Monday, May 10, 2010

The Marathon Post

On Monday, April 19th, I ran the Boston Marathon… I considered concealing the truth from you all, but I have decided against it. So here it is: I am really proud. I think my friend Ryan’s comment on Facebook expressed it best: “4:07:56 PR HELL YEAH”.

A few feet from the finish lineIt was a personal triumph in many ways.

  • I completed my 2nd Boston Marathon and my 3rd marathon over all. I ran 26.2 miles only 3 months and 1 week after spraining my ankle. And my time was a personal record.
  • I estimate that I have raised over $9500 for Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC) program where all the money goes towards cancer research. This was record fundraising for me. More importantly, it shows how incredibly generous people are, even during these difficult economic times.
  • And I had a great time!
At the finish lineThe Many Details

To the Starting Line

Everyone agrees that running 26.2 miles can be challenging. Yet fewer people might understand that getting to the starting line on the day of the race is a challenge in itself.

Line for the BAA buses to Hopkinton Boston Athletic Association (BAA) says that the only “guaranteed” way to get to the Boston Marathon starting line in Hopkinton is to take the official BAA school buses from Boston Common. So that is where I was headed at 6:23am on Monday morning. Twenty minutes later I was squeezing through crowds of hungry looking people with neon yellow plastic bags strung across their shoulders. (Of course I looked just like them.). I was looking for my friend and fellow DFMC runner, Bess.

Bess and I in line for the BAA buses to HopkintonThree quarters of an hour later, we finally got on one of the buses. Despite a few frozen fingers, we knew that now we would definitely make it to the start of the race. After a bumpy ride interrupted only by multiple incidents of public urination, Bess and I walked away from the Hopkinton High School to find THE church--a refuge for the DFMC team runners. (While everyone else hangs out in the fields by the school and waits for 30+ minutes in line to a porta-potty, DFMC runners are sheltered inside a church, where food, drink, medical supplies and toilets are plentiful.)

DFMC refuge in Hopkinton. Photo by Len ConteThe church was warm, which was a relief, but we had to go back outside as soon as we got there to line up for DFMC team photos. The next hour was a bit of a blur. When we went back inside after the photos, announcements were already being made to “surrender” our bags. (Remember those neon yellow plastics bags everyone had. These are the only bags BAA will transport for runners from the starting line to the finish line, via school buses of course). I feverishly tossed things in and out of the bag trying to remember what I have forgotten to do: sunblock--check, sunglasses--check, gloves, GU...

I breathed a little easier once I put my bag on the school bus. Then I went out for a short warm up run. It was more of a “cool down” run, but it gave me an excuse to re-tie my shoes about a thousand times. I also got to see the Blue Angels, who must have been doing a fly by over the starting line.

Starting corrals. Photo by Len ConteIt is unfortunate, that nobody documented my appearance in the starting corral. (Bess did offer, but I was too flustered to agree.) To keep warm I wore an old XL sweatshirt, while wrapping my legs in an even older black fleece cape. I was not the only one wearing expendable clothing, and BAA was well prepared for this situation. Volunteers had separate bags for garbage and for the clothing people shed as they moved closer to the starting line. The disposed clothing would be donated to charity.

We had already spent hours waiting, and months preparing. Finally, we slowly walked, then jogged, then crossed the starting line of the Boston Marathon. Bess and I wished each other good luck before setting off to run the 26.2 miles to that coveted finish line in Copley Square.

Running The Race

From Hopkinton the marathon course takes the runners through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, and finally to Boston. The Boston Marathon is known for its crowds. It was sunny and warm, and spectators were indeed out in full force, partying and cheering loudly.

A few live bands played along the course, and people were blasting music from their boomboxes. I remember entering the town of Natick to the sounds of the Who’s “My Generation”. At some point, the Rocky theme-song made my heart skip as memories of my high school jazz band flooded my sugar starved brain.

It is hard to remember what I saw where, especially during the first 9 miles where the course is less familiar to me. Here are a few things I do remember:

  • A runner pulling a cart with a couple of oxygen tanks—really, if he can run the marathon, then so can anyone.
  • Seeing some of my coworkers in downtown Natick. Thanks for your support!Running through downtown Natick
  • Seeing Karen B and getting a hug!
  • Watching my dad run alongside the course near Coolidge Corner, because he wanted to get a photo of me running.
  • Running with Bill Y for a few minutes somewhere near the Wellesley-Newton border. (That was enough time for Bill to tell me that we will all eventually die…) It was all very inspiring, but being much slower than Bill, I stayed back and he pulled ahead as we climbed the Route 95 overpass.
  • Enormous “Run Boston Better” posters at every town border—I wish I could find photos of them on the web. Some of them were rather clever.
  • Super cheerful Wellesley College girls—you hear them before you see them. Unfortunately, this year I did not see any middle aged male runners act on signs like “Kiss me, I am a senior”, “Kiss me, it’s your last chance”, etc. I did see a few men sprinkled amongst the girls holding up similar signs… No, I was not tempted.
  • Painfully loud Boston College students—they seriously scared me. (Of course it was the 22nd mile, and I was not thinking straight.) They were stepping right into the course, forcing all the runners really close together. The screaming so close by was disorienting. When I tried to slow down to avoid crashing into a runner in front of me, I realized that I could not maneuver all that well anymore. I cannot tell you how glad I was to get to the area where the BC students were behind barricades.
  • DFMC "cheering squad" at mile 25 on the Mass Pike overpass. I was really looking forward to that extra encouragement. It was a great feeling to reach the top of the overpass and to see so many friendly faces cheering the team on.
    Running by the DFMC cheering section near mile 25. Photo by Steve McLaughlin.
  • Runners in costumers or otherwise wearing interesting clothes—a lady in violet princess cape, two ladies running together in pink Superwoman capes, an older gentleman dressed as a Cat in the Hat, a guy with all of his exposed skin painted orange, a woman in a leopard outfit, etc. (The leopard outfits were apparently quite popular...)
Photos by Jennie Finet and by Jim Rhoades
  • Realizing that I can no longer run downhill when following Commonwealth Avenue under Massachusetts Avenue in the last mile of the course.

Apparently I misread the BAA information about water stops. I expected them to be every 2 miles, but instead they were positioned at every mile. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that, but for the first several miles I was confused, uncertain when to expect the next water stop. For awhile I seriously considered asking a fellow runner about it, but felt too embarrassed. Just as well—it worked out fine.

Because of my sprained ankle, I only did two long-distance runs (by “long” I mean over 10 miles) before the marathon. I ran 20 miles 3 weeks before the race and 14 miles 2 weeks before the race. As a result I had little sense for the pace at which I should try to run the marathon. When my hips started “talking to me” around mile 14, I worried that maybe I went out too fast. Of course, there is no point in worrying, but… Luckily, getting preoccupied with something else made me temporarily forget my various aches and pains. Meeting Bill, seeing Karen, eating a GU (Chocolate Outrage was my flavor of choice this year), turning onto Commonwealth Avenue, and finally working through the “Newton flats” were all excellent distractions.

Favorite parts of the course:

  • cruising through Natick and Wellesley
  • turning “right on Hereford, left on Boylston” to glimpse the finish line and hoping to see mom.

Left on Boylston Street (Notice the leopard outfits running next to me
Least favorite moment: dodging the drunken BC crowds.

Official results and statistics:

  • Official Time: 4:07:56
  • Overall: 16848
  • Race entrants: 26,776
  • Race starters: 23,071
  • Race finishers: 22,588
Boston 2010 vs Boston 2008

  • Nick convinced me to eat more during the race, so I went from eating 3 GUs in 2008 to 4 GUs this year. Now I think that having more food at regular intervals helped me avoid feeling sick to my stomach as I did last time towards the end of the marathon.
  • I have many more memories from the race than I did from 2008, when I could not remember running through Washington Square or Coolidge Corner. I would credit more GU with this improvement as well. Though perhaps I also paid more attention this time.
  • Sadly I saw fewer people I knew along the course. Just as in 2008, I did not see Nick, but this time he did not see me either.
  • Having run Boston once before, I did not worry as much about the pre-race logistics such as what would happen once I was in Hopkinton.
  • Despite having run 2 marathons including Boston before, I still stressed out about such seemingly unimportant things as oversleeping and missing the BAA bus, deciding what to wear, and eating just the right amount of food the morning of the race. People say some pre-race jitters never go away.
Half way pointOverall it was a great race for me, and the nice weather and super supportive crowds made it even better.

I would like to thank
  • all the people who supported my run and made it possible for me to raise so much money for Dana Farber! Your generosity is humbling.
  • my coworkers who were extremely supportive, enduring my long monologues about training and physical therapy, buying my homemade treats every Monday, driving me to and from work when I was on crutches

Special thanks goes to Trace at the BU Physical Therapy Center, who helped me start running again, and to Jack Fultz, the DFMC team coach (and the winner of the 1976 Boston Marathon), who helped me structure my training around the injury replying to every single one of my emails despite having 549 other team runners to worry about.

And last but not least, I would like to thank Nick who endured it all—the training, the therapy, the whining, the sprained ankle, the fundraising, etc, etc, etc…, and even borrowed a friend’s dog, Calvin, for a day to lift my spirits.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Race Day Fashions

It is 10pm on Sunday night, and I should be asleep getting charged for the marathon tomorrow. Instead I am blogging (to Nick's great chagrin). I really wanted to post what I will be wearing in the race tomorrow, so that if you are standing along the course, you will have a better chance at spotting me as I run by you. Luckily the DFMC singlet is bright orange, so it should be easy to recognize.

DFMC Singlet

A hat, sun glasses, and black shorts may be involved in this outfit as well. See you on the course!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Let's Get Ready

While I am getting ready to run the Boston Marathon in less then two weeks, I hope you are getting excited about following the race and maybe even going out to the course to watch it.

If you will not be in Boston on April 19th, you can still follow my progress along the race course. AT&T provides a way for you to receive text message or email alerts when I cross the starting line, the 10K point, the half point, 30K point and the finish line. The following link, AT&T Athelete Alert Program, provides the instructions for setting up the alerts. My bib number is 22583.

If you are in Boston, I hope you get a chance to come out and cheer the runners along the course. It is always super exciting to see the elite runners zoom by. Of course then you might have to wait awhile to see your friends, i.e. me, to come crawling along a few hours later.

Here is an excellent interactive guide to the course map and good locations for the spectators: Boston Marathon Interactive Map. Personally, I would suggest that you avoid the finish line, and if you do go out to the Woodland T station to watch the race along Rte. 16, please be prepared to wait in crowded line to go back into town.

If you make a decision on where you will be before Marathon Monday, please let me know. I love seeing my friends along the course, and if I know where you'll stand I will be able to keep a lookout for you too. I will post what I will wear a day or two before the race to make it easier for you to spot me. At this point one thing is certain--I will definitely be wearing my Dana Farber Marathon Challenge singlet (a photo of it to follow).

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Scorecard and Ten Seconds of Fame (Literally)

Being completely preoccupied with eating and workout, I only now found time to report that my 20 mile run last weekend went really well. Yes, of course there were some aches and pains, but I made it in great time without major difficulties. What a confindence booster that was!

Check out the video clip of me running the 20 miles. (The video then moves on to show you other news clips--just reload the page, if you would like to see me run for 10 seconds again, as I know you do.)

With just two weeks remaining before the marathon, the excitement builds, and the tapering off has begun. On Saturday I ran only 14 miles (Cleveland Circle out to Wellesley and back). Next weekend the run will be shorter still--probably about 8 miles.

Friday, March 26, 2010

The Ultimate Test

It has been a lont time since I have last updated the blog. I have been busy, though I am having difficulties explaining exactly what I have been so busy with. It seems like I spend all of my time doing exactly 5 things:

  1. Working out, be it strength training, running, in and out of physical therapy, etc.
  2. Eating—muscles need fuel
  3. Grocery shopping and cooking (in order to satisfy activity #2)
  4. Working—apparently food costs money; so does physical therapy and going to the pool
  5. Sleeping—wish I could skip this one but have not yet been able to figure out how
Food is definitely the focus here. It is not just about breakfast, lunch and dinner. Eating for me has been continuous. My desk at work is overflowing with nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate. Occasional family events tend to revolve around a meal. TV watching is almost always combined with eating. Even long workouts imply carefully planned consumption of special “GU” to keep me going. And during those rare moments when I am not eating, I am ultimately planning the next meal.

Of course I run to eat, and I eat to run.

The ultimate test for all of this training is not the marathon itself. The race is more of a celebration after the craziness that the training season brings into runners’ lives. The test for me is coming up tomorrow morning. With three weeks left before the marathon, I plan to do a 20 mile training run.

I am excited and nervous. I am acting on the assumption that my ankle will hold me up. A lot of runners will be doing their last big long run this weekend, and I expect the marathon course will be quite crowded. I heard that some out of town runners come out to Boston to do this run on the marathon course, and that locals come out to cheers the runners on. When I trained for the Boston Marathon two years ago, this is the run I did not get to do because I was nursing an IT band injury then, and it makes me look forward to this run even more.

Monday, February 22, 2010

My "Olympic" Training

While it is true that I have been glued to the TV every evening watching the Olympics, I have also been doing some of my own "Olympic level" training. Here is the last week’s summary of my efforts:
  • Two one-hour sessions of deep water running
  • Two physical therapy sessions involving running and intense strength training
  • Two morning aerobic workouts, each of which involved an elliptical machine and some run/walking on the treadmill
  • And the week’s finale—my “long run” (total of 4 hours and 15 minutes):
    • 3 x 45 minutes + 1 x 30 minutes on the arc trainer
    • 3 x 15 minutes of run/walking on the treadmill
    • 1 x 45 minutes on the elliptical machine

As you can see from the above summary, I am slowly but surely starting to run. So now is a great time for you to enter my training mileage and race time contest for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift certificates. Please look at this earlier post for more information on how to enter the contest.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Announcing Training Mileage and Race Time Contest

I invite you to participate in a contest for a chance to win $25 Amazon gift certificate. All you have to do is make a guess at:
  1. How many miles I will run training for the marathon between January 1st and April 19, 2010, not counting the marathon itself.
  2. How long it will take me to complete the Boston Marathon.

I will select two winners after the race--one for the closest estimate of my total training mileage and one for the closest estimate of my race time. Please feel free to refer to my running log to help you make the estimates. And here is a hint--my total training mileage for January will not change, but my ankle will be strong enough to start gradually ramping up my miles in February.

Here is how to enter the contest:

  1. Please make a donation to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge. The suggested donation for a single contest entry is $5.
  2. Submit your best guess by filling out this contest form.

You can enter the contest multiple times! The more you contribute to the fight against cancer, the more estimates you can make increasing your chances of winning! Good luck and thank you for your support!