 140 bpm.
I was still holding out hope that I could finish in 4:30 through about 16
miles. At that point I was just wondering if I'd be able to finish
standing up. I knew that I didn't want to go over 5 hours, but was
starting to doubt my ability to finish at all. The next 5 miles to the top
of Heartbreak weren't all that difficult since I was walking most of the way.
The warm Gatorade was disgusting, but I used my last Succeed Cap at 3
hours. I kept forcing myself to drink at least a 1/2 cup of the stuff at
each aid station even though it made me want to puke. My fingers were
beginning to swell a bit which I didn't think was a particularly good
sign. Runners were going down all around me and the med tents were
overflowing as I past. The sound of ambulance sirens was almost as
constant as the sound of the Red Sox/NY Yankee ball game that was being
blasted from the speakers along the course.
One odd thing was that my running form (such as it was) never deteriorated
as the miles went by. Normally muscle fatigue starts to degrade my form
and I'll get tense and hunched over. When I was jogging I felt relaxed and
loose. Of course running in a sauna does tend to keep you relaxed.
As I was jogging down Boylston Street I saw the finish clock tick over to
4:59:00. I didn't sprint. I didn't pick up the pace. I simply refrained
from walking when my HRM told me I should be. I jogged through the finish
at 4:59:26 gun time.
I tried to check into the med tent for dehydration, but since I hadn't yet
collapsed into a heap they wouldn't take me. Oh well. It took me 45
minutes to get my gear and fight my way through the crowds to my hotel
room. There was even a runner who collapsed in the elevator on the way up
to my room.
I knew it was stupid to try and run a marathon with no training. Even so,
I didn't really *know* how stupid it was until I did it. Never
again. Likewise, I'll never do another 5 hour road marathon. That is
simply way too long to be out on the course. This experience reinforces my
long-held but mostly hidden opinion that marathons should have 5 hour
cut-offs. I'm old, fat, and slow, with no training and yet I still was
able to complete it under 5 hours in 85 degrees. I think that ANY person
serious about running a marathon and actually training for it should be
able to do much better than I.
Thanks to the NEDeads for the great Saturday Dinner. Thanks to my roomies
Marc and Mika for a good time. Thanks to the NoWDeads for the fun we had
on Monday night and to Marc for organizing it.
Dave
Stiff and sore in University Place, WA