Boston mini-recap

Our trip to Boston was fun and drama-filled, as my races always are.
Today I'm just doing a little recap of the race itself, then I'll post more about the entire trip later.
First off, there were two factors that would affect my time on Monday:
1.

2. Right before catching our flight Saturday, I went on a quick run. Somehow I spastically tripped and landed hard on my elbows and knees. I skinned my right knee deeply, but I was way more worried about the inflammation and bruising:

As it turned out, the weather was just as brutal as everyone said it would be (or more so). And my knee failed me in late miles, becoming so swollen (perhaps also from sodium and fluid overload as I tried to stay cool) that I could no longer bend it! But it played less of a factor than I thought it would, mostly because I'm so darn tough. Haha.

So the race. We were staying with friends in Lexington, and we borrowed their car so David could drive me to the start. This let me sleep in a little, since we didn't leave until about 6:50 am. It's kind of an ordeal to get to the start - runners get dropped off by buses or drivers, then take another bus to the start village, then walk half a mile to the actual start - but the B.A.A had it together. These people know what they are doing. I wandered into the start village and saw absolutely no one I knew. I was even looking for Varsity Sports jerseys - no luck. I read some of my marathon program, ate two bites of bagel, and headed out to check my bag (here I saw that there are really two start villages, and I guess everyone I knew was in the other half!). Bag drop was supremely easy and organized. I walked to my corral with everyone else and managed to pull off an incredibly tough task. You see, I had agreed to meet an ultra-runner in my corral with a bag of gels. He was running from the finish to the start - and back again. Crazy. I was worried about finding him, but he was right there as I walked up (BTW don't know his first half time, but he ran the last 26.2 in 4:15!).
Something awesome happened in the corral. An astoundingly talented runner, Joy, sometimes reads this blog. I'm friends with her on Facebook, and I'd put up a picture of my knee on Saturday. Well, a runner next to me was bent over tying her shoe and exclaimed, "Grace!" It was Joy! She recognized me KNEE INJURY!!! 

Joy, can I use your full name so everyone can look up your stats and be in awe?

We started and I was 5 min off the gun. I decided to go out at goal pace for 3 miles, see how I felt, and re-adjust (goal pace was 7:05). I loved being surrounded by so much talent as we started. Everyone worked so hard for this and looked so strong. Well, three miles in it was already very hot. I knew the announcers had said the temp was 80 F at the wheelchair start! That's before 9:30 am! At 3 miles, I knew I would overheat and fall apart at this pace. I slowed down to around 7:40 or 7:45 pace. I wanted to enjoy the Boston experience, so why not at a slower pace? Bonus: this way I might not die of heat stroke!

At mile six a bystander with a yard thermometer was calling out that it was already 86, slow down! It WAS hot. But worse, I was getting a cramp in my quad above my hurt knee. The knee didn't hurt, but it was messing with my stride somehow. I ignored it. 

The crowds were really amazing - cooking out, giving water and candy, holding signs. Whole families come out and cheer. I loved it! I didn't have music (yet) so I could take part in the atmosphere. 

Before the half many people were already walking. Many people were hitting both sides of the road for aid stations (increased congestion). Several people were dropping out. I've never seen so much early walking! I noticed that, despite my conservative pace, I felt HOT. I poured water on my head a few times. 

My friends and David were near mile 17. They were cheering champs! Not that I was doing much to cheer about, just running pretty slowly, thanking all the volunteers (who were incredible), and once in a while giving a high five if the kid was cute enough. At mile 19 some kids were playing badminton and I actually stepped off and batted the shuttlecock back and forth a few times! I happen to love that game. 

At the top of heartbreak hill I stopped to have a beer with some guys, but then it was back to business (look, if I'm going to have a fun run, it's going to be FUN. And the beer was the only cold fluids I got the entire day!).

After that, the loud crowd actually started to annoy me a little. It was getting extremely warm and many people were walking, so basically the crowd was now... yelling at people. "C'mon Ryan! Suck it up! Get  moving!" etc. So I tried to plug in just one ear bud. What ensued was a disaster of chocolate Gu. I forgot I was holding an open packet and ended up getting it inside my ipod. Oddly, it's working fine today. And it smells fantastic!

The biggest disappointment of the day waas my physical failure at mile 25. Here I was, already astonished that I could feel so overheated despite my careful pace, but happy that my muscles were fine when - knee stopped working. Suddenly I couldn't bend it! I looked down and it was very swollen, so the last mile was less a victory lap and more a hobble. And like 50 people passed me. Boo. I couldn't even sprint at the end. But I ran a 3:24:42 and had fun and now I can say I ran Boston! 

So that's my race. 

I will say more about the actual event later, but I did want to quickly add that I got to meet Amanda from Runninghood and she hasn't realized it yet but we're soul sisters. 

I am going to kidnap her and make her run RnR New Orleans with me next year. Oh, yes I am.