mcsolar99
Cool Runner |
 posted Apr-18-2007 02:43 PM
   
short: 3:05:09 (1:30:31/1:34:38 splits) a little let down with my time, but still grinning about the whole trip, and especially with meeting some boomers!longer: sunday night i slapped on my mp3 player and walked around downtown in the rain. the wind was whipping, gusts over 40mph. the tops of the big buildings were in the clouds. i was soaked. and i was wearing a huge fu*(&ing smile! it was boston! back and forth down boylston street i walked, smiling, feeling like i was going to jump out of my skin. monday morning we walked through the wind-tunnel to the busses. the metal barriers were being blown over. a little tree had been toppled. but at the waiting line we were sheltered and it wasn't bad; except for those stinking line cutters! the drive was slow and rain looked ugly, and got to hopkinton an hour later than my schedule. took a two mile jog in hopkinton off the bus, and that gave me a good feeling for the weather. it was chilly, but very humid (obviously) so i went with shorts, thermal long sleeve top, tech tee, rainproof hat, gloves and neck gaitor. oh, and a plastic bag. back at the waiting area, the tent was packed. i found a wall that was kinda out of the rain, and shared some extra garbage bags with some people standing there and we sat down and chatted. i was wearing my trainers, so changed into my racing flats, stripped down and walked to the start. by the time my bag went into the drop-bag bus, the number (which was not waterproof) was virtually illegible. barely caught site of the elites jogging from the korean church to the start. soon after, bang! off we went. whew, it was downhill; good thing, since it had been an hour since my warmup. after about 800m i tossed the garbage bag, and after about 2 miles i felt warm and smooth. what a track race! we were all doing sub-7 pace, but it was wall-to-wall people. anxious people were always cutting through when they could see some light; but mostly people were very polite... i don't know how many people apologized to me when we bumped... lots; and i tried my best not to bump or trip. we danced the courteous running ballet without anyone falling. after a few miles there was more breathing space and i was slowly moving up. i was a wise-a$$ with a few spectators, pointing forwards and asking them "is this the way to bahston?" hmmm, i came up behind a guy wearing a jester outfit. "i bet i know this joker" i said outloud, and pbj turned around and grinned at me! we had fun running together for a few miles. he got lots of admiration from the spectators and runner too. i'm betting that costume was hot though, and after a few miles we got separated. people were constantly tossing clothing along the early parts of the course. thunderbolter had told me the wind was likely to pick up during the hill and final miles, so i was holding my gloves still. a little kid, 5 years old or so, was running along the course towards us, with a handful of gloves, asking "can you guys contribute to my glove collection?". his mom was smiling, but calling after him "no, don't ask them, just pick them up!" i made a short unanticipated stop in the woods; perfect timing, since about 1/2 mile later i heard the roar. a rock concert on the marathon course? i turned to the guy nearest to me and said "holy sh1t!" and he smiled and said, "isn't it amazing?". a few women drifted left in the street, and i made my way to the right and we came over a little hill and we passed the screaming wellesley girls. my god! i tried to high-five all of them, and blew kisses to a dozen or so. what a lift! when we had passed them, i was so pumped that i turned around and asked the guys near me "anyone want to go back and run that again?" everyone laughed. seriously, next year i might just run it twice. or ten times.  i was 1:30:31 at the half, and was still holding onto my fantasy of sub-3. ok, then the hills. a strategy i read from billy squires was "yield ground cautiously", and it fit in perfectly with my lack of hill training (or any real february training for that matter). so on the way up i let people go, and on the flats and slight downs i reeled them back, and actually passed a few more. it worked well for me. got to the 20 mile boomer water stop about 2 minutes off three hour pace, 2:19 i think. dtoce bolted out and gave me a gatorade. i had been drinking so much during the race (every aid station) that i hardly took any. i skipped a gel here; i felt good after taking gels at 4, 8, 12 and 16. i had one left and took some around 22. it was a good gel strategy for me. "ok, time to drop the hammer?" dtoce asked. "yep, that's the plan." i said, smiling. we high-fived and he yelled after me, and i made more effort to pass people. i remembered something about the course being downhill or flat from 21 to the finish. ha! bad memory! i was passing lots of people, but hit a 7:19 split i think. cr@p! i put my head down and hammered harder. still passing people. next split, 7:26. oh sh1t! so with 5k to go, i calculated i needed 6:05s to break 3 hours, smiled, and let go of that idea. the rolling terrain was getting to me, and i decided to lay off, and to just soak it in. cresting the rise at 24 i saw that big ugly citgo sign and for some reason it looked beautiful! at mile 25 i said (like in phoenix) "just five stinkin' laps to go!" and the guy next to me chuckled. ok, then we get to the last 3/4 mile downtown. i just had to applaud the crowd; they were loud. when i applauded them they got louder. i did my wise-a$$ hold-my-cupped-hand-to-my-ear to pretend i couldn't hear the crowd, and they got even louder! i smiled to the guy next to me and said "wow!" and he was grinning ear-to-ear too. i didn't try to sprint, i just enjoyed the finish. along the course i thanked lots of volunteers, and in the chute i thanked everyone. "you're done" said the woman untying my chip, and i said "thank-you so much! but you still have 10,000 shoes to untie!" she laughed and gave me the finishing medal. the mylar girl wrapped me and joked about the food being just 10 miles down boylston, so i laughed and messed-up her hair and thanked her. but then the clothing pick-up. uggg. i stood for 10 minutes waiting in line and didn't move. the people getting our stuff seemed to not be able to find anything. guys around me were cramping. i started shivering uncontrollably. another guy next to me cramped up, puked, and layed on the ground. they brought a wheelchair in and took him away, teeth chattering. the crowed was getting ugly and angry, and i was shivering harder, so i ducked out of line. i had my hotel key, so i rounded the corner and there it was! i shivered my way back to my room, took at hot shower, and crawled under the blankets. 30 minutes later i felt human again, and got dressed, went back and picked up my bag; the number was totally rubbed off, but i described the contents and got it. umm, they need better numbers next year.  besides the race: it was great to fly into the race. there were two of us on the tucson flight, but the flight to boston must have been 60% runners. airline seats look roomy when the plane is full of marathoners! the flights home were just the reverse: the flight from boston was mostly smiling marathoners, but then in chicago we all went our separate ways... back to reality. you boomers rock! dinner with hally, dive and my tucson pal mark and a visit with hermosa: brunch at henrun and marges! drinks with sans souchi, mr.ss, la t., hally, and PRO! what a great bunch of people; it made the weekend even better to spend time getting to know you guys. i am planning to cross paths with you guys more in the future! edited for math, oops. [This message has been edited by mcsolar99 (edited Apr-18-2007).]
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