2016 Boston Marathon Race Recap
What a memorable and fun filled weekend! Although I ran my slowest marathon ever, I am still smiling from the weekend events. I have never been so nervous for a race before as I was on Monday but thanks to my amazing family and friends, talented and knowledgeable doctors and massage therapist, and the Fleet Feet Boston 365 program, I was able to get to the finish line of my 5th Boston Marathon and my 9th marathon ever. As I’ve mentioned before, this training block has not been easy. I was dealing with nagging injuries the entire time and felt as though I pushed together a 16 week training plan into 8 weeks. I had a lot of self-doubt going into this marathon and did not expect to finish. I know I already gave a few shout outs during my pre-race blog but I wanted to thank Ohio Sports Chiropractic once again providing me with the support, encouragement and excellent treatment I needed leading up to the race (I’m pretty sure I was there every other week…Thanks for putting up with me OSC)!! I will try my best to give a good re-cap of the race and hopefully I won’t forget anything.
Race day morning:
Woke up at 4:00am to get a cup of coffee, take a hot shower, foam rolled, made my breakfast for the bus ride, then headed to the Marriott hotel to meet up with the rest of the Boston 365 crew from Cleveland (and from several other cities).
This is my first time being a part of this program and can’t say enough great things about it all. I highly recommend this program to anyone who has qualified for Boston and wants an experience that treats you like an elite athlete the entire weekend. I will go into more details about the program in another blog but for now just focus on the race. After meeting with everyone in the VIP lounge (which had endless coffee, fruit, bagels, other pre-race fuel), we headed to our charter buses and headed out to Hopkinton.
I quickly said my goodbyes to Brett and Angela (Training Program Coordinator at Fleet Feet Sports Cleveland) and found my spot on the bus. During the ride, Dennis (one of the other FF Cleveland runners) and I spent time talking about everything and anything related to running and quickly learned that this race was actually his 39th marathon! (What an amazing accomplishment — congrats Dennis and thank you for keeping me calm the entire ride). Once we arrived in Hopkinton, we remained on our bus and spent the next 2.5 hours chatting with the other FF Boston 365 runners and discussing race strategies. Speaking of race plans, prior to leaving for Boston, I printed out a race plan that gave me mile splits for a 3:30 marathon. I was going to take a glance over everything while I was on the bus but decided to just run based on how my body felt. Around 9:00am, wave one was released to head to the start line. Bryan (another FF Cleveland runner) walked with me to our designated corrals. For those who have never been to Boston, the start line is actually about a one mile away from Athletes Village (where the buses drop you off). I don’t mind the walk since it is a nice opportunity for me to loosen up and collect my thoughts…and use the bathroom once more. As we were walking, we quickly learned that the race was going to be a warm one. I am usually freezing cold regardless of the warm temperatures so as I was walking to the start line, I pealed off the extra 3 layers of clothing I had on (I’m glad I could donate so many clothes, haha). The sun was shining and there were no clouds in the sky. I was a bit nervous about the temperature but knew that if I was able to get through the 2012 Boston marathon (where temps were in the 80’s), I could get through a marathon with 70 degree temperatures. The journey from Hopkinson to Boston was about to begin.
Once in our corral, we did some light stretching/warm-up drills as we waited for the race the start. As soon as the race started, I tried to keep reminding myself to “start slow” and “take it easy.” I was hoping to start the race with an 8-8:15 min mile but this did not go as planned. I thought I’d be okay with not getting caught up the race but it truly is so hard to slow down and hold back in a racing situation and especially going downhill. The elevation changes can be seen in the chart below.
Miles 1-3.1: Let the race begin! Immediately I was running 7:20-7:30 min/miles which is faster than I have been running in the past few months. I felt really good during the first few miles and my hamstring felt totally normal. I was surprised since it was the first thing I noticed at the start of the NYC marathon. This was a huge relief and mentally I was becoming more confident with the race ahead. My only thoughts during this race were to have fun, smile, and focus on form/staying relaxed. I am not the best at running downhill and still have a lot to learn but thanks to Brett and Dr. Leo, I had some good advice to keep in mind as I was running.
Miles 3.1-6.2: Another 5k down, I continued to feel good. The first 5k and 10k went by so quickly. I thought for sure with the pace I was running that the race would go by slowly but it went by as quickly as any other marathon I’ve run (well maybe except my first marathon ever). After the first 5k, the crowds along the course really began to grow. Boston by far has one of the best group of crowds throughout the entire race. I am usually in my own little world during my races but today I made sure to give high fives to as many kids as possible, say thank you to all of the volunteers and police officers, and cheer on the other runners.
Miles 6.2-10: Clicking off one mile after another! Feeling good still. In my runs leading up to the marathon, my hamstring would usually start to bug me around mile 9-10. I was getting a little nervous since this thought was in the back of my head but thankfully, I did not have any issues. I did notice though that I was getting caught up in the race a little too much because I totally forgot to start taking in my nutrition. I was hydrating every other water stop but food wise, it wasn’t until mile 8 that I started to eat anything and I am usually eating around mile 4-5. Oops. I quickly ate a cliff block and slowed down some to make sure I got the fluids I needed. The temperature was starting to get warmer as well at this point so I dumped 1-2 cups of water on my head to cool my body. I was not sweating much at this point which is good and bad so I wanted to make sure to stay ahead of the hydration aspect as much as I could.
Miles 10-13.1: Half of the race was done and I still was feeling good!! The only thing that started to bother me was my left achilles. My compression socks seemed to have bunched up a bit and it felt like I was getting a blister of some sorts in that area. I must admit that I did a poor job at doing all of the little things before this race. For example, I had forgotten to put any body glide on my feet which is a rookie mistake. Thankfully at mile 11, the aid stations were handing out vaseline so I stopped for a minute or two and applied it to my left achilles area and felt relief almost immediately (phew). Once I got to the 13.1 mark, I began to focus more on my pace and make sure that I was not going faster than I needed. Unfortunately (and fortunately) cardio wise, I wanted to go a lot faster but I had to hold back. Theses miles felt easy and I was very comfortable. I had to tell myself frequently that I was not going to PR today and by going faster, I may end up hurting myself and possibly not finishing. I tried to slow down a few times but I continued to hit sub 8 min/mile pace (which was faster than I wanted). Sorry coach.
Miles 13.1-16: Still feeling good at this point. My quads were beginning to burn some (especially my right quad) but I wasn’t surprised since I did very few training runs with hills. Nothing was bad enough to stop but I did slow down a few times to get water and do a quick stretch. The crowds continued to be amazing through these miles. Also knowing that Angela and Brett were planning to be around mile 17-18 was comforting. Although it wasn’t the same without my dad on the course (and Mom at the hotel being the ‘home base’), I was so thankful to have Angela and Brett in the miles ahead. Temperature wise, I was warm but never really got ‘hot.’ I continued to stop at every other water station from miles 13-24 and drank 1-2 cups of water and poured some over my head (or attempted to drink— I can’t seem to coordinate the running and drinking from a cup at the same). I did not drink much gatorade this race which was a first. My stomach was rather cranky around mile 14 and Gatorade often makes my stomach upset so I chose to only consume water and cliff blocks (and fruit snacks) for the remainder of the run.
Miles 16-21: This was probably the toughest stretch of the course — more uphills than downhills. I was still feeling okay — a bit tired and warm but nothing I had not experienced before. I am not sure of my exact pace but whenever I looked at my watch it was around 7:50-8:15 pace during the climbs. This pace continued to feel easy and I made sure to focus on good form. Newton and Heartbreak hills are tough hills and if you don’t prepare for them (mentally and physically), they can make the last few miles of the race very difficult. The crowds were also amazing at helping the runners get through these miles and I felt very lucky since I also got to see Angela and Brett two times during these miles.
Miles 21-23: As soon as I hit the 20 mile mark, I was ecstatic! I felt this new burst of energy and was ready to cruise on into the finish line. Only 10k to go! I stopped to get water once and had one more cliff block to make sure I didn’t hit any sort of crazy unexpected ‘wall.’ Around mile 21, my right heel started to bother me but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t run through. Pain was about a 2/10 and I was not limping so I kept running and tried to ignore any discomfort. My feet in general were just sore — I felt like I had blisters everywhere and were achy all over. In my mind, this heel pain was just part of the general soreness. Nothing else in my body hurt though. My left hamstring (which has been giving me trouble since NYC marathon), felt pretty good — it never got above a 2/10 on the pain scale the entire race. I am still amazed at how good it felt in comparison to how it has felt during my training runs these past few months (Dr. Leo = miracle worker).
Miles 23-26.2: Ouch. The outside of my right heel was really starting to bug me at this point. Knowing that I was so close to the finish, I refused to stop moving except to stop and stretch for a few seconds. I think in total, I stopped about 10 times during the race (for about 30 sec to 2 minutes each time). I tried to slow my pace but nothing seemed to help with the pain. The pain quickly went from a 4/10 to a 9/10 as I was running. At mile 24, I made the decision to just walk to the finish. You can see my pace really dropped off the last couple of miles.
It was rather difficult to just walk, especially since cardio wise I felt so good and the crowds were cheering louder than ever. I tried to run once or twice during these miles and the pain was almost immediate. As I approached the turn to head down Boylston, I decided to slowly jog into the finish. I am not sure this was the smartest decision since it was painful “run” but all I wanted to do was run through the finish (not walk). Also, I am not sure I could have walked down Boylston. The crowds were the loudest here with people at least 5-6 people deep. Crossing that finish line felt so good (or should I say, it “hurt so good”). I FINISHED! Hooray!!!
After the race, I hobbled over to the family meeting area where I met up with Angela, Brett, and Bryan. We then headed back to the VIP lounge where we received our post-race food, beverages, and massages. I sat down for a good 30 minutes to elevate and ice my foot. We stayed in the lounge for about 1 hour then headed back to our condo to shower and get ready to go out and enjoy some post-race festivities. Although I was limping around town in the end, I was still so happy to have finished the race. I have no regrets about running through the pain…it was all worth it! Now it is time to let my body heal then get back into training for some shorter faster races and then onto Boston again in 2017!
Boston Athletic Association Stats:
15K: 1:10 (7:32 min/mile)
20K: 1:33 (7:39 min/mile)
Half: 1:38 (7:28 min/mile)
25K: 1:57 (7:35 min/mile)
30K: 2:20 (7:31 min/mile) -
35K: 2:44 (7:34 min/mile)
40K: 3:13 (9:20 min/mile)
Finish: 3:27 (10:53 min/mile)
Net Time 3:27:56
Overall 7,076/26,639
In Gender 1,417/12,168 (Female)
In Division 1,137/5,948 (F18-39 Age Group)
