What happened to me at the Boston Marathon?

Well this thread makes me feel better.

Marathon #8for me, 5th Major, 1st Boston

PR 2:51 (London 2016)

Ran 2:54 in NYC 2016

Got in Boston with good training, but just on flatlands (no hills where I live).

I knew the course would make me pay a price for that.

From training I knew I was in 2:49 shape - ran a 35:08 10K just 3 weeks before Boston, and 17 days out ran a good workout (21 miles @6:32/mile + 1km @5:54).

Hottest training run was @ 12c - and I hate running (racing/quality training) when the sun is out.

Raced with Adidas Boston Boost (200miles old).

So, race morning I tried to execute my plan and went out @ 6:30.

Pace felt uncomfortable for the heat at first, then I felt better after mile 10.

Tried to drink a lot and threw lots of water on the head for cooling down.

After mile 15 my calves started to burn, but I managed to go on well till the Newton Hills, where hills #2 and #3 knocked me out on a muscular level (calves). So till mile 20 I was right on pace.

Up Heartbreak I had a thought "now it should be easier" - this is where I was wrong (as written in the book 26.2 miles to Boston" - as my legs (calves) were done because of cumulative fatigue, and downhill running hurted.

Long story short, I could not hold the pace anymore and struggled the last miles - also realized I was missing my A objective so my brain started to accept any other goal and slowed down to prevent any cramp in my calves, to close in 2:53.

At first I was not so satisfied, but then thinking about all the ingredients (heat, topography, training on flatlands, 1st Boston) and reading other runners, I guess I should be ok with my effort and performance.

For the record, it is Friday and I am still hobbling (calves done).

This is what I expected to happen, worst case scenario I'd really start to pay the price during the Newton Hills. But why would I hit the wall at mile 6? That still puzzles me.

maybe you just were not ready to focus through the discomfort of all this negative conditions (heat/topography/etc) adding up on that single day you were expecting so much.

Well, I don't think you hit the wall in the official sense. Ie, glycogen depletion bonk. Going from 6:40s to 7:15 to walking is not the wall, it's just fatigue setting in.

You trained at pretty low mileage at 6:45 pace, ran a 16 mile simulator run, which was probably a pretty rested effort if you were running low weekly mileage so I'm not sure if it fits the true definition of what I've seen for such a simulator, and then went out even faster than your rested 16 mile run. Add in the hills that you didn't (or couldn't) train for, the late morning start which probably included a lot of standing in the sun without fuel waiting for the start, and the long trek out to hopkinton, plus the energy used to travel to a destination race...maybe you did some sightseeing? and finally, it was a warm day.

Put it all together and it follows what looks like a pretty common Boston trap.

Easy. You were psyched out by the weather even before the race started.

Correct answer. On top of that, Boston is 95% of the time terrible racing weather. Anyone who bothers training for that as a goal race is a grade A moran.

troubled wrote:

But why would I hit the wall at mile 6? That still puzzles me.

The marathon is indeed a difficult puzzle to solve. There are so many pieces, so many ways to screw it up, and you only get about one PR shot every 6 months if everything goes right. To me, trying to put it all together and solve that puzzle is a big reason why it's so much dang fun.

The notorious DSP pretty much covered it. I agree with HobsJog that it is silly to shoot for a PR at this race, but I disagree that it cannot be a goal race (i.e., one for which you specifically train, and at which you specifically shoot to achieve a certain standard - course PR, finishing position (top half, whatever works for you, standing among a specific group of competitors, etc.).

The Dirty Duck wrote:

Not hilly wrote:

Boston isn't flat, but I wouldn't call it hilly. Less than 2K feet of elevation change for the entire race. But I guess it depends on how you define a hill.

It's a PR course if you run by effort, not pace. I passed over 200 runners through the Newton hills during my 3:12 effort (a 3min PR at 50). I couldn't believe the number of runners slowing to a walk at the start of the inclines and not even trying to run up them. Weak.

It's a PR course if you measure your PR by effort, not time.

Do you even read?

I suspect that the pros train for Boston specifically for hot weather and downhill terrain. If I were to run Boston again I would 1. run downhill repeats (relatively slowly so as to not kill my back but at the same time strengthen my legs for that type of running) and 2. run overdressed throughout the winter in order to be ready for a hot day at Boston. The great masters runner from Japan, Hosaka, does a lot of downhill repeats although I don't know if he ever ran Boston.

LobbyJogger wrote:

Has anyone mentioned seasonal pollen etc...allergies? There is an extensive thread here from a few years back detailing dramatic spring collapses in performance for even elites. I have run Boston 7 or so times and when it is like Monday every time at 14 or so feeling OK I look down at the watch and pace slows and slows. Legs just won't move. Inflammation in the joints. A rainy cool day never such problems. Of course also the heat Monday. I did not run Monday and got to say glad I didn't

Interesting comment about the allergies. We had a vey warm week in Boston area leading up to the marathon, and all the trees and plants were popping by the time of the marathon. I suffer pretty badly and noticed my symptoms got worse throughout the week. So it's possible allergies hit some people hard. But I've run Boston 10 times before and don't recall allergies having an effect on my race so I'm reluctant to blame them now, although it's possible. Often times the simplest explanation is the right one. Weather was mid-60s at the start and got close to 80 mid-way on the course. Just not ideal conditions to run a marathon if you're not acclimated to those temperatures.

I've had allergy problems running out of town marathons. I'm fine and dandy running locally but running out of town represents a different flora, one to which I am not accustomed to, ergo the problem. The only way I know to possibly avoid this problem is to arrive at the out of town marathon several days in advance in order to possibly get used to the new pollen but even that may not help.

having run boston many times i can honestly say it is a very tough course. especially if you are not prepared for the initial down hills (for me this showed up by quads problems after coming down heartbreak). heat is also a big factor as there is little or no shade on the entire course. the race used to start at high noon and coming out of a new england winter to a warm day in boston was disheartening to say the least. just chalk it off to a bad day and forget about what happened. next time run a flat cool weather marathon. i think in 15 or so boston runs i dropped out 2 or 3 times and only had for me one really decent race.

As a vet of over 30 Bostons and a coach, I've seen this many many times.

In general few non-elites or professionals are ever pleased with their Bostons.

Other than obvious weather issues, convinced that a common mistake is lack of warm-up. I know it is very difficult to warm- up properly for this given the logistics and being herded like cattle. But think about it, you may have done little other than walk that mile to the start, stretched some, stood in corrals for 10-30 min. with adrenaline and excitement through the roof, then you fall off the earth on that downhill with muscles not ready for it. I'm sure as a talented and experienced marathoner , you warm- up properly for all your workouts and perhaps do up to 5-10'miles before any tempo or MP runs! Perhaps never start out any runs, especially downhill, at MP! And bang Boston- quad killer that it is puts the beat down on you right away!

But that course is part of the allure, that keeps us comin back!

To prepare, I try to do some replication of this - except downhill portion- in final 2 weeks taper runs when on a 30-40 min. run, build to MP after very short 'warm-up' of 1-2minutes!

Good luck next year!

Jeez - all these folks here ready to critique the training/racing attitudes of all these folks who have clearly trained WELL for this past Boston, and have good recent race results to prove it.

Folks - it's the HEAT, HEAT HEAT. Stop all the condescending critiques of poor race execution, poor race training, etc. All these folks who BQ'd above, know what it's like to race a BQ-worthy marathon and they'd know it if they were so undertrained that they were supposed to bonk at mile 8.

When ambient temp is 72-78, and then you add the blazing sun on top of that, you're talking 85+ effective temps. No friggin' way you're gonna run remotely near your normal pace, let alone your 'normal' MP +20 in those conditions.

The pro-elites are a different breed - they run so much that they're like much less affected by the heat, AND they get to start earlier before the peak heat and sun.

I'll bet you take any of these 'blew-up at Boston' folks who posted above, replace the Boston race with a cool, flat course like Chicago with 45-50F temps, and they'd all crush the thing.

I agree honestly, this thread is a bunch of people complaining that they paced poorly. I looked at the elevation profile, you literally ran down a hill for 26 miles and had 1 uphill (Heartbreak) don't cry because u went out at 1:13 half and then had issues with HBHill and bonked. It is what it is, train better.

thomson wrote:

To those who did well at Boston17: what was your fueling strategy?

I feel I did well; you guys may disagree. Bib 6599, place 2561, negative split by 1:42, 2nd best marathon time for me at 3:08:44.

Anyway, I don't think it was so much my fueling strategy as it was my cooling strategy. I took a page (just one) out of Floyd Landis' book and dumped 3 cups of water over my head at every aid station for the first 10 aid stations. I was downright chilly when the wind gusted. I also chaffed and got a blister but those were just costs of doing business at that point.

Fwiw, I carried an 18oz bottle of Tailwind that I crushed by mile 10, ditching it at 15. I had 4 salt tablets including one at the start chute, one Honey Stinger waffle at mile 5, and 2 gels at miles 11 and 18. Cups of water and Gatorade from 15 on, but not a lot.

Can we agree the experience for the elites does not compare to the experience of the rest of us? Through the AV, port-a-potty lines, walk to start, and chute, I was on my feet for an hour+ prior to the start. Then the race itself - getting clipped from behind and vice versa, chaos at every aid station, in the middle of a herd...I think the differences between the elite experience and everyone else speak to why it's harder for the rest of us.

Interesting concept. My warm-up was the walk to the start. Probably not sufficient.

But the heat was the same for everyone, yet some overcame. My training partner was only 3 minutes off his goal. I was about 50 minutes off. We train in the same climate on the same terrain. He did a few indoor treadmill runs that I did not do, but not enough for real heat adaptation.

I was thirsty the whole time. I slowed enough through water stops to drink gatorade and water on the right side, then drifted to the left side for more water to dump on my head or down my shirt. I scored one popsicle and it was magical. Kept looking for more after that but failed.

I know I felt the heat, but I had to do way more slowing down due to cramping, first the left quad around mile 5/6, then the right around 13.1, then both calves too. It was all I could do to keep moving. I may have been a bit dehydrated from walking around too much Sunday in the 84F temps.