2011 Boston Marathon

Well, it’s been almost a week since the 2011 Boston Marathon, so I guess it’s about time I jotted down a race recap. Forgive me if I skip over the details of the short flight to Boston, early check-in at the splendid Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel, couple of hours spent at the excellent Sports & Fitness Expo, fun times with great people at the official dailymile meetup and Saturday night dinner with good friend, and fellow dailymiler, Andy O.

As you can tell from the above paragraph, Saturday was a rather busy affair, so it was nice just to chill on Sunday and rest up for the big day ahead. I did manage a one mile jog to the local Panera for brunch and took advantage of the short distance to test out the all-new Saucony Hattori that I picked up at the Expo the previous day. Described as “a sock with cushioning”, the Saucony Hattori embodies “natural” running and at just 4.4oz is about as near to barefoot running as you can get. Anyway, I digress. The rest of the day was just a matter of laying out my race gear, reading a few magazines and enjoying a short nap to recharge the batteries. Dinner at a local sports bar was tasty and fun, but I probably got carried away with the drinking (Andy O is a bad influence!), and had one (or two) beers too many. At least I was able to get to bed nice and early, and quite predictably after three beers, sleep came rather quickly.

The alarm was set for 5am, and surprisingly I had no problem hopping out of bed to mix up the Hammer Nutrition breakfast and fuel for the marathon. Breakfast was my usual 3 scoops of Sustained Energy mixed in 24oz of water which I’d drink on the bus ride to the athlete’s village. I’d already pinned 4 small baggies containing 3 Endurolyte capsules to my shorts, so all that was left was to mix up a small hand-held flask of Perpetuem which would hopefully fuel each and every one of the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston.

After a quick goodbye to the still-sleeping Ally S, I headed downstairs to jump on the hotel shuttle bus which would ferry guests to Boston Common where a huge line of school buses awaited. The bus ride to the athlete’s village was fairly uneventful. I listened to some favorite tunes, sipped Sustained Energy and enjoyed a brief chat to a first time Boston marathoner who wasn’t nervous, but understandably full of questions.

Once at the village, the next couple of hours flew by. I found a nice quiet, sunny location and was soon joined by a gaggle of dailymilers – great people, good conversation, fun times.

All too quickly, however, it was time to leave the village and head to the starting corrals with good friends Peter L and Andy O. Somehow we lost Chris S before the baggage trucks, but were spotted by the always-smiling Brodie W at the port-o-john line. Small world… We said our goodbyes and exchanged good luck wishes at the respective corrals, which left me on my own for the first time in a few hours. The walk to my corral was a short one, but left me enough time to reflect on the pretty special feeling of being in corral number one for the first time in three Boston Marathons. After a few strides on the side of the road, I hopped in to the corral and listened to the conversations all around me. I’d kind of played down Boston to be a fun event this year, but now as I stood amongst some of the fastest marathon runners in the country, I realized having fun was not really what I’m all about, and kind of an insult to the Boston Marathon itself. I totally zoned out for a minute or two, sang the Welsh National Anthem to myself, felt goosebumps form on my arms and actually teared up a little as I thought about the race ahead. Ready.

My only goal going in to Boston was to reach the halfway point in around 1:25. If I felt okay, I figured I could maintain pace, finish in 2:50 and shave four minutes of my 2010 Boston time. If I felt good, maybe I could pick up the pace and cross the line in around 2:48. If today wasn’t my day, I’d just do my best, enjoy the second half and be cool with the fact that I’m not getting any younger. At 10am sharp, we were off. I’d spent the last couple of days advising people not to go out too fast, not to trash their quads on the early downhill miles, and as difficult as it can be at Boston, to stick to their game plan. My goal pace was around 6:30 per mile. I was happy with an “easy” 6:25 first mile, but couldn’t help myself in the next three miles with splits of 6:10, 6:12 and 6:19. The tailwind, as predicted, was strong. It seemed everyone was running faster than planned, but nobody was doing anything about it.

First 5k split – 19:35. Too fast.

I finally got things under control with a 6:26 and a 6:24, but it didn’t feel natural to ease off the gas and let streams of runners push on ahead of me. The crowds were out in force and I remember thinking how warm it was on the course. I decided to take the first baggie of Endurolytes a little early, and hoped they’d keep potential cramps at bay late in the race.

Second 5k – 20:04. Much better.

I found myself “in the zone” for the next 6 or 7 miles. I don’t recall checking my Garmin at all, and instead focused on the road ahead. Splits of 6:24, 6:27, 6:23, 6:22, 6:28, 6:22 came easily, and as arrogant as it sounds, I felt no pressure at all. The crowds were great and I enjoyed high-fiving the kids who were all holding out their hands in anticipation. Very cool.

Third 5k – 20:00. Bang on pace.

Fourth 5k – 20:02. Almost perfect again.

The “Girls of Wellesley” were as loud as ever, but I managed to contain myself and kept on running. Mile 13 came in at 6:19, and I reached the half just over a minute too fast in a little under 1:24. My next decision was not a difficult one. Fueling had gone well, my legs were feeling good and the tailwind was still out in force. I decided to pick up the pace in the next seven miles, and if I still felt good, attack the last 10k like never before.

Fifth 5k – 19:39. Getting faster.

The hills of Newton came and went. Confidence was high, and I was able to power up the hills and pass many a flagging runner. The crowds were once again fantastic, and the shouts for “Bib #561” kept me running strong.

Sixth 5k – 19:39. The hills didn’t slow me down.

At mile 20, I knew I was in with a shout of a new PR. I hadn’t planned it, and definitely wasn’t expecting it, but there was no way I wasn’t going to go for it. I knew there were many friends and family tracking me online, and badly wanted to crush the last 10k for them as much as myself. My quads were sore from the early downhills, and to be honest I was a lot scared that they’d spasm and cramp up. Time to be my best and go for it though…

Seventh 5k – 19:17. Nice.

My mile splits dipped into the low 6:00s for several miles, and I managed to record a couple of sub-6:00 minute miles for the first time in a marathon too.

Eighth 5k – 19:01. Crazy.

I hit mile 25 and knew, barring a major disaster, the PR was mine. I pressed on for home, spurred on by the magnificent crowds, and inspired by friends cheering for me in numerous locations around the globe. I powered down Boylston Street, missed the 26 mile marker (if there was one), but crossed the finish line in an amazing 2:45:22 – almost two minutes faster than my previous best, and a crazy nine minutes faster than my 2010 Boston Marathon.

Overall Place – 357 of 23879
Gender Place – 327 of 13806
Age Group Place – 38 of 2303