2009 Boston Marathon

The morning of the Boston Marathon went off with a BANG! That’s not to say there was a starting gun – if there was, I didn’t hear it – but rather, I’m referring to the sound my knee made when it hit the door frame my my bedroom door.  That was followed but a couple of explicatives and me jumping up and down for a while.  I was rushing around this morning, anxious to get my laundry list of things to do done, before heading out to catch a commuter rail train ride out to Ashland and meet Amanda at mile 4.  The train was leaving Back Bay at 8:56 and I wanted to be sure not to miss it so fed the dog, took a shower, had breakfast and got dressed to be out the door by 8 – with my bright pink but ugly sign in hand – and make it with plenty of time to spare.

The whole line at the ticket counter for the commuter rail was made up of people going to – and not really knowing to get to – various point on the marathon course.  There were annoying teenage girls, who didn’t seem to know how to read a map, a triathlete/marathoner who had 42 km tattooed on his calf, and a crackpot poser guy and gal team who loved to seem like they were big runners (DC is such a runner friendly city) but who wondered out loud how far 42 km was.  Such is life.  I eventually bought my ticket, grabbed a bottle of Vitamen Water for the 50 minute train ride, and boarded when the train finally got there.

I had been anxious, and even stressed, about the 20 miles I was pacing for Amanda, and couldn’t sleep well the night before, finally crashing sometime after 3 AM; I hoped the coffee I had before my shower would last me through the run.  On the train too, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to push after the 16th mile with her, since Brian told me not to go faster that 7:30/mi, which she could want to do.  On the train I was nervous and jittery, but also thought it be better to use up all my anxiety during this race so I would just toe New Jersey without a concern in the world (and just like that, there goes all the anxiety, flying away like a bird).

The train was late, but I still got to Ashland in time to see the elite men run by.  The women, who started a bit earlier, had just zoomed by, I hear – something that was corroborated by Dire Tune’s water bottle lying on the sidewalk, having been thrown what I could only assume was minutes later.  I cheered personally for Ryan Hall, in the lead pack, and coveted the water bottle he tossed aside (some girl who appeared to just be walking down the sidewalk took it instead – not that I would have run with it), then a little later Brian Sell (who I think is way better looking anyway) before the first wave came along.  Standing at mile 4 I was searching for Brian, Greg, Mike Clark, Caitlin, Ashley and then Amanda, but only managed to catch Mike and Caitlin who both seemed excited and confused to see me standing there.  I screamed for them too, and undressed just to see Amanda about 100 yards away – enough time to drop the sign and take off with them.

The first 10-12 miles of my run breezed by – the pace was about 7:40/mile – and it was a lot of fun.  I worked to keep the pace at what Amanda’s pace chart gave her for each mile, using Marie-Claude’s Garmin, which she let me borrow, and ran water and Gatorade for both Amanda and Kristi.  For me, the pace was comfortable enough that I was talking the entire time, and we tried to keep the pace withing 5 seconds of the pacing chart to the best of our abilities.

The turn onto Commonwealth Avenue and the Newton hills proved to be rough for Amanda, who was doing everything she could just to keep it together.  I stayed with her, letting Kristi go, and we worked the pace at about 8:20 for a few more miles, before the wheels started to come undone.  We worked to together to keep Amanda’s spirits high and I know she was trying her best.  We walked a bit going up the last hill, and started to pick up again past BC, turning onto Beacon at about 21/22 on the course (or 18ish for me).  A little before mile 23, we ran into Brian, who was having a hard day himself, and I gave a few more suggestions to shuffle a bit through it.  By mile 23, I just wanted to get the workout over with, so knowing the Brian and Amanda were together at that point, I told them that I would take off, and that they were doing great, before picking it up hard for the last mile (which I ran in 6:50 pace).

Though Community Running wasn’t exactly at mile 24 ( I stopped and looked around), they were at the next block up, where Erin popped out, and I stopped, and said, I’m done, and I’m jumping the fence right before doing so.  It was great having a support team out there (Erin had a change of clothes I gave her…and tequila shots that Mike Clark drank) and it included Goutham, Connie, Robin, Erin, Chris Campbell, Cyrus, Greg McGowen and a few other people I didn’t really know. I stayed and cheered, seeing a bunch of people, some of who’s pictures are below.  Overall, the long run was good – it was a lot of fun, and it felt really comfortable through about 98% of it.  The hardest part for me, really, was having Amanda hit a wall – knowing how fit she is and how much she’s trained and how smart she ran the first half of the race, it sucks to see things fall apart for no discernible reason.  It gives me a perspective, and helps my mindset, in that I understand that somethings are just beyond my control.  If anything, my own performance left me feeling positively about my upcoming race, and boosted my confidence in myself to pace the race on my own.  It also helped in that Amanda showed me what it’s like to push through when things are getting rough.

On a brighter note, at mile 24, Robin had a long lens camera to take some awesome shots during the race.  Here are some of the best ones.

Coach Allison looking good while running as the anchor leg for a team of sight guides for Adrian Broca. They ran this last 12K leg in a speedy 42:45. Erin and Goutham (who ran the second leg) in the background.

Brian had a rough day, but he made time to chat with his cheering section.

Lynne did a great job too - pointing and waving as she glided past.

I love this picture of Stephanie - I think she was happily surprised when she saw us cheering for us. She hit her goal on the nose: 3:30:00

We missed Marie, but she saw us!

Alex sporting the porno moustache!

Sue had a hard time too, but she managed to sprint over to see us with a smile on her face.

Congratulations to all the runners today!