Back from Boston!!

First I want to say thanks to all of you who have e-mailed or called me since I returned from Boston. Amy and I had a great trip despite some pretty rough weather. We arrived in Boston about noon on Saturday. Most of the afternoon and evening was spent walking around downtown Boston and Harvard. Saturday's "Chamber of Commerce" weather made it difficult for me to believe the dismal weather forecast for Monday. On Saturday the Boston news channels were using reassuring terms like "historic costal flooding" and "gale force winds" to describe the marathon conditions.

On Sunday we awoke to an ominous drizzle. The priority of the day was to stay indoors, keep dry, and stay off my feet! Walking home from the restaurant Sunday night a stiff cold wind was slapping Amy and I in the face with a hard steady rain. I made up my mind then that if the conditions persisted I would punt on Boston and run two weeks later at Nashville.

The next morning the rain had not relented but the winds had subsided enough to convince me to run. I boarded my bus and headed out to Hopkinton. The wait at Hopkinton was by far the worst part of the Boston experience. All the runners are shuttled to the athletic complex at Hopkinton High School where they wait for the start of the race. For two hours 20,000 runners and myself shivered in the cold rain. The only thing worse than running in the cold is standing around in the cold. I was very ready to run so my body could begin to generate some heat!

The race finally began in the cold rain. Once undeway, the rain and wind seemed to really subside. By Mile3 I was looking to ditch my waterproof windbreaker. I relinquished a Red Sox cap that I had been wearing under my stocking cap (I had planed on using the bill of the cap to keep the driving rain out of my eyes) somewhere around Mile 4 to a very excited young Sox fan. I had also begun the race wearing two pairs of gloves. My outer gloves were crimson and boldly displayed the OU logo. These gloves I gladly tossed to a marathon fan standing by the road holding a Nebraska Cornhuskers flag. In less than 20 minutes I had tossed off over $100 worth of clothing.

I ran the first half of the race very conservatively. At the 12 Mile mark I was feeling great and had begun to contemplate when to turn on the jets and drop some fast splits. My plans changed somewhere around Mile 13 when I felt the first frightening tug on my left calf muscle. During the miles that followed it became obvious that I would be cramping up somewhere before the finish. By altering my stride I was able to nurse my condition until Mile 18. At that point my calf completely locked up forcing me to the side of the road to stretch. My fear was that this years marathon was about to turn into a repeat of my first Boston Marathon.

The previous year I spent the final 8 miles of the marathon walking, stretching, or jogging due to severe cramps that had begun at almost the same identical location on the course. After stretching my calf for over a minute (possibly two) at Mile 18 I jumped back in the race and was able resume a decent pace. This years calf cramps were nowhere near as debilitating as those from the 2006 marathon. I was forced to stop and stretch probably four more times before I finished the race. The difference this year was that after each stretching session I was able resume a healthy but cautious pace for another mile and half to two miles.

My finishing time was 3:05. Not as good as I had hoped but 30 minutes better than I had feared when the cramps began. Thanks to my GU, I was able to hold off any “hitting the wall” symptoms until I was past Mile 24. Up until that point everything, aside from my calves, felt great. I am very curious to know how well I could have done had I avoided cramping. That curiosity may or may not be enough to send me back again for another stab at Boston. My finishing time from this years race automatically qualifies me for next years race!

Finally, several of you have expressed concerns about my health. Most (read "all") of the comments have focused on my slight 153 lb frame. Please know that I am working to rectify the situation even as I type with a bowl of Cookies-N- Cream.