First of all, I have to start off thanking my therapy crew who managed to
get me to the start line. So thanks to my sister/massage therapist April; my
chiropractor, Dr. Stephanie Lord; and my acupuncturist, Gosia Pacyna.
Without their help over the last month, I don‚t think I would have been able
to finish, much less start.
My road to Boston was going well until about six weeks ago when a
glute/piriformis problem started up. I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn‚t
go away. So I started lots of therapy and made the decision to go to Boston
regardless and run/walk if I had to. I was determined to finish the race.
So in the last 6 weeks my mileage was seriously curtailed. No speedwork, no
hills, no long runs. I think I was averaging about 50k/week.
I will just spend one paragraph saying that I had a great time in Boston. It
is a really nice city and easy to get around. Thanks to the dead runner who
recommended the YWCA as a place to stay. It worked out well. Close enough
to walk almost everywhere I went. There were plenty of other runners there
to talk with at breakfast.
Race day: I was not nervous for this race at all as I had no expectations.
I just wanted to finish. I didn‚t hear a gun go off but when the crowds
started to move, I figured the race had started. Being in corral 5, I was
over the start line in about 3min. I brought a camera with me and tried to
take a picture as I crossed the starting line. Wary of any glute pain
starting, I tried really, really hard to start slow. I knew that I should be
running at a pace that seemed almost too easy and that is what it felt like.
I glanced at the clock as I passed one mile, but didn‚t note the time. I was
going to track my 5K splits on my watch and go by that. The sea of runners
was something to behold. This was my first ever big city marathon and
running with that many people was cool. I knew that in this marathon, I was
never going to be running alone J
Well the first 5K went well- 23:55 by my watch. I could feel a small ache in
my right glute but nothing serious. I kept going, still concentrating on
going easy. Not easy to do with all the downhills at the start but I did my
best. Took a couple of more pictures and high-fived some kids. 10K passed
a glance at my splits showed that I had slowed a bit. The glute wasn‚t
feeling any worse so I tried to pick it up ever so slightly to get to
through the next 5K a little bit faster. About ∏ way through this section, I
suddenly noticed a worrisome sign. Was that my quads starting to ache?
ALREADY??? I wasn‚t even ∏ way. Couldn‚t be∑. Mentally checked in on my
glutes. Still no more pain than I had started out with. A good sign. I had
to watch myself going uphills to make sure I took small steps to minimize
the damage. It was working.
Ahh, 15K and I was still feeling good relatively speaking. Now I knew
that I was going to make it through this race. My quads were definitely
hurting. Glute pain?? What glute pain? After the quads started hurting I
never felt the glute pain again. I knew I had already lost both big
toenails from the pain in my feet, but no matter. Keep going and don‚t
stop; that is what I told myself. No walking as I had originally thought I
was going to have to do. I was determined to run every step of the way.
Even the very painful downhills; I tried scrunching my toes in my shoes to
minimize that pain on the downhills but eventually I just learned to tune it
out. The next 5K was going to bring me close to the noise of the Wellesley
girls and that was something to look forward to. Onward I go. Damn it, I
am going to run THE WHOLE WAY!
I got a nice energy boost from the screams of the girls at Wellesley. Hand
slapped some more people along the way. Enjoyed the yells of „go Canada‰ as
I passed. I think I must have sped up at this point. No doubt a lot of us
do when running by the girls. I was starting to feel the heat and I started
taking the ice offered and icing my neck and head. That felt good. 25K
down, only 3 more 5Ks and a bit more and I would be done. I thought of the
entire race in 5K sections. I barely registered total time the entire race.
My quads were killing me now and I knew the last ∏ was going to be tough but
despite that I felt like I was running well. The uphills felt easy and some
spectators noted that I was moving well. I thought so too, but that is
when I started to cramp up. Oh no, not diarrhea again. What am I doing wrong
in the long races I run? Why does this happen to me? I tried to ignore the
cramps and told myself to at least make it to 30K before even thinking about
hitting a port-o let. Well no such luck, hard as I tried, I was forced to
make my first dash to the toilet at 18 miles. Luckily for me there was no
line-up.
Well, it was all over after that. The last 12.2K of the race consisted of me
eying the horizon for the next port-o-let, just in case. I guessed I must
have been in the Newton hills just before Heartbreak, and took a few more
pictures. Tried to keep my bowels under control. I wondered which hill was
Heartbreak. Don‚t you think somebody should tell you at the bottom, not just
the top? Isn‚t this a legendary part of the course? Well, nature took over
and I had to make another pit stop mid way up a hill. I think that was
Heartbreak hill for me.
The sign at the top said 5.5 miles. Oh my legs hurt, but that was like 8-9K.
Definitely doable. I started paying more attention to the sounds of the
crowds to take my mind off my very sore legs and the stomach cramps. Ooohh,
why not stop one more time. But definitely the last time. 3 stops IS ENOUGH.
The last 7.2K were hard mentally. I fought off the urge to walk. In fact
despite what felt like a slowing pace, I was actually passing quite a lot of
people. Guess it was a case of slowing down less than the people around me.
The last mile felt like the longest mile. Where was Boylston street? I
wanted this to be over. I passed a dead runner around here and said „hey
dead runner‰ as I passed. Don‚t know who it was though. I didn‚t identify
myself as I went past though. One last effort and I was done:-)
So that was my first Boston. Despite running my slowest marathon ever, I was
happy that I managed to finish without walking. And yes, I ran right to all
the port-o-lets and ran right out of them. Official time was 3:34:03 and
chip time was 3:30:51. Almost dead on to what I predicted I would be able to
do. It was a great experience. I tried to take in more of the spectators
and sights along the way than I normally would in a race. Who else noticed
the drag queen/mermaid and the guy holding his Husky on his back? Elvis
singing?
Official stats:
5K splits were
23:55,48:24, 1:12:35, 1:36:44 (1/2=1:41:50),2:00:51, 2:26:19, 2:52:48,
3:19:18, 3:34:03.
3:30:51 chip time. 8:03 pace. 3979 overall, 432 female and 349 AG.
Oh yeah, and the best ending to my trip? Flying home in executive class
thanks to my friend Dave Silcox. My poor battered legs needed the extra
room. Thanks Dave.
Melanie Boultbee, still sore in Toronto, Ontario