RACE REPORT: Lighthouse Run 10K & 2 Weeks in Wisconsin & Chicago

I had 2 weeks scheduled in the Midwest.  A colleague travelling in from the UK happens to be into running, too, and he found a 10 miler for us to do in our home city.  I flew into Milwaukee on Sunday and took in a brewery tour at Sprecher, but I didn’t run that night, since I was tired and in no mood.  Sprecher is more known for its soda than for its beer, and the beer wasn’t that tasty, but it was still interesting to visit, especially a place that doubled as a soda factory, which smelled strongly of root beer.  I did like the tap handle for water.

Monday, June 15:

Got in a morning run.  Kept it at 4 miles in 34:33, 8:39 ave (3 degrees of incline = 7:57 effort), rather than getting in a bit more distance, since there were 2 others in the tiny fitness room who came in later and who probably wanted to use the treadmill.  One ended up being a colleague from Florida who I had never met in person before – turns out she’s a marathoner, too!  It was hot in that room, anyway, so I was happy for an excuse to stop.

Wednesday, June 17:

Another morning run… last one before the race.  5.0 in 41:44, 8:21 average, 3 degrees of incline = 7:43 effort.  The AC was on for the first half, at least, so it wasn’t as hot as Monday’s run.

SATURDAY, JUNE 20 – LIGHTHOUSE RUN 10 MILER:

I was glad to have an opportunity to find the rare 10 miler, since I have signed up for the Disney Marathon, and they accept 10 milers as corral seeding standards.  My 10 mile time predicts a faster finish time than my marathon time.  I was also excited to get to know my “home away from home” a bit better.  I didn’t realize that they had a lighthouse!  During the week, I also discovered a great restaurant right on the marina, called the Reefpoint Brew House.  The views are awesome, the local beer selection is extensive, and you can’t beat BBQ.

Anyway… we did the packet pickup, then had an early night of sleep, before going out the next morning.  We arrived 90 minutes early, when the place was still empty, and just chilled, visited the restroom, and warmed up for the race.  My buddy is super fast, with 10Ks in the 30’s, so I felt special hanging out with him.

I haven’t been training too much after doing the marathon in April and the epic Battlefrog Obstacle Course Race of 20 miles in May, so I didn’t think I was in peak shape.  The race time predictor estimated a 1:12 based on my half marathon PR of 1:36, so I figured a 1:14 was reasonable for the shape I was in.  That would put me at about top 15.

We headed out.  We went through downtown, then the zoo (where I sadly didn’t see any animals), and along the lakefront to the 5 mile mark at the lighthouse.  I was doing ok with hitting my paces, but my legs were getting tired, and I wasn’t sure if I could keep it up.  The last 3 miles were particularly uncertain.  The second half went through residential areas, which was nice, since it gave us some shade.  In the last mile, we merged back with walkers, which helped to keep up motivation and energy as we pushed through the toughest part.  

I ended up making it with 1:13:05, which was a nice surprise.  75^th overall, 7^th for the women, and 1^st in my division.  My buddy ended up getting 1^st in his division, too!  

The post-race atmosphere was fun, with live music and even a mascot race.  We enjoyed lunch and beer in a sports bar afterwards.  It was a nice morning.

 

Post-race:

I went down to Chicago to visit a roommate from college, which was a nice reunion, plus fun times with her adorable toddler.  The next day, I hit up Chicago for a River Cruise given by the architectural foundation.  It’s true when they say that architecture is like gigantic artwork, and Chicago has the most remarkable and varied architecture of any city I’ve visited. 

 

I also went geocaching.  My first time with GC last weekend was fun, and the fun continued.  There are special places to hide things, and different kinds of places to hide things, when you’re in a city.  My favorite was this statue, both because of the hiding place, and because in it, I found my first geocaching-related tradeable.

Sunday, June 21:

After getting back from Chicago, I did 4.0 in the treadmill in 32:37, 8:09 average, with 3 degrees of incline = 7:31 effort.  It was on tired legs after all of the walking, but it was a solid run.  I had done some more geocaching on the way back, giving me probably around 20 finds for the day.  The best was one of the last, which was a box by a fast food joint, in which I found a TravelBug, a trackable item left by someone else, with a mission statement attached to it, which finders are meant to help achieve.  This item was a Fire Truck from the Czech Republic, and it wanted to travel and get pictures taken with fire stations around the world, and then find its way back home.  I brought it to a fire station, and I plan to take it back home with me for a time, before leaving it for another finder to carry on.

Wednesday, June 24:

I was going to do a morning treadmill run, but the treadmill was taken.  I decided to run outside, since I needed to run, and since I had planned on geocaching on the frontage road by the highway, anyway, I decided to geocache while running.  Someone had placed a bunch of caches along the frontage road, so I scooped up 7 total, during a 5.8 mile run.  5.8 in 45:37, 7:52 average.  At first, I didn’t feel like I was getting much of a workout, since there was a good bit of stop & go.  I decided to start running a bit faster, making it a bit of an interval session.  I didn’t go that hard, since I wasn’t particularly in the mood for that kind of workout, but it felt more like a run after a while.  Since it was close to the highway, there were some fumes sometimes, but overall, it was ok.  

NC Hiking, Wedding, Cross-fit Trial Class, Sleeping Hard, Geocaching (May 20-Jun 13)

After the epic Battlefrog Extreme, I took 3 days completely off, followed by a single super slow recovery run.

Wednesday, May 20:
4.6 in 46:11, 10:00 average, at the park, in the evening.  I had to use bandaids on my ankles all week, since the skin was rubbed away.  I had to take the last lap tenderly, because of the additional chafing of the bandaid against the raw skin.  My right pointer toe felt like it was getting bruised.  My left bottom rib bone had stabbing pains, too... probably a phantom pain, though.  0.75 mi splits> 7:47, 7:48, 7:45, 7:36, 7:42, 7:29.  Took another 2 days off after this.

Saturday, May 23:
50 min body weight strength session.  Did this at 3am, after sleeping from 8pm-2am the previous night.  I woke up with my body feeling somewhat normal again. 

Later that day, met up with a friend in Western NC, to hike Grandfather Mountain.  It was the most expensive mountain I've ever hiked, at $20 per person!  Not even per car!  My local mountain is $2, and even that is more than the $0 that I'm used to from other places.  To their credit, they have nice facilities, lots of crew members along the trail, a nature museum and animal zoo,  a swinging bridge, and some hard-core trails to maintain.  You get a CD of an audio tour to play in your car as you drive towards the trailhead, too.

 

What made these trails special was the fact that some sections are passable only by ladder.  Some of the ladders (not the one pictured) were pretty much on cliff faces, too, with some not insignificant wind blowing against you as you try to make your way up the giant rungs.  Don't look down!  

The views were great.  I didn't even notice the Grandfather's face in the rock until I was looking at pictures with my dad, afterwards, and he pointed it out.

 

Some parts had ropes to help you get up the steep rocks, too.  On the steep downhills, I ended up using my triceps a lot to let myself down easy, and to try to make things easier on my knees.

 

The following day, I headed down to the Asheville and Montreat area.  I stopped by Thirsty Monk to try a nice local brew, before going to a wedding of a very sweet friend from college.

 

Monday, May 25:

Run at the park, with zombies.  7.5 in 59:52, 7:59 average.  Felt good.  My heart needed the air and cardio, after a recovery week from Battlefrog.  

Wednesday, May 27:

More zombies at the park.  5.3 in 48:39, 9:03 average.  Trying to get back into the swing of normal training after cycles of hard racing and hard recovery.  Started really slow b/c I had eaten too much pre-run, as always.  

Friday, May 29:

Zombies again.  7.7 in 1:08:23, 8:53 average.  Legs were pretty fresh, but I was soooo tired physically and mentally... I groaned and feared falling asleep while running.  It got a bit better as time went on and temps went down.

Sunday, May 31:

Tried a free trial Crossfit class at Swamp Rabbit.  Quick 300m warmup, then 3x [arm range-of-motion stretches, 10x 38lb Russian kettlebell swings, 20 mountain climbers, 30second plank].  The 20 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) was quick but intense.  After each round, you collected a chip, to track how many you did.  I got in 5 full sets of [15 ab mat situps, 15 24 lb Russian kettlebell swings, 10 burpees, 300M run] and got the 6th round all the way to right before the run, just behind the first place girl who finished her burpees right before I did.  I thought I was in shape, but a couple of people were beating me for much of the AMRAP.  My abs had a tough time the last couple of rounds during situps, and the runs got progressively harder.  Short, but spent.  Efficient way to get in a workout.

Monday, Jun 1:

Treadmill 2 degree run.  1st time in the Adidas Adios Boost, which was pretty minimalist.  6.5 in 53:37, 8:15 average = 7:55 effort.   Splits> 8:28, 26, 22, 18, 13, 02, 3:45 for 0.5.  Upper arms, quads, and even abs were sore today, from the Cross-fit demo!

Wednesday, Jun 3:
Zombies at the park.  6.1 in 54:51, 8:55 average. 

Thursday, Jun 4:
55 min strength session.  Right upper arm and front deltoids oddly strained, maybe from Cross-fit this weekend.  Somewhat phoned this one in, since I needed to be careful with my arm and tibialis anterior.

Saturday, Jun 6:
Run at the park.   Wanted a long run... did 9.2 in 1:30:00, 9:44 average.  That's fine.  0.75 mi lap splits> 8:04, 7:42, 36, 34, 33, 32, 28, 28, 20, 24, 10, 04.  Legs stiff.  Could feel like my glutes weren't pulling their weight, since they had to do all the work instead of the rest of my legs which were spent.  Outrunning the duration of my podcast was my motivation.

Slept ALL DAY Sunday... ate, napped, ate, napped, etc.

Monday, Jun 8:
First speedwork in a looong time!  4.0 in 29:03, 7:16 average.  1 mi warmup in 8:03, 3x [5:01 for 0.75 mi @ 9mph, 1:59 for 0.25 mi @ 7.5mph].  Suprised I got that last rep in, instead of stopping at 0.5 mi.  9mph didn't feel too strenuous, maybe because of Zombie efforts being harder.

Rested the next 3 days, since work has been extremely fast-paced and draining... would sleep early at night and still not feel quite rested.

Friday, Jun 12:
Zombies at the park.  7.0 in 1:00:39, 8:40 average.  Ate fairly lightly.  Left arch had been complaining since the speed session on Monday, but it held up during the run.

Saturday, Jun 13:
50 min strength session.

Earlier that day, I tried Geocahcing for the first time.  People hide boxes or smaller containers and post their coordinates.  People find them and either sign the log, or, if it's a box, trade items, too.

 

 

(Find #1 - took me maybe 30 min.... had to step up on a wall and realize that the well-disguized bolt was actually a container!)

There were 3 close to my apartment, and I found them all.  Two were very hard, and I had nearly given up or missed them.  The third was easy.  Interesting hobby.

(Find #2 much easier and intuitive)

Now, you can try find #3.... also a hard one... here's a broad picture....

 

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Fun!  I want to try one with a box and trade things, though.

RACE RECAP: Battlefrog Extreme Atlanta 2015

This challenge came about a month after the Boston Marathon.  While my body was still somewhat used to going long, there was still lingering fatigue, since I had approached the limits of my legs during that race.

The mission: Complete as many laps as you can, of an 8K obstacle course with 22 obstacles/lap, as long as you start your first lap at 8:30am and start your last lap by 3pm, giving us 6.5 hours, at least, if we wanted.  The number of obstacles doesn't matter so much, since some are always easier than others.  

This was a cool new twist on the traditional race, where you go as fast as you can, for a set distance.  It would be a great way to practice obstacles, and it was well-suited for those who like longer distances.  This was the second time they were offering this Battlefrog Extreme option.

The medals for this race are cool, too.  They look very different, and you earn a start for each lap that you cover.  You could pin those starts to the medal at the end.  The winner gets a cool paddle, too, but they only had one.

Each participant was allowed a drop box for food and gear, and we could leave it at a special tent on the side of the course.  It was fun meeting fellow crazies there before the race, between laps, and after race.  Some were big-time OCR fanatics.  Others, like me, were relatively new to this.  The tent was stocked with finish line food and drinks, and it had its own porta potty in the back, which was awesome.

We got BFX armbands that let us repeat the course each lap, and the volunteers were able to ID us and cheer us on.  We get special access to bypass traffic in some cases, too, which was nice, even though I didn't take advantage of that every time.

After the usual awesome pump-up speech, with a drone flying overhead, we were off.  We were going to be at this all day, so I was in no rush to sprint out.  I went at a conservative 20-mile-long-run pace, and even that was probably pushing it too much.  Others were going much faster.  If I had something on my side, it was pacing experience, but not on the scale of a 7-hr run... 3, at most.

I ended up finishing 4 laps... 3 in reasonable shape, the last with a death march in the 2nd half.

Obstacles that I can remember:

- Small wall (completed 3/4)

- Wooden ladder-wall climb (4/4)

- Through the hole in the wall (4/4)

- Trenches (4/4... you just have to walk over them)

- Roll under wall (4/4)

- Giant a-frame (4/4)

- Wedge (4/4) - One of my favorites, since it looks cool and American Ninja Warrior-esque, but it's very doable.  I used a different approach, facing down.

- Tall wall with rope (3/4) - No arms left during the last lap

- Cargo net (4/4) - Leg cramped at the very top of it on my 3rd lap, I think... had to gingerly sit at the apex as I writhed in pain, but it got back to normal within a minute... just a tricky spot to be in, when you lose your legs.

- Lateral ropes to Cliffhanger to Lateral ropes (1/4) - It was sooooo much fun when I did it the first time, without too much difficulty.  This was another American Ninja Warrior-style obstacle, albeit an easier version of it since the wall had incline, rather than being a strictly vertical wall.  Unfortunately, I never made it far into the Cliffhanger portion on the other three attempts... the ropes I could do, but not the Cliffhanger.

 

- Rope Climb (2/4) - Not too hard the first two times... got harder each time after that.  I appreciate that these ropes are shorter than the Spartan ones, and not over water... the Spartan ones are nearly impossible for me.  A good many people are able to conquer the Spartan ones, though, so maybe it's technique or strength that I lack.

- Jerry Cans (4/4) - A mandatory obstacle for BFX... no 8-counts to get out of it.  I didn't think it was bad at all, though.  The girls had smaller ones to carry than the boys did.  I think I took 1-2 breaks on the first lap, but many more in the subsequent laps.

- Wreck Bag (4/4) - The other mandatory one.  Carry a 50-lb sandbag on your back (more like my neck) for 0.4 miles of steep up and down.  This one nearly killed me each time.  It was so heavy, and all of the weight was concentrated on the top of my back.  Fortunately, we "had" to get the bag over a wall without having it touch the ground at the mid-point, and jump over the wall.  At first, I thought it would be an ugly challenge, but it turned out to be a saving grace, since you could rest the bag on the wall.  I certainly needed the time to let my back recover.  During the first lap, tears were streaming down my eyes as a result of allergies.  I nearly broke into tears the other three laps because of the struggle, though. 

After my third lap, a rep from Obstacle Race Media interviewed me while I was at the drop box tent.  

I appear somewhere in there:

https://www.facebook.com/ObstacleMedia/videos/900205056692670/

During the 3rd lap, a fellow BFXer was very encouraging we were at the midpoint wall.  I think every lap, people helped to get the bag back onto my shoulders at the wall.  During that 3rd lap, I was neck-and-neck with a girl who I thought would be my competition... turns out that there were still 2 people farther ahead than us, but at least I didn't know.  Despite being competitors, as we struggled through the Jerry Can and Wreck Bags together, there was a deep sense of camaraderie.  She ended up dropping me 1/4 of the way into the Wreck Bags, though, haha, and went on to finish a 5th lap, it seems, based on her finish time.  Pretty much each time I finished the wreck bag, I'd collapse onto the heap of wreck bags... it was brutal.  That was the hump to get over, though... once you passed that, you were home-free, except for the 4th lap, where the final wreck bag totally did me in, and forced me into a death march for the remainder of the course.  I had already lost my arm strength, but I pretty much lost all strength after that, and could only manage 8-counts, in all but the easiest obstacles.

- Cargo net over water (4/4) - There was a traffic backup here in the later laps, as more open waves joined the course.  The first time I encountered the traffic, during the 2nd lap, I waited in line for maybe 5 minutes.  The second time (3rd lap), some open wavers invited me to go up to the front, which I appreciated.  During the 4th lap, I was so beat up that I didn't mind just standing there for a while.  After a stressful week of work, I had been looking forward to the race as an opportunity to give everything I could physically, and I certainly got that.

- Incline wall climb (3/4) - 1-3 were easy.  During the 4th, I couldn't manage much of a run anymore.  

- Inverted wall (3/4) - Same as above.

- Monkey Bars (0.9/4) - During the first lap, when I was still fresh, I very nearly completed the uphill then downhill monkey bars with a transition section in the middle.  I would've never thought that I could do a monkey bars so long, especially with the slope and the transition, but I nearly made it, and I was proud.  No way for the last 3 laps, though.

 

- Bridge over River Cry (0/4) - I got maybe 70% of the way up the inverted wire ladder leading up to a telephone pole.  It hurt my hands a lot.  I didn't make it, though.  I had even less of a chance during the remaining 3 laps.

- Tsunami (0/1) - We didn't get to do this until we decided that this was our last lap.  I had tried it during the Battlefrog Elite race in 2014 and struggled greatly.  For having little running ability left at this point, and having no arms, I feel like I gave it a decent attempt, but I gave it up and did my 8-counts afterwards.  The slide down was very steep, steeper than 2014's in the Carolinas.  I didn't have anything to lose, though, so drop down a nearly vertical slide, then crash into the water.  

- Normandy Jacks (1/1) - Tough, with legs cramping.  This was the end, though.

Got my medal, picked up my 4 stars, proudly put them on, and went to the photo op place.

Sand in my socks had rubbed the skin off of my ankles, but it was so nice to shower and get clean.

Got to meet Mike afterwards, too!

Can't wait to do it again next year!  I would do this again this year, but it's right before my next marathon BQ attempt.

I ended up finishing in 6:44:59, 5th out of 10 female BFXers.

Back to... Chicago/Wisconsin 5

Sunday, May 3:
Time to get in more miles... my third run since the marathon.  6.1 in 55:47, 9:09 average, at the park.  Definitely no Zombies, still.  Took it easy.  Speedwork is the last thing on my mind.   I went until my legs started feeling some wear and tear. 

Monday, May 4:
70 min strength session.

Tuesday, May 5:
4.0 in 34:34, 8:39 average, on a 3 degree treadmill = 7:57 effort.  Each mile lasted so long, mentally.  I started slow, since I had bailed on my previous attempt at a treadmill run.  It went well.  Stopped due to tummy issue, rather than a muscular reason.  Nose-breathed the whole time.  Stayed up until 2am to prep for guests coming over for dinner.

Friday, May 8:
Another outside run. 6.2 in 56:43, 9:07 average.  Was on the phone with my dad for the first 0.75 mi lap.  Had to take it really slow for most of it, to prevent pounding on my legs.  Once I started using better form, which does require a bit more effort, it did feel better, though.

Saturday, May 9:
I was going to run on the treadmill, but the fitness room was randomly locked, so I had to do a 55 min strength session, instead.

Sunday - Chicago...

Started with Oak Park, where the highest concentration of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings are.  They're interspersed between Victorian homes that look like life-sized doll-houses.  I didn't think that real buildings looked like that.

 

 

 

The tour at FLW's studio was very interesting.  I didn't really know anything about him before.  He developed many innovative ideas, though... pretty cool.

Afterwards, the Goose Island Brewpub tour.

This tour was unique... it focused on Chicago brewing history.  There wasn't much to see brew tour-wise, since it was a small-scale brewpub system.  They did have a nice tasting session that walked us through a flight of samples, though.

 

Monday, May 11:

4.4 in 36:40, 8:20 ave, 3 degrees of incline = 7:42 average.  A sweat lodge in the hotel fitness room.  Felt good, but it got hot quick.  A good, stress-relieving run, though.  Splits> 8:34, 8:31, 8:24, 8:07, 3:02 for 0.4.

 

Wednesday - My first MLB game, at the Milwaukee Brewers, which had a retractable roof stadium... good thing, since it was cold here this week!

 

RACE REPORT: Swamp Rabbit 5K 2015

I had no idea what to expect for this race.  It was about 10 days post-Boston, and my attempt at running on Wednesday was a no-go.  I may do ok, if I had residual fitness/endurance.  My legs were still recovering from some all-out action, though.

I got there early, to not have to rush like I had the last time that I ran the race.  Got a nice tech/cotton blend shirt.  Parked at a high school, sat in the car until the time got closer, since I didn't want to bake in the sun.  Since it was my usual dinner time, I was a bit hungry and had a bit of cheese, which would come back to bite me later on.

When it got closer to race time, I made the 0.5-mi-ish walk to the start, sat around for some time, then did a small warm up.  I definitely kept it short, since I had plenty of wear on my legs already.  I could feel like 100% of my muscle fibers were not up-and-running.

 At the race start, I ended up starting a the front of the 6-7 minute mile corral.  The gun went off, and after crossing the line, I had to put the brakes on, with the congestion and perhaps some corral derangement... but then it got better, and we started chugging along. I tried to keep the pace manageable.  Who knew when the legs would have enough.

In the last mile, I felt the pre-run cheese in my tummy, feeling like a rock.  I wasn't too far from the finish, t hough, ad made it through in 20:47, 6:44 average.  Fairly even pacing, too.  Nice.  Splits> 13:25 for 2 (6:43 average), 7:23 for 1.1.

Temps were nice that day... a bit cool, even.  The previous two times that I had done the race, it was hot.  The prize for age group was nice, too... a sheet metal lawn ornament-type thing.  The railroad spikes from previous years were also pretty neat and unique without being gaudy.  This is a really nice race, with a great post-race celebration with food and vendors and lots of people.

Post-Boston Landing and Battlefrog Volunteering (Apr 20-30)

Life after Boston...

Back into action at work.  So much to do.  Miss being in Boston.  I keep thinking about how much I want to go back, to experience it again.  I sign up for the California International Marathon in December to take another shot at a BQ.  I didn't run at all the first week.  My legs took a beating, maybe because of what I pushed through during the last two miles as my calves were on the verge of cramping up.  I was in no rush at all to start running again, and I took a whole week off.  I feel like I was flying while I was in Boston, and it's a hard landing back to reality.

Battlefrog Carolinas...

Saturday, volunteered at Battlefrog in Carolinas, as an Elite Course Marshall.  I pointed the way for people, around a horse-shoe of a wading pound.  There was light to moderate rain.  It was fun to participate in obstacle course racing in this way.  People were muddy and cold, but I hope that it just increased the epic-ness of their experience and the sense of accomplishment afterwards.  It was a tough day to race, though, I'm sure.

 

It's good to have OCR's coming up to look forward to, along with a long-term goal of the CIM.  I also sign up to run the Disney Goofy Challenge, with a Marathon on Saturday and a Full on Sunday in January.  I'll jog the full with my dad and sister, who are going to go for their first marathon (and their first race greater than 5K... it'll be crazy fun and crazy challenging... can't wait... will be fun to train with them and be excited about the race together).

Sunday, Apr 26:
60 min strength session.  My body continues to want to eat produce... quality food.  My calves are still recovering.  The strength session went better than expected, though.

Monday, Apr 27:
First run back... 6.1 in 56:10, 9:08 average.  Body felt pretty good, form was decent.  Progressively sped up as the run went along.  0.75 mi splits> 14:57 for 2 (7:28 average), 7:11, 7:05, 7:00, 6:52, 6:46, 6:16.

Wednesday - tried to go on another run, this time on the treadmill, for my first run in new Adidas Boost shoes, but my legs were not at all up for it.

RACE REPORT: The 2015 Boston Marathon

History:

After 4 marathon attempts, I qualified for the Boston Marathon, and made the cutoff into the 2015 race by 16 seconds.  With this dream-come-true, I wanted to make sure above all, that I didn’t destroy the chance to actually run it by getting injured.  With work, I ended up not really doing much in the way of quality workouts.  I got my [low] target mileage in, I completed my long runs, and in general, I’d be happy to get in any sort of run, especially during business trips.  I had some good training runs, and in the past year or two, I’ve felt like my body has naturally gained some endurance as I’ve been a runner for more years, with all of the accumulated mileage.  I hoped that this steady buildup would help to unintentionally bring out PR performances.  It didn’t quite turn out that way, but we’ll get to that later.

Travel into Boston:

I had been excited about packing for Boston for a long time, putting together lists and pulling out my luggage and gear weeks in advance.  My family was going to meet me there.  I was flying in on Friday morning, which gave me about 3 days to visit the expo, do some sightseeing, and take in the Boston Marathon experience, and hopefully a bit of rest, too.  I started seeing some people Boston gear at Logan airport.  

I met my parents at the airport, and we drove into downtown to pick up my sister.  Driving in Boston is pretty crazy at times.  The roads are in patterns that I’m not at all used to, and the drivers make moves that I’m not used to.  Next time, MBTA all the way.  We ended up getting a 7-day all-you-can-ride pass, and it paid for itself multiple times over. 

Friday – Sam Adams Brew Tour & Expo:

I was able to get tickets for one of the private tours for marathon runners and their families/friends.  The tour was short, a bit less enthusiastic/humorous than some of the others that I’ve been to, but the tasting portion was special.  We were in a room where the guide walked us through how to taste craft beer.  We tried the Boston Lager, the 26.2 Brew Gose, and an experimental  beer called Juicy IPA.  I loved Westbrook Brewery’s sour Gose, so I couldn’t wait to try one named after the marathon.  It ended up being not sour at all – light, sweet, honey-like, not much ABV or detectable hops.  Enjoyable, though, and something you’d want after a run.  Runners got free pint glasses, too.

 

After that, we rode out to the Expo.  I picked up my number, my yellow shirt (they supposedly alternate between yellow and blue each year), and my Adidas poster with all of the runners' names.  

The first vendor is Adidas, and I tried on the Boston shoes and did a test run on their giant hamster wheel.  Pretty cool.

After that, we spent maybe an hour and a half wandering around the 2 decent-sized rooms, getting samples and seeing the vendors.  Runner's World had a fun booth where you could take a picture that made it look like you were on the cover.

After that, we went to the finish line for photos, but at this point, all we could see was the scaffolding, and not the line on the ground.  We went to Chinatown afterwards, for dinner.

Saturday - Expo In-and-out, RunBase, Finish, Beacon Hill, Public Garden, Ferry:

Yesterday, I had asked for an XS shirt, and they gave me a S, but it looked ok, so I went with it.  When I tried it on, though, it was far too big, so we went back to the expo on Saturday to exchange it.  The lines were much longer on Saturday.  We visited the Run Base, which just opened a couple days prior.  It has a cool model of the race terrain, and I like the concept of this Boston-centric, runner-friendly place so close to the finish line.

We went to the finish line again, and this time, it was open!  The street was closed off to traffic, and people were free to take pictures.

Next, we walked around the Old Granary Burying Ground where the Boston Massacre victims, Sam Adams, and other famous people are buried.  The tombstones were so old and thin and wafer-like.  

 

We went by the State House, then wandered around the beautiful houses of Beacon Hill.

Next, we sat around the Public Garden for a while, before heading back to Chinatown for an early dinner.  Public Garden has a plain name, but it's pristine and idyllic.  Even the "Here Come the Ducks" statue there was decked out for the running weekend.

After that, we went to the inner harbor to take a ferry ride (included in the 7-day MBTA ticket) to get a nice view of the habor, before going to Chinatown again for dinner (my dad likes being able to get authentic food from Taiwan). 

Sunday - Drop-off, Pasta Party:
My sister had to go back on Monday night, so on Sunday afternoon, we dropped off her luggage at her friend's place.  Afterwards, we went over to City Hall for the Pre-Race Pasta Dinner.  It's the first time that I've been to a Pre-Race Pasta Dinner for a race, since typically, it costs an extra $20 or so to attend.  With Boston, each runner automatically gets a ticket, which is nice.  Even if we do all pay for it somehow in the price of entry, it's nice that it's thrown in there so you don't have to feel like missing it to save the money.  And man, they set the bar high.  It exceeded my expectations by a ton.  They decorated the place really nicely, it was well-organized, and the volunteers were very cheerful, as they've been all weekend.  There was beer, too.  Sam Adams is all over the place.

After that, chilling out in the hotel.

The Race:
I took the MBTA into Boston Common, to take the buses into Hopkington.  Again, smooth organization.  During the ride, I chatted with someone named Vanessa, a first-timer, as we drove through intermittent sprinkling towards the Start.  The drive felt long, and I couldn't imagine running all the way back into town.  Because of the no-bags policy, there was no gear check at the start, so all of your extra clothes would be donated.

I had always imagined being at the Village for hours, based on reviews that I've read, but I was probably only there for 30-40 minutes, which was a perfect amount of time for using the restroom, and doing final prep like taking in pre-race nutrition.  The tents kept the wind from getting to us, and I wasn't there long enough to really get cold.  There was lots of food and drink available to support anyone who was hanging out there for longer, though.

Prior to the race, in the weeks and months leading up, I had debated about whether I wanted to bring a phone or a GoPro Hero camera.  With the nice, cold temps, though, I felt like I had a chance at a PR, and I didn't want to jeopardize my chances.  I would've otherwise liked to capture the whole morning experience, though.

When it was time to head out to the corrals, we made the perhaps 0.5 mi walk over to the start... it was a pretty decent walk, past some cute houses in Hopkington.  Locals were out, or they had decorations up to support the runners.  Again, fantastic organization.  They made sure that all runners were properly seeded, and they gave perfect amounts of time for everything.... not too long, not too short.  They had lots of clear plastic bags along the way to collect clothes for donation.

Just a few minutes before the start, it started sprinkling.  I went ahead and took off my extra clothes, leaving just the Sports Bra and my throwaway gloves.  For me, it's usually "the colder the better".

Soon, we were off.  The first 5 miles were surprisingly crowded.  On the bright side, with the seeding, everyone around you is about at your pace, but when it's crowded, even that only helps to some extent, because inevitably, there will some weaving and dodging.  The road is narrow.  It's downhill, but you don't want to take advantage of it because it's so early in the race and you need to save your legs, but more than that, there are too many people around to stretch out.

The first few miles are relatively quiet, with some groups of supporters here and there.  Hopkington, then Ashland.  Framingham then Natick were next.  The route was suprisingly hilly, too.  I wouldn't have necessarily guessed that it was net downhill, since there were frequent and moderately steep uphills, too.

Because of the crowds, I was slower than my target time for the first few miles.  When I got to mile 6, I remember thinking that I was too tired to have only gotten through 6 miles thus far.  I had taken 2 gels at that point.

It started pouring rain.  I like to wear my visor to keep the rain out of my eyes.  Just buckling down and getting through the miles.

Splits through mile 13> 8:54, 8:18, 8:13, 8:07, 8:18, 8:11, 8:10, 8:21, 8:17, 8:08, 12, 06.

At about mile 12, you could hear a high-pitched droning up ahead... the Wellesley Scream Tunnel.  Supposedly, the crowd was half of its usual force due to the rain.  Typically, you can't even hear yourself think, it's so loud.  I was too focused on chugging along to pay too close attention, and it felt relatively short, and the crowds weren't so deep.  The ones who were out were enthusiastic, though.  Kudos to all of the spectators, who braved the cold and rain.  Running the race was misery at times, so I can't imagine standing out there without the benefit of running to keep oneself warm.  Many signs say "Kiss me, I'm ____" and some ethnicity or adjective or something.  The most memorable one was a big cardboard sign held by a girl who had no visible clothes on her arms or legs, and the sign said "Kiss Me and I'll Drop this Sign".  She had to be cold.

Along the way, other memorable spectators were the Hulk, who I fist-bumped, Santa Clause, a Clown, lots of kids wanting high-5s, and a sign with a red spot that said "Touch Here for Power", which I did.

From about mile 13, the hills started, and the main chunk of them wouldn't finish until mile 21, though in reality, we'd keep seeing some decent-sized hills all the way until mile 26.  During those hills, it was all about power-walking up, then recovering and picking it up a bit on the down.  Chugging along.  At least at this point, I felt more in my groove than I did in the first 6 miles.  My family had planned on watching me on the course at mile 16.8, but I didn't see them, since they arrived a bit late and went on to the finish to watch.  Rain was still going.  During this time, the main thing that was driving me was not the desire for food, but the thought of being able to get warm once I reached the finish.  There were strong headwinds on race day, and I was exhaling through my teeth forcefully to bear the cold, and resisting the urge to shiver.

After cresting heartbreak hill, I knew it was time to make up what time I could, from the time lost on the hills.  Would I have enough real estate left to make up the big deficit?

Splits through mile 21> 8:09, 8:08, 8:16, 7:17, 17:32 for 2 (8:46 ave), 8:15, 8:24, 8:59, 8:00.

I noticed that I was passing a fair number of people on the downhills.  The rain had stopped, but the ground was still wet, and with peoples' feet splashing in the puddles, my shoes were getting progressively wetter, too.  We encountered periodic hills, even though this was a severe net downhill.  Just after HeartBreak Hill's crest, we went through Boston College, and those students gave Wellesley a run for their money!  They were enthusiastic, and I high-fived a big group, although that probably slowed my momentum a wee bit.

I kept plugging along, only to find periodic hills that ate up the time that I had to make up my pace deficit.  At 2 miles left, my calves started cramping, and I had to use much more effort to keep reasonable form and to keep my legs working properly. 

At about a mile left, I saw that I'd have to go 2 minutes below my target pace, which was nearly impossible.  Saw the giant Citgo sign which signalled 1 mile to go.  Still going relatively strong, just tired, and fighting the leg cramps.  I somehow missed passing Fenway Park, with all the mental effort that was going on.

At last, the right onto Hereford (which was a steep but short hill) and the left onto Boylston, those iconic turns.  Then, the long run to the finish.  The crowds weren't as loud as I had heard in the stories.  Maybe the rain.  Maybe they had already been cheering for hours for the first few waves.  It was still a good feeling to get to the line, though.

Once I crossed, I clutched my head in the cold and pain and staggered over to get food and the medal and the heat blanket.  I finished in 3:36:08 and was disappointed to not re-qualify, but it was good to finish.  I first saw my sister's friends, who had courageously braved the rain and cold with all of the other spectators.  Then, I very, very slowly made my way over to the family meeting area to find my family.

 

I really wanted to stay and watch and cheer on other runners, but the crowds at the finish were so thick, and I could barely walk, so my parents convinced me to go back to the hotel to take a hot shower, before heading back out to the Post-Race Party.

The Party was held at Fenway Park, which was cool, since the tour book had recommended it.  There was more free beer, photo ops, and a chance to hang out with other runners.  I met Bob from Canada, who was really nice and fun to share stories with.  They introduced the mens and womens winners, and people danced, too.

Tuesday - Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market, Charles River:
After some serious packing in the morning to squeeze everything from the weekend into my carry-on, we went downtown, to do a last bit of sightseeing.  We got in a bit of culture/history at Fanueil Hall, followed by some Commercialization and Foodie Culture at Quincy Market eating Lobster, followed by some natural beauty at the Charles River.

 

 

 

Could I have run faster if I had stayed off my feet more?  Probably, by a bit.  I would've needed to not only make up the 1:08 for the qualifier, but also buffer for the additional cutoff that we've had to make in recent years.  I had to weigh being 100% race-focused this weekend, vs. experiencing the Boston Marathon Experience to the fullest.  I had no idea if this would be my one-and-only chance.  If I had done nothing all weekend, even then, I may not have qualified.  Therefore, I feel good about my decision.  I am so pumped up about re-qualifying, though.  Yes, it is a marathon, and there are many other great ones out there.  But this one is historic, so well-executed, and privileged to have such a special place in the hearts of marathoners and marathoning lore.  The city gets out there, too, and it's just as much a big event for them as it is for the runners.  It was fun to see all the fellow runners out and about all weekend in our jackets.  The runners were everywhere.  It's an awesome feeling to be part of it, and I can't wait to make my way back again.