Boston Marathon and 5k

Prior to my trip I decided that this would be my last Boston for awhile. Boston is expensive, it eats away at my vacation leave and there are other marathons and ultras in the same time frame that I want to do. That said, I approached this race weekend as a chance to have as much fun as possible and not worry about the race itself.
Mom was my traveling companion this year, so the first matter of business was to have my traditional dinner at Whiskers on Boylston. The following day we hit the expo, picked up my race numbers (5k and marathon) and shopped. Saturday morning I put in 3 miles along the Charles River. My legs were tight and heavy. I plodded along losing confidence with every step.
Sunday morning I was up early, threw on my pink running skirt and black long sleeve shirt and walked to Copley Square for the first annual Boston 5k. Much to my surprise my legs felt light and responsive. I went ahead and let myself run as fast as I could. I hit the finish line in 26:18; good enough to place 39 out of 233 in my division. I felt good about the results. Speed has been slipping away the last 18 months as I have ventured into longer ultra marathons so I wasn’t expecting any blazing performance. After the race, Mom and I hit the subway for a trip out to Cambridge and a Masters pre-marathon party. It was great to see my friends again and to put a face to new friends that I have only met online.
Marathon morning I packed all sorts of clothing options into my drop bag, threw on a black skirt and yellow Maniacs singlet, gloves, tights and jacket and walked to the bus line. As soon as I approached the buses, I met up with a few other Maniacs and we chatted as we waited our turn to load. Once we arrived at the village, I headed straight for the lower field. For some reason, every year at Boston, I stumble across the Main Maniacs and camp out with them. It’s almost like they are wearing homing devices. Most of the Maniacs are in the first wave, so once they depart I stripped down to my skirt, singlet and gloves and made my way to the second wave start. On the way to the start, I figured I better come up with a race strategy. For the last two years I’ve followed the general wisdom and started slow, hoping to pick it up in the second half. That second half pick up never came so I ended up with a disappointing finish, 2007: 4:14:12 and 2008: 4:26:22. This year, my legs felt springy after yesterdays 5k, so I decided to go out fast and let myself fade. My marathons have gotten so slow lately that I rarely break 4:30 (I did run a 4:15 in Victoria in October but it hurt!). I figured going out too fast and crashing would be better than just lumbering along. My first 5 miles were fast: 8:30 per mile (I don’t run 8:30’s). I decided to see if I could hold it for 10k. After 10 k I decided to try and reach mile 10 before slowing down. My pace was starting to slow, but I was still holding on. I hit the half way point in 1:53. A new half-marathon PR for me. An 8:40 pace. At that point I let my head get in the way and remind me that I don’t run that fast. I listened and let the pace slack off. I was still feeling fine, just didn’t believe I could hold it. By mile 20 I was averaging 9 minute miles and stomach problems hit (I was taking a gel every 5 miles, instead of my typical one gel per marathon). I spent 3 or 4 minutes at one of those “blue kiosks” along side the road, then emerged feeling better and ready to make my way to the finish. I crossed the line in 4:04:24 shaking my head and wondering where that performance came from. I didn’t do any speed work, I didn’t train for hills, I didn’t taper. In short, I didn’t prepare for Boston and didn’t take my training seriously. All my runs in the last 18 months have been about increasing my endurance and yet somehow Boston 2009 was my 3rd fastest marathon out of the 33 I’ve run. I’ve proved to myself that there is still some speed in the legs, I just have to decide if that’s what I want then spend some time training for it.