2014 Boston Marathon Race Report
Race day:
I woke up and was the most fired up I have been for a race in a long long time. I went out for a short 1-mile shakeout run and was running marathon pace by the end (for just a minute or so) in my sweatpants and clunk training shoes. The last 2-3 hours before the race pretty much flew right by, and before I knew it NP and I were jogging towards the starting corral. I grabbed a spot off to the side and I looked over and of all people I was standing next to one time RRTT regularGrizz. We chatted for a few minutes before they brought out the elites and they jogged by no more than 5 feet away from us. Next came the national anthem, a short speech by the race director, then we were off.
The race:
I pretty much settled into pace right away after taking the first mile pretty easy. I purposely backed off on the downhills to save my quads/hamstrings from the poundings but would more than make up the ground on the flat/uphill sections, which seemed to be exactly the opposite of how 90% of the other runners were approaching the race. However, after shredding my legs on the downhills the last 2 times I knew this was the best way for me to run the race. As you guys saw, my splits were fairly even for the first 30K miles. In fact, the race was pretty uneventful until we hit the Newton Hills except I went through a mild bad patch around miles 9-11, and then it went away at halfway. I broke the race into 5 segments: 0-5, 5-10, 10-16, 16-21 (Newton Hills) and then 21-finish.
First 5: 5:42, 5:35, 5:32, 5:38, 5:39
Uneventful, just running. I wanted to be 28:00 for this section and I was at 28:05.
Miles 5-10: 5:37, 5:38, 5:34, 5:37, 5:40
Strangely enough, I got a bad patch around mile 9, probably on one of the small hills where I felt I was working a bit harder than I wanted to to hang with the pack I had latched onto, but this went away pretty much before we even hit Wellsley.
Miles 10-16: 5:39, 5:35, 5:38, 5:34, 5:37, 5:34
I had found a pack of guys shooting for about the same goal time and we were working well together, til we hit the long downhill stretch before mile 16. The rest of the pack rolled down this thing and put a good 3-5 seconds until...
Miles 17-20: 5:39, 5:46, 5:40, 5:52
On the first uphill, without even increasing my effort I rolled up the pack of guys that had left me on the downhill. When I saw I was still running low-mid 5:40s for this section instead of 5:50s like I had expected pre-race I started licking my chops. But I knew I had to survive miles 18-21 and then make it down the backside of Heartbreak first.
Mile 21: Halfway up Heartbreak I got that tight/crampy feeling in my hamstrings and I tried to shorten my stride to compensate. As a result I slowed down a bit on this mile - 6:22.
Mile 22: As we started heading down the backside of Heartbreak, I knew the moment of truth was coming. I was either going to make it down this thing without cramping and sail on home to a new PR or it was going to be like the last 2 times I ran Boston. Unfortunately, a quarter mile into the downhill my right hamstring cramped up. I favored my left leg for the next 1/2 mile and kept hobbling along and was hoping I could still run it out, but before my right hamstring could loosen up my left hamstring seized up too. This forced me to take a walk break for a minute or two, and I covered this mile in 7:31.
Mile 23: The last 2 times, once I cramped up I knew that I had to watch my effort level once I started up again because I would cramp up within another couple of miles if I got down to anywhere near my race pace. So I basically forced myself to not look at my watch and just run this mile at an effort level that was as fast as I felt was comfortable. As I finished up the mile and clicked my watch for a split, I was pleasantly surprised to see a 6:09.
Miles 24/25: Over the next 2 miles, I slowly grinded the pace down until I was back down to my goal race pace. I knew my shot at a PR was gone, and hell a shot sub-2:30 was gone too, but a combination of the crowd and the knowledge that I am probably not running Boston again for quite a while lit a fire in me. I started picking off most of the people that had passed me during my walk break a couple of miles back. In fact, I was doing exactly what I had visualized pretty much everyday for the last 2 months during my runs and was pulling someone else in every minute or two. These two miles were covered in 5:39, 5:35.
Mile 25-Finish: Shortly after the 25 mile mark, I saw a "1 mile to go sign" and I decided on a lark to take my split for this last mile after covering mile 25 to this point (about 0.22 miles) in 77s. I then decided to kick things up a notch and passed the last couple of guys that were within sight of me. All of a sudden, right before we went into the tunnel/underpass with a little over half a mile to go I realized I was pretty much in no man's land because I had broken clear of the guys behind me and I couldn't see anyone else in front of me either. The crowds were 4-5 deep at this point and the cheering was pretty much all focused on me. I decided to have a little fun and waved at the crowd and EVERYONE around the bridge over the tunnel went nuts. When I came out of the tunnel on the other side the crowd went nuts again, and this continued as I rounded the last 2 turns, during which point I felt like there were thousands of people cheering for nobody else besides me (since there wasn't anyone within 5-10 seconds of me, in front or behind). I high-fived pretty much everyone on the right corner of the course as I turned onto Hereford St, and then as I rounded the last turn I just started sprinting even though I knew I was going to be over 2:30 and (I thought at the time) my finishing place was determined.
I was about to let up with about 200-300 meters left and just cruise in when I saw a runner ahead with a double digit (elite) bib, so I pulled out my high school freshman kick and picked him off in the last 20 yards (along with 2 other unfortunate souls who were also fading). As I clicked my watch when I crossed the finish I saw I had covered the last mile in 5:14. Looking at the results later, even though I was the 90th overall man, I had the 15th fastest split from 40K-finish (in fact, I was only 32 seconds slower than Meb over this stretch). I guess if I am going to be screwed over the the undulating hills and cramp up again, and least I got to hammer the last few miles and vent some of the frustration in the last 5K. Do I wish I had pushed a little bit earlier and gotten under 2:30? Absolutely, but it's easy to 2nd guess these things after the fact, and I am pretty sure there was a good chance the my legs would have locked up again if I started pushing the pace earlier.
After the race, I hung out in the area right before they handed out the medals and met up with CMM268 and NP1112 as well as a couple of friends who ran in the mid-2:30s to low 2:40s. The highlight was overhearing Meb had won the race and being completely stunned and then psyched!
Post race analysis:
I knew coming in there were definitely holes in my training for this cycle. I had a setback in February after New Orleans where I had to take 3-4 days off of running twice due to my calf/hamstrings acting up. As a result, I made an adjustment where I ran my easy days on a treadmill and only hit the roads for my long runs / workouts and a couple of runs a week. It was a calculated risk that my legs wouldn't be ready for the pounding that they would take on the hilly roads of Boston, but it was also one I felt was necessary in order for me to make it to the starting line healthy. Seeing as how my legs loosened up over the last few miles, I feel like this gamble almost paid off since it clearly indicates that my legs were much more ready for this course than the previous 2 times I had run Boston, but it was still not enough. I know if I want to run Boston in the future and do well, I have to pretty much go back and hit the hilly road loop near my house everyday like I was doing last fall/winter, so that will definitely be taken into consideration when I come back.
This was also by far the strangest marathon I have ever run, as I have never been able to recover from a leg cramp like I did today. (usually once I cramp up I am looking at 7-8 minute miles to the finish). But after being bested by the hills on the course for the 3rd time I managed to rally and close the race with the fastest mile I have ever run in a marathon, so at least I was able to vent my frustration a little bit.
As it stands, I will always remember the last 3 minutes of this race as one of the most incredible road racing experiences of my life. In fact, just closing my eyes and visualizing the crowds going nuts as I rounded the last 2 turns is enough to give me 2nd thoughts on my plan to take a break from marathoning after this fall.
As far as I am concerned, I am 0-3 in Boston, but I'll be back one day, maybe sooner than I had planned.