No place like this

Short version. New PB 3:18:12, horrible conditions, great crowd but a course that chewed me up and spat me out.

The Course

No matter what you read or how you train, nothing prepares you for running the Boston Marathon other then actually getting out there and running it. From the first mile the course relentlessly rolls up and down all the way to the finish. With the exception of somewhere between 6 and 8 where you run along the shore of Fisk Pond you are either going up or going down. This constant change in gait/running really takes it out of your legs. Some of the downs are pretty steep, at the start, the run down to the Charles River just before the start of Newton Hills, the descent at Boston College and the run into Cleveland Circle. Another phrase its all downhill to the finish. There are some more nasty little pulls once you pass Boston College so no its not all downhill to the finish. When your legs are trashed they really hurt and it will bring you to a standstill very quickly. Having reviewed my the total assent/descent on my watch yesterday and comparing it with the data that I got on Saturday I quickly saw that the Newton Hills only represents a little over one third of the total assent. As for the descent I don't need to look at a watch as my quads can totally reflect on this.

The Crowd

What can anyone say other then fantastic. I always thought the crowds in Dublin where good but Boston just blew me away. I was told afterwards by others who have ran this race that the crowds where down this year due to the weather conditions. It never felt  that way to me. From the word go they are there on the side of the road and all the way to the finish there is someone to cheer you on. The famous tunnel of noise, this is surreal a mile away you can hear the girls of Wellesley College. It has to be experienced there are no words to describe running that mile of road with 1’00’s of screaming young ones. It was the crowd that got me home in the race, without them I doubt I would have finished in the time I did. The last half mile down Boylston Street as you look down to the finish with Grandstands packed with spectators now that's the way to finish a race, it lifts and carries you over the line.

The Race

This is a very early start I was up at 6 and had a quick breakfast of Instant Oats, banana and peanut butter sandwich. Got ready packed my gear bag and brought my old clothes, hat and gloves for the long wait to Hopkinton. Dropped off the post race change of clothes in Boston Common and pretty soon I was on a yellow School Bus on my way to the start. These buses are designed for school kids, halfway out, both my calves cramped, not the ideal start but once we arrived in Hopkinton they returned to normal. The 2 hour wait for the start was not as bad as I thought, found an nice dry spot sheltered from the wind and sat down. Pretty soon hit the Portoloo (Porto potty as the yanks call them) and off to the start. Lined up but even with waved starts in was very congested. Manageable but I went with the flow kept it easy for the first 5K roughly 24:00. My initial ambitious plan of 3:12/3:13 was never on. The promised headwind/rain later in the race was going to put paid to that so I was now aiming from 3:14:59. After 5K the course opened up and I was able to start bring the pace up. Going very nicely but very hard to get into a running rhythm due to the constant up and down nature of the course. Going through the various towns along the way you have to easy up as its very easy to get caught up with the crowds and pick up the pace. Through 10K and 15K in pretty good shape. Around Mile Nine my quads started to give the first indication that there was trouble ahead. This was worrying as it was going to be a long way home. Manage to snag a kiss at 12, I just could not pass up the opportunity, It isn't every day us auld lads get young ones eager for our attention. Passed halfway on pace 1:37:11 but the legs where not in good shape. The drop on Washington Street to the Charles River confirmed that I was not going to be able to push on the downhill sections later in the race. I flew through the four climbs in Newton but it was the downhill section’s that where causing the most concern. Really could only get to 7:15 pace on the downhill's, any faster and the legs where screaming at me. This pretty much put paid to 3:15 and from the top of Heartbreak Hill to the finish it was pure determination and the crowd that kept me going through the pain. Once we turned Cleveland Corner another dimension was added. The rain coupled with the wind hit us head on from the sea. This made it feel a lot colder then it was and in a singlet I was starting to get quite cold. I was never eyeballs flat out at this point but It is no good having the engine to go when the tyres under the car are flat. Got home in 3:18:12. A new PB and I seriously don't think on the course with the conditions I could have ran any faster. Once I left everything out there it is as much as I could do.

The Aftermath

The one thing that I think the BAA got wrong was they had water and Gatorade stations before the foil blanket station at the finish. As the weather conditions where flagged in advance I think the blanket station should have been first. Maybe this would have lead to congestion at the finish. In saying that the foil blanket was top class I even brought it home with me. Picked up the medal and gear dried off and changed in Boston Common. On the way to meet herself and a few more, the amount of local who congratulate you or thanked you for running is phenomenal. Even had a Transport Police Officer take a selfie with me at Park Street station. Meet up with the crew and had a drink and a bit to eat. The stomach then decided that's it, so I spent 10 minutes in the toilet. I declined offers of more yellow wine and returned back to the hotel for a lie down. Meet the gang later when the stomach returned to normal and had no problem in catching up.

Stateside

Finally have arrived in Boston. long flight and was pretty much wrecked but got the expo out of the way. This is the first time herself tagged along at an expo and she was suitable unimpressed by my browsing around looking at running gear and all things related. Well now she knows what it's like I doubt she will come to once again. Number pickup was smooth and got the Boston jacket, colors are not as bad as they looked in print. My bib number for the race will be 11644 if anyone wants to track my progress or lack of during the day.

The Newton Hills

Had planned this as my last easy run before the race. Caught the Worcester line to Wellesley Farms which is half a mile from the very bottom of the course on mile 15.5. I meat a local runner on the train who had his 2011 Boston Number with him. He was on his way to meet friends in Hopkinton and they where going to run the course today. In discussion he told me that each of the four hills had a double climb. On arrival at Welleslsy Farms the station is in the countryside so I had to use basic navigation skills in that the rising sun was the way back to Boston. Soon I was at the bottom of the first climb. The climbs are not long but there is a gotcha, you crest the climb and see a drop and rise again. This occurs on all 4 hills so each one for want of a better word is a double dip hill. Soon I was over heartbreak hill and glad I had made the effort to come out this far for a run. Hopped on the tram at Boston College green line which follows the rest of the course back to the city. Noticed shortly after Boston college their is another bit of a pull. Having ran that section of the course I now have the strategy of attacking the second climb. Initially I was going to attack each hill just before cresting. Conditions today where ideal but Monday we are promised a sea breeze headwind which will make the Conditions cooler. There is rain promised for the second half but that has never end bothered me just hope that the breeze does not become significant. 

Its madness but its my madness

After making the correct decision to run easy in the build up to Boston, how was I going to curtail the urge to run faster. I had come across this article on Heat Adaptation before and figured I would give a go to see a) would it be of benefit and b) definitely would prevent me from running too hard during the taper.
As explained in the article, first layer base layer, second layer non breathable waterproof. This keeps the sweat from been wicked away from the skin. Third layer warm layer and another fourth layer water/wind proof to keep the heat from escaping. These layers are applied to head and legs as well. There is a warning in the article so I wore a heart rate monitor and never let the heart rate go above 80% (160 bpm).
Of course the first time I deck out with my four layers last week we had temperatures of 16/18 degrees. Herself indoors thinks I should be locked up. During the winter I hit out for a run in Shorts and a tee shirt and just as the summer hits I don 4 layers.God knows what all those who encountered me in the evenings on the Drumcliffe Road thought.

That was harder then I thought

I was going to run @ easy pace until HR hit 80% stop and walk/run back. First night the run only got to 1.25 miles before having to stop and walk to bring the heart rate down. Never felt so drained in all my life on the return journey. Got home base layer soaked and steam rising off me and drained. Continued on over the last seven days and yesterdays evening run I managed to do the whole 5 Mile run (2.5 miles out and back) with the HR hovering close to 80% but not getting to it. Still felt drained towards the end but I could handle it better. What I did notice last night was that while there was more sweat on the base layer the was very little salt staining in comparison to the first night. At least this proves that the adaptation has had an effect in reduce the amount of electrolyte I was losing under the conditions. Fortunately the forecast in Boston means I wont experience high temperatures but as they say what doesn't kill will only make you better.

The last session

This is the one that will determine what time I go for on Monday. 2 Miles warm-up, cover the watch and run what feels like Marathon effort(HR was worn to verify its not too hard/easy) for 3 miles. In my last few marathons this has always been a pretty good indicator of where I am at. Conditions for the run this morning are pretty similar to what is expected in Boston on Monday. Perfect conditions if they hold up. Set off felt really fresh 3 miles in 22:19 (7:27) pace. Felt very comfortable overall so much so that the HR reflected this @ 149 average. A little below what I would expect so the target for Monday is definitely sub 3:15 by how much we will see.

Let the madness begin

One more session had to be done before l entered the dreaded taper madness but I have decided to can it. Too be quite honest I am looking forward to it, while my training his been very good the increased mileage has left my legs feeling very heavy. So rather then race my last 10K I opted to run it easy and dropped the day after 17 mile run to a another 5 mile recovery run. I am contemplating running just 5-6 miles easy runs between now and Monday fortnight. The final session will be 7 Miles with 3 at marathon pace the day before I fly out and that's pretty much as much as I will do. Between now and then I am just going to let the legs recover. The plan when I started this was to maybe get close to 3:10 seemed possible but my last two races put me in the 3:15 ballpark. However the current state of my legs would not get me near that or even a PB, so whatever minute aerobic fitness I may loose by only doing recovery runs between now and race day will be negated by having fresh legs under me on the morning of the 20th.