10 Things I Learned Running the Boston Marathon

10 Things I Learned Running the Boston Marathon

10.  More mileage!  I would've been more prepared if I had followed my training plan.  My friend, Jennie Vee, was nice enough to put together a well designed training plan for me that averaged 35-40 miles per week.  When I looked back at my weekly mileage during the 16 week training period, I had averaged 24 miles per week.  While this was 7 more miles per week than my previous marathon training, it's not enough mileage if you have the goals that I have.  I need to add the extra 10-15 mile easy run each week if I'm going to continue to get faster.  Jennie Vee, I know I just took the words right out of your mouth.  Your training plan will be stuck to my fridge for the next marathon, and I'll get those extra miles in.

9. Do not plan your flight to your destination marathon on the last day of bib pickup.  If it can go wrong, it will go wrong.  So, leave yourself plenty of margin for error.  When planning for Boston this year, my wife and I decided that it would be too difficult to tote our 2 small children (3 and 1) to a city as crowded and busy as Boston.  As a result, it was going to be a quick solo trip to get there, run the race, and get home.  The bib pick-up at the expo closed at 6 PM on Sunday, and my flight was scheduled to depart Louisville at 6 AM, connect through Baltimore, and get me to Boston by 10:40 AM.  It sounded great until I woke up to my cell phone ringing at 2:30 AM the night before the flight.  It was an automated Southwest Airlines call politely letting me know that my flight was cancelled.  WTF? Really?  After several minutes of discussing alternatives with Southwest, none of which would get me to Boston in time to pick up my bib, I began to wonder how long it would take me to drive to Boston.  Then, a suggestion was made. ........ Manchester........Where?  Manchester?  Yes, Manchester, NH.  A city with a small airport just 50 miles north of Boston.  There were flights that could get me to Manchester by 11:05 AM, and I could figure out how to get to Boston from there.  It worked nicely, but it was cutting it too close for my comfort for an event like Boston.  To whomever decided to construct an airport in Manchester, NH: "Thank You."

8. Do not eat Mexican the night before the race.  My buddy, Dave, and I called for the hotel shuttle to take us to the Olive Garden for our mandatory pasta pre-race dinner.  After an hour of waiting, Dave and I realized we were going to have to eat something soon, as our bodies were actively depleting the valuable glycogen stores that would be badly needed during the race the next day.  We decided to walk to the next closest place.  Unfortunately, our only choice within a half mile walk was a Mexican restaurant.  Who eats Mexican the night before a marathon?  We did!

7. I will now worry if aches and pains don't crop up in the weeks before the race.  I have not run a marathon yet where I didn't have injury drama in the weeks before.  It's a trend that I don't like.  Knee issues for my first and second Memphis Marathons (during one of which I blew a calf muscle at mile 11), shin splints so bad I couldn't train at all for 3 weeks prior to NYC, and a strain across the top of my right foot a week before Columbus.  Why would I expect anything else for Boston?  So, lo and behold, a self inflicted left knee soreness (from playing indoor soccer) came and went 2 weeks prior to Boston.  Then, a case of aggravated tendonitis in my left foot cropped up the week prior.  I could run, but it hurt, and I didn't know how it would hold up after miles of running.  After a trip to the foot doctor, a steroid pack, a ridiculous boot that I never wore, and crossed fingers, there was still some pain there on race morning.  It was just enough to worry about until something else trumped it..........See #6.

6. Be careful stretching on race morning.  As I was stretching on race morning, I strained a muscle on the side of my upper left calf muscle.  That's right....I injured myself 2 hours before the marathon.  What a dumbass!  It hurt to walk and it wasn't fading.  The only good thing was that it hurt less to run.  Now I definitely had reason to be concerned as I thought that it would be a 50/50 chance that this would hold up to 26.2 miles of running without completely pulling apart.  This was my main worry as I jogged to my corral.  Somehow, some way, thankfully, it held on and didn't really pose a problem during the race.

5. What works for everybody else may not work the best for you.  If I heard it once, I heard it a hundred times from the experienced Boston runners......"Don't start out too fast"......."Keep it reigned in going down the hills"......"You won't have any quads left when it's time to climb the hills."  Well, I guess this is helpful advice for most runners, but there was something in my instinct that was telling me I should take more advantage of the downhills.  I'm still an improving runner, but I run well up and down hills relative to other runners of equivalent fitness.  I know this.  My quad muscles are still above average strenght from my weighlifting days.  Nonetheless, it was my first Boston and I chose not to ignore the predominant advice.  I ran the first mile (one of the steepest downhills in the entire 26.2 miles) at 7:19 pace (20-30 seconds slower than goal marathon pace).  I then ran miles 2-4 at 7:00 pace (about 5-10 seconds slower than goal pace).  My quads were fine then entire race.  They never felt weak or tired one single bit.  Looking back I wish I would've trusted my instinct to cruise 6:40s down those hills.  There's always next time.

4.  I've got to figure out these calf cramps.  Of my previous 3 marathons, I've been plagued by upper calf cramps creeping in anywhere between miles 13 and 18.  To no surprise, I felt the first one creeping in at mile 16 in Boston.  I otherwise felt great.  I was getting ready to really pick up the pace and make a push the remaining 10 miles.  The cramps forced me to slow the pace a bit to keep my calfs from completely locking up.  This lasted through the 5 miles of uphills.  At that point, I chose that finishing Boston with a moderate PR would be much better than going for it and crashing.  I took my time at the water stations.  I slowed to a complete stop at least 6 times to stretch and to drink a full cup of water or gatorade without spilling it all over my face trying to run.  It's not an electrolyte or hydration issue.  I drank more fluids, consumed more salt, and ate more gels than I ever have in a race.  Why did I not have calf cramps at mile 16 of my training runs that were at the same freakin' pace?  Who knows?  The good thing was once I topped Heartbreak Hill in mile 22, it was literally all downhill.  My body released another surge of adrenaline after tackling Heartbreak, and I knew there was 4.5 miles to go and it was downhill.  The calf cramps subsided, and I could really push it now.  I must have broken a few drunk BC students' hands as I slapped fives with them as hard as I could. 

3.  Be smart about when you go for broke!  This was my first Boston, and those of you who've done it know it is not a cheap trip.  I figured a total of about $1200 was sunk into me running this race.  I didn't want a DNF.  I felt that beating my previous marathon PR of 3:07 was a reasonable goal on a tough Boston course.  Beating 3:05 was also in my mind since it would allow me to meet the 10 minute threshold on my new BQ qualifying time.  Yes....Sub 3 entered my mind in my training, but it was definitely a stretch goal that would've required me to take big risks early in the race.  The truth is that destination races and especially ones like Boston where there's so much pressure are not the best for hitting your stretch goals.  You're out of your comfort zone for several days, you don't have what you need when you need it, you don't get to sleep in your bed, and you have to run with crowds of other people.  I'll save the sub 3 goal for a race closer to my hometown with less pressure to finish.  That will be the time to go for it.

2.  Wear your name on race day.  When I ran NYC, I wore my name.  It was great to hear people cheering my name through the 26.2 miles.  For some unexplained reason, I chose not to wear my name for Boston.  Maybe I thought it was too cliche.  Maybe I thought I didn't need the crowd support.  I don't know.  During the race, however, I heard all of the cheering fans screaming other runners' names, but not mine.  It was a missed opportunity that I'll fix next time. 

1. There's nothing better than a competitive running partner to push you during those last few miles of the event.  My friend, Brandon, from St. Louis ran Boston, too.  He had qualified in April with a 3:07, and by the time I got around to qualifying in October, I also ran a 3:07.  We had tried to connect in Boston and at the pre-race athletes village, but timing and the crowds didn't allow.  It seemed that we would not see each other before the race began.  When headed to my corral after jogging a little warmup on a side street to see if my calf muscle was going to rip, I heard Brandon calling my name.  He was on the steps of a small church just outside our corral.  It was great to see him, and we talked about race strategy.  He was dead set on a negative split......so much that it was written on the back of his shirt.  Well, I wasn't so sure about a negative split since it hasn't been my approach in previous marathons and the fact that Boston has a much harder 2nd half than 1st half.  I ran the first mile with him, then decided to pick up the pace a little and go ahead.  Something told me I would see him later in the race.  After I slowed a bit in the Newton Hills and took my time at water stations to stretch and drink, I heard a familiar voice at mile 22....."Brad, I told you not to let me catch you!"  Yep, it was Brandon executing his race strategy perfectly.  We ran together for the last 4.2 miles.  We're both type A competitive people, and we used the advantage of running together to push ourselves to paces that we would've never run had we not been together.  Our last 4 miles were our fastest around 6:30-6:40 range with the last mile of the race at 6:24 pace.  We finished strong passing hundreds of slowing and crashing runners those last few miles.  It was the best part of the race.  We were the strongest, fstest, and felt the best we had all day.  If it weren't for Brandon, I would've mailed in 7 minute miles, PR'd at a 3:06 and felt like I did my best.  I have brandon to thank for shaving 2 minutes off my time and pushing me to beat my qualifying time by over 10 minutes.  Thank you , Brandon, and congratulations to us for the 3:04:28 finish!