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!
The journey
to the race off course started a while back with all training. I have written a
few blog posts on the training status that you can read separately, but overall
I did what I could when it came to the preparation. Full focus on running,
increasing my running volume with almost 50% compared to last year with record
volumes for three months up to the race. I did my last long run a little more than
two weeks before the race, and maybe this was a little to far off. I was
actually so happy to have that done that I might have relaxed a little to much
on the training after that.
Me and
Sandra travelled to Boston on Friday (race was on Monday). Going through
London, it was so fun to see on the plane to Boston that almost half the
passengers were dressed in running shoes, had their running watches and looked
overall very fit! Already here the Boston Marathon atmosphere could be felt. I
chatted a little with my fellow passenger, who off course was also going to run
the marathon. The main talking point at this time was the weather. The weather
forecast had been very stable for the last week, indicating very poor weather –
rain, cold and windy – as a front was going to pass through the same day of the marathon. We all hoped for
the famous East Coast spring weather, that always changes the forecast in the
last minute. As it turned out, we had no luck this year!
Just like almost everyone on the plane, I wore sneakers!
In Boston
we stayed with Sandra’s sister with family, one of the main reasons I decided
to run Boston actually. They picked us up at the airport, and then we went
straight to the expo to pick up my bib and check out the area. Number pick up
went very smooth as everything was well organized, and I bought some more
Boston stuff as well as extra running shoes to use for the rest of the season.
The expo was full with gear and apparels, everything that you could need or not…
But we didn’t stay for too long, we took a short walk to the subway and then
headed home. With the trip and the jet lag it was an early night for me, and we
also had the 5k race planned for Saturday, with an early start at 8am.
Bib pick up at the expo. Getting excited!
Despite the
5k run being more for fun, I slept quiet bad, being nervous anyway. I did had a
plan to do a fast run, and wanted to make it below 19 minutes. It was me,
Sandra and Marcela running, and weather and conditions was very nice with sun
shine and some 15C in the air. As it turned out for me, I didn’t do very good.
Held my pace for 3k, but then I couldn’t keep it as I was already exhausted.
Made it in 19:36, not even close to target pace. But Sandra and Marcela enjoyed
the race, and afterwards we walked back to Boylston and took some mandatory
pictures around the finish line of the marathon.
A small unicorn medal for the 5k race!
In the afternoon we went to check out the race course. We took the car up to Hopkinton and
then drove back along the race course. It was good to see the hills, and I was
surprised at how steep it was in the beginning. The Netwon Hills were not that
bad, but as they come at the 30k mark, they would be tough. I was mostly
worried about the downhill after Newton, they would probably hurt a lot in the
quads – and on that note I was right!
On the starting line!
Nice weather in Hopktinton the day before
The most famous street sign in Boston?
The final half kilometer down Boylton street.
Waking up
at around 6am on race Monday for breakfast I was surprised that I had not heard any wind
during the night. But this was just because the apartment was on the leeward
side of the house… Looking out into the darkness, I could see the rain and wind whipping
around in the street lights. Oh well, nothing I could do about it… Pablo drove
me in to Boston to near the gear tents, and luckily as I stepped out the weather
seemed to not be too bad. Just a little drizzle, and it didn’t feel that cold.
I dropped my finisher gear bag and then went towards the buses that was going
to take us to the starting line. I had put on some cheap sweaters and hoody
that I would leave at the starting line, as well as having old shoes and socks
on. I had my running shoes and an extra pair of dry socks in a bag to put on
just before the start, and this was a wise move.
Waiting for the bus!
Plenty of buses in Boston Common.
The trip
out to Hopkinton took about an hour, so we arrived around 8:45am. The rain was
quiet heavy on the way out and as we arrived to Hopkinton we could see that
there was snow on the ground from the night's precipitation. It was noticeably colder here
compared to Boston, and I shivered as I made my way to the Athlete's Village where
we would wait until 9:45 when it was time to go to the starting line. The
Athlete’s Village was just a large mud flat by now, with three large tents
in which I managed to find a spot to stay put. As we sat there, we could see and
hear the rain come and go and feel the wind ripping the tent and everything
outside. It was totally crazy – people were getting muddy and wet, there was no
possibility to warm up, and running a marathon seemed pure crazy. As my starting
time approached I changed shoes and socks, put some left over plastic bags over
them so they would stay dry in the mud plain, and finished off my pre-race
fueling routine. I decided now also to run in my rain poncho to stay dry as I
tend to get very cold when wet. We were lucky when our wave got called (wave 2)
in that the rain had a lull, so the 10 minute walk to the starting line didn’t
feel that bad. I had time for a last bathroom break, and as we arrived to the starting
corral – I was in the first corral – we only had about 10 minutes to the start.
Suddenly, it was time to run back to Boston!
Mud, wind, rain, cold... The starting area wasn't that motivating, but tension was palpable!
With the weather
conditions at hand, and my overall lack of feeling strong, I had ditched my
original goal of running sub 3:10 and set my sights at just making it to the
finish in an acceptable time (3:30), so I felt no pressure at all as we started
off. The first 10k are mainly downhill, steep in the beginning and then
leveling off. I tried to run at an easy pace, which ended up at around 4:25
min/km the first two-three kilometers. I was surprised it went that fast and
thought that the day might not be so bad at all. But after three kilometers
reality started setting in. The first down pours now hit us, which drenched us
completely (although I stayed fairly dry and warm with my poncho), my feet now
got totally soaked by the rain and water on the run, and as we got a few, short
uphill sections I felt that I had no power in my legs and body. The heart arrhythmia
had also started up, so I knew it would be a looooong day. At around the 5k
mark people from behind started to pass me continuously, but I just hunkered
down and told myself to not stop and just make it to the finishing line.
The section
10-20k is fairly flat, and as we ran through the different towns along the
course, it all kind of melted into a blur. A downpour every 5k to drench the
shoes again, trying to take my gels every 7k, a sip of water every 3-4km at the
water stations. I thought about the timing mats and that I probably had people
following me online, so I had these as intermediate goals – just don’t stop. Up
to 20k I actually held a decent pace, I ran around 4:50 pace which was
acceptable for me. At 20k you pass the Wellesley college and the famous scream
tunnel, and this cheered me up quiet a bit and gave some energy.
Next main
feature on the course was the steep downhill at 26k, just before the Netwon
Hills started. I had already started feeling really tired in my legs, but this
downhill section was brutal. Instead of being able to use the downhill to
stretch out and get some pace, my quads were totally burned out and hurt like
at the end of an marathon. I had to slow down as it hurt so bad, and started
now to focus on the upcoming Newton Hills. The four hills are spread out during
the next 7k, and pace really started dropping now, going up to around 5:15-5:25
pace. This is like crawling for me, but my focus was just to not stop. In between
the hills there are some downhills, and these sections were just painfull. The
rain kept on coming, legs were hurting, and it was slow… I just wanted to make
it to the finish line…
I finally
made it to the top of the last hill, Heartbreak Hill, and was greeted by the
heaviest down pour of the whole race together with an agonizing downhill
section passing the Boston College. Only 8k left at this stage, so full focus
on just to keep on running and not stopping. But oh so painfull. By now I had
spend about 20k thinking “What am I doing? Never again! Stop pretending you’re
an athelete! Just give up!”…kind of what I think at some stage during most
races, but today was worse than before.
Somehow I
made it to the 40k mark, the famous Citgo sign, and passed under the Massachusetts
Pike, and now it was time for the famous “right on Hereford, left on Boylston”.
I realized I had made it, and the sensation of joy and relief totally overcame
me. I took off the rain poncho, and a smile overtook my face as I waved to the
crowd and joyfully ran the last kilometer to the finish line. I HAD MADE IT!!!
I crossed the finish line with a time of 3:26hrs, and at that time I was happy
it was above the qualifying time needed to run the Boston Marathon again so I didn’t
have to consider if I should do it again next year…
At the finish line!
Picked up
my medal, and by now the cold and fatigue quickly set in. I almost cried as I met
up with Sandra & Marcela and then made it to the line to get my dry clothes.
I could barely walk and started to shiver. All of us talked about how bad the
conditions were… Thankfully I had packed plenty of warm clothes, and as I
changed and got rid of my soaked running gear at least I could get some warmth
back. But it hurt really bad to try and walk – but then it always for me is
like that after a marathon! I managed to wobble up to Cheers where I met up
with Sandra & Marcela. We didn’t stay there for long, I had a coffee and
half a beer, and then we went home…
At Cheer's!
The soreness
and pain in my legs stayed for almost five days, much longer than usual. We
walked around Boston the next day before taking a late flight back home, and
then back to work the day after. The soreness had left by Saturday, but then I
got a mild cold which kept me still until Tuesday. I have started training
again, but focus now in the beginning will be on the bike, and I am so grateful
to start the shift of the volume work to biking…
So overall,
I was disappointed at the physical performance. I got tired much earlier than
anticipated (I should be able to get to 30k+ before getting pain in my legs)
and I am trying to understand why. It is probably a combination of too much
running, the effect of the
heart arrhythmia, the bad weather conditions and heavy feet with wet shoes plus
that the early down hill kilometers were much tougher on the legs than what I
had imagined… The weather was truly brutal, the coldest in 30+ years and the
winning times were also the slowest in 30+ years with most of the elite African
runners dropping out due to hypothermia. So I am extremely happy to have finished
the race. The 3:26hrs time is no shame, and I got my finishers medal.
At the
same time, I am realizing the limiting effect that my heart arrhythmia has on
me, as it is getting worse and worse. So I have made the decision that unless I
have a lucky surgery later this year (hopefully during summer), this year will
be the last one where I do races focused on time and results. We’ll see if that
means that I stop all together, or manage to find motivation to just “do it for
fun”. I have a few more races scheduled for this season – Göteborg half
marathon, IM 70.3 in Jönköping and South Africa and then the half marathon in
Stockholm in September being the main ones, so we’ll see how those play out…
But more than anything - I am a Boston Marathon finisher!!!
Not really the ideal pace curve...
Beautiful view of Boston the day after with perfect race conditions. Who knows, maybe I'll be back some day for another try?
No comments:
Post a Comment