So it’s taken me a little longer than I would have liked to
jot down my race report from the Boston Marathon. Lots going on right now, but
I think it’s important taking the time to think through the race.
We drove down to Boston on Friday. This was the first
year that I would be doing Boston. For whatever reason I had told myself I
would not race Boston until I was capable of running a sub 2:40. So seeing as I
had broken that mark twice last year: once at Mesa-Phoenix Marathon and a second
time at Ottawa Race Weekend...... Anyways the drive to Boston was quite uneventful,
but as always I thoroughly enjoyed the road trip with the family.
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| Heading to the Expo! |
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| At the Brooks booth. |
Saturday morning we drove into Boston and I did bib number
pick-up and then went through the Expo. The line-up was quite long to get into
Bib pick-up, but I think that was only because we showed up right around
0900hrs when it was just opening. Bib pick-up was actually very quick and then
we took a trip through the Expo. The expo was probably one of the best I have
seen at a running race. I skipped the Adidas Boston Marathon collection and
instead opted for a pair of Boston inspired Brooks Launch running shoes. I
figured I had enough running shirts and jackets that I didn’t need another and
figured the shoes would get more use. We spent the rest of the day at the
Boston Children’s Museum which was great…bonus - you get free entry if you
are military (so Claudia and I were free and we just had to pay for the kids).
For dinner we met up with some of the other CAF athletes (Helene & John) at
Maggiono’s.
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| CAF Athletes: Benoit, John, Dave, me, Phil, Helene |
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| Phil and I posing in our F2C Nutrition at the finish line! |
Sunday morning I got up and did a short run and then we
headed back into town to meet up with the rest of the CAF athletes for a
picture at the finish line. We took it easy for the remainder of the day and
decided to skip the Pre-Race Dinner. I am not much of a fan of doing the pasta
dinner if it’s the night before the race. I prefer to eat in and that way I can
better control what I am eating, in this case, chicken stir fry.
Monday morning, race morning, I was up around 0430hrs and had
my usual race morning breakfast of eggs, bagel, orange juice, coffee, and a
banana. In addition to my breakfast I also drank about 750mL of Hydra-Durance. We headed out around 0630. Claudia had done some surfing through the
Boston Marathon website and had decided that she would drive me to the pick-up
location in Hopkinton. She wanted to take the kids to the start anyways and
figured this would reduce the time I had to be in the cold prior to the race.
The bus shuttle from the drop off location in Hopkinton to the pre-race
staging area was only about 10-15min. It was a cold, wet, windy morning so it
was great having a tent to rest in until we got marshaled to the start. The
ground was soaked and everyone tried to pack into the tents. The tents blocked
most of the wind, but it would have been nice if there had been some heat. At
0900hrs they let my wave, the first wave, run the mile to the starting line.
Claudia and the kids were at the start. The kids were clearly miserable as it
was cold, wet, and windy. Phil and I lined up together in the first wave and
then waited for the start.
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| The start in Hopkinton! |
At 0945hrs we were off. I had decided that I was going to
try and run 2:45 and negative split the marathon. I figured I’d start at a
3:55/km place and after going through the first half I’d adjust based on how I
was feeling. Well, the start was fast and the first kilometer was a 3:35 or
something. I backed off the pace and felt like I was being passed by a constant
stream of people, which I was fine with as I figured I would pass a lot of them
later in the race. I finally settled into a 3:45-3:50/km pace and kind of
bounced between a few groups. The cool part about this race was running through
all the towns and seeing all the spectators out on the course. The race was
cold and wet and the constant headwind was annoying to say the least but I just
enjoyed the experience. I went through the first half in about 1:21 which was a
little faster than I was anticipating.
The last ten kilometers of the race were a bit of a
struggle. I wasn’t sure if I just didn’t have enough Calories (about 200
Calories of Glyco-Durance + one Rekab Gel and water at every aid station) or if
it was just a case of my legs being cold (that being said I didn’t really feel
cold). I pretty much ignored my watch for the last 10km as I knew I was
struggling and sometimes it’s just better to run than be frustrated with the
pace. The back half of the course was definitely a little hillier than I had anticipated.
That being said it was a great experience.
Final time was 2:48. I definitely think I’ll be back.
