Boston Marathon Race Report

Two weeks have gone since a very memorable Boston Marathon, so time to sum up the race!!! Overall, I have mixed feelings about the race. On one side, being part of this iconic event – it is the oldest yearly Marathon in the world, running since 1897, with so much history, prestige and ambiance – and making it to the finish line in the conditions we had, made me very proud. On the other hand, I had trained so hard and focused for six months for this race, and the end result was far from what I should have been able to perform, which made me somewhat disappointed. But I have decided that I will look at it from the positive side and set results aside, and more than anything be proud that I made it to Boston, and finished the race. That is enough of an achievemnt in itself!

The end results - a cool medal!

Ten days to Boston - race plan and final reflections

Only ten days left to Boston Marathon, my first A-race of the season and the focus of the last six months of training and life. This means that tapering has started and race planning is coming to a closure with its final details. Time to reflect, and in my case adjust my race goals...

Getting closer...

Training has progressed well. I have basically followed the marathon program to the letter, which has meant three months of record volumes of running, topping out with 300km during March. The long runs have continued to be my Achilles heal, always being nervous ahead and not being able to fulfill them all. For a while I bonked out every two weeks needing pick up from my wife to make it home. This has probably been due to a combination of over training, stress and cold temperatures during the run, and sometimes I have not had the mental motivation to finish of the last few kilometers as I got tired. Despite this, I have finished seven runs over 30km, compared to only three 30km+ runs last year. Feeling in my legs is also better, last year I tended to get really tired in my quads after 20km, this year I have been able to push it to 30km without to much pain, which I take as a good sign. Pace on the long runs have also been slightly faster compared to last year, varying between 4:45-5:05 minutes per kilometer, some 5-10 seconds faster compared to 2017.