Boston Marathon Part #2 (the more painful miles)

So, as I said, that dip right around mile 16 is where I ran into trouble. I distinctly remember thinking that I had 10 miles left, and that I had definitely felt worse with 10 miles to go on a training run. In fact, an out-and-back 20-miler while training for City of Oaks 2012 came to mind. I shouldn't have tried to run 20 miles that day because I was already kind of hurting at mile 0. However, everyone else was doing a long run, so I tagged along. We started from RRO-Raleigh, and by the time we got to Cup-a-Joe, I wanted to stop. And then we turned around and ran 10-miles back. The trek down the House Creek Greenway felt awful. In fact, it was the same problem, my right quad. However, even though I had to sidestep down every little dip from Shelly Lake on, I made it back to the store that day.

This wasn't as bad. Plus, it was the Boston Marathon, and not a random training run on the greenways of Raleigh. Everyone cheering was a lot more encouraging than no one cheering. So, yeah. I had a long time to contemplate how I should probably take some time off and sort this injury out. My splits fell way the heck off because (1) the downhills killed and (2) the uphills were no bargain either.

BUT, I did not make "the Heartbreak Hill" face (see the picture to the left). When I had run the marathon in 2011, I had gone out way too quick and was dead by the 30k. I had a headache, felt like crap, and a photographer managed to capture that lovely pout on Heartbreak Hill. At the time, I wanted to hit him. But, I am actually grateful he took it. When I saw that picture in my email, and every time MarathonFoto emailed me for like the next year, I swore I would never do that again. And I haven't. And I wouldn't. And I made sure to smile at the photographer on Heartbreak Hill this year... which I ran all of (see the picture to the right, which I am pretty sure is from Heartbreak Hill)!

Also, I want to sincerely thank whoever had a sprinkler going on "the hills" (I'm not sure where it was). The freezing cold water felt great, even if it did wash sweat into my eyes, which nearly blinded me. At least it was a new pain. And, it was kind of amusing switching which eye was open so that I didn't run into, or get run over, by anyone. As a side note, I apparently sweat more than the average person. This fact has been pointed out to me on two occasions in the finishing chute of Boston. The first time I ran, a woman asked me why I had white stuff all over my face. When I said that it was salt from sweat, she looked horrified and asked if she looked like that (she didn't). And, this year, a guy said to me, "boy, I thought I sweat a lot, but you're covered in salt". Thanks friend. My first thought was that I hoped that I had run faster than him... second that I at least passed him on Boylston Street... he was behind me, so that was a good sign. At least I out-shuffled him to the water.

Anyways, back to the marathon. The miles after Heartbreak Hill killed owing to the significant downhill into Boston. Whenever it flattened out, or there was a slight rise, I tried to break into some semblance of a run. I was within 4 miles though, a distance which I walked all of this summer on a training run, so I knew I could make it. And, if I could keep jogging, I might actually re-qualify. With 5k to go, re-qualifying looked like it was still a possibility, but it would be close if I had to keep taking walking breaks. With 2.2 miles to go, I found a "slow jog" rhythm. The course had flattened out, so the pain wasn't as bad. And, the more I ran, the more my leg loosened up. The crowds were also thicker, and cheering like crazy, so that helped as well.

I know why Sean has us do 2000m repeats (even though I hate that workout). It's for when you get to the 40k mark in a marathon. I saw 5 laps around the track ahead of me. I started to pick it up a little. At 1-mile to go, I tried to pick it up a little more. When I got to Boylston St... I had "practiced" that stretch a lot. I chased two people in pink shirts ahead of me. I didn't catch them, but I did manage to get to the finish line in under 3:35 (3:30:14 according to the results).



 
THE STATS:
Cumulative Pace- 7:37 (30k), 7:50 (35k), 8:02 (40k), 8:02 (26.2M)
5k Paces- 8:12 (30k), 9:08 (35k), 9:25 (40k)