Race: Boston Marathon
When: April 20, 2015
Ante up! The Boston Marathon loves a good game of cards. You can stack the deck with specific training, but Boston always holds the trump cards. And Boston keeps the wildest card of all – the east coast weather – tucked well up its sleeve.
The race day forecast jumped back and forth between perfect and perfectly awful. From the surprise heat wave of 2012 to hypothermia warnings for 2015. Can Boston weather be any more fickle?
Seasoned veterans hold their cards close to the vest. Boston is cunning and brutal. Bet your limit and Boston raises; resources are depleted well before the finish line. Try to bluff, Boston calls; without adequate training, Boston makes you pay dearly. Go All In? Yes, that is the strategy for Boston but the hand has to be played out carefully, each card in proper turn. Never show Boston your best cards until the very end.
This year I dealt myself a poor hand. It started months before with an Achilles layoff that lasted to mid-January. I only started building mileage in February. It was therefore a given. Boston would be a training run and nothing more. Coming off a peak mileage week and no taper, expectations had to be kept realistic.
Yet sometimes all it takes is to hold one strong card and be the last one to play. That tactic can turn many weak cards into winners. And on Marathon Monday, I did just that.
I played my first cards well before the starting gun. The forecast was miserable. Rain and cold. I knew I had to be among the first into the athlete’s village to secure a dry spot under one of the tents. I also knew the morning was going to be frigid in Hopkinton, even colder than last year. Over everything I wore a winter parka donated by my wife Melissa. I was looking quite shapely! As I huddled with others under the tent, the rain pissed down. I was warm and dry.
I decided to run from the third corral even though I was assigned Corral 1. The first 5k fly downhill – I could not get caught up in the pace of others with a similar BQ time (2:41:59). I set a reasonable goal time of 2:59:59 and targeted 4:15/k pace from the gun.
I joined running pal Daniel Clarke and we paced the first 5k together. His company was welcome. The slow early pace may just have saved his day. Around 5k I sent Daniel off with a knuckle bump. He was feeling great and I had to keep to my plan.
The pre-race rain had ended before the gun. By the 5k mark it was getting warm and I resisted the temptation to throw off some unneeded clothing in case the rain returned. I would wait until the half marker to make that decision. I would also use that point to judge the condition of my legs. Until then the plan was to continue dishing low cards – keep the pace around 4:15/k and cross the half at or just under 90 minutes.
Then Boston played its wild card. The rain returned at 14k, colder than ever. The first hour was dry. The next two hours would be cold, wet, and windy.
The Rain Returns
I re-zipped and re-armed to retain heat. Many runners around me had ditched clothing, including one shirtless fellow. They were regretting it now! I used the crowds and my smaller size to advantage, ducking behind groups whenever a cold wind kicked up. I had also selected thin socks in case the roads got wet (less weight). Boston played its big trump card and I had overtrumped it!
We slogged into the second half and spitting rain. Should I make a move? No. The conditions were not favorable and the race still young. My legs were holding well but I could feel a touch of fatigue. Best to maintain pace until the turn at the Firehouse. Yes, the Newton Hills would provide me an answer. Until then, more of the same. Hold pace, duck behind available runners, keep warm. Boston was waiting for my move, but I was not showing my cards. Not yet.
There are a few small climbs leading up to the turn that announces the Newton Hills. I carefully tested my legs. Could I hold pace? Did I have more?
Success in cards comes down to keeping track of what has been played, and knowing what is still out there. And success at Boston may come down to knowing just how many Newton Hills there are. Last year, I blasted up Heartbreak Hill only to find out it wasn’t. I thought there were three, but there are actually four hills after the corner. This year, I knew better and saved my best cards just for this moment.
Boston 5k
And now for a bit of a delightful diversion. Two days prior, my wife Melissa and I had raced the Boston 5k. Unlike the marathon which was approached as a training run, the 5k was an all-in race for glory.
A beautiful sunny morning greeted us, along with many thousands of participants. There were corrals, but they were self assigned. Bib numbers were assigned based on declared finish time. I held onto bib 150 and estimated there were likely 50 entrants who were bigger liars than me!
I selected a position in the start queue that seemed about right. But there was hardly any kind of warm up due to the crowds. We were off and soon the tale would be told, a delightful 17:30 effort that claimed third for age by seconds. Yes it was a serious kick to the finish line and the picture is worth a thousand words. Regrets go to the chap to my left, he was the sucker who settled for 4th. Damn I hate 4th, and I am so glad I dug deep.
Boston 5k Finish
OK, back to the marathon. Just keep in mind that 5k race was a worry. Would it scuttle my attempt to go sub-3h? The hills knew the answer!
Hills number one and two came and went in a breeze. In fact, it was a relief to be running uphill for a change. I caught up to Daniel on the third hill. He had suffered some digestive issues and was paying a bit for his early pace (had he started faster, it would have been his disaster).
Near the top of Heartbreak, I raised my arm Meb style: Boston Strong! I had taken the Newton Hills with full power and now played my final face cards. As the slope pitched downward once more, I released my legs and let them find their stride. What a ride! I took many sub 4:00 km splits, including my best of the day, a 3:38 scorcher.
I look back to my training to explain this pleasant surprise. Every tempo training run I did was split half uphill, half downhill. On race day I held this one huge card and played it well.
By 40k my legs were done. I backed off a touch and splashed home through the pouring rain. Boston had held the better cards, yet I had outplayed it on not much more than 10 weeks of specific training. The game was over, except for a hypothermic shuffle back to my hotel room. A hot shower would not come soon enough. Well, Boston got that last one on me, yet I took one more: Not one blister.
Up Hereford
A Left Turn Onto Boylston Reveals the Finish Line
Random data:
Chip time: 2:55:34
Watch time: 2:54:59
Pee time: 35 seconds
Average HR: 142 bpm.
Target HR: 150 bpm (marathon race pace).
Half/Half splits: 1:29:18/1:26:16 (yippee! a three minute negative)
5/10/15/20/25/30/35/40 splits: 21:01/21:12/21:36/20:56/20:54/20:53/20:19/19:50
First 2k: 4:16/k pace.
Slowest 1k: 4:20 (km #7)
Fastest 1k: 3:38 (km #35)
Last 2.2k: 4:02/k pace.
Gels: 6, every 7k.
Shoes: Mizuno Waverider 18.
Socks: Foxpro.
Training plan: Jack Daniels’ Marathon Training Plan A, (jumped in at Week 9 on Feb 1, at Week 20 on race day).
Goal Race: Ottawa Marathon, May 24.
Expected Goal Race time: 2:48
