Notes
Boston Marathon 2017 Report
Monday I completed my 7th consecutive Boston Marathon and my 15th marathon overall. Reflecting back on the race I have to say that the weather conditions were some of the most challenging I have faced during a marathon over the last 8 years. It was hot and sunny reaching 77 degrees in places, along with a tail wind. Anything over 55 degrees definitely impacts your performance. Tail winds may help push you along, but they don’t provide any cooling effect to you. It’s like you’re running on a windless, hot day.
My official training started on December 17th and was supposed to include about 700 miles of various running workouts. From speed work, to marathon pace tempo workouts, to long endurance runs of 16-18 miles, all supplemented with easy recover runs and cross training. By the end of February my training was going well and I was on target to meet my mileage and pacing goals. While visiting my parents in NY, I was finishing a strong 16 mile run when with one mile to go I got a sharp pain in my right hamstring. The pain stopped me in my tracks and I hobbled back to the house. I took two weeks off and was able to do a couple of treadmill runs. I had signed up in early winter to run the Half (Marathon) at the Hamptons (NH) on March 5th. Jane had told me to be careful running and not reinjure the hamstring. It was an extremely cold, windy and miserable day for a race, but I ran it. All was going well until mile 10 when I felt a sharp pain and pop in my right hamstring that crippled me immediately. I still had three miles to go to the finish and I had to hobble to the finish line. I still managed to come in second for my age group… hey, I even won a hat! The next day I was at physical therapy seeing Jared. I had torn the hamstring muscle, but he told me he should be able to get me back on track in the next four weeks to the marathon. Yikes. No running for another three weeks, but I did do easy stationary biking. With a little more than one week until the marathon I started running again. With almost 6 weeks of inconsistent running and trying to recover from one of the worst injuries I ever had, running Boston didn’t seem like it was going to happen.
I have to give credit to Jared Buzzell again for getting back on my feet for the marathon. I think that for all 7 of my Boston marathons he has some how got me back to the starting line, stronger, wiser and faster! All through my recovery from the injury my wife Jane would also work on my hamstring each day to help increase the blood flow in the muscle to aid recovery. Amazingly within three weeks I was running pretty strong again, but my confidence to be able to finish the race was shaken. Would the hamstring be able to get through the race? I had strict orders from Jared to keep my cadence at 180 strides per minute to ensure I didn’t overstride and pull the hamstring. Glute, abs, and hips strengthening exercises were prescribed and completed daily. My core was strong, but my poor form was contributing to the injury.
The Saturday before the marathon I finally ran outside again after 4 weeks. I did 10 miles and it felt surprising good. OK, maybe I can complete the marathon on Monday. The next day brought all sorts of pains in my hip adductor and my calves. When training for a marathon you will incorporate a “taper” period during the last 1-2 weeks where you reduce your miles and intensity and give your body a chance to recovery before race day. I had been “tapering” in essence for 6 weeks since the injury. How much of my training had been lost?
Jane and I took the Downeaster train down to Boston on Friday to pick up my bib for the race. It was a good move as there were no crowds compared to the reports we heard about Saturday. We were both pretty tired with all the walking around and my legs were aching. Two more days until the race. My confidence was still shaky and I began to formulate a plan on where I could bail out if “the wheels fell off during the race!”
Jane always makes me follow a pretty strict diet the week before a marathon. Lots of carb-loading and hydrating. I actually gained a couple of pounds last week... that’s good. The night before the race she always makes my favorite dinner of breaded chicken, rice and carrots. With dinner done it was time to pack my race bag. I keep a notebook where I list out everything I will need for each race. I use it each year to help create the list for the next race. It improves each year and helps me ensure I have everything I will need for the pre-race, race and post race. I packed my bag on Sunday night, pinned my bib on my shirt, and set my alarm for 3:35 AM. I was in bed by 9:30 and actually managed to sleep.
Race Day - My friend Andy Orazio met me at my house at 4:30 so we could car pool to Salisbury, MA where we would ride the Winner’s Circle Running Club bus to Hopkinton for the start of the race. We got to Salisbury at 5:30 and loaded the bus. After an hour ride we arrived at Hopkinton… along with 30,000 other runners. There were several other Sanford area runners also competing in the marathon this year – Michelle Sherman, Mike Leigh, Greg McCullough, Andy Orazio, along with first time Boston runners Eric Gadbois and Mike Froning. You have to wait about two to three hours before the start of the race. It’s an anxious time where you are trying to fuel up and hydrate, but not over do it. Everyone seems to have nervous stomachs and needs to visit the portapotties multiple times.
We all knew the weather forecast. HOT, SUNNY and tailwind. A predicted temperature at race time of mid 70’s. Anything above 55 degrees spells trouble. You can count on a 20 minute slower finish due to temps in the 70’s. My plan was back off on my desired pace and aim to head out about 15-20 seconds per mile slower, and also make sure to hydrate early on at each water stop. I didn’t know how my legs would respond, but knew I had to concentrate to keep the cadence high and my glutes and abs engaged. Nerves building! I made sure to apply lots of sunscreen as this was going to be a scorcher.
I was in wave 2 and corral number 6. There are 4 waves total each with about 7500 runners. Your wave and corral are based on your qualifying time. Faster runners are seeded upfront. The sun was hot as we ran across the starting mat at 10:25. The first 4 miles of the marathon are downhill with the first .6 miles being very steep. The sharp decline along with the excitement at the start can fool you into going out way too fast. It happened to me in 2011 and I vowed I would never be lured into that mistake again. You will eventually pass the people who pass you during the first four miles as they are walking and hurting later in the race. Couple that with the heat of the day and there were likely going to be a lot of runners struggling to finish.
I managed to maintain a fairly consistent pace of 8:16 minutes per mile for the first 6 miles of the race. I had brought my small metronome with me and used periodically to see if my cadence was at 180 strides per minute. It was tough. My legs struggled to turnover fast enough, but I knew I ran the risk of hurting the hamstring if I didn’t keep control of the cadence. I had made it through the downhill section and thankfully my legs felt ok. No pain. Maybe I can pull off this race. Through the flat sections of Framingham I tried to dial in a pace, but I couldn’t seem to speed up. It was like my brain was being conservative and overriding my efforts to increase my pace. I took water starting at mile two and each mile after. I used my first electrolyte packet at mile 5 – a mile earlier than planned, but felt I needed it due to the heat and my slower pace. I continued drinking water at each mile and also grabbed an extra cup to pour over my head. It was hot and it was impacting my running. By mile10 I felt the urge to pee. Damn, that’s not part of the plan. I kept trying to ignore the sensation, but you know how well that works. I spotted an open portapottie at mile 12 and ran in and out of it in 30 seconds. Oh what a relief! That break actually made the rest of the race feel so much better. I took my second electrolyte gel here.
At mile 13 and the mid point of the marathon you can hear the sirens of Wellesley College luring you to come ashore for a kiss. The scream tunnel is pretty intense and loud. I stay way to the left and avoid the chaos. A couple of miles after this section is a steep down hill into Newton that really trashes your quadriceps. I kept my cadence high – over 190 spm, and leaned forward trying to ease the strain on the muscles. The first uphill is at mile 16 and it is brutal. No one talks about it, but it is the demise of many runners as it crosses the highway and climbs for over a mile. After trashing the quads from the downhills, this first uphill makes you want to quit the race. At mile 17 I took my next electrolyte gel. I reached the famous Newton Fire Station and made the right turn toward the next three hills. The crowds were intense here and inspired me to keep going. The first Newton hill always seems so long, but I managed to keep a fairly consistent pace. Hill number two comes after a section of easy rolling terrain. At this point, you think you have made it to the top. Mile 20 approached and you are at the bottom of the infamous Heartbreak Hill. This climb is tough, especially with the heat and how tired you are feeling. I start pumping my arms and worked at keeping my cadence up to 180. This is tough and I feel my pace really slowing. I am monitoring my heart rate and even though I am slowing my effort appears fairly consistent. After several minutes I make it to the top of the hill and raise my arms in celebration.
Jane sews my name on the front of my running shirt. It really helps when random strangers yell out your name and tell you that you are doing great, or start chanting, “Dave, Dave, Dave!” I found anytime I started to drag someone would yell out an encouraging word and I would get myself back in the game.
Miles 21 to the finish are exciting. The crowds are huge and loud. I was hurting and my pace started to slow down. I was still running, but I couldn’t get any speed. Each time my foot would hit the pavement each quad would ache. I was suffering from a lack of endurance training due to not doing much running for the past 6 weeks. Surprisingly, even though I had slowed down I was still passing dozens of runners. Many were walking or standing on the side of the road. Somehow I was still running. I kept telling myself if I could just keep running I was actually going to finish the race. I would look down the road at find a landmark or traffic light that was about a quarter mile away and tell myself to push to that spot. I kept repeating this all the way down Commonwealth Ave.
The infamous Citgo sign was getting closer. With a little more than a mile to go you hit the last hill that crosses the highway and passes Fenway. I kept pushing myself. This is so hard at this point. I knew Michelle Sheman’s husband Richard would be at the corner of Commonwealth and Hereford. He always wears an orange hat and I was pushing to get to that point. He shouted out, “Go Dave,” which gave me the final surge to get down Hereford and make the left on to Boylston. You can see the finish line about a half-mile ahead. It’s dreamlike! I was feeling dizzy and was afraid I might stagger and fall. As I approached the finish line I looked to the left where each of the bombs had exploded in 2013 and a chill comes over me thinking about the people who were killed and maimed that day. I finish the marathon with a time of 3:43:05. As soon as I stop I start to get tunnel vision and feel even dizzier. My blood pressure is dropping. I need to hydrate and keep moving or I am going down. I hold on to fence along the finish area as I walk toward the volunteers putting on your medals. I get a huge hug from a nice lady you tells me, “Congratulations, you did great!” Guys are supposed to be tough, but I feel myself welling up.
I really didn’t think I could finish this race. With the injury, loss of training, and the heat, I really thought this would be my first DNF, Did Not Finish… but I did finish!
My time re-qualified me to run Boston again next year. I needed to be faster than 3 hours and 55 minutes. That will make number 8. I am hoping that I may finally learn how to be strong and smart enough in my training not get injured. I still have a goal of breaking 3 hours and 30 minutes for Boston. It has eluded me for 7 years and seems to get harder to reach each year I get older. We’ll see what next year brings.
Thanks for reading about my run.