Well, it’s over. I ran and completed the 114th Boston Marathon. It wasn’t easy and I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t disappointed in my time, but I made it and finished. It was a busy weekend leading up to the race, with DMFC functions and little league games thrown into the mix and it made the whole experience fly by. Here is my (long-winded) recap of the race.
Morning – I woke up on my own at 4:45 in the hotel. I kissed Katie good-bye, made sure I didn’t wake the kids, and headed over to Dunkin Donuts for a bagel and coffee. It was really cool to walk the streets of Boston at daybreak without many people around, knowing that the next time I saw downtown and the finish line, it would be a madhouse. After walking through the Common, I met Mike and some fellow DFMCers at 6:00 at the Park St. station near the buses. The ride to Hopkinton ended up going faster than I expected as Mike and I made casual talk the whole way out. We walked over to the DMFC refuge at the church and started to prepare. To kill some time, Mike and I took a walk over to the starting area and Hopkinton green to check out the scene. We snapped a few photos, checked out the starting line and made fun of the people who were ordering fried dough and hot dogs from the vendors at 8:30 in the morning. We made it back to the refuge for final prep and group photos, we put our bags on the bus and we headed for the start around 10:00.
Starting Line - Mike, Gerry, Eric and I headed off to the coral. As we got close to the starting area, Mike, Gerry and I pulled off to the side to be blessed by the priests that were standing off to the side. I figured I could use all of the help I could get. As we settled into the coral, I took a look around and tried to soak up the moment. I couldn’t believe the number of people in front of us and behind us. It started to hit me that this was for real and I was about to really run this race. I was feeling calm and strong. As our wave started, we started walking up the hill and passed the starting line just over the crest. I started my Garmin, took a look at all of the people around us and headed out for my long journey.
Hopkinton/Ashland – I felt good as Mike, Gerry and I settled into a good 9:00/mile pace. This was right where I wanted to be for the first few miles. At this point, I was soaking it all in. The biker bar, the people near the Dairy Queen, the cookouts, etc. I couldn’t get over how many people were out and cheering on the runners. It was fantastic. The weather was good and I was feeling great.
Framingham/Natick – As we crossed into Framingham, “In God’s Country” by U2 started to play on my IPod, which I thought was funny (I live in Framingham). At this point, the sun began to beat down and it started to get a little warmer than I would have expected. As I we made it to downtown Framingham, I saw my friends Al and Gail on the right had side, with Al making fun of me as usual. As I made it past the Columbus Club, I saw my neighbor Barbara and her infant son cheering me on. It was pretty cool to see a few people cheering me on that I wasn’t expecting to see and it gave me a little boost. I tried to settle into a steady pace as we hit the 10K mark. But as I crossed into Natick and approached the lake, I noticed two things. First, I had salt on my shirt. I hadn’t had this happen during training, and I was realizing now that the little extra heat I felt earlier was making me sweat faster than I usually do and I was losing salt. Not good. Second, I felt really tight and sore from the back of my neck down to my shoulders, to the point that I was having trouble getting a good breath and I couldn’t catch my wind. This also had never happened during training, and not being able to breathe was starting to freak me out. I saw Kathy and Paul just past the center of town and kept moving towards Wellesley. Mike had dropped off to grab a Gatorade with his parents and Gerry was creeping up in front of me as I started to slow down a little bit.
Wellesley – I caught back up to Gerry around Pond St. right before the college. I asked him about how loud it was going to be in a few minutes and he told me it was going to get pretty noisy. As we made it past the students, it was indeed pretty loud, but not as loud as I thought it would be. I noticed that girls in a leopard leotard and running in bare feet had just passed me, which wasn’t a good sign. As I made it to the shops past the college, my back and shoulder were killing me and it was really hard to breathe. I knew that if I stopped to walk, I would most likely need to keep doing it for the rest of the race. I tried to keep going, but at the next water stop, I started to walk. As I kept moving past the park and towards Wellesley Hills, I knew the second half of the race was going to be tough. I had pulled the first half in about 2 hrs, which was my goal pace, but now I was walking too much and I knew that 4 hours was out of the question. Not running for time anymore, I focused on managing myself and just finishing. Things continued this was for the rest of Wellesley, as I periodically walked and, in hindsight, started to take in way too much water.
Newton – As I hit Newton Falls, I was feeling lousy. Fellow DFMCers were giving me a “keep going” here and there as they passed me, but I was still struggling. Crossing over Rt. 128 was a chore and I walked most of the overpass. I started to run again as I passed the hospital and Woodland station. A little further up, I spotted my mom and I gave her a big hug. She asked me how I felt and I told her “lousy” (which you should never tell your mom, as not to worry her). I gave her a kiss on the cheek and kept going. I walked a little more leading up to the fire station, and decided that I was going to run as much as I could up the first hill. That lasted for about 1 minute. At this point, my breathing was really bad and I was a head case. I decided that I would run the downhills in Newton and try to run up the hills as much as I could. I followed this procedure up until I hit Heartbreak. I took about 10 steps up the hill and realized that it wasn’t going to happen and I walked dejectedly up almost the entire hill. Cramps started to settle into my stomach as well, due to all of the water I drank earlier. I took in way too much due to my issues with the heat and the fact that I was sweating too much. As I hit BC, I couldn’t believe how loud it was. It blew Wellesley College away in terms of sheer volume and drunkenness. I started to run the backside of the hill past the school until I hit the train tracks, which is where I had to walk most of the way to Chestnut St. This is where I realized that it’s good to have your name on your singlet if you’re running well, but if you’re hurting and need to walk, you want to peel the letters off of your chest. I was out of GU and I took in some Gatorade to see if it would help me feel better.
Brookline – I started to run down Chestnut St. to Cleveland Circle. I ended up doing a run/walk until Coolidge Corner, when I started to get some wind back in me and I finally felt a little bit better. The unfortunate thing at this point was that my hamstrings were completely shot at this point and I had no way to make up any ground. I tried to pace off a few people in front of me and keep a steady pace. I also started to notice more people pulling off to the side with cramps, injuries, etc. I caught my breath again just before the Pike overpass and then started to run up the bridge. The DMFC cheering section was on the right and it gave me such a big boost as I made it by them.
Boston/Finish – I kept a decent pace through Kenmore and made it into the Mass Ave. tunnel. I walked the upgrade until it flattened out and then decided that was the last time I was going to walk. As I hit Hereford, I took the earphones out of my ears and lumbered up the hill to Boylston. As I took the left towards the finish, the end seemed to be a million miles away. I started to look for Katie and the kids, not knowing exactly where they’d be. As I kept going, I finally noticed Katie to the right hanging off of a lamp post near Lord and Taylor and cheering frantically, with Johnny right below her with my mother-in-law and Audrey. I gave them a wave and kept moving to the finish. As I crossed the line, I thought about my grandparents and the other people that I ran the race for and couldn’t believe it was over. Final time: 4:35:24. I received my medal, got my bag and gingerly headed off to meet up with Katie and the kids. I gave each of them a big hug and a kiss and we headed for the Marriott to meet up with my family and fellow runners to reflect on the race and get some food.
The one thing that sticks with me from the race is that the people in the crowd really responded to the Dana Farber shirt and the cause. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “Go Dana Farber” along the route. It made me proud to be associated with such a great organization and to help the Barr Foundation in some small way. The runners, supporters, volunteers and DFMC staff should all be proud of themselves and the work they have done and will continue to do. I’m proud to be associated with such a great team of supportive and caring people.
I don’t think that I’ve still yet been able to process the entire experience. It seems like last week that training began, and now it’s over. There are so many people to thank and congratulate, that I don’t know where to start. For me, this has been a learning experience on many different levels, and one that I’ll never forget. I’m not sure that I’ll do this again in the near future, but I won’t say “never”. What a race!!
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