So. Finally. After 37 years of running, I was going to run Boston.
After Twin Cities I had knee and ankle problems and didn't run much for 3
months. I was able to get back in gear by January, but I didn't have
enough time to get into top marathon shape. But good enough to run it
and enjoy my victory lap.
This is a little long. I broke it into 3 posts originally, but will put them all together here.
Act 1: Meeting and hanging out with Loopsters
Act 2: The race
Act 3: After the race
ACT 1:
So,
on Friday, DW and I took off over the Pacific, banged a left u-turn,
and made for the Atlantic. Five hours later we were landing in Boston to
start the dream-come-true trip (for me anyway. DW said this weekend was
all about me and subjugated any desires of her own. Love that lady.)
The flight was full of runners, which, as you know, are pretty easy to
spot. Boston jackets helped.
We were a little late, and
took a cab directly to the first loop meetup, at a bar right next to our
houseboat. We dragged our bags to the back and found a table of
internet celebrities!
Ken
and MTF (Maranda), Whitey102 (Mike), Chris and TOSuperstar, Joe and
Lauren, QuickRunna24 (Nicole), Bookerman (Scott), and me. It was nice to
meet some new people, including our Boston area hosts, Lauren and
Scott. Sampled the local Sam Adams draft a few times and called it a
night.
We stayed at a rental houseboat with TO and his
dear wife Chris. It rocked a little that first night since a storm had
just passed through, but it was perfectly fine and a great option for
us.
Saturday we slept late and then took the T (subway) to
the expo. I felt like a kid at Christmas picking up my bib and shirt,
and then buying my Boston Marathon jacket. Very proud and excited and
soaking in the awesomeness. Unlike other expos (like LA), every runner
there was a serious fast runner, and it definitely lent a different
vibe. Like we were all special.
The booth area was very
crowded and was basically like other expos, although bigger and better.
My favorite part was a little theater area where we watched the course
video which was interspersed with interviews. It was a great summary of
the course, the history, the momentousness of the race. And even my DW
(who knows very little running history) was getting excited about it. I
was fighting back tears often during the video (and all weekend, who am I
kidding). Soon I would be running through these famous landmarks.
After
the expo we walked the 3 blocks down Boylston to the finish line which
was closed to traffic and everyone was taking pictures. We also had some
random loop meetups. JJ (26.2) found me in the expo, and I met up with
Mr. Andante who happened to be in town. We also ran into Dean on the
street.
Sat on the finish line, and said "See you later".
and it is not a loopfest until Bangle kisses somebody...
Pre-race BP for luck?
Saturday
night, Tom and I and our wives walked the North End which has over 100
Italian restaurants. And they were all full with wait lists! Runners
were everywhere. Yet somehow we found a nice one and got a table with no
wait. Had to sit outside which was a little cool, but it was great
food, and really fun.
We
also were told to get some cannolis at Mike's bakery, but there was a
line down the street! So we put that off until it was less crazy.
Instead we walked back to Faneuil Hall and met up with JJ and Whitey,
and a certain speedy Pittsburgher that I had been looking forward to
meeting.
Yes,
that is Lady Capulet herself. She and her DH were a pleasure to meet.
One more amazing loopster - it seemed each one had their own story of
how they got to Boston. Of course, having read all of their blogs
earlier, I not only felt like I knew them, but I could appreciate what
it meant for each of them to be here in Boston.
One or two more drinks and we called it a night.
Sunday we headed back into the North End and saw Paul Revere's house and picked up some cannolis.
Then
Corcorama arrived in town and moved in to the boat with us. I had met
Erin in Philly, but it was great to see her again and hang out with a
like-minded cynic. And then we walked over to do the Boston Duck Tour.
More Loop Meets as we met Chicago Phil and BlairBear. I remember rooting
for Phil and advising him as he trained for and got his BQ just in time
to get into this race, so it was great to meet him. Then we enjoyed a
very funny (and educational) tour of Boston by land and sea. Bonus - I
got to meet the famous Juju. She lived up to her reputation as adorable.
From
there we walked straight back to Faneuil Hall for the Loop Carbo-load
dinner at Bertucci's. More loopmeets, food, drinks, photos and fun. We
spent over 2 hours there and had time to move around and talk with
everybody. We also had a surprise special guest as Senior Runner and DW
arrived! SR made a little toast to all the runners, and we all felt like
someone sprinkled holy water on us or something.
Bonnie777 and her new baby!
Whitey and Chicago Phil
JJ and SR
TO and Quick Runna
Me and SR
Me and QR
TO, MTF, QR
Maranda and her soon to be husband Ken
Me, Corc and JJ
QR, her DH and Brother Elias
Eventually we wrapped it up and some of us went to a little pub for one more round.
Me and the Monk! Great to meet you, Elias!
Sunday
night came and it was lights out at 9:15, but I had my usual pre-race
insomnia and tossed and turned until after 12. Probably slept about 4
hours total and was up before 5. Race day! Here we are inside the boat
as dawn arrived. Time to head over to the T and run the Boston
Marathon!!!!
ACT2:
Tom,
Erin and I got up plenty early, and left plenty early, worried about
crowds, but everything was smooth, The subway wasn't full and we got to
the bus loading area early. We saw huge lines, but it appeared that
there were much simpler ways to get in line. So we just slipped on in
and got on the next bus. We weren't cutting! People just didn't know any
better.
So we were feeling good and settled in for the
over an hour bus ride to Hopkinton. We all brought our phones and were
getting FB updates on who was arriving and who was behind us. Some
people chatted on the bus. Others were focused and silent. When we got
there we found a short potty line and knocked that off. And then it was
down to the massive tent. It was a lot of people, but not overwhelming.
We found loopster Bonnie, and settled in to camp Loopville. A few FB
posts later, and about ten of us ended up hanging out there. It was
great fun to share the pre-race excitement with a bunch of awesome
loopsters. Took my mind off being nervous I think. I also happened to
spot OntheBusRunning so he joined the group. So glad I got to meet him
and share a little of his amazing day.
I
ate a second whole bagel, and drank gatorade. One more trip to the
potty lines of about 20 minutes, and then it was time to go! Most of us
were in Wave 2, so we did the 3/4 mile walk to the start line together.
Every step was more exciting. We're checking our bags!!! There's the
corner!! Let's all pee again!!! OK, time to get in corrals!!! OMG!!!
It's the Boston Freaking Marathon!!!!!!
As we walked up
the side of the corrals, loopsters peeled off with last wishes and hugs.
Corral 8 - see ya Tom! Corral 5 - good luck JJ! Corral 4 - Lady Cap and
I head in, but first wish the best to MTF, Quick Runna and Corc. And
get a photo.
OK
- about 3 minutes to go. I feel relaxed, but excited. I try to warm up a
little with hops and running in place. I don't have a real goal for
this race. I just want to run it, soak it in, and finish running down
Boylston. OK, sub 4. My plan was to just run my usual long run pace. I
expected it would be just under 8, so I would try to hold it as long as I
could, hopefully get to 20 at sub 8 pace. The rest of the way, I
expected a big bonk, but did not care.
Off we go! All
corrals just go with one start, and it took about 2 minutes to get to
the start line. By then we were running, and cheering and high-fiving.
It was crowded, but most of us were the same pace, so it was
comfortable. I felt good. About mile 1 I passed MTF, and said a quick
hello. That would be the only loopster I saw on the course all day.
First mile was a nice downhill, not too steep, followed by a little rise
that was just enough hill to get my breathing going. I was still in
warmup mode, and it was a little wake-up call. Mile one: 8:06 Perfect.
From
there I was in a groove and just cruised. The fans were great. I must
have slapped hands with 500 people altogether, mostly little kids. I was
smiling and making eye contact with fans, which got me more attention.I
was soaking it in. Weather was perfect. Pace felt good. I ran the
tangents as much as I could in the crowd, which helps keep me focused.
Miles 2-7: 7:48, 7:46, 7:34, 7:51, 7:39, 7:36
A
little too fast. But it was downhill, and I was trying to hold back. I
wasn't working hard. I tried to find Loopster Lauren at mile 6 or 10K,
but it was very crowded and I had no luck. But that kept me occupied for
a mile. A FAST mile. By this point, my left calf which bothered me last
week, was feeling tight. I wore my calf sleeves, and I think it helped.
It got tight, but never cramped. Still, by mile 8 I was already feeling
tired, like I knew that I couldn't keep this up forever. I was trying
to ease back, but the 7:45 miles just kept coming.
Miles 8-12: 7:45, 7:38, 7:37, 7:48
I
started checking my time at the actual mile marks (since G was adding a
few tenths), and kept track of how much time I was "banking" under 8
minute pace. For a while I thought about holding on to a BQ, but my gut
told me that I did not feel nearly as good as LA, and it was just a
matter of time before I gave that time back. And there were those famous
hills ahead...
By mile 12 I was already thinking "just
hold on until...". First it was the half marathon mark. Then it was mile
15 because there was a big downhill after that. Then it was 30K. I knew
that a lot of people were tracking my splits, so I wanted to put up a
good mark at all those spots.
Mile 13 was Wellesley, of
which I had heard so much about the wall of sound and the girls offering
kisses. I was definitely looking forward to it. However the noise,
while loud, was not as deafening as I anticipated. I've heard louder
places many times. The girls were great though. There must have been
several hundred signs saying why I should kiss them. I was enjoying it
thoroughly, and pulled over twice to lay a sweaty wet one on some lucky
coed. That was fun.
13 and 14 were 7:45, 7:44, and I hit halfway in 1:42:08 (nearly 3 minutes banked).
15
I finally felt my energy levels dropping, yet the pace held at 7:56,
and mile 16 was 7:50 with the help of a big downhill. Then the first of 4
Newton hills.
I slipped into a shorter stride, and
plugged on up without working too hard. Soon I was over and thinking
that wasn't so bad. But I was getting tired. My feet hurt, a lot, and my
legs hurt. It was just kind of overall pain starting to whisper to me
to stop and take a break. I set the voice aside for now. Soon I happened
upon a runner from California and we ran together a little. She was
suffering like me. I had happened upon her during LA, and now here we
were again at Boston. I really hardly knew her before (she coaches CC at
my kids high school) but after today we were friends. I went ahead, but
we hooked up again at mile 25 and after the race.
17 and
18 were 8:19 and 8:31, both had a pretty good hill. 19 had no hill and I
managed 8:19 again. And at 19.3 I hit the third hill and finally gave
myself permission to walk a little. But the walking really didn't feel
much better than running, so I kept going up and over and got to 20 with
an 8:56. 2:39:40 at 20 - still 20 seconds under 8 minute pace. I called
it a victory and felt pretty good about my race. Surviving the last 10K
would take care of itself. I would get my sub-4. Seriously, I was happy
and content in the midst of big-time pain with over an hour to go. I
stopped and walked right after the 20 mile mark.
But it still had to be done.
Mile
21 was heartbreak hill. It was a nice little hill. I ran some of it,
walked a little, and crested knowing that the rest couldn't be too
hard... Mile 21 was 10:12
I kept plugging. I knew Loopster
Scott would be at 22.3 so I looked forward to a friendly face. By now I
was trotting at about 9 minute pace, and walking a little every half
mile or so. I would walk enough so I actually did feel better, and then
started up again. I managed to see Scott and said Hi and had an orange
and smiled and kept on going.
Boston College was louder
than Wellesley,and especially loud because some guy in Captain America
gear passed me then so they were going crazy. That was fun. I was
hurting, but with the walk breaks it wasn't too bad, and I was still
smiling and enjoying it. The fans were great, and I think they liked me
because I was one of the only smiling runners!
Soon I saw
the Citgo sign, and it didn't seem too much longer. Miles 22-26 were
9:36, 10:23, 10:14, 11:30, 11:14. The last two miles I could only run
about two blocks without a break. But at least I wasn't cramping. I
could still run.
At mile 25 I was surprised to see my DW
and Mrs TO! I thought they were further back and I had missed them. So I
pulled over for a hug, but she wouldn't put down the camera.
And then I shuffled on.
She also got these photos: MTF
Brother Elias
Corcorama
TO
Turning
on to Hereford I saw my local friend again. She was gallowalking as
well, but we vowed to run it in. However she had to walk a little more
so I lost her.
Then it was one last left turn on to
Boylston and I could see the finish. This was it! Dream come true! The
crowd was loud. I was soaking it in, smiling, got choked up a bit. I
managed to run it in at a respectable 9:25 pace for the last .44 miles,
probably faster at the end. And of course I had to give it one of
these...
Yes!!! 3:45:28
And here you can see my walk breaks:
And
then the pain, the cold wind, and big crowds made the next few minutes
pretty brutal, but I eventually made it to my bag and got some clothes
on, after figuring out how to bend my legs and get to the ground without
dying. I found QuickRunna24 at the bag bus, so we got to share a
moment, and eventually we hobbled over to the group meeting area where I
found Corc and Whitey.
It was about 2:45.
ACT 3:
So
I was sitting on the curb at the L in the family meeting area. Hanging
with a few loopsters and waiting for more to show. Also waiting for my
wife to meet us here. It was crowded and the wind made it darn chilly.
If you went past the finish line to the next street, turned right and
went two blocks, that's where we were.
Suddenly we hear a
loud boom, which seemed out of place. "What the hell was that?" was the
general reaction. My first thought was it was some kind of cannon
celebration, although that made no sense at that time. Then the second
boom. Quizzical looks. Speculation started. A gas leak? In the sewers? A
transformer blown? No one knew. It took maybe 5-10 minutes before
someone said bomb. Soon, someone was definite; Yes, there were two bombs
near the finish line. Some people are hurt.
We still sat
there, or stood. Waiting for friends and family. Some came by. We texted
a lot, but many didn't go through due to the cell volume. Gradually we
heard that there was blood and limbs, and it was bad. We heard a lot of
sirens. We were kind of in shock - not knowing what to do. Thankfully we
didn't see anything, no smoke, no panicked activity. It was relatively
mellow with lots of people standing around trying to get info.
Occasionally people would arrive and hug each other. Eventually we
realized no one else was coming to the L, and we needed to get out of
there.
Erin and I both needed to get back to the boat so
we started walking. We knew the subway was closed, but we also knew it
was only about a mile and a half or so to walk back, so we started
walking. We weren't sure where to go exactly, but we had a general idea,
and found a map that got us on track. Of course we were both hurting
and moving slow, with every step off of a curb avoided. But with all the
stuff going down, we didn't feel like complaining about sore muscles.
The
sirens kept coming and going. We walked along Boston Commons and I was
trying to get TO on the phone, when suddenly, there he was next to us! A
lucky break! And then the three of us walked on back to the boat. But
we had no key, as it was with Toms DW, so instead we stopped in at the
next door bar that we had inhabited on Friday, and collapsed into a
table in the back. There we would refuel, drink beer, and saw our first
TV, where we first saw the images that you are all familiar with.
TO
was closest to the finish, having finished only a minute or two before
the bomb. So we got to hear his account. Otherwise we reacted basically
the same as anyone else; What? Why? This is insane. Grief for the
victims and their families. Deep sadness and depression. We shared our
race details, but it was the opposite of a post-race party. They stole
our celebration from us.
Eventually DW and Mrs TO arrived
at the bar. They ended up walking over 5 miles to get there. Long hugs.
More beer. The loop party was canceled, but at least we had each other.
We ended up spending the rest of the night on the boat, reading internet
updates since we had no TV.
I'm not going to editorialize
about the killers or what this means to the marathon or anything.
Plenty of others can do that. I'll just say that I'm not letting them
ruin my Boston. I have my memories of the first three days, and I'm
keeping them in a separate place from the ones after 2:50.
The
next day we said goodbyes and headed to the airport. But first we
managed a victorious Boston BP pic, and treated it as a giant F.U. to
the bombers.
Next: Episode 11 - New York (2014)
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