Boston Marathon 2008 Race Report

I slept poorly last night (probably not unlike 25000 others in Boston...) and had weird dreams. The one I remember was that I was going to ride RAMROD and could not get everything together in time for the start and then when I was supposed to start, I didn't have any bike bottles. When the alarm went off at 5:40 though, I was actually fast asleep but woke up and stretched a bit while drinking coffee and eating oatmeal before leaving to board the bus to the race start.

Pre-race
Executed that perfectly and timed liquids so I was not leaping off the bus to pee on the side of the road like many others. I do have to say thought that it slowed things considerably as the buses would stop/go slower for them and take us all down with them. I was lucky to have a great seatmate on the bus who I figured was fast, but that was confirmed when she leaped off the bus to pee (I encouraged it -- she was pretty anxious) and SPRINTED with this beautiful kick far ahead to not slow us down. Unfortunately, the other three people who followed her did not follow her lead.

But as soon as I got off the bus, I crashed through the forest too to squat in my spot in a place that was pretty much inhabited by people no less than 5 feet apart doing the same thing. Guess that will not be a wildlife conservatory anytime soon...

It was warm in the athlete's village and I ended up not needing my equivalent of a snow suit and had enough time to hydrate, slowly eat a powerbar and visit the porta-potties one last time. I stripped down to running shorts and a short sleeve shirt except for the aluminum race blanket Cheryl gave me (brilliant BTW) and made my way to the start line. I was SO EXCITED to just be there. The sun was shining and everyone was in great spirits.

Start to 10 Miles
This is where I was really focusing on holding back. Really, even though my 5k split (0:26:23) did not show it. I was feeling strong and so very happy to be there and after every mile, I would check my pace and try very very hard to slow down. I kept my ego in check and did not chase anyone who passed me (including a chick in a pink shirt and race skirt a bit later on...I am maturing).

I did come within 30 seconds (fast) of my 10 mile goal time and was doing my thing alternating gatorade with water/gel blocks at every stop. I love the characters in the race and I saw these two runners who had semi-matching t-shirts. One read "Yes, we're sisters but she is much much older". The other read "Yes, we're sisters but mom likes me the best"'

Miles 10 to 14
I did hit my half point right on mark @ 1:55:27. Still going strong up to 14 when at pretty much exactly that point, my quads yelped. Loudly. And did not let up for the rest of the race so I adjusted my goal to break 4 hours. I was expecting pain. Foot, hip, hamstring, shoulder, neck, etc but NOT my quads. Not so soon. That is my kryptonite as I am ALL QUAD and if that goes, I am NOTHING. That was when the suffering started and did not let up until after...wait, I am still suffering hours later...but the gin and Aleve is helping...

Miles 15 - 20
Had another mile of flat before I hit Newton and hit the three hills that lead up to Heartbreak. I know I had this great idea to use them as "warm ups" but I was in NO MOOD. In fact, I was fighting with Cheryl for a couple of the hills telling her what a ridiculous idea it was that she thought I should do Comrades in June 09 when I could barely make it up these hills that were molehills compared to the 7 mountains of Comrades. If there was a movie of me at that point, my lips were moving and I had on my cranky arguing face. I did shake myself out of it knowing she would not be happy I was wasting my energy yelling at her DURING a race and turned it into a mantra "I know I can. I know I can. I know I can". I set to the goal to RUN up every hill regardless and muscled my way up Heartbreak and all its symbolism.

I also gave up trying to eat blocks after spitting out the last one in my mouth before I gagged and switched to gatorade and water at every stop.

In this part, I was running ahead for some miles in front of some guy named Tony because I kept hearing "Go Tony. Go big guy." etc. One of the spectators cheered him on in a great Boston accent "Go Big Tony. Keep at it buddy. My wife's ahead of you.". Within 30 seconds, Tony dropped me and I never saw him again :)

Miles 21 - 26.2
This hurt. A lot. And it was all mind over matter as the miles stretched out and my pace slowed. I used every mantra and bit of mental strength I had as I worked towards my adjusted goal of at least hitting a sub-4 hour finish. The last 4 were pretty much hell and a couple of times, I cried as I ran because it hurt so damn much. I crossed the finish line and it was a bit tough to have so many people cheer us on throughout the race but no one who was specifically glad to see me at the end. I have not experienced that in a big event like that and it made for a rather emotional and disoriented me shuffling through the finish chute.

I did not hit my secondary goal but did come close with a 04:00:57 (9:12 pace) finish and did meet my goal to smile at the finish regardless of my time. Someone in the area congratulated us on being Boston Marathon finishers and I lifted my spirits reminding myself that I am now a 2x Boston Marathon finisher and pretty much rock :)

Recovery
I did try my best to take an ice bath and put one foot in the tub before I started yelling "no. no. no. no. no". Yes. Out loud and even though I worried that the hotel staff might come crashing through the door at any point to see me trying to lower myself into the tub, I just could not shut up. I made it through a shortened soak and then took a long ass HOT shower negating any good those few moments of cold water did for me.

Then Crystal (who rocked her FIRST BOSTON MARATHON) and I went out for a recovery dinner and re-hashed every moment over a delicious meal and martinis (I had one for me and one for her...) :)

Lessons Learned:

• Train for the race course. I trained well for a flat marathon but did not do enough specific hill training.
• Don't argue with your coach about a race over a year away when in the middle of a race.
• When racing solo, adopt a pseudonym that can be pronounced (I don't do well being called "soy" when racing), embrace it and write in my shirt to get lots of support from the crowd.
• Find nutrition I can stand during a warm race. This is not my first race failure with the blocks.
• Get stronger hamstrings and hip flexors...

I decided that my new goal is to race Boston in every age group from now on. I like the race but it is an expensive and exhausting weekend. I figure this will keep me honest as I age and I figure that by the end of my lifetime, I will probably race it 10 times :)