Off the Fence....and looking to go sub 3 hrs

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Hope your recovering well M and enjoying few nice cold beers, not good
conditions today, enjoy rest of trip.

Cheers G. Yeah it was hot alright but main problem was hips locked up after about 10m. Turned into a death match home. Supporters and atmosphere were amazing and made the pain somewhat bearable.

3:23:49. Not what I was planning for but unfortunately sh!t happens sometimes. Thanks for all the support I will pull together a report later in the week.

Official Net Time: 3:23:49
Overall: 5908/26639
Gender: 4901/14471
Division: 780/2504 (M45-49)
Conditions: Hot, Sunny, Dry & Calm……20C+

Background:

Training for this cycle was a 12 week P&D 55-70 Plan. The reason for the shorter cycle was down to trying to ensure full recovery from the hip/glute problem that kept me out of DCM 2015. I took up a body balance/pilates and a yoga/pilates class as part of my recovery and kept these up throughout this cycle. During the cycle I had a reasonable result in the Raheny 5 and what I saw as a great result in the Ballycotton 10. In addition, I pretty much hit every session up until Week T-2 when I had a recurrence of a previous Hamstring injury. The cause of this in the past was cumulative fatigue and it is likely that this was the cause again. Last time it happened I got some dry needling and it cleared up within a couple of days. This time unfortunately my physio was away so went with massage option instead of dry needling. This was not as effective but combined with rest it seemed to have significantly improved before hitting the road for Boston. So I was in pretty good shape boarding the flight on Friday. The only nagging issue was that in the weekend before travelling I had some tightening of the right hip during a long haul work trip. Did a bit of foam rolling on this and put it down to taper madness!!

I paid little attention to the weather forecast but I knew that was the key uncontrollable that wouldn’t really be known until Monday morning.
We had a very relaxing few days in the company of Mrs Mc, Murph and Annapr taking in some of the sights of Boston and a couple of nice recovery runs:

16/04/2016 Saturday 4.8m @ 09:08 avg pace (Recovery along the Charles River with Murph, Annapr and Mrs Mc)
17/04/2016 Sunday 2.9m @ 09:00 avg pace (Reccie of the final mile with Murph, Yaboya and TAFKAQ)

Sleep wasn’t great over the weekend but kept activity levels low to ensure I was as well rested as possible for Monday.

Ate as well as I could given the choices available and we had a prerace boards pasta get together on Sunday night which was very enjoyable. Thanks to A for organising.

Race Day

Early start for me. A 6am bus meant that I had a 5am start to get my usual prerace breakfast of porridge with apple. The hotel went above and beyond to sort this out for me. After breakfast I headed down to the bag drop and on to the bus loading zone. Pretty surreal when I saw the amount of yellow school buses lined up to bus us out to the start. All very well organised with a huge security presence. Quiet bus journey for me but not an anxiety one just ended up sitting beside a guy who was happy to look out the window. Got out to Hopkinston about 7:30 and into the Athlete Village. Headed as far from the entrance as possible as there was “plenty of room down the back” as a Dublin Bus driver would say. Hooked up with Yaboya, Paulieyifter and a friend of Paulie’s. As we sat on the grass the biggest potential challenge of the day became evident. The sun was beaming down and we had to move into one of the tents to seek shelter. Certainly didn’t need any of the extra layers we brought. Time passed pretty quickly and after a couple of trips to the portaloo it was time to wish the lads good luck and head to the starting corrals. Again everything was very well organised and with no hassles. I took up position on the right side of the Corral in the shade of a nearby tree as the sun continued to beam down and the Marines on nearby rooftops surveyed proceeding from their vantage point.

It was very clear that it was going to be a hot one from the start. I made a couple of revisions to my strategy for the day given the conditions. The early morning forecast said that as we moved towards the city that we would benefit from a coastal breeze that would take the temperature down. So the plan was now to try stay in the game for as long as possible. This would mean sticking to the original plan of a slow start and extending that until half way with the hope of being able to pick it up in the second half. The second change was in relation hydration. This would be key staying in the game. I would try taking on water early and if I couldn’t manage the cups I would adopt a strategy of taking water at the end of the water station and walking for 5/10m to allow me to drink. I believed that any time lost here would be repaid in spades later in the day.

So after a rendition of the national anthem we were off. Took about 3mins from the gun to actually crossing the start line.

Miles 1-5 (06:59/06:44/06:50/06:54/06:54)

The miles from Hopkinton to Framingham are the downhill miles that everyone warns you about when you sign up for Boston. I had taking all these warning on board and had no intention of racing off instead I just hugged the middle of the road and tried to stay out of trouble while many around me weaved from left to right and back again to try to find gaps in a very congested field. I was moving OK and quick check of the watch told me that I was there or thereabouts so no need to panic. However, from the off I could feel the sun just sucking the energy from my body. I passed Yaboya somewhere in the first couple of miles. Said a quick Hello but neither of us were in chatting humour. Tried to take water at the mile 3 water station and end up with a nose full so settled on the fact that I would be using a walk through strategy from Mile 5 onwards. The support was amazing from mile 1. When we hit Ashland the first of many towns that we would pass through the supporters were out in force. It was here that I heard my first “you’ve got this” of the day which brought a smile to my face. I actually agree with this guy at this stage and reassured myself that “I got this!”

Mile 5-10 (06:51/06:47/06:56/07:00/06:57)

Framingham stepped up the support another level with BBQs and all out in force and it was still before 11am. Hit the 10k mark at the outer limit of where I wanted to be despite kicking off the walk through water station strategy at the mile 5 water station. Still concerned about the heat but still in the game so no panic. Next few miles continue along the same vein. I was stopping every third water station to take on water. I had a few minor cramps/stitches after drinking but while uncomfortable they weren’t slowly me down. I felt that it was getting hotter rather than cooler as we moved on towards the city. About mile 9 or 10 I took off the buff I had been wearing to protect me head from the sun to try to release some heat through the sunroof to control my temperature.

Mile 11-15 (07:11/07:00/07:19/07:17/07:40)

This is where the wheels started to come off. During mile 11 my hips started to tighten and it made each stride increasingly painful. I also started to notice a soreness in my left foot that seemed to be the start of my first ever blister during a race. Quite quickly I had to reduce my stride length and so began the death march home. The pace started to drop and I knew sub 3 was not happening today. Plodded on through Wellesley…..yes it is as loud as they say it is. Kept to the left and passed on the making a run at the kiss record which I had been told the night before was 6. Given that these enthusiastic supporter could have been my daughters and their mates it would have been so wrong even if the record appeared very low and a soft target  Passed half way at 1:31:30 or thereabouts and started counting down the miles in a way I have never felt the need to do before. The pain in my right hip in particular was referring from my thigh to lower back just under my ribs. On occasions it felt like I was being rabbit punched in the right kidney. However, this element of it subsided and the pain reverted to just the hip flexors as the pace dropped.

Mile 16-20 (07:35/08:15/08:28/08:21/08:54)

The decent downhill in mile 16 and the first two of Newton hills came and went causing no particular problems at the pace I was now travelling at. When I rounded the corner at Newton Fire station and saw the first climb it reminded me of the section by the graveyard heading up Howth. Between training up Howth and having done the Connemarathon, Newton Hills held no intimidation factor for me. I would have liked to have been in the shape to give them a fair shot. Instead all I could do was make a deliberate effort not to walk while ascending them other than as required to take on water per strategy. It was during these miles that I realised that I had spent the last 10 mile running with my head down just grinding it out. Why? Yes things weren’t going my way but fock it I was doing the Boston Marathon. Targets were out the window so it was all about the experience now and time to make it worth remembering. I made a conscious effort to lift the head and embrace the support that was coming from the 1,000’s of supporters lining the route. I may not be going to achieve my goal but I was damn well sure I was going to finish and make some memories along the way that would stay with me for a long time.

Mile 21-23 (09:08/08:24/08:48)

Plodded up the famous Heartbreak Hill again with limited additional issues as I was incapable of increasing the pace to a point where I was being aerobically challenged at this stage. I knew Cleveland Circle and Coleridge Corner were coming up and that both were serious cheering zones so looked forward to them. As I travelled through both I waved to the crowds and encouraged them to raise their voice and push us home. And to a man they duly obliged.

Mile 24-Finish (08:55/08:49/09:32/03:14)

Next up was the Citco sign which would signify the start of the end. Could also see the John Hancock Tower at this stage, the base of which is only a couple of hundred metres from the finish. Before I got to the Citco sign I would be passing our cheerleading squad including Mrs Mc, Annapr and a couple of friends of Anna’s. I saw them clearly as I approached waving the freebie IRFU flags that I had brought for them and took the opportunity to grab a kiss and a hug from Mrs Mc. I had passed on Wellesley but no reason not to make up for it now. This gave me the boost to the spirits needed to put me on the road to closing out the last mile with a smile. For the last mile the support was at a level that no words can describe. The pain of the previous 3 hours plus now had a purpose I could see the finish and my every step was being cheered by thousands of onlookers. In an attempt to repay their support I acknowledged them with open arms and gave a little back by throwing in a few airplanes as I trudged through the final few hundred yards. I crossed the line with hands aloft not in victory or celebration but in appreciation for being a part of such a wonderful event…..and of course for the finishing photo and finish line video

Post Race

After a little lie down in Boston Common to rest my weary legs I headed off and met up with the rest of the crew to hear that unfortunately none but Paulieyifter and his mate Paddy had fared better than me and even they were 10mins off their prerace targets. A truly tough day at the office for all.
A few postrace drinks helped ease the pain and we even managed to stay up passed 10pm

The funny ending to it all was heading out of the Hotel at 8:30 on Tuesday morning to a glorious overcast morning with a gentle cooling breeze that was the essence of perfect running conditions

Quads were pretty sore on Tuesday morning but I decided to do 10mins on the exercise bike to loosen out the hips and hit the sauna before breakfast. Spent the rest of the day sightseeing proudly wearing my Marathon Jacket and on more than one occasion I was congratulated by passersby and even thanked on a couple of occasion by locals for having travelled to come and do their race. You gotta love it!!

Verdict

Great event with a course that demands real respect and conditions that made it all the more demanding. Anybody who gets the opportunity to do it, should take it as I doubt the atmosphere of Marathon Monday is replicated anywhere else in the World and really does need to be experienced to be believed.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience despite the fact that the outcome was not what I had hoped for. One to be remember and not least for the opportunity to share it with some excellent company. Thanks Folks…………til London