When: Monday April 18th, 2011
Where: Boston, MA
One advantage to running daily with a group of seasoned runners is that you get to hear stories of races past. The group I run with regularly is a treasure trove of first hand knowledge of just about every major and minor road race around. No exception with experience in the Boston Marathon. So, I've heard about the crowds. I've heard about the number of fast runners. I've heard about the course. I've heard about Wellesly. I've heard about the 4 Newton hills. I've heard about Boston College. I've heard about the Citgo sign. And I've heard about Boylston Street. But, there isn't a storyteller out there that can do any of that justice. What an amazing experience!
Travel to Boston
My trip was planned as a short one. Fly in on Sunday morning. Race Monday. Fly out on Tuesday. No family on the trip this year (well that's what the plan was anyways) just traveling and staying with 9 other runners from Omaha. There are some connections from the group I run with here in Nebraska and a running club in Massachusetts. With that connection, we have a place to stay just a little bit outside Boston.
As always, I get anxious as my races approach. This was without exception. My Wife, Shana, in an attempt to help calm me down, slipped a little secret to me the day before I left. My younger brother was going to surprise me and come out for the race! How cool was that?!? The flights out were uneventful. Landed in Boston. A little drama ensued trying to figure out when/where Brad was. Worked its way out, got the rental car and headed for the expo.
Expo
The Boston Marathon running expo is quite amazing in it's own right. An entire convention center filled with every major (and minor) running related manufacturer from around the world. The one downside was that getting there on Sunday there were almost no apparel size-medium remaining. Packet and t-shirt pickup were a breeze.
Sunday night was relatively tame. Had a couple of beers to relax the nerves, ate some pasta and went to bed. Slept pretty well, surprisingly. 5am wake up call.
Race Day
Part of traveling to the race with the crew I did, was the "magic bus". Our group of 10 along with about 10 or so more from Boston pool money and charter a bus to take us out to Hopkinton (the starting point). This is in great contrast to the "free transportation" provided by the marathon. In that case you stand in line for an hour+, ride a school bus to the start and then stand/sit in the elements (which were chilly & windy) for hours pre-race! We had a heated bus with a toilet and very comfortable seats. Not bad at all!
The race plan was to run with another runner from Omaha, Jason, for at least the first 15 miles. Keep each other honest and on pace. We set the goal pace at 6:40 per mile. Then once we got to the Newton hills, just use what we had and play the rest of the race by ear.
With about 30 minutes to the start we dropped off our gear bags and made the walk down to the starting line. Due to the number of runners, they break the race up into 3 starting waves and each wave is separated out into corrals based on qualifying time. I was in the first wave, which had 9 corrals total. Myself and 3 others from our crew were in the 3rd corral. Lined up. Nerves firing. Butterflies in the stomach. National Anthem. Introduction of Men's elite field. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, bang! It took us only 1 minute 12 seconds after the gun to cross the starting line. That's it, I am now officially running the Boston Marathon.
The Race
The density of the runners those first couple of miles was amazing. Everyone bunched up and no real way to move horizontally or vertically. Jason and I stuck together, moving around as we could. The marathon has official gun time and markers at every mile along the course, which helped to keep a distinction between "garmin pace" and "official pace". The majority of those first miles were downhill, with some roll to it though. The first miles go from the historic town of Hopkinton along mostly rural roads to the town of Ashland.
The tracking for the marathon was updated every 5k along the course (with extra markers at the Half). As we approached the first 5k marker we looked at the clock and crossed the chip-mat, "here's the first one for all of you watching at home". First 5k, 20:51. 6 seconds over ideal pace. Not bad with a first mile of 6:59! On our way.
The next 8 miles continued in this fashion: "We need to slow down a little". "Make sure we hit that tangent". "Ok that was a fast mile". "Easy, gotta keep this under control". We continued to keep the overall pace right on target and just log the miles. With every successive mile it seemed like the crowds were growing. Lots of kids along the course, cheering you on, offering up orange slices or dixie cups of water. People everywhere. One of the biggest “goose bump” moments came around mile 6 or so when we passed Team Hoyt competing in there 27th Boston Marathon. Amazing.
Mile 11 or so there was a deafening noise coming ahead. The closer we got, the louder it got. Right past mile 12 we hit Wellesley College and for the first time I understood what everyone has meant about this spot. The girls from Wellesley are loud! And at this point in the race, they had been screaming non-stop for over 30 minutes. That energy was very evident in our splits through that area as well. Simply amazing. Again, the further we got, the larger and more energized the fans were.
The halfway point is in the town of Wellesley. We reached it in 1:27:12. About 18 seconds ahead of schedule, so in reality, perfect. At that point in the race, I was both amazed at how quickly we'd gotten there, but still very weary of what was to come. I was having the thoughts of "will my legs be able to hold this pace", "how bad are these Newton hills?" Lots of unknowns, but also positives that I'd been able to execute the plan to near perfection to this point and that my body was holding up well. One thing to note is that even concentrating on the tangents (aka, trying to stick to the shortest possible path along the course), by halfway, my garmin was already measuring a little over 1/10th of a mile longer than the race markers.
Throughout the race, one of the things I did to keep my mind working was I worked on the math of splits, paces, expected pace and differentials. It let me do something other than worry about the unknowns up ahead. It is a great distraction. I did also take time every few miles to soak it all in. I literally got goose bumps up and down my arms 10-15 times throughout the race just from the energy of the crowds. How amazing is that?
Around mile 15-16 you hit the start of the Newton hills. This is the part of the course where I had planned to just let my body decide what was going to happen. As we started climbing the first one all things were good. Around mile 17 or so we came upon the spot where Jason's wife and my brother were planning on standing. Very big pick-me-up seeing them!
Continuing the climb up those hills each one getter a little harder. But we maintained pace over most of it. We passed a lot of people in that stretch. As we approached the top of Heartbreak hill, I was just praying for it to be over. Once at the top I'd started to pull away a little from Jason. For whatever reason, coming down the other side of Heartbreak, I took off like a fool. When I got to the bottom, I realized what I'd just done and dialed it way back. Fully expecting Jason to catch back up, but he didn't.
Up next was Boston College, and it was off the hook. Deafeningly loud. I so wanted to stop and take them up on the offer for beer. I wanted to stop, enjoy the show. But it was just a little longer. HAD to stick to the plan.
I started the numbers games at this point. Figuring out how many miles where left. What average pace I needed to maintain to get a 2:55. What average pace I needed to get the sub 3hrs. All the while my body started to tell me it was done. The gorilla was officially jumping on my back. Back around mile 19, before Heartbreak, I was about 30 seconds below projected time. By the time I reached mile 22 that was down to about 10 seconds.
4.2 miles to go. 2 hours and 27 minutes since crossing the starting line. At this point I specifically remember the wheels coming off so-to-speak. I felt like I had nothing left in the legs. The numbers games intensified. 33 minutes to get in and still get the sub 3. I toyed with the math for a while. To hell with it, I'll just wait for 4 to go, easier math. 4 miles to go. 2 hours 28 minutes and 15 seconds. 31:45 to cover 4 miles for the sub3, 8 minute miles, I can do that!
2.2 miles to go. 2 hours 40 minutes and 50 seconds. My legs are shot. I have no turnover what-so-ever. I'm getting passed left and right. I am completely convinced Jason is going to blast by me at any moment. The Citgo sign is in full view and is just sitting there taunting me. Damn, gotta keep moving! Off to my right I noticed some stadium lights up ahead. Ah, there it is, Fenway. I kindly gave the home of the Red Sox the single finger salute, hollered out a “Go Yankees” and carried on with the race.
Battled through those last couple of miles. Head down, one foot in front of the other. Over the interstate. Past the Citgo sign. Past the 1 mile to go. Under the Massachusetts Ave bridge. Right turn on Hereford Street. Small hill. Left turn on Boylston Street. 7:03 and 7:10 those last two miles. Almost done. Holy crap the finish is that far still? The crowd was 10 deep on both sides of the street. All of them screaming. Legs empty. "Ok. enjoy this Jeff." Ahhh, last steps. I can literally see the finish line on the ground. Quick look tough and flash the guns for the camera. DONE. 2 hours 56 minutes 22 seconds. 26.2 official miles. Garmin recorded 26.43 miles.
Post race
The athletes area post finish is about 4 or 5 blocks long. I found Jason after he finished. He still got an awesome time. We found another from our group, he too had an outstanding run! We slowly worked our way to through. First the water. Then the space blanket. Then the finishers medal. Then the food. Finally our drop bags. We stopped and added some clothing, loosened the shoes and then headed to the bar.
Conclusion
By far one of the coolest experiences in my life. Not quite to the marriage or birth of kids level, but close. The onslaught of emails, facebook posts, text messages, etc has been very amazing. I have some many great family, friends and coworkers! Thank you all.
Less than 3 years ago I was overweight, not active and not doing anything to better my health. To be honest, 3 years ago, I couldn't even have told you how far a marathon was. To get from that point to Boylston Street in this short time leaves me speechless. I am very proud to check this goal off my list.
I tend to be a person who obsesses over things. Typically, at any given point in time, that is usually one and only one thing. For the last few years now that obsession has been running. And it has steadily been growing. This “feature” of my personality is part of what makes me a good runner. The downside of that is that my wife Shana and my family get less attention than they deserve.
It is without question that I have been completely obsessed with the 2011 Boston Marathon the last few months. Especially during the final weeks and days leading up to the race. I know Shana is not a fan of this time of the training cycle. Yet she puts up with me, covers for me with taking care of the kids and supports me along the way. On race day, sitting at home (because someone had to take care of the kids) she tracked my progress, hacked my facebook page to update my status with splits and supported me in every way possible from afar. Thank you so much Shana! I love you! And now back to our regularly scheduled family life. I promise that I will never run my first Boston Marathon again. ;-)
I ran the Boston Marathon. Had an amazing experience. Loved every second of it. Oh yeah, and got a shiny new marathon PR in the process.
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