As that thought crossed my mind I looked up at a clock along the street
and it flashed 89 degrees. Wow! That was the ambient air temperature in the
center of Wellesley and we still had a little under 13 miles to go. Evan said that his family would be somewhere
past the 14 mile mark. That seemed to
motivate us both to keep running despite feeling the effects of running in the
heat creeping up on us. Our light
hearted conversation seemed to help as well.
We started looking for Evan's family who said they would be on the
right side of the street just past the mile 14 marker. We passed the marker still running at a
decent pace. Finally after passing the
Wellesley shopping center, we saw them standing in the shade in front of the
Senior High School. We stopped for a
couple of minutes so that Evan could talk to his kids and give us a quick
breather in the shade of the trees before we had to head on.
I told Evan that the toughest hill in the marathon lay ahead. He thought I meant Heartbreak Hill. But, I explained that the hill I hate the
most is the one that leads you up from Lower Newton Falls over 128 and past
Newton Wellesley Hospital. We decided to
keep running using the downhill stretch to Lower Newton Falls to help us keep
our pace.
When we reached the hill, it looked huge. The heat as we started up the hill felt like
it had increased 10 degrees. After a few
minutes, Evan and I decided to just walk the hill and start running after we
reached its summit. I can't tell you how
lonely it felt walking up and over 128 despite the fact that there were runners
all around us. It was at this point that
I started to feel some cramps in my left calf and the beginnings of a couple of
blisters on my toes. I never get
blisters when I run. But with my shoes
and socks soaking wet it was inevitable.
I was just hoping they wouldn't burst before I finished the race.
We reached the top of the hill and started a slow jog. I told Even we needed to look for the Newton
Fire House as that was the turn into the Newton Hills. I explained that the crowds in Newton would
be very supportive and loud. We soldiered
on and finally saw that Boston Marathon icon -- the Fire House. I looked down at my watch and noticed that we
were still running at a sub 10 minute pace.
Although we were not feeling great, we only had to get up the hills and
then it would be smooth sailing to the finish line. At least that's what I thought as we turned
onto Commonwealth Avenue.
As we passed the Newton Fire Station Evan started to cramp up. We stopped and stretched before starting up
the first Newton hill. I will admit
right here that Evan and I both struggled at these hills the heat was
definitely taking its toll. The good
news was the residents lining Commonwealth Avenue were handing out ice,
spraying us with hoses and encouraging us to keep going. We ran/walked the first 2 hills and took a
moment out to visit the statue of Johnny Kelley. I told Evan if did nothing else and had to
walk the rest of the way, we were going to run up Heartbreak Hill. Surprisingly he agreed.
For those who know Heartbreak Hill, it is a 1/2 mile hill
starting at mile 20.5 of the race. In
itself, the incline is merely challenging but after 20 1/2 miles in 85+ degree
heat the effort to conquer this pesky little speed bump became like Mt. Everest
to us. Conquer it we did. When we reached the summit I pointed out the
Prudential Tower to Evan and told him,
"that's where we are headed."
I told him to keep moving slowly ahead because we would be able to feed
off the energy created by the Boston College students which was only 1/2 mile
ahead. I also warned him that we had a half-mile
downhill past Boston College which if not taken carefully would punish our
legs. We only had 4.2 miles or so to go
and we were going to finish.
As you can imagine after the Newton Hills our pace was
really falling off. I was still getting
severe cramps in my left calf, the blisters were swelling and I could feel my
big toes beginning to bruise from hitting the front of my shoes. My feet were swelling more than usual. We were
now slogging at a 10:54 per mile pace and slowing down as we went. We both kept encouraging the other to keep
going while at the same time checking to make sure the other was not having any
major troubles that might need medical attention. We were in this battle together.
We reached Boston College and as expected the crowds were
loud. I decided to run as close to the
barricades as possible to make sure that I could get some high fives, pats on
the back, encouraging words, etc. I
thought it might really help pump me up for the last 4 miles of the race. I have to say I fed off the energy. I am not sure how may high fives I gave out
as I ran by. Each one felt like electricity recharging my
batteries. Someone shouted out that I
was looking good. So I responded, "Yes,
but do I still look sexy?" I have
to admit I got a huge laugh out of the crowd.
We made the turn that would take us down to Cleveland Circle and Beacon Street. The crowds were still large and loud. I was still feeling the emotional surge from all of the Boston College students. Evan seemed to have been recharged as well. We turned onto Beacon Street and it felt to me like a blanket of hot air descended upon us. We only had 3.2 miles to go. But I came to the realization that my reserves were draining fast, my legs were starting to cramp, and the heat was stifling. I said to Evan we should run walk through this section and focus on making it to mile marker 25 and the DFMC Cheering section. I felt that the DFMC crowd would give us both the energy needed to make the last push to the finish line.
We trudged on. The
people along the route were really yelling for us and urged us on. I could see the Citgo sign ahead and knew we
were nearing the 25 mile mark. I spied
it before Evan did and I told him we should make sure we run up to them. He agreed and we started running again. When we reached the crest of the little hill
and the cheering section, I stopped to walk so I could drink in all of their
love. They were awesome. One of the women gave me a big hug and
thanked me for doing this. I was
speechless. I gave numerous high fives
to the kids and adults. Then feeling a
renewed sense of purpose turned to Evan and said let's finish this.
We turned into Kenmore Square and I was feeling
rejuvenated. We started down
Commonwealth Avenue. I told Evan we just
had to get to Hereford and then a left on Boylston and we would see the finish
line. I could tell he was feeling
rough. He encouraged me to leave him and
finish on my own. I said no. We had started this trek together and we
would finish it together. I walked with
him for a while and we then ran a bit. I
kept encouraging him by shouting to the crowd, "Right on Hereford and then
left on Boylston and then the finish line." Then suddenly we reached Hereford.
Finally! Hereford Street where the crowd seemed as large as
a football stadium on a Sunday afternoon. We walked again for a little while because
there is a small rise to Hereford. I told
Evan that once we turned onto Boylston Street we needed to run the last 2/10 of
a mile with a smile on our face as we had just run the hardest race of our
lives. And that is just what we
did. To be honest, I had nothing left. But I summoned up whatever fumes there were
and ran across that finish line with a smile on my face. 
I finished the race in my second worst marathon time of 4:49:00. I was disappointed that I was not able to set
a new PR. I knew I wouldn't have a
chance at that when I started. But, I
felt like I had let down all of those people who supported my run and more
importantly those friends who were still battling cancer. I wanted to make them proud. I know that I am being silly. No one expected me to set a record in the
second hottest Boston Marathon on record.
Now that I have had time to reflect on that day, I am proud of what I
accomplished. And I want to run another
marathon to prove to myself that I can run another sub-4 hour marathon. Which allows me to end this entry with one of
my favorite quotes:
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts"
-- Winston Churchill
I know I have the courage to continue.
Apr. 23 – 6.10 miles (55:13; 9:03 pace) Apr. 30 – 5.30 miles (46:52, 8:51 pace)
May 1 – 3.10 miles (24:33, 7:55 pace) – Speed Work
May 4 – 6.20 miles (54:11, 8:45 pace)
May 5 – 7.30 miles (1:04:06, 8:47 pace)
May 6 – 8.70 miles (1:18:31, 9:03 pace)
May 7 – 5.30 miles (49:00, 9:15 pace)
May 8 – 3.10 miles (24:25, 7:52 pace) – Speed Work
May 10 – 5.10 miles (45:00, 8:49 pace) – Tempo Run
May 11 – 6.10 miles (54:41, 8:57 pace)
May 12 – 8.50 miles (1:14:59, 8:49 pace)
May 13 – 10.10 miles (1:32:43, 9:11 pace)
Total Miles: 74.9 miles
2012 YTD Miles: 640.1 milesMy 2012 Boston Marathon
5k
|
10k
|
15k
|
20k
|
Half
|
25k
|
0:30:34
|
1:01:16
|
1:31:37
|
2:03:29
|
2:10:24
|
2:37:43
|
30k
|
35k
|
40k
|
Finish
|
Pace
|
|
3:15:57
|
3:54:59
|
4:31:59
|
4:49:00
|
0:11:02
|
|
Overall
|
Gender
|
Division
|
|||
16605
|
10102
|
1504
|
