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| Me in Wellesley at Mile 12, giving Emme a high-five. |
Monday, April 17, 2017
Boston, MA
Difficulty score: 6/9
So I just ran my first Boston Marathon. Regardless of the outcome, it was an honor and a privilege to finally experience this, after years of training.
For months, I had entertained the idea of running my first Boston Marathon a little slower and simply enjoying the race and the atmosphere. There were several reasons to believe that Boston might not be one of my best races. Race day weather has been completely unpredictable; sometimes it would be cold and rainy (e.g. 2015) or hot and humid (e.g. 2012). The third week of April has usually been the time of year when my allergies hit hardest. Plus, this was also my first race that started at 10:00 am; every one of my other marathons started no later than 8:30 am, and I had no idea how a later start would affect me.
I would not have been too disappointed with a subpar performance at Boston either. I already had a Boston qualifier for 2018 at the Richmond Marathon from last November; I was four minutes and 16 seconds under my qualifying standard, which should give me a very good chance of making the cutoff for the 2018 race. I had also already completed the six races required for the DC Front Runners Race Circuit, with a total score that I was very satisfied with. A strong performance at Boston would have been really nice though, especially given that it would lead to a score that could replace my score from the Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon.
As it turns out, race day conditions were not great for a marathon. The temperatures were in the low seventies at the start and got slightly warmer as the race progressed. Plus, the tailwind that was expected never really made an appearance and the sun was really beating down on us. Because of this, in addition to the difficulty of this course, I finished in 3:38:59, my slowest marathon ever (this was more than 33 minutes slower than my last marathon and more than 15 minutes slower than my previous personal worst). My strength was just drained by the time I reached the halfway point in Wellesley; the last seven miles were a slow death march consisting of a lot of hobbling and trying to get back on track.
Nonetheless, the experience was just as magical as everybody told me it was. What I especially loved about this race was how everyone, from the volunteers, to the spectators, to the communities along the route, and to the runners, all came together for this event. Marathoners would strike up random conversations with other marathoners throughout this weekend; I had lengthy conversations about running with people I would otherwise never have spoken to. The support along the course was just unbelievable. I did run my slowest time ever today, I did have a very difficult second half of the race, and I did end up in the medical tent after the race and feeling quite sick for the rest of the day. But I would come back and do it all over again.
Training
I had essentially repeated by training plan for the Richmond Marathon this past November, with a basic weekly structure of six days of running, with:
- Monday: five to seven miles easy (sometimes slower than 9:00/mile) to recover from the previous day's long run.
- Tuesday: tempo run days. These would typically consist of six to eight miles with four to six miles at 10-miler to half-marathon pace. I ended up covering the tempo portion between 6:15/mile and 6:30/mile most of the time.
- Wednesday: four to five miles easy to recover from the previous day's tempo run.
- Thursday: longer mid-week run between eight and eleven miles, some of them with progressions to target marathon pace (7:00 to 7:05/mile) or faster.
- Friday: OFF
- Saturday: seven to nine miles easy (7:42 to 8:24/mile pace).
- Sunday: long runs of up to 19 miles. Typically these miles were covered at the same pace as Saturday's runs, but some of them involved progression to target marathon pace.
Other than a few weeks where I had to skip a few training runs due to minor ankle and calf issues or travel, I was able to run six days a week consistently. I was able to get several 50+ mile weeks under my belt, with a maximum of 58.5 miles several weeks before. One notable change during this training cycle was the complete lack of any runs longer than 20 miles; my longest runs this time included two 19-mile runs (including one the week before Cherry Blossom), two 18-mile runs, and several 16-mile runs.
Race Day
I had arrived in Boston on Saturday afternoon with Jeff and Kei from DC Front Runners, my roommates for the weekend, and had planned on staying until Tuesday morning. The days leading up to the race included a shake-out run, a visit to the expo, lots of eating, including dinner with some other members of DC Front Runners and other participants from the DC area, and obsessing over the weather on Patriot's Day.
When I checked the race day forecast on the Tuesday before the race, most sites were predicting clear conditions, with a high in the low sixties and a temperature at the start in the high fifties. Based on this, I had initially planned on trying to take advantage of these conditions and try to finish in under 3:10:00. A PR or a 3:04:59 or better may have been very difficult with those temperatures, but I thought that a 3:09:59 or faster was doable. My plan was then to first settle into a 7:10 to 7:15/mile pace for the first 16 miles, slow down as necessary during the next five miles (I would try to maintain the same effort level for the Newton Hills, even I was slower by a few seconds per mile), and then try to speed up for the last miles for a negative split.
Over the next several days, race day temperature forecasts were getting worse and worse. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began predicting high temperatures in the high sixties, although initially, sites like weather.com and wunderground.com were still predicting high in the low sixties and starting temperatures in the high fifties with low humidity. High sixties then became low seventies, and all the sites eventually converged on this prediction. I then decided to adjust my plan to be even more conservative: I would then settle into a 7:15 to 7:20/mile pace for the first 16 miles, get through the Newton Hills, and then try to speed up for the last part of the race.
When I arrived at the Athlete's Village in Hopkinton and noticed that I actually felt comfortable walking around in my racing singlet and shorts, I began to wonder if even my dialed-back plan was too aggressive (I have a saying that if you're walking around in your racing outfit and not freezing your ass off before the race, it is too warm). As I walked the 0.7 miles from the Athlete's Village to the starting corrals, I made a plan to really start out slow and very gradually ease into my target pace. I started at the back of Corral 7 (to which I was assigned based on my qualifying time) and even let half of Corral 8 get in front of me as we walked from our initial positions in the corrals to the start line.
Miles 1 through 8 (7:35, 7:23, 7:26, 7:14, 7:27, 7:17, 7:23, 7:32): As planned, I started out very conservatively, letting scores of people run past me and trying not to brake on the sharp downhill at the very start of the race. My first mile (7:35) was quite a bit slower than I had initially planned. I still was unable to get to 7:15 to 7:20/mile pace in the second and third miles. But what I was running felt like an appropriate effort for a marathon, so I decided to decrease my expectations even further and try for a 3:15:00 or so. So many spectators lined the course in Hopkinton and Ashland. And the beginning was not nearly as crowded as I thought it might be; I was able to move around and never felt boxed in.
The Massachusetts state highway on which we were running was very pretty, so I spent much of this part enjoying the atmosphere and high-fiving spectators along the course. If I wasn't going to get one of my stronger performances today, at least I would enjoy myself. Chris from DC Front Runners was spectating in Ashland; I did not know he would be here in Boston, but he spotted me in the huge crowd of runners.
But on the fourth mile, I managed to get my pace down to 7:14/mile. The fifth mile was slower, but I was back to a 7:16/mile pace for the sixth mile. Perhaps I would be able to hold a 7:15 to 7:20/mile pace after all. I may have even been able to go down to 7:10 to 7:15/mile; it would have been really great if I could get sub-3:10:00 here today. Meanwhile, I took fluids at every aid station and three Shot Blocks every five kilometers or so as planned. Whenever I did not take Shot Blocks, I drank the Gatorade they offered; I drank water every time I consumed Shot Blocks.
Clue number one that things were about to get ugly was that I began to feel overheated within the first four miles. I tried to run in shade whenever possible, but there just was not much of it. Clue number two that was that some of the runners around me began to get really cranky, even rude; for example, one guy was pushing people out of the way to get to the water station. Clue number three was that the eighth mile was noticeably slower (7:32), but felt like it was at the same effort level as the preceding miles. Clue number four was that I saw runners that looked very fit walking already.
Miles 9 through 16 (7:29, 7:35, 7:40, 7:40, 7:36, 7:46, 8:01, 7:56): At least it wasn't as sunny and hot during these miles; a cloud cover gave the runners a bit of a break. But I did notice my pace fading fast, and I abandoned any expectation of a sub-3:15:00 today.
Mile 12 was the famous scream tunnel of Wellesley, and just like what people who did Boston told me, the course was lined with screaming girls. Some of the guys around me took up the offers of the girls who were willing to kiss marathoners, but I didn't really interact with many of the spectators here. I was running on the left side; all of the screaming girls were lined up on the right side of the course. This mile was indeed just as intense as everyone says it was.
JR, his daughter Emme, and Andy were spectating near the scream tunnel, just as they said. It was great to see them. When I crossed the halfway mark in 1:38:29, I thought that perhaps a sub-3:20:00 was doable today, but I had to prepare for the possibility of running my slowest marathon ever. What was most disturbing was that I did not feel like I had the energy for another 13.1 miles in me.
As I was running through Wellesley, I suddenly felt somebody place a bag of ice to the back of my neck. I turned around; it was Grant, who had run with DC Front Runners for a little while before moving to Atlanta. He had started in an earlier corral, but had to stop for a few minutes. We talked for a bit; it turns out he was having as difficult as a time as I was today (and he ultimately finished in a time that was much slower than what he was capable of).
We decided to run together for a bit. We talked about his graduate school program to take our minds off our slowing pace and tiring legs. Meanwhile, throughout these miles, I continued to take Shot Blocks every five kilometers and water or Gatorade at every aid station. However, I stopped taking Shot Blocks after Mile 15, after feeling like I wanted to throw up. Even Gatorade was a little too much for my stomach at this point, so I began to take mostly water. I even began taking a cup of water and pouring it on my head and on my forearms to cool down.
Miles 17 through 21 (8:00, 8:12, 8:08, 8:33, 9:32): This was it; the beginning of the famous Newton Hills. Grant, who had run Boston twice already, said that if I could handle Massachusetts Avenue (in DC), then these hills would not be a problem. The Newton Hills were a series of five uphills, none of them being terribly long or steep (the longest was the first one and even that one was not much longer than half a mile), but their location in the race was what terrified most people who ran Boston. These hills may have been nothing compared to the Massachusetts Avenue hill, but when we were running our Thursday evening runs up Massachusetts Avenue, we did not already have 16 miles in our legs.
This was when I really began to see the warmth take its toll on the runners. One guy had collapsed on the course right in front of me. One girl was lying on the ground on the side screaming bloody murder as if she were being tortured. Dozens more were limping or hobbling along the edge of the course.
I kept running with Grant up these hills. I have to say that this part was louder and rowdier than the scream tunnel in Wellesley; it seems like everyone had come out to energize the runners up the hills, particularly around the Newton Firehouse. There were also some pretty noticeable downhills during this section, which gave us a bit of a break from the uphills but at the same time, thrashed our legs even further after the net downhill first half. My original plan was to maintain an even effort through these miles, just like most Boston veterans had suggested; I was hoping to conserve whatever energy I had left so I could take the last five miles faster. I tried to relax and not surge up the hills, but I noticed that my stride was getting shorter and my gait was gradually changing to a shuffle.
If I had to say which hills were the most difficult among the Newton Hills, I would say it was the last two (the last being Heartbreak Hill). They both are long and pretty noticeable, and the fact they are last make them more difficult than the relatively long first hill. But anyway, I got a pretty nasty cramp in my right leg as I was going up Heartbreak Hill. I told Grant to go on without me as I had to walk up the hill for a bit. Halfway up the hill, my leg felt better, so I started running again.
Mile 22 to the end (8:12, 10:44, 11:20, 10:37, 11:29, 3:11 for the last 0.41 miles): They say that if you make it up Heartbreak Hill in one piece, then the last five miles is a great opportunity to make up for some lost time. These last miles were almost entirely downhill or flat; some of the downhills were also quite sharp. I remembered a few uphills scattered about these last few miles, but they were trivial. But otherwise, these last five miles are torture. If your quads are already gone, those downhill segments will just punish them even further.
Mile 22 seemed to be going much better; I seemed to be taking advantage of the downhill and getting somewhat back on track in terms of pace. However, in Mile 23, things took a turn for the worse. My legs really were battered by the time I got to Brookline; those long downhills were painful. My quads were unable to handle any more downhill running, and my legs cramped up on every so often. Much of these miles were spent hobbling; in addition to my legs being toast, I had no energy left.
But still, I was determined to finish even if I had to crawl across that finish line. As the miles passed, the crowds kept getting denser. I had nothing left in me; my energy was sapped and my legs were exhausted. I noticed that even a 3:30:00 was slipping away from me. So I tried alternating running and walking; I would run for two minutes and then walk for two. As much as I didn't want them to look at me, the crowd on the sides of the course were very supportive and encouraging, not to mention loud.
The last two miles were so packed and loud it made the Wellesley Scream Tunnel at Mile 12 seem desolate. Also, toward the end of the race, runners can see a Citgo sign for miles; once they reach that sign, they will only have one mile left in the race. I actually was so busy trying to pull myself together and to finish that I didn't notice the Citgo sign until I was almost at it. Evidently, Kei and the Boston Front Runners were somewhere near the Citgo sign; they said they saw me, but I didn't see them.
After I turned that famous "right on Hereford, left on Boylston" right before the finish line, I focused on running through the finish. I did not want to hobble across that finish line; I wanted those photographers to at least capture some illusion that I was not completely falling apart. On that last straightaway, I picked up my legs a little and running felt easier and much less painful (perhaps I should have done that during those last few miles; I think I began shuffling because my form was falling apart). I even managed to cover that last 0.4 miles or so at 7:41/mile pace.
So end result: 3:38:59 (8:17/mile). I was 9465th human out of 26411 finishers total, 6882nd male out of 14438 male finishers, and 3137th out of 4774 in my age group. I ran a 22-minute positive split (ouch, especially considering I usually run negative splits for my marathons); 1:38:29 for the first half and 2:00:30 for the second. And my 1:03:08 10-miler just two weeks ago indicated I was probably physically capable of a sub-3:05:00.
The reason why I fell short of expectations today? It was the weather, for sure. I just got cooked; I could not handle the combination of temperatures in the seventies and the sun well at all. Sure, my allergies could have been acting up (I had been suffering from allergy symptoms all the way until the morning of the race). And I could have been careless in how I handled the course. Perhaps I was even suffering from residual fatigue from the 10-miler and didn't even know it. But I could say with confidence that these were all minor factors compared to the warmer-than-usual weather. In fact, the temperatures rose even higher than predicted; one tweet from the Boston Athletic Association indicated that by the time the Elite Men reached the halfway point, temperatures on the race course had already reached 79 degrees.
I also ended up in the medical tent. As I was walking around the finish area, I began to feel very dizzy. The medical volunteers had to walk me to the medical tent because I had such difficulty sitting down because my legs kept cramping badly. As soon as I was brought to the medical tent, I was examined and told to drink some Gatorade to replace some water and electrolytes in me. After about twenty minutes sitting in the medical tent sipping on Gatorade, I began to feel much better.
That medical tent was madness. Medical volunteers kept wheeling in finishers, many of whom were in even worse shape than I was. One man was shivering violently as he was brought in. One woman was crying. Another was unconscious. I later learned that over two thousand finishers had received medical attention today, some of whom had heat stroke; one person's core temperature reached 109 degrees.
I decided to leave the medical tent, promising to return if I began to feel worse. I reunited with Kei and Jeff at the family reunion area. It turns out Jeff did much better than I did; he qualified for Boston here by almost two minutes. We returned to the hotel to clean up, and then headed over to Cathedral Station for a celebratory drink and a meal. But I couldn't stomach anything; I had a bad headache and could not eat without wanting to throw up. After resting for a bit, the headache disappeared and my appetite returned.
So that's it; my first Boston experience. Am I disappointed? Not really. I did get a 10-miler personal best and a strong half-marathon time out of this training cycle, and I finally got to see all the iconic moments of Boston that makes Boston what it is. Do I plan to own this result? Definitely. And I know I'll be back again. I was just surprised at how much I really had to slow down in the wake of this weather; I think I may have been looking at a 3:25:00 to a 3:30:00 marathon time at best today, not a 3:15:00.
Next Steps
In terms of the near future, I think I'm essentially done racing for a few months. I might do one or two local 5K races, but that would be it. I probably will do a fall marathon, in addition to a half-marathon or 10-miler as a tune-up. I have not decided exactly what fall marathon, but it would probably be one taking place between mid-October and early November.
And like I said, I have a BQ-4:16 from Richmond, so unless they decide to significantly decrease the size of the field for Boston 2018, I will probably make the cutoff and be able to run again next year. I would definitely do the race again for the experience and for redemption (or at least to run better than 3:38:59).
Boston: I shall return.
Other Thoughts and Observations
Race Day
I had arrived in Boston on Saturday afternoon with Jeff and Kei from DC Front Runners, my roommates for the weekend, and had planned on staying until Tuesday morning. The days leading up to the race included a shake-out run, a visit to the expo, lots of eating, including dinner with some other members of DC Front Runners and other participants from the DC area, and obsessing over the weather on Patriot's Day.
When I checked the race day forecast on the Tuesday before the race, most sites were predicting clear conditions, with a high in the low sixties and a temperature at the start in the high fifties. Based on this, I had initially planned on trying to take advantage of these conditions and try to finish in under 3:10:00. A PR or a 3:04:59 or better may have been very difficult with those temperatures, but I thought that a 3:09:59 or faster was doable. My plan was then to first settle into a 7:10 to 7:15/mile pace for the first 16 miles, slow down as necessary during the next five miles (I would try to maintain the same effort level for the Newton Hills, even I was slower by a few seconds per mile), and then try to speed up for the last miles for a negative split.
Over the next several days, race day temperature forecasts were getting worse and worse. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began predicting high temperatures in the high sixties, although initially, sites like weather.com and wunderground.com were still predicting high in the low sixties and starting temperatures in the high fifties with low humidity. High sixties then became low seventies, and all the sites eventually converged on this prediction. I then decided to adjust my plan to be even more conservative: I would then settle into a 7:15 to 7:20/mile pace for the first 16 miles, get through the Newton Hills, and then try to speed up for the last part of the race.
When I arrived at the Athlete's Village in Hopkinton and noticed that I actually felt comfortable walking around in my racing singlet and shorts, I began to wonder if even my dialed-back plan was too aggressive (I have a saying that if you're walking around in your racing outfit and not freezing your ass off before the race, it is too warm). As I walked the 0.7 miles from the Athlete's Village to the starting corrals, I made a plan to really start out slow and very gradually ease into my target pace. I started at the back of Corral 7 (to which I was assigned based on my qualifying time) and even let half of Corral 8 get in front of me as we walked from our initial positions in the corrals to the start line.
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| Map of the Boston Marathon route (from the Boston Globe) and the elevation profile from my Strava activity for this race. |
The Massachusetts state highway on which we were running was very pretty, so I spent much of this part enjoying the atmosphere and high-fiving spectators along the course. If I wasn't going to get one of my stronger performances today, at least I would enjoy myself. Chris from DC Front Runners was spectating in Ashland; I did not know he would be here in Boston, but he spotted me in the huge crowd of runners.
But on the fourth mile, I managed to get my pace down to 7:14/mile. The fifth mile was slower, but I was back to a 7:16/mile pace for the sixth mile. Perhaps I would be able to hold a 7:15 to 7:20/mile pace after all. I may have even been able to go down to 7:10 to 7:15/mile; it would have been really great if I could get sub-3:10:00 here today. Meanwhile, I took fluids at every aid station and three Shot Blocks every five kilometers or so as planned. Whenever I did not take Shot Blocks, I drank the Gatorade they offered; I drank water every time I consumed Shot Blocks.
Clue number one that things were about to get ugly was that I began to feel overheated within the first four miles. I tried to run in shade whenever possible, but there just was not much of it. Clue number two that was that some of the runners around me began to get really cranky, even rude; for example, one guy was pushing people out of the way to get to the water station. Clue number three was that the eighth mile was noticeably slower (7:32), but felt like it was at the same effort level as the preceding miles. Clue number four was that I saw runners that looked very fit walking already.
Miles 9 through 16 (7:29, 7:35, 7:40, 7:40, 7:36, 7:46, 8:01, 7:56): At least it wasn't as sunny and hot during these miles; a cloud cover gave the runners a bit of a break. But I did notice my pace fading fast, and I abandoned any expectation of a sub-3:15:00 today.
Mile 12 was the famous scream tunnel of Wellesley, and just like what people who did Boston told me, the course was lined with screaming girls. Some of the guys around me took up the offers of the girls who were willing to kiss marathoners, but I didn't really interact with many of the spectators here. I was running on the left side; all of the screaming girls were lined up on the right side of the course. This mile was indeed just as intense as everyone says it was.
JR, his daughter Emme, and Andy were spectating near the scream tunnel, just as they said. It was great to see them. When I crossed the halfway mark in 1:38:29, I thought that perhaps a sub-3:20:00 was doable today, but I had to prepare for the possibility of running my slowest marathon ever. What was most disturbing was that I did not feel like I had the energy for another 13.1 miles in me.
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| Me at Mile 12 in Wellesley after the Scream Tunnel. Photo by Andy. |
We decided to run together for a bit. We talked about his graduate school program to take our minds off our slowing pace and tiring legs. Meanwhile, throughout these miles, I continued to take Shot Blocks every five kilometers and water or Gatorade at every aid station. However, I stopped taking Shot Blocks after Mile 15, after feeling like I wanted to throw up. Even Gatorade was a little too much for my stomach at this point, so I began to take mostly water. I even began taking a cup of water and pouring it on my head and on my forearms to cool down.
Miles 17 through 21 (8:00, 8:12, 8:08, 8:33, 9:32): This was it; the beginning of the famous Newton Hills. Grant, who had run Boston twice already, said that if I could handle Massachusetts Avenue (in DC), then these hills would not be a problem. The Newton Hills were a series of five uphills, none of them being terribly long or steep (the longest was the first one and even that one was not much longer than half a mile), but their location in the race was what terrified most people who ran Boston. These hills may have been nothing compared to the Massachusetts Avenue hill, but when we were running our Thursday evening runs up Massachusetts Avenue, we did not already have 16 miles in our legs.
This was when I really began to see the warmth take its toll on the runners. One guy had collapsed on the course right in front of me. One girl was lying on the ground on the side screaming bloody murder as if she were being tortured. Dozens more were limping or hobbling along the edge of the course.
I kept running with Grant up these hills. I have to say that this part was louder and rowdier than the scream tunnel in Wellesley; it seems like everyone had come out to energize the runners up the hills, particularly around the Newton Firehouse. There were also some pretty noticeable downhills during this section, which gave us a bit of a break from the uphills but at the same time, thrashed our legs even further after the net downhill first half. My original plan was to maintain an even effort through these miles, just like most Boston veterans had suggested; I was hoping to conserve whatever energy I had left so I could take the last five miles faster. I tried to relax and not surge up the hills, but I noticed that my stride was getting shorter and my gait was gradually changing to a shuffle.
If I had to say which hills were the most difficult among the Newton Hills, I would say it was the last two (the last being Heartbreak Hill). They both are long and pretty noticeable, and the fact they are last make them more difficult than the relatively long first hill. But anyway, I got a pretty nasty cramp in my right leg as I was going up Heartbreak Hill. I told Grant to go on without me as I had to walk up the hill for a bit. Halfway up the hill, my leg felt better, so I started running again.
Mile 22 to the end (8:12, 10:44, 11:20, 10:37, 11:29, 3:11 for the last 0.41 miles): They say that if you make it up Heartbreak Hill in one piece, then the last five miles is a great opportunity to make up for some lost time. These last miles were almost entirely downhill or flat; some of the downhills were also quite sharp. I remembered a few uphills scattered about these last few miles, but they were trivial. But otherwise, these last five miles are torture. If your quads are already gone, those downhill segments will just punish them even further.
Mile 22 seemed to be going much better; I seemed to be taking advantage of the downhill and getting somewhat back on track in terms of pace. However, in Mile 23, things took a turn for the worse. My legs really were battered by the time I got to Brookline; those long downhills were painful. My quads were unable to handle any more downhill running, and my legs cramped up on every so often. Much of these miles were spent hobbling; in addition to my legs being toast, I had no energy left.
But still, I was determined to finish even if I had to crawl across that finish line. As the miles passed, the crowds kept getting denser. I had nothing left in me; my energy was sapped and my legs were exhausted. I noticed that even a 3:30:00 was slipping away from me. So I tried alternating running and walking; I would run for two minutes and then walk for two. As much as I didn't want them to look at me, the crowd on the sides of the course were very supportive and encouraging, not to mention loud.
The last two miles were so packed and loud it made the Wellesley Scream Tunnel at Mile 12 seem desolate. Also, toward the end of the race, runners can see a Citgo sign for miles; once they reach that sign, they will only have one mile left in the race. I actually was so busy trying to pull myself together and to finish that I didn't notice the Citgo sign until I was almost at it. Evidently, Kei and the Boston Front Runners were somewhere near the Citgo sign; they said they saw me, but I didn't see them.
After I turned that famous "right on Hereford, left on Boylston" right before the finish line, I focused on running through the finish. I did not want to hobble across that finish line; I wanted those photographers to at least capture some illusion that I was not completely falling apart. On that last straightaway, I picked up my legs a little and running felt easier and much less painful (perhaps I should have done that during those last few miles; I think I began shuffling because my form was falling apart). I even managed to cover that last 0.4 miles or so at 7:41/mile pace.
So end result: 3:38:59 (8:17/mile). I was 9465th human out of 26411 finishers total, 6882nd male out of 14438 male finishers, and 3137th out of 4774 in my age group. I ran a 22-minute positive split (ouch, especially considering I usually run negative splits for my marathons); 1:38:29 for the first half and 2:00:30 for the second. And my 1:03:08 10-miler just two weeks ago indicated I was probably physically capable of a sub-3:05:00.
The reason why I fell short of expectations today? It was the weather, for sure. I just got cooked; I could not handle the combination of temperatures in the seventies and the sun well at all. Sure, my allergies could have been acting up (I had been suffering from allergy symptoms all the way until the morning of the race). And I could have been careless in how I handled the course. Perhaps I was even suffering from residual fatigue from the 10-miler and didn't even know it. But I could say with confidence that these were all minor factors compared to the warmer-than-usual weather. In fact, the temperatures rose even higher than predicted; one tweet from the Boston Athletic Association indicated that by the time the Elite Men reached the halfway point, temperatures on the race course had already reached 79 degrees.
I also ended up in the medical tent. As I was walking around the finish area, I began to feel very dizzy. The medical volunteers had to walk me to the medical tent because I had such difficulty sitting down because my legs kept cramping badly. As soon as I was brought to the medical tent, I was examined and told to drink some Gatorade to replace some water and electrolytes in me. After about twenty minutes sitting in the medical tent sipping on Gatorade, I began to feel much better.
That medical tent was madness. Medical volunteers kept wheeling in finishers, many of whom were in even worse shape than I was. One man was shivering violently as he was brought in. One woman was crying. Another was unconscious. I later learned that over two thousand finishers had received medical attention today, some of whom had heat stroke; one person's core temperature reached 109 degrees.
I decided to leave the medical tent, promising to return if I began to feel worse. I reunited with Kei and Jeff at the family reunion area. It turns out Jeff did much better than I did; he qualified for Boston here by almost two minutes. We returned to the hotel to clean up, and then headed over to Cathedral Station for a celebratory drink and a meal. But I couldn't stomach anything; I had a bad headache and could not eat without wanting to throw up. After resting for a bit, the headache disappeared and my appetite returned.
So that's it; my first Boston experience. Am I disappointed? Not really. I did get a 10-miler personal best and a strong half-marathon time out of this training cycle, and I finally got to see all the iconic moments of Boston that makes Boston what it is. Do I plan to own this result? Definitely. And I know I'll be back again. I was just surprised at how much I really had to slow down in the wake of this weather; I think I may have been looking at a 3:25:00 to a 3:30:00 marathon time at best today, not a 3:15:00.
Next Steps
In terms of the near future, I think I'm essentially done racing for a few months. I might do one or two local 5K races, but that would be it. I probably will do a fall marathon, in addition to a half-marathon or 10-miler as a tune-up. I have not decided exactly what fall marathon, but it would probably be one taking place between mid-October and early November.
And like I said, I have a BQ-4:16 from Richmond, so unless they decide to significantly decrease the size of the field for Boston 2018, I will probably make the cutoff and be able to run again next year. I would definitely do the race again for the experience and for redemption (or at least to run better than 3:38:59).
Boston: I shall return.
Other Thoughts and Observations
- I gave this race a difficulty score of 6/9 because I believe you have to be good (and in most cases lucky) to run one of your better times in Boston. Not only do you need to be able to skillfully handle the features of this course, but also, your performance is very subject to weather conditions. Anyone who was able to run a strong time today is a really, really good runner (and I know at least two guys who did).
- This is why I tell people to use a fall marathon to get a BQ and not rely on Boston. Several very strong runners that I know were unable to run today because their only marathon within this year's qualifying period was Boston 2016 (which had equally as warm weather).
- If I had to say why this race can be tricky, even when weather conditions are favorable, I would say it was because it's a sum of a lot of little things. I have seen segments on other race courses that are more difficult than Heartbreak Hill (e.g. the last mile of Hartford). But it's the combination of the downhills in the early miles plus the series of hills between Miles 16 and 21, together with the subsequent downhills during the last part of the race will do you in. Even logistical issues in this race like the bus ride to Hopkinton and the relatively lengthy walk from the Athlete's Village to the starting corrals can adversely affect your race.
- Although I do think a strong performance in possible on this course under more favorable conditions, race times are particularly affected by the weather. This course seems to magnify the effect of any weather conditions. For example, the lack of shade exposes you to the sun (which really can be brutal on a warmer day), and most of the course is very exposed, which amplifies the effect of headwinds.
- Stay off your feet as much as possible the morning before the race. Believe me, you will be doing a lot of walking already. I would even recommend not checking any bags and simply carrying a credit card, cash, ID, and your hotel key with you during the race, especially if you can get back to your hotel room very easily after the race; even if it is in the forties on race day, you will still feel warm for a while afterwards.
- 7990 participants out of 26411 total qualified for Boston again during this year's Boston Marathon (30.4%). Compare that with last year, in which temperatures were also high and 8947 out of 26629 requalified (33.6%). Meanwhile, during the much cooler 2015 race, 12767 out of 26610 requalified (48.1%).
