Hi everyone. Even though I'm not an active participant in RA anymore, I wanted to share my thoughts and experiences of running the Boston Marathon here in this group, since this is where I originally received my running education and upbringing from about 2007 and on. This is where I learned what a Marathon Maniac was, and what it meant to BQ, before I had ever even run my first 5k. While I might not come home much anymore, this is the place where I "grew up" as a runner, so I wanted to share how far I've come with the folks who helped me get started in the first place. Bonus that I finally got to meet some of you in person at Robin's ParTAY on Sunday (obviously another event I wasn't able to attend until I BQ'd for real, haha).

So the following is my race report that I shared on Tuesday in my women's running group on FB, where I know Denise and maybe a few others might be part of. And a little background for those who may not be familiar, Boston was my 10th marathon. My first was Disney in January 2012 (4:42:03), and my last one and BQ race was Philly in November 2014 (3:48:59).

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Boston Marathon yesterday, which was probably the hardest race I've ever done. From about mile 3 on, I knew that it wasn't going to be a PR day for me. Just didn't feel 100% on my game. Maybe all that waiting around tired me out? The heat? Whatever, you deal and adjust on the go, that's how it's done.

So about mile 12 or so I started getting cramp twinges in my left calf. By mile 16 it was full-on seizing up of both calves, the bottoms of my feet, and my quads were starting to ache too. Not good: I still had a good 10 miles to go, plus all the Newton hills to tackle. Things were definitely not going according to plan, even with being ever so vigilant with my splits from the very beginning. So I adjusted my goals again, and just kept pushing, not caring about the numbers anymore. Pace was now a good 20 seconds too slow, but I was still moving, and thankfully the cramping never bothered me on the uphills. I just couldn't move as easefully as I typically do in the later stages of a tempo run, because my quads felt so rigid.

Fast forward to four miles to go and I'm frantically doing the math in my head: even if I dropped down to a 10 minute pace, I'd still come in sub-4, so I didn't dare give up. How bad did I want it? I had wanted to quit earlier on, but I wanted to finish (and with a strong time) MORE. I distinctly remember thinking "This hurts a lot, but I have to put up with it. I HAVE to tolerate this pain." When I ran Philly, I had also evaluated my situation at 22 miles, and realized it had been relatively easy up until that point, so I could finally relax then and just run and enjoy the final push of adrenaline, knowing I had "made it". This time, it was all I had to push even harder from 22 to the end, so it was a very different experience. Shredded quads, spasming calf muscles, and the suffering was only going to get worse before I was done. Thank goodness I had run the last 8 miles of the course twice during training, so I knew what to expect and exactly how close (and how far) everything was. Right on Hereford, left on Boylston, the turns I'd been waiting my whole life to make. Finished with 3:54:56, a BQ by just over 5 minutes, and almost 6 minutes slower than my PR at Philly. But a BQ in Boston, my first time running it, oh there's nothing sweeter. 💙💛💙💛💙💛

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I have some photos I'd like to share also, but have no clue how to attach them with my iPad. But this is enough for now. 😊

Hi OM,

That IS a great race report! You sure have come a long way since you started running, and that includes more than just the miles you put in. You did an amazing job of staying focused on the race, despite all the pain, and of working, working, working to earn your Boston BQ. Congrats!

Jay

Your progress as a runner is really inspiring!  Interesting report too, hearing about pushing through the pain.  Congratulations OM, you've certainly earned that second BQ!

OM so great to "see" you here and so glad you shared your Boston experience with us! There's nothing quite like that first Boston race, good or bad. Sounds like you had a mix of both but triumphed in the end! Congrats on not only the BQ at Boston (always a nice thing), but how you've grown as a runner. It's really very nice to see!

You really need to get out and do some bigger races.  At least you managed to BQ in this little one. Maybe now you can see about trying to get into a big one.  

OM - Great race report! Way to keep your mind occupied during the latter stages of the race - you are a Boston Marathon athlete and runner. Congrats on another successful marathon. Has been fun watching your improvement over the years. Thank you for sharing your report and see you next year in Boston.

Andrew

Congratulations! Well done indeed.

Thanks OM for such a marvelous Boston report.
You’re like a long-lost sister who is back as if you never left.
Even though I think of Boston itself same as MikeE, if not worse,
somehow your reports continue to change my mind.
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Your RR of Boston no. 1 was especially moving in light of marj’s finale at the same time. Since missing out on my own chance in the days when I could have but had no notion of what a big deal it would have been so didn’t bother, I’ve devoured all the Boston reports I could for the last 10 or 12 years herein and at Boomers before but this year’s were the best, especially with how the special excitement was so enthusiastically reinforced by other veterans who watched from the sidelines but knew exactly what you all were experiencing first hand.
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