Boston Marathon Race Report, Part 2!
Wow, I really left "everyone" hanging on my Boston Marathon race! Sorry...
I've just finished a great cool, sunny, fall run with (well, near) some friends and this blog came up on the mental checklist. I'll try to put up a few posts about some notable events, naturally including the conclusion of my Boston Marathon report.
OK, so I slightly mistimed my pre-race procedures and ended up missing my wave's start by a few minutes. But it didn't bother me, I was just excited to be running. Being amongst slower runners I had to pick my way through the field quite a bit at first. Lots of dodging, changes in pace, etc., but again it didn't bother me.
Well, not at first... It kind of caught up with me shortly after the half way point and I started to feel my left I.T. band acting up. It just got tighter and tighter as the miles rolled by and then my adductors started to twinge too. The dream was not happening. The last five kilometers boiled down to run 200m, walk 100m, which was tough with the thick crowds along Beacon Street exhorting me on. Recalling those moments is kind of emotional actually, I was so disappointed in my performance.
So what did I enjoy? The race experience, the crowds, the runners. I think I high-fived every kid on the route, 26 miles of near-continuous palm-slapping. I might not do that next time. I kissed most (really!) of the girls lining the course outside Wellesley College. I'd probably do that again. I accepted a vodka shot on Beacon Street. On the final stretch, where the walking breaks were coming sooner and sooner, I even teased the crowd by pretending to curl up on the asphalt for a nap. That drove them into a frenzy of encouragement, which was entertaining from my perspective.
Funnily enough the hardest part of the race was after the finish line, I felt quite lightheaded and queasy in the huge crowd of runners that was confined by fencing and slowly walking towards the post-race area. I felt better about 30 minutes later when I finally found Jan at the bag check. We walked back to the subway station that took us back to our car, parked on the outskirts of town. We'd chatted during that morning's subway ride with a couple from Ottawa, amazingly we encountered them again on the ride back. Jan and I were disappointed with our performance, they'd done about as well as they'd hoped.
When we got back to our hotel Jan finally took her shoes off and found a bulging purple blister on top of her little toe. Ouch! After qualifying with a time of 3:24 I ran the Boston Marathon in 4:03. Janet qualified in 3:59 and ran 4:16. Again, ouch. I'll be back though! Something else to remember is not to do an aggressive 30K race (Around the Bay) two weeks beforehand.
I've just finished a great cool, sunny, fall run with (well, near) some friends and this blog came up on the mental checklist. I'll try to put up a few posts about some notable events, naturally including the conclusion of my Boston Marathon report.
OK, so I slightly mistimed my pre-race procedures and ended up missing my wave's start by a few minutes. But it didn't bother me, I was just excited to be running. Being amongst slower runners I had to pick my way through the field quite a bit at first. Lots of dodging, changes in pace, etc., but again it didn't bother me.
Well, not at first... It kind of caught up with me shortly after the half way point and I started to feel my left I.T. band acting up. It just got tighter and tighter as the miles rolled by and then my adductors started to twinge too. The dream was not happening. The last five kilometers boiled down to run 200m, walk 100m, which was tough with the thick crowds along Beacon Street exhorting me on. Recalling those moments is kind of emotional actually, I was so disappointed in my performance.
So what did I enjoy? The race experience, the crowds, the runners. I think I high-fived every kid on the route, 26 miles of near-continuous palm-slapping. I might not do that next time. I kissed most (really!) of the girls lining the course outside Wellesley College. I'd probably do that again. I accepted a vodka shot on Beacon Street. On the final stretch, where the walking breaks were coming sooner and sooner, I even teased the crowd by pretending to curl up on the asphalt for a nap. That drove them into a frenzy of encouragement, which was entertaining from my perspective.
Funnily enough the hardest part of the race was after the finish line, I felt quite lightheaded and queasy in the huge crowd of runners that was confined by fencing and slowly walking towards the post-race area. I felt better about 30 minutes later when I finally found Jan at the bag check. We walked back to the subway station that took us back to our car, parked on the outskirts of town. We'd chatted during that morning's subway ride with a couple from Ottawa, amazingly we encountered them again on the ride back. Jan and I were disappointed with our performance, they'd done about as well as they'd hoped.
When we got back to our hotel Jan finally took her shoes off and found a bulging purple blister on top of her little toe. Ouch! After qualifying with a time of 3:24 I ran the Boston Marathon in 4:03. Janet qualified in 3:59 and ran 4:16. Again, ouch. I'll be back though! Something else to remember is not to do an aggressive 30K race (Around the Bay) two weeks beforehand.
Listening to: Reboot the Mission (feat. Mick Jones) by The Wallflowers from Reboot The Mission (Single).
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