2015 Boston Marathon - A Race Recap

It seems normal to me to wait several days before writing a race recap.  There are so many thoughts and emotions that go into a race and effectively processing all of them is a challenge for me.  Following a disappointing result in New York last November, I wanted to make sure that I fully evaluated this performance and the experience that it has been.

My final evaluation is that this race was a complete success.  Period.  No doubt about it.  Did I have the race that I wanted or expected?  No, absolutely not.  Were the conditions tough and getting tougher with each minute that passed?  Yes, absolutely.  That said, I ran a tougher course, on a tougher day, only 2 minutes slower than a PR that I posted on a flat, fast course on a perfect day.  OH, and I did the one thing that was most important to me for this race.......RE-QUALIFY for BOSTON!

Race day started out like most all do.  Up early, BodyGlide and Vaseline, coffee, and start the feeding process.  I had discussed a feeding plan with Jessica in the days leading up to the race.  With the addition of a bus ride to the start line, the timing of my food intake was very important.  We agreed that I needed to eat 2 hours prior to my scheduled start time.  So, I bagged up my bagel, peanut butter, granola bars and Gatorade/Water and took it with me to the bus.  As I'm getting out of a cab near the bus loading spot, I hear someone yell my name.  Ladies and Gentleman, it was the one and only Beth Meadows!  Those of you that know Beth know the infectious energy that she possesses.  A big hug and we were off to catch a bus.  Running into Beth was a bit of a God-send.  If you've ever run a big city race, and specifically one where you are transported to the start line, you know the alone feeling that you get when you know no one and are simply being herded like cattle to your destination.  We laughed and talked the entire way to Hopkinton.  Thank you, Beth.  Your timing could not have been better.  (Read her race recap here...... https://ultramarathonoflife.wordpress.com/2015/04/22/boston-marathon-ok-it-was-cool/)

When we arrived in Hopkinton, it started raining.  I had truly thought of everything that I needed to pack heading to the race start.  Throw away clothing, gloves, hat, food, water, toilet paper, and a.......garbage bag......not so fast my friend.  I left the garbage bag in my backpack.  DANG IT!  Luckily Beth and I only had a short walk and the rain mostly stopped.  We found a spot in a tent where I continued to eat my bagel and peanut butter.  If you ever want to be the envy of every runner around, have a bagel and peanut butter in a crowded area prior to a race.  According to Beth, for every person that asked me where I got mine, there were 10 more than were staring at it.  My response to the question of where I got it became, "At Dunkin' Donuts, 26 miles away."  haha!

As we started funneling toward the start line, I had one last chance to get in line for a porta-potty.  I walk into this open area where there are literally thousands of runners and walk right up on Greg Kyle, Jackson Miller and David Canas.  So great to see these guys prior to the race.  I hope they know how much they helped to quell the nerves that were starting to build.  While we were standing in line, the National Anthem began and a sense of urgency took over.  Everyone started moving faster and faster.  Finally walking toward the start line again, I was quickly routed into my corral and heard the announcing of the elite runners.  I knew we were only minutes away.

I was in the 8th corral of Wave 1.  Wave 1 contained about 7,500 runners.  With 7,000 people ahead of me, it took about 5 minutes to get to the actual start line.  This 5 minutes seemed like an eternity.  As you approach the start line, it narrows significantly.  It really is a two-lane road from Hopkinton to Ashland.  Based on what I had been told, I knew it was narrow and down-hill, but don't think I was prepared for this.  Felt like I was running down the middle of Old Glasgow Road. It was hard to believe that 27.000+ runners were going to 'fit' through this section of road.  But, they've been doing it for 119 years, I think they know better than me.

And I'm off.  I knew to be patient during the first mile and things started to open up a bit during the second.  I rattled off a couple of really good miles and settled in.  I took a gel at mile 4 and grabbed a sip of water.  I took another gel at mile 8 and another sip of water.  I felt as though I needed to use the bathroom again and as I approached mile 9, I had to stop and find a tree.  Yes, guys are lucky and we don't necessarily have to wait for a porta-potty.  I lost about 30 seconds or so during this stop but was quickly back underway.  The course seemed to be fair at this point and I rolled through miles 9 to 13.  I made it half way at 1:32.  I was hopeful of a bit faster, but knew that I could still drop a PR if I stayed after it.  Speaking of mile 13.  This is where the all-girls Wellesley College is located.  About a quarter mile away, you can hear the roar of the crowd and it grows and grows as you get closer.  It seemed that the bulk of the runners were making their way to the right side of the road.  This is where ALL the girls were.  Sensing this, I made my way to the left and found a good bit of open space to run in for about a half mile.  This was also about the point where it started raining lightly.  I took another gel at mile 13 and grabbed a sip of water.  This time I actually walked through the water stop to ensure that I got a good bit of it in me rather than on me.  I am not good at managing those cups and drinking water from them while running.

Miles 14 and 15 were not good.  I don't know if I lost focus during this time or what, but the results of those miles seemed to set a tone for what was to come.  By the time I got back to running hard at mile 16, the rain picked up and the wind started to blow.  By the time I reached the Newton Hills, it was pouring and the wind was in my face at 25 mph.  This is not what I had in mind for this day.  Seriously, can a brotha get a good weather condition race day???  I took another gel at mile 17 and grabbed a quick sip of water.  I knew then that this would be my last gel because I really needed to get after it to get close to the PR and re-qualifying.  There are 4 Newton Hills but the only one that gets any talk is 'Heartbreak Hill', the last of them.  Don't get me wrong here, Heartbreak Hill is tough given that it's the last of the 4 and mile 21 is at the top of it, but, in my opinion, it wasn't the toughest.  The second hill which was shorter, but much more steep, was more difficult.  When I got to the top of Heartbreak Hill, my thought was, 'surely that isn't all'.  Seriously, that's all you got???  Maybe they should rename it 'Heartbreak Hump' 'cause where I come from, we don't call that a hill.  hahaha!!!

Mile 21 and realizing that I'm losing hope for a new PR.  The rain continues to pour, the wind blows harder and now the temp feels like it's dropping.  It's downhill from here but I need to get after it.  Somehow, from somewhere, I found a little zone where I just ran as hard as I could for the last 5 miles.  Mentally I checked out.  I remember seeing the Citgo sign and knowing I was close.  I remember seeing Fenway Park off to my right.  Aside from those landmarks, I don't remember much at all about this part of the race.  Mile 25 and I realize that no PR is coming and I need to hustle if I'm going to re-qualify so I dig a bit deeper.  The crowds are picking up as we are now in Boston.  And then I see it........Hereford St.

Likely the most famous statement in marathon running is, "Now a right on Hereford and a left of Boylston."  I feel like these should be within a few short feet of each other when I hear that said.  When I turned on Hereford, I expected to almost immediately turn left.  Nooooo.....it's more than a quarter-mile and seemed even farther.  The crowd was even louder!  I turned onto Boylston and could see the finish line.

Oh My!  The crowd roared!  They were 4 or 5 people deep on each side of the street.  I'm running down the most famous street in ALL of running and I'm about to requalify to be able to do it again.  AMAZING!  If I wasn't actually doing it, I'm not sure I would believe it.  I know that Tricia and Judy are going to be on the right side of the street.  I work my way to that side hoping to see them.  I see Tricia and she's yelling at the top of her lungs with an enormous smile.  I can't help but smile just a little bit.  I cross the finish line at 3:12:19.  2 minutes 41 seconds under the 3:15:00 needed to qualify for Boston in my age group.  BAM!

The finish line chute was a zoo.  I've never seen so many people using wheelchairs and being moved to the medical tent.  As I slow down, I begin to shiver.  The farther I walk, the more uncontrollable the shivers.  I can't open my banana, or my water, or the protein bar because my hands are so cold.  I'm soaking wet and by the time I get to my heat sheet, I'm freezing.  I meet up with Tricia who has dry clothes for me.  I'm so wet and cold that it actually hurt to put on dry clothes.  I tell her that I've got to get warm and we decide to start walking to get to a cab.  After walking a half block, we see a building that the lobby is open.  She suggests ducking in there for a few minutes for me to warm up.  Great idea.  We do exactly that as she walks to figure out how far I've got to walk before we get to a cab.  Ten minutes later we walk 2 blocks, hail a cab and back to the hotel.

There is something very special about this race, in this city, on this day, Patriot's Day.  I knew when I toed the line that I was surrounded by runners that were better than me.  I knew that everyone around me had earned the right to be there and that none of them were going to take that opportunity for granted.  I've been incredibly lucky to run some incredible races.  After this race, when someone asks me which is my favorite, I have a new answer.

Rain & Ice & Snow, Oh My

48 days until dreams come true.  

Ever have one of those 'real' moments where you know that 'shit is about to go down'?  I had one of those yesterday when I receive a text message from my Nutritionist stating that we needed to soon discuss my nutrition plan for Boston.  Cold chills covered my body as if I was standing at the start line ready to race.  With every day that passes, I get more excited.  The workouts are getting tougher, but I believe that I am as well.  

I missed out on writing this past week because things have been extremely hectic.  Baseball season is fully under way and as I learn better each year, Baseball Coaches like to play Weather Man too.  Not a good idea.  Stick to what you know, or in some cases, don't know.     

Running in South Florida definitely has advantages.  As an Ice Storm hit Nashville on Monday the 16th, I was in sunny and 75 degree Naples.  That day's run was to be a tempo run.  I've openly admitted that I'm not very good at the execution of a tempo pace.  I've searched for and read every definition.  I've asked runner friends about how they execute these runs and still I struggle with this.  That said, I like how this run turned out.  After a warmup mile, I dropped below 7:00 pace, leveling off at just below 6:40 pace for 3 miles and then knocking down the last mile at 6:24.  A good,  hard, 7 mile effort with enough energy in the tank to finish strong.

The next day was an easy 7 miles to shake off the sting of a fast prior day.  I feel like I'm getting better at this kind of running as well.  I tend to keep dropping the pace until I find myself putting out a significant effort on an easy day.  I didn't do that on this day.  I'm also finding that my 'easy' pace is dropping down to about 7:30.  I like very much!

Wednesday of that week was scheduled for 6 miles with no particular pace assigned to it.  I'm not really sure why I didn't assign a pace, but I've been trying Wednesday runs at or near marathon pace, so I went out with the intent of going faster.  After a couple of warm-up miles, I put down 4 averaging 6:46.  I'm beginning to enjoy this 'fast' running.  

Back home on Friday (and for the next week) and things get complicated.  Snow, and mostly Ice, still blanket Middle Tennessee and baseball for the day was already cancelled.  Friday was to be 11 miles at marathon pace.  It turned into 11 miles at 'just don't bust your ass' pace.  A 50 degree temperature change definitely makes me better understand the 'Snow Bird' mentality.  I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't try the distance/pace, but please that I got out on a 25 degree, icy day and got the miles.  Saturday's baseball was cancelled early as it was 40 and pouring rain.  Not even a chance to get outside to run so I went to the Y for an hour in the pool and then back home for an hour on the bike.  Missing a long run is near disaster in my mind.  I hate situations like this.  

Sunday was to be a 10 mile 'recovery' pace run.  I was able to talk Jenifer and Alex into 13+ instead.  We had planned on doing a 'Tom King' like route, but decided that if the Shelby Bottoms Greenway was still covered in ice, that we'd improvise and make it up as we go.  And we did.  13+ miles at 7:53 pace, while not busting my ass is a success.  All this before heading to the ballpark for a double header.  This turned out to be a very, very long day.  

Monday would be another day of baseball and running while dodging ice.  The paths still aren't clear and with a temperature of only 28, it wasn't going to happen then either.  9 miles @ 7:47 pace is a win for this day.  Monday is typically a 'speed workout' day for me, but I changed this up because of the previous day and the remaining ice.  

Tuesday.  Hill Repeats.  Oh how I've missed you!  You suck!  Yes, those are exact thoughts that went through my head on this day.  I felt sluggish.  Legs were tired.  3 baseball games in two days, on top of the mileage, was taking a toll.  8 x Hill Repeats, 4 x Down Hill Repeats.  A total of 8 miles and I didn't hit my paces a single time.  Either my feeling of sluggishness was dead on or I grossly miscalculated my paces for this workout, which is highly likely.  Did I mention another baseball game?  Yep.

On Wednesday, I would have yet another baseball game and needed 9 miles.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to do this one fast, but still went out with 'good intentions.'  9.3 @ 7:34 on this day was a very good run.  

By Friday I knew that Baseball Coaches turned Weather Men are shitty Weather Men!  On Tuesday of this week, a decision had been made to cancel due to impending bad weather.  By Friday, it was gorgeous.  Thank goodness.  This weekend was a high mileage weekend.  11 Friday, 22 Saturday and 11 Sunday.  I really didn't know how I was going to pull that off and work baseball at the same time.  Luckily I didn't have to worry about it.  Friday was 11 quick miles @ 7:12 pace.  Saturday's long run was miserable, in part because I hadn't gone long in a couple of weeks, other part because it was still freakin' cold.  22 miles at 8:09 pace.  Not bad, but I really struggled in the last 4+ miles.  Sunday's 11 miles were the first time in 10 days that I had run with the temp above freezing.  Break out the shorts!!!  Woo Hoo!!!  Those 11 miles wrapped up a 71 mile week.  My highest mileage week since October.  The body is feeling it, but its also a nice accomplishment.  

Even with all of the improvisation of the past week or so, training appears to still be going well.  The miles are adding up and I'm becoming more comfortable with those faster paces.  It feels really good to execute some of these longer distances at faster paces, something I haven't tried regularly in prior training plans.  I'm also ahead of pace on my 2500 mile goal for the year and expect that gap to increase through April.  Soon I'll get to work on some of the other running goals for the year.  

Opening Day is upon us!

Wow, time is flying by.  I can't believe we are now less than 60 days until Boston.  When I qualified for this race in October of 2013, eternity was the only word to describe how long it felt it would be.  Now, it's creeping up on me.  Let's hope they clear a bit more of the snow there prior to April 20.

I'm a little late writing this week, but have a few minutes and thought I'd get these thoughts out before embarking on another busy weekend.

The week started off with a very hard, mile repeats workout.  I have a love/hate relationship with these workouts as I know they are painful, but I get better each time I run one.  I'm getting better about pacing myself in these workouts with the use of specific paces assigned to them.  The self-prescribed pace for this was between 6:16 and 6:27.  5 miles repeats, the first one 3 seconds too fast, the last one 4 seconds too slow.  Yep, just goes to show you that going out too fast impacts even the shortest workouts.  I can live with this, but beat myself up a bit about not hitting that last mile's pace.

Tuesday was a nice easy run.  It was a gorgeous 65 degree day in Naples and this turned out to be one of the more consistent runs I've ever done.  7.1 miles.

Wednesday turned out to be another nice easy run.  I was hurting a bit from the fast work on Monday and decided that I just needed to settle in for the miles.  6.3 miles.

Thursday - Travel/Off.

Friday - Opening Day of the college baseball season.  I've been looking forward to this for a long while now and, of course, the weather takes a turn for the cold.  A week earlier it was 60 degrees and gorgeous.  Now that the season is ready to open, we are going to deal with extreme cold temps.  First thing Friday morning I learn that our weekend series (Fri. thru Sun.) has been altered to avoid playing on Sunday.  This means two games on Saturday.  An appointment with my 'Witch Doctor' to get worked over for the case of Plantar Fasciitis left me with fatigued legs.  The workout was to be 8 miles with 7 at marathon pace.  I got 6.5 miles with 6 of them very near (10 seconds) marathon pace.  I just could not get down to that pace on wobbly legs.  A bit disappointed in myself, but satisfied that I made the best of this.

Saturday - Friday night's baseball game took a lot longer than it should have.  Being on tired legs already and adding a 4 hour baseball game didn't make things any better.  In order to get in my run, I would need to start at about 6 a.m.  That didn't happen and physically felt exhausted.  I started my run by 7 a.m. and two miles in realized that it just wasn't going to happen.  I did 6 miles at a very slow pace and then made my way to the ballpark for 18 innings (actually 19).

Sunday - Luckily, I got to bed at a reasonable time Saturday evening and was able to sleep in a bit.  This also allowed the temps to warm a good bit prior to running.  Even more lucky, this was a step back week in mileage so I only needed 12-13 miles for a long run.  The temp never really warmed, so I started at around 1:00 when there was at the very least some sunshine.  12 miles at 8:00 pace.  I'll take it.  Home to pack and a flight out of town to beat the Snopocalypse, Snotastrophe, Snomaggedon that's heading Nashville's way.

This was another good week of training.  As I look back on it now, it is probably exactly what I needed given the conditions, my health and schedule.  I'm going to have to learn over the next 8-9 weeks how to be more flexible with my weekend running, but still get in my miles.  While I was more than a bit disappointed about Saturday morning's effort, it probably turned out best considering the work that I had to do that day.  Being rigid and dedicated to my training makes change a challenge for me.  While I want to remain extremely focused on each workout, I must be flexible enough to move them around when necessary.

"How many laps did you run?"

4 days away from the beginning of another College Baseball season.  I'm going to find out very quickly if I'm able to manage that work along with training for a marathon.  I've never actually tried to do this, so keep your fingers crossed for me, say a prayer, send me a protein bar, a foam roller and some melatonin!  hahaha

When I'm in Naples and have track work on the training plan, I go to Naples High School.  I spoke with a grounds guy there last May to ensure that I wasn't 'trespassing' and that it was cool that I use the track.  On Monday nights, I get to 'borrow' a lane while the Gulf Coast Runner's Youth Group has their practice.  For the most part, this means that I'm dodging kids that are clueless to their surroundings, but in some way, it motivates me to keep pushing a bit harder.  Heck, if these little guys/gals can get out there to run, this old dude can show 'em how it's done, right?  

This Monday night was no different.  Dodging kids, but it seemed there were more of them.  Maybe even a few kids that were older than I had recalled previously seeing.  After dodging kids for 5 mile repeats, I was catching my breath and putting on my shirt for my run back to the hotel.  All of the kids started gathering in the same general area for their next exercise.  One little girl looks at me with bright eyes and a huge smile and asks, "How many laps did you do?"  My immediate response was that I didn't know, but then we started doing the math together.  "How many laps make a mile? And I did 5 of those and add 4 more laps.  So, 24."  Her eyes light up with amazement as if I've just solved world-wide hunger or something.  I ask her how many laps she's done.  "3", as she shows me with her fingers.  Of course, I immediately think to challenge her to do more.  "I think you should go one more to get to four. What do you think?"  Everyone around can see the wheels turning in this little girl's head.  Before she has a chance to respond I say, "If you want to go one more, I'll do it with you."  Instantly the wheels land on 'Ask Mom'.  We walk over to her Mom and she asks if she can run a lap with me.  I explain to her Mom what's going on.  The other kids are lining up to run the 100.  Her Mom tells her it's her choice and I ask her if she'd rather run the 100 or run with me.  "With you!", she says with no hesitation and off we go.  We start out slow as I had no idea whether she was a poser or a runner.  She's a runner AND a talker!  Instantly she turns into 'Chatty-Cathy'.  Wow!  She's 9, thinks running is tiring, her Mom runs marathons, is only there to get her little sister interested, and would rather cheer, dance or sing.  Oh, and she's pretty good at the cheer, dance and sing.  

We run the first 3/4 of the lap relatively comfortable and as we approach the last 1/4, I tell her we are going to pick up the pace.  Gurlfren dropped it like it was hot!  haha!!!  We jet the last 1/4 lap and finish in plenty of time for her to catch her breath to run the 100.  She is now glowing with energy (as if she wasn't before).  I give her a high-five and thank her.  Her Mom thanks me and little sister asks why I'm so wet.  Before I can answer, Mom tells her she'd be the same way if she was out there running instead of playing with an umbrella!  haha!  Thanks Mom!  (BTW, Mom has only done a couple of 5k's.  I forget the innocence a child and their concept of distance).

Perspective is something I struggle with often.  I find myself getting absorbed into my own workouts or my own day and lose sight of other things.  I had just finished a difficult workout and on one hand was beating myself up for finishing the last mile 5 seconds off goal pace, while on the other hand congratulating myself for working hard and pushing through the pain, when this little girl completely changed my day.  As I ran back to my hotel from the track, I couldn't get the look of excitement on this little girl's face out of my head.  She reminded me of the joy that I get from a good, hard run.  She reminded me of the energy with which I should be running.  Run like a kid at recess!!!

And seriously, how does that happen?  Her timing could not have been better.  Is this a case of me simply having my eyes open to this sort of thing or some sort of divine intervention?  I'm not sure that's for me to decide, but whatever it is, I'm extremely thankful for this reset of my perspective.  Thank you, Ms. Chatty-Cathy.  You definitely had a bigger impact on me than I had on you.  

Ok, so it's now less than 10 weeks until #MarathonMonday.  Here's a little recap of last week's training.  

Monday -  7 Miles at Tempo pace.  Started out too fast, but rather than backing off, I chose to run till I almost puked.  Thankful for a couple of traffic lights that kept that from happening.  5 of these miles averaged sub-6:30. 

Tuesday - 7 easy miles.

Wednesday - 6.5 miles.  This one turned into a 'Progressive' run with each mile getting faster.  1st mile @ 7:40, the last @ 6:47.  

Thursday - Off/Travel Day

Friday - 10 miles followed by 6 innings working the plate in a baseball scrimmage.  Nice quad burn!

Saturday - 19 miles, the last 4 by myself and a bit slower than I wanted, but I was spent.  This was following by 9 innings on the bases of a baseball scrimmage.  Legs were barking by the end of that one.  

Sunday - 9 mile recovery run.  Slowly I'm learning how to do these.  Typically I go way too fast after I loosen up.  This one was pretty steady.  

I feel as though I continue to do a good job of focusing on each workout individually and not getting ahead of myself looking at the full week or even the totality of the training.  

Goals Update:

2500 miles - As expected a couple of weeks ago, I'm slightly ahead of pace on this one and should be for the next 3 months or so.

Cross-training - I'm failing miserably at this.  I have to get this mixed into my routine and can't be slacking.  I know that this will help with injury prevention as well as being able to execute my running workouts.  

New Race PRs. - No attempts and nothing on the calendar.  The schedule is a bit full right now, so these will have to wait until later in the year.