What happened to me at the Boston Marathon?

Was this your first Boston? This happened to me the first time I ran it. The first ~6 miles are downhill, so if you're not careful or haven't practiced enough downhill running, your lower back and quads will take a beating. Also, the crowded course and excitement can cause you to tighten up, waste energy with sudden changes in pace, etc.

Was it your first 'thon? Sounds like you weren't well prepared for Boston, but you also may just have had a crappy day.

Yes this was my first Boston. I did not prepare for hills or downhill running. I thought that maybe my issues could be related to some sort of nutritional deficiency going into the race because I just bonked so hard, so early. Does that make sense or should I attribute it to the course? Physiologically I'm not sure how soon your body can theoretically enter that glycogen depletion zone.

It happened to me in my one (and so far only) Boston. I did everything wrong--played tourist in Boston the day before, on my feet all day eating and drinking the wrong things, and then had no idea what to do with myself during that long wait for the race to go on Monday morning. I wasn't in all that great marathon shape anyway, having barely qualified as an under-35 female. To make a long story short, I was toast by about 8 miles and finally dropped out of the race shortly before Wellesley, not injured but just not able to run at all. I went on to run three sub-2:48 marathons, but I never went back to Boston.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you do run Boston again, be sure you're well prepared for the hills and possible heat.

troubled wrote:

Yes this was my first Boston. I did not prepare for hills or downhill running.

And now you know what it is like NOT preparing for a really hard event.

There are many more hills in your future if you want to do well at Boston.

I was there on Monday and that heat sucked the life-blood out of me. When I ran in 2011 I barely even noticed the hills; this year however, all I could think about was how hot I was and how lousy I felt, and even after weekly hill training for 4 months, I SUCKED on the hills. I'm sure that what happened to you is a combination of things, but don't underestimate that weather.

I did hear a story that Blake Russell (elite women) had trained well and expected to be in the top-10 of women, but she dropped out at 15k; she's my FB friend so I looked on her home page to see what happened and she said she just didn't do enough hill training and wasn't prepared for the course.

I mean you just never know. The marathon is a damn fickle beast.

I felt deceived after running this race. Everything I read and heard from other runners indicated that the first half of this race was pretty much flat and DOWNHILL. All I kept hearing was that if you go out too fast, you will pay the price later. And that the last five miles into Boston would be mostly downhill.

Bullshit. There are hills everywhere. Even during the first 5K, you constantly go over rollers. Heck, the right onto Hereford and leading up to Boylston is a slight incline.

The Newton "hills" just last longer. I think what most people call a hill is any incline lasting longer than 400 meters because that's what I started to realize along the way.

You sound very undertrained. Sorry.

You from Colorado or out west? Maybe the humidity and heat rekt you into oblivion?

Yeah it sounds like you were clearly under trainedand had bad form running downhill if i'm gonna be honest. Bad form downhill will crush your legs and cause your lower back to tighten up, that in combination with the heat you weren't prepared for caused you to basically go full Ritard for 20 miles.

The entire course is hilly. Go drive it in a car. It looks a lot different with no one on it and you suddenly realize how many uphill sections are on it. The only really flat stretch is basically from about miles 6 to 9 or 10.

I figured I was in about 2:55 shape based on some 20 milers I did at altitude. I went out in 6:40s and at around 7 I backed off as I knew that would be a blow up later in the race due to the sun and heat. Finished up in 3:12. Really backed off on the uphills the entire course and it paid off.

5x18

/thread

I had a very similar experience at Boston this year. But mine trouble started earlier--at mile 3. Quads felt totally trashed. I was in shape for 2:50 (have run 2:38). Started conservative at 6:35-45 per mile and just never felt right. By mile 8, my hip flexor started to go. Struggled to finish but still can't figure out what happened. My best used is over hydration left my muscles fatigued. It's the only thing I can figure out as I did everything else right. There's no reason to be trashed by mile 3. I hydrated quite a bit more than usual in the three days leading up to the race to prep for the heat. Could that have been my problem???

I had a very similar experience at Boston this year. But mine trouble started earlier--at mile 3. Quads felt totally trashed. I was in shape for 2:50 (have run 2:38). Started conservative at 6:35-45 per mile and just never felt right. By mile 8, my hip flexor started to go. Struggled to finish but still can't figure out what happened. My best used is over hydration left my muscles fatigued. It's the only thing I can figure out as I did everything else right. There's no reason to be trashed by mile 3. I hydrated quite a bit more than usual in the three days leading up to the race to prep for the heat. Could that have been my problem???

Same here, sub 2:40 PR and thought I was in great shape. I live locally and usually run at 7 am, so I probably had only run in temperatures above 40 degrees a few times in my whole buildup. Felt fine for 3+ miles then felt like I hit the 20 mile wall just after 4. Walk/jogged the last 22 wondering what happened, and ended up over 40 mins slower than my my PR. Oh well, maybe next year.

troubled wrote:

I felt deceived after running this race. Everything I read and heard from other runners indicated that the first half of this race was pretty much flat and DOWNHILL. All I kept hearing was that if you go out too fast, you will pay the price later. And that the last five miles into Boston would be mostly downhill.

Bullshit. There are hills everywhere. Even during the first 5K, you constantly go over rollers. Heck, the right onto Hereford and leading up to Boylston is a slight incline.

The Newton "hills" just last longer. I think what most people call a hill is any incline lasting longer than 400 meters because that's what I started to realize along the way.

If this was true, the women wouldn't run 2:20-2:23 with regularity for the last 30+ years. It can be a hard course to master, but if you look at the list of top American marathoners nearly everyone who ever ran Boston has their fastest time AT BOSTON.

I know that Boston's course makes the race NON-rec-eligible, but my point is that it is not so hilly that it adds 10 minutes to your real potential or makes you drop out like you did.

1. Ryan Hall—2:04:58, Boston Marathon, 2011

2. Khalid Khannouchi—2:05:38, London Marathon, 2002

3. Dathan Ritzenhein—2:07:47, Chicago Marathon, 2012

4. Meb Keflezighi—2:08:37, Boston Marathon, 2014

5. Bob Kempainen—2:08:47, Boston Marathon, 1994

6. Alberto Salazar—2:08:52, Boston Marathon, 1982

7. Dick Beardsley—2:08:54, Boston Marathon, 1982

8. Abdi Abdirahman—2:08:56, Chicago Marathon, 2006

9. Greg Meyer—2:09:00, Boston Marathon, 1983

10. Bill Rodgers—2:09:27, Boston Marathon, 1979

11. Ron Tabb—2:09:31, Boston Marathon, 1983

12. David Morris—2:09:32, Chicago Marathon, 1999

13. Jerry Lawson—2:09:35, Chicago Marathon, 1997

14. Ken Martin—2:09:38, New York City Marathon, 1989

15. Alan Culpepper—2:09:41, Chicago Marathon, 2002

16. Benji Durden—2:09:57, Boston Marathon, 1983

17. Pat Petersen—2:10:04, London Marathon, 1989

18. Phil Coppess—2:10:05, Twin Cities Marathon, 1985

19. Ed Mendoza—2:10:07, Boston Marathon, 1983

20. Jeff Wells—2:10:16, Boston Marathon, 1983

21. Tony Sandoval—2:10:19, U.S. Olympic Trials (Buffalo), 1980

22. Garry Bjorklund—2:10:20, Grandma’s Marathon, 1980

23. Craig Virgin—2:10:27, Boston Marathon, 1981

24. Kirk Pfeffer—2:10:29, Fukuoka Marathon, 1980

25. Frank Shorter—2:10:30, Fukuoka Marathon, 1972

The same holds true for many non-Americans. Like Rob DeCastella and many others. And don't get me started on how many women have their best time there.

Just adding my name to the list of folks who cratered in their first attempt at Boston. I attribute my troubles to:

(1) I was hungry from the get go because I didn't eat enough to last until a 10 am start

(2) I weaved at the start trying to get through crowds, which not only wasted precious energy but also beat up my quads on those big early downhills

(3) I ran based on an unrealistic time expectation (2:50) rather than going on feel, and was out of breath by the halfway mark.

(4) I was unfamiliar with and lacked appreciation for the difficulty of the course. I was particularly surprised by those rollers in the first half which are not that bad unless you don't expect them.

(5) It was a warm day and I was unacclimated to heat. This year spring came early where I live so I was much better acclimated.

(6) I had not trained on hills enough.

As a result of these mistakes my legs felt like limp spaghetti noodles by about mile 8. I held on as long as possible but began walking/shuffling in Newton and most of the way thereafter to finish in 3:21. That was 2014. It was a rough day but I learned some valuable lessons that helped me to improve my time by 34 minutes the next go round.

Add me to the list... Boston debut, 10 minute positive split from 1:22 to 1:32, first blowup in 4 marathons. I was fantastic through 18 but I really had to push hard up the hills to maintain pace. Then it was a complete collapse the last 5. Going from 6min miles to 8min miles was not fun. I had good mileage but I attribute the collapse to the heat and lack of long hilly runs.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

Was this your first Boston? This happened to me the first time I ran it. The first ~6 miles are downhill, so if you're not careful or haven't practiced enough downhill running, your lower back and quads will take a beating. Also, the crowded course and excitement can cause you to tighten up, waste energy with sudden changes in pace, etc.

Is this the explanation that your husband, Nikeman, gave for running a 3:43?

no excuses, I just suck at the Boston Marathon. How fast did YOU run?