If you ran Boston yesterday- post about your experience here

I ran it wrote:

And the volunteers deserve all the stars.

Amen

Goal Time: Sub 3

Actual Time: 2:57

Clothes: fleece beanie (which I thought I'd ditch but didn't), under armour heat gear t-shirt, brooks arm warmers, north face gloves. Adidas short length tights with Adidas 5" split shorts on top. Softwick ankle socks and nike vaporfly 4%.

Overall experience was awesome, but I ran a Boston pr by three minutes so that may have made my day a little better. I'm from the mountains of Pennsylvania, so I was no stranger to the weather. I did a 22 miler in a blinding snowstorm during my buildup and a couple of 10 mile runs in weather similar to what we had Monday. During the race I kept telling myself I trained in this. But there were moments during the torrential downpours that seemed to go on forever where I thought about letting up. But like Desi said, then I'd engage a little bit, look up and realize I was doing okay. It still wasn't easy but I prefer Monday's conditions to those in 2017 and 2016. Actually, I did the exact same training cycle this year as I did in 2016 when it was hot, and ran four minutes faster this year.

Goal: around 3:00

Result: 3:18

Wore: split shorts, long sleeved tech shirt and singlet.

Had a good winter training and a few weeks ago I though that, on a good day, I could have a shot at breaking 2:50.

I adjusted my expectations to breaking three after I saw the weather conditions. Went out very conservative and hit halfway around 1:29. Felt like jogging. The wind and the cold did not really bother me much, but in hindsight they must have sapped some extra energy as I crashed badly and run the last miles at 9 min/mile. It was my first Boston marathon: it was not fun and the organization felt sub-par. The course is fast, but not particularly interesting. If you are not from Boston, the race is expensive and a logistic nightmare. I don't see any compelling reason to run it again. The crowd along the road was quite thin, but, given the conditions, it is notable that anybody was out there at all. A big thank to all the volunteers, they were trying to do their best in awful conditions.

1) Goal time : 2:35

2) Actual time : DNF at mile 22 with body temp in low 90s

3) What you wore : Singlet, shorts, cotton gloves

Overall experience:

Just a miserable day and a bad roll of the dice for everyone involved . The security measures, while necessary, made everything extremely inconvenient for runners, particularly with the bad weather. You could only bring a very small plastic bag (not even big enough to fit one shoe) to the starting area, where you had to stay for three hours before the gun went off. Was told by multiple staff my bib had to be on my outer most layer, so that made wearing layers and shedding throughout the race impossible.

Tried to stay warm for as long as possible before the race, but the near mile walk to the starting line left me scrambling last-minute to get everything together. Ended up accidentally putting on cotton gloves, and my hands were too cold to properly tie my shoes. All of these inconveniences were just that, though. When it was all said and done, the BAA did a good job of providing medical help throughout the course, and the volunteers were amazing. Had the BAA asked everyone in the fall to pay $15 more to account for these potential conditions, I would have laughed. I'm sure they'll learn and improve on a few things, but I don't feel like the bad day was anyone's fault.

First time in my life I have been cold while racing. Running with a low body temp, apparently, slows you down a lot even when you're feeling strong. Kept what felt like the same stride and cadence for several splits that were 20 seconds slower than earlier in the race. Spent the rest of the day pissing every 20 minutes, which was a combination of hypothermia symptoms and not sweating during the race. Ankles are all messed up from running in loose shoes. I bet 29,800 runners went home unhappy.

Goal time: 2:45

Actual time: 2:52

Wore: tights, long sleeved shirt, shorts, tank top over the long sleeve, and wool cap. Was hoping to ditch the wool cap but I now credit it with my ability to finish the race.

I felt good running but everything felt cold. Legs, hands, arms. I've never felt that cold while running. I had a GU in my hand to warm it up and it stayed solid--I had to chew it which was a first for me.

Crashed badly in the last 6 miles, I think in retrospect running in the cold and rain affected me much more than the wind, although the combo took a lot of energy to battle. I was able to draft at some points, but it didn't seem to help much.

Goal time: 2:58

Actual time: 3:23

Clothing: calf sleeves, short tights, track jacket with t-shirt and arm warmers underneath, hat and gloves

Athletes village a complete $hit$how. Brought change of clothes and changed out in the rain to avoid changing in the muddy tents. Already cold and wet by the time the race started and never had time to warmup before. Never bothered starting my watch as I knew conditions would be tough and wanted to run by feel. Muscles felt stiff a couple of miles in and had to stop and stretch numerous times. Legs started to feel heavy by mile 8. By midway, could no longer flex my fingers and had hard time taking fuel. Last few miles could barely move my legs. Ended up in the medical tent with hypothermia. When I changed my clothes they were water logged and probably weighed about 10 pounds. Wish I wore a waterproof upper with a hood.

1) Goal time was in the 3:10 to 3:15 range, maybe

2) Ended up running 3:28, big positive split

3) Club singlet, shorts, hat and gloves.

It was ridiculously difficult at times. First, you get a heavy cold shower and then they turn on the headwinds. I think I was dressed right, but I felt cold the entire time. It was my 14th Boston and by far the slowest. I ran faster in 2004, 2007 and in 2012 . My fastest Boston was in 2010, when I ran 2:50

Goal- 3:39- I’m old

Time- 3:50 +

Wore shorts (big mistake), tech long sleeve, under intended throw away long -sleeve( never thrown away) and club vest. First 4miles also wore light poncho which threw away( mistake 2)!

35 plus Boston’s and this was the toughest for me! Old beat- on wheels didn’t respond well to cold and downpours. Never been chilled while in the midst of a race before, but was fortunate enough to be able to pick up pace on hills to generate heat. There usually is quite a bit of conversation and small talk during mid- race, but I didn’t hear much at all. People had their heads down, leaning into the gales.

Very few fans out there, don’t blame them at all. Cheers to the many hard-cores - especially in Newton-who were out there or on their porches.

One of the biggest challenges was getting back to hotel before serious chill set in- and I did not check a bag. I can’t imagine what those who had to endure bag check and did not have nearby hotel, went through. Savored those post race brews though! One for the ages. Always seems to be something extra at Boston.

Goal time: Just wanted to finish.

Finish Time: DNF

Wore: tights, shorts. Compression undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers and long sleeve jersey.

Training: Way under trained.

I was hurt and had no business running a marathon. I had Periostitis and hadn't run in 4 weeks. But it was my first and probably only Boston so I wanted to at least start. Ran the first half with no problems. Felt great, holding myself back.

But Periostitis started to flair up and had to take walk breaks. I was fine when I was running but when I was walking in the rain I just lost heat like crazy. My body started to shake uncontrollably. Just got colder and colder. Must have looked like a Zombie hit by a cattle prod. I would have been ok if the weather had been better. I just needed to alternate walking and running. It was not to be.

At mile 18 I struggled into a med tent and they put me on a cot and worked to warm me up, my body temp was low 90s. They put in a room with like 30 other people all clustered around a propane heater. Everyone was shaking and had a distant stare. It wasn't pretty.

1) 2:38:35 prior to conditions being certain, no definite goal after confirming conditions, just run by effort

2) 2:40:49 (1st half 1:20:24, 2nd half: 1:20:25)

3) Nike baseball cap, compression tee, arm sleeves, singlet, injinji crew socks, adios 3s, Salomon hand sleeves designed to hold a soft flask, they covered the palm of my hands and I held my gels in them.

Amazing experience for my 1st Boston Marathon. Conditions made for a shitty pre-race wait and post-race attempt to get warm, but the race itself was enjoyable despite the conditions. I warmed up a couple miles in and my body held up to the conditions throughout the race. I took a very conservative approach early to make sure I had the energy for the hills and to take advantage of the downhill finish. I think the weather made for a more memorable race then if the conditions were ideal or really hot as in more recent years.

Goal time: 3:30

Actual time: 3:45

Wore 7 inch tight shorts under long tights, t-shirt, long-sleeve dry-fit race t-shirt from another race, and a north face "rain" jacket that has never been any good at actually keeping out the rain, a dry-fit baseball cap, and old gloves. I started with an oversized long-sleeve tshirt over my jacket to pick up the rain for 3 or 4 miles, and I had an old pair of pajama pants around my neck that I used to put my hands in to keep the gloves dry for a while (ditched around the same time as the tshirt). The goal was to keep the gloves on until it was more uncomfortable to have them on than off - at about mile 22 when I was bonking and losing body heat, I took them off and switched them for a pair of dry-ish socks I had stashed in my pocket.

Athlete's Village was a nightmare. Brought dry shoes to change into that were soaked before the race even started. Couldn't feel my fingers or my toes at the start (renyaud's), and it took 3 miles before my feet warmed up.

Still can't decide what was worse - huddling under a poncho in athlete's village trying to get warm before the race, or waiting in line for 25 minutes for my checked bag at the finish. I never even got to the front of the line - when I got close I just raised my hand and started yelling my number until someone handed me my bag.

Shout out to the volunteer who stood behind me in one of the bag pick-up tents and held up my post-race poncho so I could strip down and change.

1. Low 2:40. Ran a 1:18 half 6 weeks out.

2. 2:51:38 - I did fairly well, I think, but not anywhere close to my fitness level.

3. Baseball hat, heavier weight synthetic tee under singlet , wool arm sleeves, one nike windblocking glove and one north face microfleece glove (both right-handed), half tights, compression socks. Not perfect, but not terrible.

I love the cold. I'm big for a runner. I easily have 20 pounds on most of the guys around my height in my corral. My marathon PR started out in mid 20s and got into sunny low 30s. I wore shorts. It's been windy and cold so I ran into a lot of cold 20+mph headwinds over the last few weeks. I'm fine with the rain.

Monday was just an epic ordeal. It's hard to understand if you weren't running in it. It ended up being a battle against hypothermia for a lot of runners. The later runners, more worried about being cold than hot, seemed more sensibly dressed. Staying in a pack helped with the wind. I really felt for the elite women, and anyone that ended up running on their own for any length of time.

The Athletes village was like Glastonbury in the rain. I managed to stay dry but at the cost of getting cold. Tried to warm up with a jog to the corral but I just never got warm. There was a big downpour shortly after the Elite women's start but the rain and winds weren't that bad at the men's start. It wasn't until the first heavy downpour about 45 minutes in that it started to get tough. The rain was cold and would come in heavy bands. The wind was steady with gusts and kept getting stronger as we got closer to Boston. Eventually my quads got so cold my legs wouldn't work and I couldn't run faster than easy pace. I was sure I would DNF from mile 15 until I found myself over the top of Heartbreak as a bad patch lifted. From there I managed to chug along to the finish. More like running an ultra than a major marathon. Think I'm ready to try 50 miles now.

Weldon, thank you for including the thread I began to acknowledge the incredible support during those conditions on Monday. It saddens me that more posters prefer to complain or fight about the S#*^ show, than to be grateful for people who consider it an honor to help us get to the finish line.

In my experience, it was the worst bad weather day I've run, though I'd take it again versus a hot weather day. Because I train in winter conditions, I ran in a long sleeve tech shirt, rain resistant running jacket, stocking hat, gloves and shorts. I don't think any different combination would have helped me achieve my goals for the day. The combination of wind, wet and cold were going to affect hobby joggers much more than any two of the three combined. I rigged over the last 5k, so had to settle for a 4:05, 10 min more than the BQ time that was one of my goals.

Congratulations to anyone who finished. It was a tough day so the story you get to tell is about that.

hingus2000 wrote:

Goal:

Brojos, you ever gonna fix this glitch? Or are you waiting for its 20-year anniversary?

1. Goal time 2:59-3:04 (first time running Boston)

2. 3:11 (65 second PR)

3. I wore a pair of oiselle shorts, long sleeve and reflective tank (has a nice pocket). No chafing which is pretty awesome considering the rain. I also wore a hat that helped a lot I think. I switched to dry vaporfly 4%s right before the start. Didn't wear gloves and hands were numb, struggling with gus but I was overall happy with my clothing choice. No hypothermia, stayed clear headed- the Midwest has made me tough and to some degree I got lucky. I still had a blast, although I couldn't really take in the course since I was focused on footing and drafting off of people.

I wonder what the time equates to but I'll just have to run a fall marathon to find out, hopefully in better conditions.

1. Goal time: sub 3 (adjusted from sub 2:55 given weather)

2. Actual time: 2:54, 3 minute negative split

3. Wore half tights, singlet, arm warmers, gloves (ditched waterlogged gloves around 15)

Last 5k was more pain than I've experienced in a race but something kept me going. Perhaps it was the feeling of going fast in bad weather and catching a lot of people in the last 5 miles.

After I ditched the gloves my hands were frozen claws and I immediately regretted it. I also regret dialing back the pace a little since I had so much left for the negative split.

Within a couple of minutes of crossing the line I was dry heaving and shaking uncontrollably. Must have been right on the edge of that happening the last few miles. I usually run great in cold weather but it went down hill pretty fast after I stopped.

Convexity wrote:

1. Goal time: sub 3 (adjusted from sub 2:55 given weather)

2. Actual time: 2:54, 3 minute negative split

3. Wore half tights, singlet, arm warmers, gloves (ditched waterlogged gloves around 15)

Last 5k was more pain than I've experienced in a race but something kept me going. Perhaps it was the feeling of going fast in bad weather and catching a lot of people in the last 5 miles.

After I ditched the gloves my hands were frozen claws and I immediately regretted it. I also regret dialing back the pace a little since I had so much left for the negative split.

Within a couple of minutes of crossing the line I was dry heaving and shaking uncontrollably. Must have been right on the edge of that happening the last few miles. I usually run great in cold weather but it went down hill pretty fast after I stopped.

Sorry, this thread is for people that ran Boston yesterday. I would suggest starting a new thread titled "If you ran Boston three days ago- post about your experience here."

1) Goal time: 3:54 - just wanted to re-qualify

2) Actual time: 3:48

3) What you wore:

lower body: CWX half tights (UA boxer jock under)

upper body layers: base layer was compression short sleeve shirt; over that was adidas supernova long sleeve shirt (with thumb-holed sleeves) and a singlet over that. wore a throw-away windbreaker for most of the race and the top layer was the top of a cheap plastic rain suit. brooks running cap with a thin skull cap under that. kept the plastic rain jacket on the whole way

i was way over-dressed.

i ran a very conservative, even easy, effort, so i knew i wasn't going to be generating a lot of heat.

also, since i was nursing a sore knee, knew there was a possibility i would be walking.

i never felt that cold, being over dressed as i was

kept the cuffs of the throw-away wind breaker over my hands much of the time

there were times, even though i wasn't running hard, it was difficult to maintain a steady pace. wind in the late miles made for a bigger positive split than planned, but still got my BQ - 6:00 with relative ease

rain pelting you in the side of the face is annoying!

never seen so much garbage - clothing and plastic - on the course

it was, in a word, epic...

1) Goal time = 3:35 (before the weather, I adjusted to 3:40 on race morning)

2) Actual time = 3:39

3) What you wore = nike half tights, patagonia capilene shirt, patagonia super light wind jacket (predecessor to houdini), with my team singlet over the jacket, nylon baseball cap, headband, Mizuno breath thermo wind guard gloves

And then overall experience: It was a really fun day despite the weather. I think I actually tuned out the weather somewhat because I watched the race afterwards and it looked much worse than I remembered. I wanted to run a negative split but around mile 10 I noticed that my legs were starting to feel stiff and fatigued, like they should around mile 16-18. The last 3 miles took all my mental strength to sustain. I wonder if I could have exceeded my goal if the weather was better, but on the other hand I found this weather better than a hot day.