Boston Weekend

I was in the kitchen at Terry and Sue's enjoying the annual potluck that their running club has on Boston Marathon weekend when a guy I met said something totally cool. The conversation went like this:

Him: So what are you planning to run at Boston this year?
Me : I've been having issues, not able to train like I wanted so I'm not taking it all that seriously.
Him: You never know, being well-rested and all, this could be your best Boston.
Me : You don't understand, I took pretty much the entire month of March off from running due to an injury. I'm really not ready for it.
Him: I didn't say it would be your fastest, just your best.

Well he was right. After doing Boston three times, this certainly was my best Boston...so far. I think the fact that there was no pressure this time around, just a long run Monday morning for fun, allowed me to relax, try a few new things, and most importantly really enjoy the weekend!

Friday
After checking into our hotel, we immediately hit the T for the subway ride to Jamaica Plains. Destination: Sam Adams brewery for a tour. On the walk to the subway I called up Jeff, a friend from the HC striders who was also in town for the run. He and his wife Terry were game for what turned out to be a very short tour, followed by the more important free tasting. The woman who gave the tour told us of Jim Koch's quest for the perfect glass to serve his beer in (an interesting story, but take the tour to get it). She then let us know that a bar/cafe nearby named Doyle's has a special for those who take the tour: Order a Sam Adam's and keep the glass. As luck would have it, we were hungry for lunch and made the walk on over.

After hopping on the T for a quick rest back at the hotel, it was time to head to Hynes and pick pick up my packet. We were met there by my old high school friend (another Terry), grabbed our packet and headed over to the North End for dinner at Terramia's. Dinner was fun with seven of us seated around the table enjoying each other's company and some great food and wine. After dinner, Tammy and I stopped at one of the many pastry shops in the North End (no, not Mike's) and took dessert back to the hotel.

Then, for some strange reason that neither Tammy nor I can figure out, we stayed up until midnight watching Shanghai Kid on HBO??!!

Saturday
Things were a bit rushed at the expo Friday night so we went back Saturday morning for some serious grazing and freebie-loading: Free socks, free hat, free poster, free sticker, free pace chart wristband, etc. I also bought a few gu's for Monday's run.

After a late checkout and lunch we again hopped the T, this time to the suburbs where Terry and Sue lived. Terry and Sue are great hosts and it has been a tradition to stay with them whenever Tammy or I are running Boston.

As I mentioned, Saturday night is the big CSU potluck; serious carbs. Lots of pasta, a few beers, and even some home made bread. Earlier in the afternoon I went out to jog a few miles, got lost a bit, and ended up going five. I think this would have upset me if I were worried about how I would run on Monday. Not this time. Not me.

Sunday
Only a crazy person would golf a full eighteen holes the day before the Boston Marathon. Yup, we did it. Okay, it was Monster Mini-Golf so maybe that's not so crazy. The place was great. They had a DJ and a disco ball and played music for the 'target demographic' (code for 'folks my age'). On the way back we stopped off at a sporting goods store. Gonna' need a watch Monday and the one I had was wearing out. After wearing the ladies triathlon for years now, I finally crossed back over and now wear a men's watch when I run. The bigger numbers help with my 'target demographic' and the visual problems we start to have.

Sunday night was another cornucopia o' carbs. Yum!

Monday
Some folks have to board a bus at 6am and sit around in the 'athletes village (gulag?)' for a few hours. We get to sleep late and take the back roads to the start, getting there about 45 minutes before the gun goes off. Perfect. Speaking of perfect, the weather was about all one could ask for when doing a long run.

Tammy and Sue would be along the course at about mile 14 in the town of Wellesley. From there Tammy got some great photos of the leaders for both the men and the women. As the lead pack of the men came by on the far side of the road, Tammy upped the zoom to get them. Without warning, Ryan Hall appears on the same side of the road as Tammy, leading to an awesome closeup shot of his bib.

































Some time later, the mere mortals arrived. First was Terry, on his way to another sub-3 finish, being 'shoved off' by Sue. Then Vin, looking strong and focused. And finally me, with half a popsicle, asking if they have any more frozen treats.

I must digress for just a minute here and talk about marathoning and stomachs. If you've been watching or running a marathon, then you've seen the bright green signs of stomach distress (or worse) late in the races. Typically when marathoning your stomach is 'on-edge' and many runners have to be careful about what, if anything, they consume while running. I'd always just gone along with the crowd on that one...until bonking hard at Boston in 2008. After that I enacted the "No Snack Left Behind" act. This act has made quite a difference for me. I learned that my gift when it comes to marathoning is not my legs, but my stomach. My marathons are now on the verge of being calorie-positive. On this outing I had too many orange slices to count, half a banana, a fig newton, a popsicle (pictured), a handful of jelly beans, a twizzler, and four packs of gu. I was also momentarily tempted to grab a breakfast sandwich at one point but thought that might be a bit over the top, even for me. I was gulping gatorade frequently to wash all this stuff down which was something else I'd been careful of in the past.

I ran the first 16 at an uncomfortable pace...uncomfortably slow. I was holding back due to concerns about my lack of training. However once I reached the Newton Hills, I pressed hard, averaging just under 7 minutes per mile for the last 10 miles of the course. I was very pleased with how things held up on that stretch. This gave me a second half split that was 7 minutes faster than the first. Obviously, with the benefit of hindsight, I know I could have started faster.

I learned a lot from this year's Boston. I learned that G2 will not cause me to poopy my shorts (something I'd feared) but rather will keep my hamstrings from cramping on the back side of heartbreak hill (a problem I had both previous Boston runs). I also learned to loosen up a bit before the race and enjoy the weekend. Although this time it was due to circumstances beyond my control, next time it will be part of the routine. And finally, I'm now a believer in that cliche about it being "better to go into a marathon undertrained than overtrained". I had such a good time, I might even do Boston again!