Notes
beautiful day in a beautiful city. easily the most organized and best crowd supported race i've ever been to. Not to mention i think I'm in love with Boston as a whole.
It's crazy how your goal may change, but I completed it despite all mishaps and I'm thankful for that.
Splits:
625, 629, 628, 629, 635, 624, 625, 632, 626, 627
i found an IL club runner and stuck with him for some time. we got out a little hot and despite our best efforts to cool down the pace, they were for naught. Nonetheless, it was on pace for my goal time. However Mile 10 is when I first started feeling bad in the stomach. Potentially because of the gatorade blocks a few miles before?
633, 633, 633, 650,
the goal of the race went from trying to PR, to just trying not to throw up. I felt horrible at mile 12, but the girls at wellesely kept me going through the half. AT 14 however, I began walking through water stations.
726, 715, 752, 733
I continued to walk through water stations for multiple miles and my splits obviously payed for it. After sometime though, I was able to get enough fluids in my to calm my stomach. For a short time, I believed I could still break three hours. Unfortunately my calves started to get tight.
714, 749, 923, 942, 923, 942
the calf cramps got more and more severe, but i thought maybe I could still requalify for next year. then I had to start taking extended breaks to stretch out the ball of muscle in my leg. But i kept pushing through. Suddenly as thing got worse, the goal became just to finish. I made it through heartbreak without too many issues (it wasn't nearly as scary as i had been told) but right as i crested the hill my legs locked. My calves cramped so hard I was screaming. i tried to stretch one and the pressure on my leg only caused my hamstring and thigh to seize up. I shifted my weight on to the other leg which then also seized up and at that moment I did not think i could finish let alone walk another step. At this point I had drank multiple full water bottles and eaten several oranges to try and replenish with little luck. After a long stretch, i continued down. elevation changes would cause the legs to get tight again, but never as bad as the previously mentioned cramp. I only had to stop a few more times.
919, 809, 742, 747, finish
like i mentioned before, the cramps slowly subsided. I ended up altering my form to relieve some of the pressure on my calves but in turn, really beat up my feet and joints. I was mentally drained but the crowd support was overwhelming and I finally started seeing aunt cathy, my friends from BU, and auntie lyn. By the time I saw auntie lyn at 25+, cried having seen her supporting me with only a half mile left when i thought only a few miles prior that I could not even walk. This was a very trying race, but I proved to myself that I would not quit.