This was my first Boston marathon and I'll start by saying it is a great marathon. It is well organized, the crowds are great, and I even loved the course. Really, I did. It is a great and challenging course.

The day before: I was staying with a friend just a block or so from the fire house at mile 17.5, so I took a four mile run up to the Johnny Kelley statue and back and included 3 minutes a my max back up hill #2 towards the end of the run. After that it was carbs and hydration and salty pretzels and concentrated gatorade all afternoon and evening. I didn't sleep much Sunday night because I was up almost every hour to pee. I wasn't taking any chances on being hydrated. I was not worried about a lack of sleep Sunday night because I had slept well the entire previous week.

Getting to Hopkinton: My plan was to walk the 3/4 mile from where I was staying to the Woodland T and catch the train to the busses. My wonderful host insisted, however, that he drop me off. I relented. After all, why burn those extra calories if I didn't need to. We left promptly at 7:00 and I was feeling pretty comfortable. As we went down the ramp onto the Mass Pike, the car in front of us swerved quickly from the ramp into the flow of traffic. Directly in front of was now a big wheel. Not just a tire, mind you, but a whole wheel with the hub and everything. There was traffic to our left and a 20 foot concrete wall to our right so there was nothing to do but hit the wheel. Fortunately, we came to a stop before the merge lane ended. We got out to see oil all over the ground. The wheel, which was now trapped under the car, had broken the oil pan. I had put on my HRM when I got dressed that morning, but had not moistened it. I happened to look at my watch, shortly after 7 AM and noticed a rather high heart rate.

Within five minutes, a big yellow Mass Pike emergency vehicle came and parked behind us. The driver came and took a look and then went back to his truck to call a tow truck. It was a good 20 minutes before the tow truck came. The emergency guy (I wish I had gotten his name) didn't want us walking back up the ramp because there is no breakdown lane at this point on the Pike, only this massive concrete wall. I kept wanting to ask the tow truck guy, when he finally came, to speed things up and I think my HR hit its maximum when he spent what seemed like 5 minutes to sprinkle cat litter over the oil in the road. There also seemed to be an incredible amount of paperwork that needed to be filled out.

All this while I was watching school busses full of runners heading west on the pike and empty busses heading east. I kept hoping that the traffic would back up enough to force one of those empty school busses to come to a stop. I would then beg a ride. But that never happened.

Finally, the tow truck guy was done and the Mass Pike emergency guy said he would give us a ride back to my friend's house. After we got in the emergency truck, my friend suggested that I could perhaps catch an express bus to Copley Square from Neuton Corner, the next exit along the pike. When the emergency guy found out I was trying to get to Copley Square and was running in the Marathon, he volunteered to take me downtown. And that was why I wish I had gotten his name, because he was an angel.

As I got on a bus I almost started to relax, except I noticed that the bus I was on was number 13. I did not relax till I got off the bus in Hopkinton.

OK, on to the race: I found a great spot on the grass to sit and unwind. I continued to hydrate well with half-strength Gatorade. After numerous trips to the porto, I entered coral #8. A couple days before the race, I figured I'd shoot for a 3:05. That is seven minutes slower than a 13 year old PR, but 19 minutes faster than my modern-day (post kids) PR of 3:24. Much of my training had been focused on a sub 3:00 marathon, but after two sinus infections and given the heat of the day and the number of people who were in front of me, I decided that even a 3:05 was not going to happen. Time to just run comfortably and see how things opened up. I got to the coral early enough to line up by the rope.

The start is pretty well organized. For good or bad, I really was not able to move up much after the ropes were dropped...we pretty much all just got compressed. It took me five minutes or so to cross the start after the gun went off but I was starting to jog even before I got to the line. The first five miles were spent in a good amount of congestion. I tried to get around the edges whenever possible, but I also tried not to sprint too much. I carried a throw-away water bottle and was able to bypass the first five water stops. As you come down those early hills, it is both beautiful and intimidating to see that mass of bobbing heads extending down the road in front of you for as far as you can see.

Here are early splits:
1) 7:37, HR = 162
2) 7:28, HR = 161
3) 7:15, HR = 163
4) 7:08, HR = 163
5) 7:24, HR = 163

After mile four, after most of the downhill, I tried to settle into a pace, but still found myself blocked from time to time. I found myself running on the extreme left side of the road, something I usually don’t like to do, but it was less crowded there. Concentrating of form and pace was difficult, because I found I was always trying to interpret the flow of people and watch for water stations. I remember being disappointed in mile 9 and forcing myself to concentrate on my form and pace.

6) 7:15, HR = 162
7) 7:11, HR = 161
8) 7:19, HR = 161
9) 7:23, HR = 156
10) 7:14, HR = 160

Finally, the race started to open up at around mile 10. I no longer felt like I was being blocked, but still did stick to the left side of the road. Whenever I tried to work towards the right side, I found it more crowded. Perhaps that is because that is the side the Wellesley girls were on. Speaking of which, if you have never run Boston, you can’t imagine what it is like to run this stretch of the race. I was on the left side of the road, as far away from the screaming as one can get, and I was still blown away. Yes, I have heard reports of what it is like many times, but I was still unprepared. I found myself sobbing with emotion, something that usually doesn’t happen to me till the end of the race. I think that if I had been running on the right side of the road, I would fallen over onto the pavement quivering.

11) 7:19, HR = 162
12) 7:02, HR = 162
13) 7:05, HR = 165 (Wellesley)
13.1) 1:35:26
14) 7:09, HR = 166
15) 7:27, HR = 162

So mile 16 is where the fun begins. I have been passing people the whole way, especially on the little rises so far, so I was looking forward to this stretch. I cruised down into Neuton Lower Falls; making sure I didn’t go too fast, but also making sure I didn’t brake. On the first hill over 128, I tested my strength and felt fine. My family was waiting for me on Hill #2. I spotted my wife and my 3-year old waiting in a line for the porto, so I just yelled and waived. A couple hundred yard later my older daughter yelled at me and I saw the rest of the crew that was waiting for me there. Next thing I know I’m at the top of hill #2. I waved to Johnny Kelley and felt good heading up hill #3.

16) 7:03, HR = 162
17) 7:35, HR = 167 (Hill #1)
18) 7:39, HR = 164 (Hill #2)
19) 7:11, HR = 163
20) 7:33, HR = 167 (Hill #3)

I still felt strong heading towards Heartbreak and passed a lot of people here. All that hill work was paying off. Still, I remembered the warnings from people who hammered Heartbreak Hill and ended up paying for it on the backside, so I held back. Going down the backside felt great, but when the steep stuff was over, my quads started to hurt on mile 23. Beacon street seemed to go on for ever and I completely lost focus on mile 25. I have always felt that there are three phases of running a marathon. The first is the physical phase, where you are a physical entity running the race. At some point, the brain takes over and you become an intellectual entity; you enter phase two. I don’t know if it is because the body can’t take it anymore and checks out, or because the brain just feels like it needs to take over because it no longer trusts those legs, but as some point, at least with me, the brain does take over. For me, this usually happens sometime after mile 22. This can be a great stretch of the race, if your head is in the right place. But if your head is filled with doubt, or with concerns over how far you need to go, it can mean trouble. My head was not in the right place during mile 25.

21) 7:45, HR = 166 (Hill #4, aka Heartbrake Hill)
22) 7:15, HR = 163
23) 7:41, HR = 160
24) 7:35, HR = 158
25) 7:55, HR = 158

The hill over the Mass Pike helped me here. I know most people love the crowd, but I find it a somewhat distracting in the last few miles. This small hill, just before Kenmore, is relatively thin with crowds, so between the hill, which felt good, and the relative calm, I was able regain a good headspace. My brain was focused on form, on turnover, and on passing people. I thought I was flying, although my splits show otherwise, but still I felt great. The pain in my quads was gone.

26) 7:31, HR = 163
26.2) 1:33, HR = 167

I mentioned that there are three phases. The third phase, for me, is the emotional phase. During this phase you are essentially running on emotion. This is a bad place to be, at least for me, because my running usually falls apart during this phase. Your emotions, especially the ones you feel in the later stages of a marathon, are no good at getting you to run fast, although they might help you to just finish. Fortunately, I never really hit this phase at Boston, except for that brief period at Wellesley College, and then after the finish. After the finish is a good place for phase three.

The post-race finish is another demonstration in the extraordinary organization of the BAA. When I last ran NYC, I could not believe how far I had to walk to get my bag and then get to the family reunion area. Boston does a good job here and I quickly found my bag and a nice place to sit down on the curb to gather myself together. The treats were welcome, and even though I could hear E from the Incredibles movie yelling at me “NO, NO CAPES”, I allowed the wonderful volunteers to place that beautiful silver cape over my shoulders. On a side note, this is the first marathon after which I did not throw up. I though you would all want to know that.

Even though my time was slower than I had hoped while training, I felt I ran a smart race. Not that it matters, but I figure I passed about 6000 people during the race and finished in place #1976 with a time of 3:13 and change. I also feel like a 3:00 marathon is now within spitting distance. A fast course, good weather, and no sinus infections, and we are there.