Brookline to Boylston

    This was it ... the home stretch.   I had successfully made it over the Newton Hills, but they definitely took their toll on me.  Thankfully the Brookline portion of the race has a fair amount of down hill sections.  Despite the fact that things were now starting to hurt (hips, knees and feet),  I couldn't help but smile when I looked at my GPS watch and saw that I had run 20 miles.  20 miles!  Can you believe that ... I actually ran 20 miles!  The downside to 20 miles, was that I still had another 6.2 to go. 
    When I got into Brookline I needed to come up with a new strategy about how I was going to get to the finish line because I was totally spent at this portion of the race.  Unfortunately, this was the portion of the race that I hadn't trained for since I was hampered by those IT Band issues.  Normally, when training for a marathon, runners plan on doing a 20 or 22 mile run in preparation for the actual race.  This means that they have to run 5 or 6 miles further on race day and are generally in good shape to do so.  The bad news for me was that my longest run was 15 miles ... which means that I had already run 5 miles further than I had ever done in my training (or my life) ... and now had to come up with a way to run another 5 or 6! 
     Yet again, where strategy came into play.  I owe this one to Scott Jurek, the ultramarathoner that we saw do a presentation at the marathon expo.  He said that when you get in situations like this, its important not to focus on the distance that remains but rather to break it up into smaller, more achievable goals.  He often says that on his long runs he will focus on running to the next aid station or the next area of shade and finds that this strategy helps makes these remaining distances possible.  Thus, this is what I decided to do.  I figured I would stick with my strategy of speed walking up any sort of incline that came my way, decided that I would let loose on any downhills that were left and took the flat sections by the street light.  I guess I need to explain what "by the street light" means.  I decided that to break the race into manageable sections that I would run the distance of 2-3 street lights and then walk the distance of 1 street light.  While running 3 blocks and walking 1 doesn't seem like a great way to complete a marathon, it was really all I had at this point in the race.
      Besides the fatigue that was setting in ... things really started to ache in the last few miles.  In addition to everything that already hurt, my feet started to kill during these last few miles.  I guess thats what happens when you have been running for over 4 hours ... your feet hurt.  It didn't feel like an injury but more of just a pure soreness from the pounding they had taken during the trek from Hopkinton to Boston.  Regardless, I kept with my strategy of running and walking ... and it seemed to work out.
      The remaining mileage slowly started to disappear.  Before I knew it ... 22 miles turned into 23 ... 24 ... and then I ran through Kenmore Square!  That was it, I was back in familiar territory ... places that I had run before with L Street!  I was almost there, unfortunately I just didn't have enough gas in the tank to run it all the way in so I kept with my run / walk strategy.  Shortly after Kenmore I saw the sign that said "1 Mile Left"!  I was almost there.  As the distance evaporated, I made my way under the Mass Ave overpass and came back up onto the level road. 
       Up ahead of me, I saw the sharp right turn and I knew I was almost there!  Right on Hereford, Left on Boylston ... that was all that laid ahead of me.  I made the right turn and worked my way up Hereford, then I took a hard left turn onto Boylston and I saw it ... the finish line was finally in view.  Its hard to describe what I felt when I made the left turn onto Boylston.  One year ago, I remember watching the marathon at this corner and waiting for Renee to make the turn.  Its hard to explain, but I took a "mental snapshot" of the view looking down Boylston, with the streets chalked full of cheering fans and I remember thinking to myself that maybe one day I would be running down this road.  Its an image that I recall from my memory at the end of every workout I have had ... this is what I picture during the last minutes of every workout to make sure that I finish strong. 
       Now ... it was a reality ... I was running down Boylston and was only a few hundred feet from the finish line.  One of the tricky things about Boylston is that although you can see the finish line the second you make the turn, I seriously think the line is at least 0.4 miles away which at that point in the race seems like forever.  I kept pushing forward and the line got closer and closer.  Before I knew it, I was crossing the finish line.
       I had done it.  A goal that I set for myself nearly five months ago had finally been achieved.  I honestly would have broken down in tears if it wasn't for the fact that as I crossed the line my utter exhaustion was replaced by pure happiness and excitement when I saw Renee there waiting for me.  While she likes to rub in the fact that she "had been waiting there forever" (in reality it was about 15 minutes) ... I was happy she was there and couldn't have pictured a better finish to the race.
       There really aren't any words to sum up how unbelievable it felt to cross that line.  Honestly, I haven't stopped smiling since I did it almost a week ago today.  Without a doubt this was the third greatest day in my life ... only behind the day that I got married and the day that I graduated medical school.   As always, I want to thank the people that helped me get to the finish because there is no way I would have been able to do it alone:

- Tom & Lyn - Renee and I appreciate everything you have done for us.  There is no way that I ever would have dreamed this was possible if you weren't kind enough to get Renee a number last year.  And of course, there is no chance I would have been able to find a number this year without your help!  I am eternally grateful.
- Renee - For all the support and encouragement that you gave me over the past few months.  I know it wasn't easy dealing with me through my ups and downs, but I appreciate everything.  I am so glad you were there at the line when I crossed.
- Mom & Dad - For getting me to where I am today
- Declan - For all of the physical therapy over the past few weeks.  I appreciate your dedication and was really impressed that you were nearly as invested in this race as I was. 
- Dr. Matzkin - For giving me the cortisone shot, without which I may not have been able to run the race.
- All our friends - For all the support and help with fundraising.

       I have literally worn my marathon jacket everyday and can't stop thinking about the next marathon that I am going to run.  The feeling is addicting ... and I can't wait to get my next marathon fix.  As of now, I am going to take a couple of weeks to work on strengthening my knee.  During this time I am going to try to focus on swimming and biking so that I can hopefully complete a sprint triathlon later this summer.  I plan on starting my training for the Marine Corps Marathon in late June.

Thankfully the last few miles of the course had a decent amount of downhill sections.  If I had to go over one more hill, it could have gotten ugly!

The home stretch.  While it doesn't seem like much, that little divot (the underpass) at 25.5 miles or so really takes its toll!

Making the turn onto Boylston.  I literally have nothing left in the gas tank at this point, but am just trying to dig it out for a little bit longer.  After this turn, the finish line comes right into view.

Another shot of me taking the turn onto Boylston.

Digging out the final meters of the race.  This is me struggling down Boylston towards the finish line. 

The third greatest day of my life.  Crossing the finish line at Boston.  I am officially a marathoner!!!

 

Wellesley through Newton

    So here it is ... crunch time.  The point in the race that gives Boston its allure and separates it from the hundreds of other marathons around the world.  Its a well known fact that most people "hit the wall" between miles 17 and 21 ... which is why the Boston Marathon is so brutal.  Its during this critical time that runners encounter the rolling hills of Newton and the infamous "Heart Break Hill".  While Heart Break Hill describes a certain portion of the race between miles 20-21 ... to the actual runner it encompasses four long inclines that span from the Newton Fire Station (mile 17.5) to Boston College (mile 21).  This is where your diligent training and running of hills will finally pay off ... unfortunately for me I didn't have a chance to incorporate this type of distance / hill running into my training due to my knee issues.   I was a prime set up for failure on heart break hill ...
     In comes my second strategy for completing this race.  Like I said at the beginning, finishing this race was as much a test of mental toughness and conditioning as it was a test of strategic planning.  I knew I didn't have the amount of long distance training that it would require for me to run the entire race and because of that I knew that I would end up walking at times.  My strategy for this was to walk up the hills in Newton in order to conserve as much energy as I could to do well on the flat / downhill portions of the race that remained.  While it wasn't how I pictured myself doing this race 5 months ago, with all the issues I had with my training it was what I was left with.
      As I made the right hand turn at the Newton Fire Station I could see the daunting hill in front of me.  I made sure to run to the base of it and then transitioned into a fast walk.  I felt bad walking especially since people on the side of the course kept cheering me on, but I knew it was what I had to do to finish the race.  I tried to power walk up the hills with my goal being to keep my pace below a 15 min / mile.  At a couple of points, these hills are so steep that it was even difficult to do that and I found my pace slipping to 17 min / mile.
      To complicate things, this was the point in the race that I really started to feel everything.  Even though I still had 9 miles to go until I reached the finish line, I had already run 2 miles further than I had ever run in my whole entire life!!  It was on these hills that I really started to feel everything.  The hills really brought out a severe ache in both of my hips / groin muscles.  At times, my left hip began to cramp up and I actually had to stop once to stretch it out.
      Once I reached the flat parts after these hills I made sure to get back into a run.  The first few steps after starting to run seemed to kill, especially on the bottom of my feet, but once I got those first steps out of the way I actually felt pretty good.  I was totally exhausted, but kept telling myself to hang in there ... keep moving forward ... get to the next hill and then you can walk.  And that is what I did.  The only problem was that every time I started to walk, things started to tighten up.  I am not sure if it was the 2nd or 3rd hill, but during one of them I started to get some cramps in my neck and back.  I tried to stretch them out but really the only thing that helped them was to start jogging again.
     These were definitely the longest miles of the course.  I looked around and saw some people jogging up the hills, but even the people that were jogging didn't seem to be going that much faster than I was.  It is definitely a brutal portion of the course that tests everyone's physical and mental toughness.  While I may not have had to physical conditioning to run up the hills, I had brainwashed myself for months about what I would tell myself when I got to this point ... "It doesn't matter how you are doing it, just keep moving forward".  That's what got me through this point.
      It was on one of these hills that I saw one of my two favorite signs from the whole race.  One lady on the left side of the road had a sign that said "You are no longer a runner ... You are a marathoner".  I still get chills just thinking about that sign.  It was hard to believe ... but I was slowly becoming a marathon runner.  
      After 4 of the toughest miles that I have endured, I reached the top of "Heart Break Hill" and saw BC college which had a huge inflatable sign that said "Heart Break Hill is Over" ... I can't tell you how happy that made me feel.

You can see the inclines starting at mile 17.5.  While they don't look that daunting on this graph, each one is a steady half mile incline where you gain 50-100 ft of vertical elevation.

"Heart Break Hill".  This one is a killer ... it honestly hurt to walk up it at this point in the race.

My pace definitely had slowed a little bit, but I was still digging it out.

This was my second favorite sign that I saw on the marathon course!  I wish that was the reason, but nonetheless it served for a good laugh.

Like I said, I was going to be walking some of the course.  Here is a shot of me walking, but I am doing my best to make sure that I am walking at as fast of a pace as I could. 

Diagram of what was hurting me at this point of the race.  Like I said, the hills really took their toll on my hip flexors and that is where I really started to feel it.  In addition, my neck and upper back cramped up.  The thickness of the arrows depicts which ailment bothered me more (thicker the arrow, the worse it was).

Framingham to Wellesley

     Framingham quickly turned into Natick.  I am not sure if it is because I had run this portion of the course previously or if I was still running high on the adrenaline surge from the start of the race, but the first few miles just seemed to fly by.  I found myself falling into a good grove and had my paced locked in.  The streets of Framingham were once again crowded with families and children all of which highly active in cheering on the runners.  Since I had my name on my shirt, tons of people would cheer out "Come on Keith, you can do it!", "Looking good Keith, keep it up!", "Go Keith!" ... I made sure to say thank you to everyone who cheered me on.  While I haven't run any other marathon, from what I have heard this is what makes Boston special.  Many other races don't have the crowd support that Boston has which I am sure can take its toll on the runners.
      Once I entered Natick I started to feel more energy surge through me.  The energy rush was partly do to excitement based on the fact that I felt like I was doing well and partly because as I ran through Natick I ran right past the place I had to be "rescued" a few weeks earlier during my 20 mile run.  I can't explain how good it made me feel to run right past the Natick VFW ... since it served as a personal accomplishment for me.  I can't even explain the hit that failed 20 mile run took on my psyche a couple of weeks earlier, and now I was blowing past my rescue point.
     As the miles were racking up, small aches started to work their way into the picture.  First, I could feel a blister form on the bottom of my right foot.  Honestly, this is going to sound weird, but when it did I kind of just smiled a little bit ... the reason I did that is because compared to how much pain I had run through with my ITBS this was nothing.  As I kept running, i was able to block out the little bit of pain that I was feeling from the blister.  Shortly after the blister, I started to get a little bit of discomfort on the middle half of both my knee caps.  I knew this pain well since it is classic patellofemoral syndrome.  Again, I wasn't really phased by this one since the pain was mild and I knew that it wasn't a serious injury and that I should be able to run through it. 
      The other thing that started to set in a little bit at this point in the race was the fact that I was getting pretty warm.  While the temperature was in the upper 50's, the sun had been out since the start of the race and really started to take its toll on me.  To compensate I started to increase my fluid intake at the water stops and made sure to dump a cup of water down my back to cool down.  I did this pretty much every mile 10 on and it sure did work as a wake up since the water was cold!!! 
       As Natick was coming to a close, I saw the sign up ahead that said welcome to Wellesley.  As a first time runner, I had heard many stories about the Wellesley portion of the run.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the race, the course takes you right by Wellesley College where the girls line the road holding signs looking for kisses.  In addition, I didn't believe it until I got there, but you can truly hear the screams of the girls a quarter mile before you even get to the college!  Everyone's pace seemed to pick up as we ran past the college girls.  They were pretty funny and held a variety of signs ... "From Kiss Me I'm Irish" to "Kiss Me I'm A Senior" to "Kiss Me I'm Latina" ... it was a really hilarious dynamic which functioned well to take our mind off of running.  I included a couple of pictures from google images about the Wellesley girls at the bottom.
       The other important thing to remember when running the race, is although the halfway point of the race is located in Wellesley ... its actually about half a mile past the college!  I made my way past the college and into Wellesley which is where I saw the 13 mile mark.  Again, I had to crack a smile since this was official the first "half marathon" I had run.  If you remember back to the start of the blog, I had trained to run two half marathon's previously but wasn't able to do it due to a stress fracture and an untimely case of appendicitis.   Well, 1/2 marathon was now in the books ... only 13.1 more miles to go to Boylston.

Relatively flat portion of the course through Framingham into Natick.

While Natick throws a tiny hill or two in there, this portion of the course is also pretty level. 

Picture of me at some point in the first 10 - 13 miles of the race.  I felt great and really didn't have that many injuries at this point of the race.  I was starting to build some confidence especially since the knee seemed to be holding up great.

Quick little diagram I made of what started to hurt at this point in the race.  Like I said above, I had some serious blisters on the bottom of my right foot and some slight pain in my kneecaps but overall I felt great. 

Hopkinton to Framingham

    Once the third wave began, all of the runners slowly started moving forward towards the starting line like a huge herd of cattle being shuttled out to a field.  Its hard to imagine how crowded a two lane road can get when you cram over 8,000 people (the third wave) onto it.  Since I was in corral 7, it took me about a minute to even get up to the starting line.  I hung to the right side of the road since I knew that's where my friend Lyn would be since she volunteers in the human chain ... a group of people who essentially serve as a barrier preventing people from starting early.  Thankfully, I was able to give her a quick hug and then I was off.
    Since this was my first marathon, I was open to pretty much everyone's advice as to how best to approach the race.  I had heard from many sources, including Tom who I consider the most knowledgeable about the course, that the key to the first part of the marathon is to pace yourself.  This sounds easy, I know, but Boston's layout is notoriously tricky since there is a steep loss of elevation over the first several miles of the course.  This part of the course has tricked many runners into thinking that they were having "the best day ever" and running faster than they should have at the start of the race.  This leads to problems later in the race when you hit the hills of Newton.
     Since I knew I likely didn't have the training to run the whole entire race owing to the fact that my longest run prior to the race was only 15 miles, I came up with a few strategies that I thought would get me through the run.  The first strategy, was to make sure I followed everyone's advice and paced myself during this first part of the race.  While it sounds easily, my goal was to run at a 10:30 min / mile pace since I thought this is likely where my pace would end up for the race.  A couple of the things that make this hard to do is at the start of the race you are overcome with adrenaline / excitement, you are surround by thousands of runners many of which are running quickly and the topography is downhill which just increases your speed without even thinking about it. 
      Early in the race, my pace wasn't a big issue due to the fact that the road was so crowded with runners that you couldn't even speed up even if you had wanted to.  After about 0.5 miles the crowd thinned out a little bit and we hit some downhill slopes.  I kept looking down at the gps watch and at times my pace dipped down to the 9:20 min / mile range so I made the effort to slow down to my 10:30 goal.  Before I knew it, the first two miles had flown by and I left Hopkinton and entered Ashland.  Thankfully, this was familiar territory to me because I had run the Ashland - Natick leg of the race on the 20 mile run that I had bombed.
       Overall, I felt great this early in the race.  The sun was out, it was warm and for once in my running career the wind was at my back.  I know this is going to sound weird, but I am not lying when I say that I was smiling for the duration of this race ... especially at the beginning.  The run as going well, the weather was great, there were runners all around and the streets were lined with families and kids cheering us all on.  I made and effort to run on the side of the road and give out as many high 5's as I could to the people on the side of the road. 
       Before I knew it, Ashland turned into Framingham.  The elevation seemed to flatten out a little bit and we were running on pretty flat terrain.  In addition, the sea of runners also thinned out and we finally had some room to maneuver around the road.  I was still feeling strong, keeping my pace at 10:20 or so and thankfully free of pain at this point.  Since it was pretty warm out, I decided that I would snag a cup of gatorade and a cup of water at each water stop (1 mile intervals) that I came up to.  In addition, I was giving Scott Jurek's advice a try and decided to eat one Gu packet (27 g of carbs) every 5 kilometers to make sure I could keep my energy up. 
        I crossed the 10 km mark in about 1 hr 5 mins ... which was a great pace for me.  My personal record for a 10k is 55 mins or so, but today I was totally on pace for where I needed to be.  The other part that made crossing the 10k mark special was that this was really the only time that Renee and I were running together.  Since her training had gone so well, I knew that we were going to be running this race at different paces ... and after a minute or two ... she took off ... only to be seen again at the finish line! 
        Overall, the first 10k of the race went great.  I was keeping the pace I had hoped for, the weather was great, I felt strong and I didn't have any injuries at this point ....

Visual depiction of the huge drops in elevation during the start of the race!  Like I said, any seasoned Boston runner will tell you that your race can be won / lost based on how you pace yourself during this period.  Come out too strong and you will get destroyed by the Newton Hills later in the race. 

Pre-Race

    So marathon day has finally arrived.  I think the best way to document the day is to break the day down into multiple different parts since there was so much going on!  The night before the race was spent carbing up with some home made chicken parm and pasta.  We were lucky enough to have some family over that night which helped keep the mood light.  I had hoped to go to be early in preparation for our early morning wake up, but it randomly turned out to be the first night of the NBA playoffs and the Celtics ended up winning a nail biter with a Ray Allen 3 pt at the buzzer.  Basically, what this translated into was me getting to bed about an hour or two later than I had hoped. 
    I had planned on waking up around 5:30a to give myself enough time to shower and make it to the L Street buses since they were leaving at 6:30a sharp.  I was essentially like a kid on Christmas morning and ultimately woke up and was wide awake at 4a!  I tried to go back to sleep but it was useless given the excitement and anxiety that I was feeling.  I laid in bed for about 45 minutes before getting up and getting ready to head to the bus.  I had my marathon outfit laid out so I didn't have to worry about forgetting anything.
    After I got geared up I made sure to copiously apply Glide to nearly every part of my body.  I have heard from some other people that have run marathons that being skimpy on the Glide can lead to a seriously uncomfortable run.  Once I was dressed, I grabbed my marathon bag which I had stuffed the night before with my ipod, IT Band Brace, more glide, Gu packets, snacks, sunglasses, etc.  Thankfully, Hank was up with us at 6a and was nice enough to drive us to the L Street buses which were a mile away. 
     Once we went through the check in process, we hopped on the bus and we were off.  I am not going to lie that the bus ride is actually somewhat anxiety provoking.  The ride is long and takes about 20-30 minutes to get to Athletes Village in Hopkinton.  The anxiety portion comes from the fact that as you are driving ... and driving ... and driving ... you realize that you are ultimately going to be running that distance back to Boston!!  I tried to zone out by looking at facebook on my phone and listening to some music.  I actually decided to watch the Randy Pausch lecture again on youtube since I find that clip extremely motivating for some reason.
      After about 30 minutes of riding the bus it finally arrived in the Hopkinton High School parking lot.  Unfortunately, the bus arrived in Hopkinton at around 8:15a which meant that we had about 2 hours to wait before we even needed to start walking to the Starting line which was about 0.75 miles away.  Again, I decided to pass the time listening to music, watching some youtube videos and talking with some people on the bus.  Surprisingly, there was an irish lad from L Street who was about to run his first marathon as well ... and let me tell you he might have been the most nervous person I have ever seen!  I thought I was scared, he made me look like a hardened marathon veteran.  Regardless, everyone on the bus was excited ... whether it was their first or their 20th Boston ... the feeling never seems to get out. 
      While we were waiting in the parking lot we got to meet up with our friend Tom since the Merrimack Valley Strider bus parked right next to ours.  Despite the fact that it was Tom's 35th marathon, he was also extremely nervous because of his knee issues.  Tom's advice to us was to stay off our feet as much as possible until race time, and besides about 20 minutes of stretching that is exactly what we did. 
      At around 10:15a we started making our way up towards the starting line.  Surprisingly, the starting line is no where near where the buses need to park.  After walking about 0.5-0.75 the road became filled with runners.  We were ushered into our corrals based on our official numbers and we were poised for the start of the race.  This was it ... I was at the starting line of the Boston Marathon.  Five months worth of training ... Dozens of runs out in the freezing cold in one of the worst winters in recent New England history, hours upon hours of mind numbingly boring cardio training on an elliptical at the Wang YMCA, multiple sessions of physical therapy to strengthen my knee and hours of worrying as to whether the knee would hold up ... it was time to put all that to the test.  
    The gun fired, and then the third wave of runners in the 115th Boston Marathon was off ... and I was one of them ....

The check in process for the L Street Buses.  Our running club actually filled three buses worth of runners for the marathon.  However, unlike me, a good majority of the other runners qualified for the race.

Renee waiting in line to check in.

Me waiting in line.  At this point, I don't think I was nervous anymore since pretty much everything had been replaced by excitement.  There was really nothing to worry about at this point ... the day is here and all the preparation is done.

Renee and I after we checked it.  At 6am it was still pretty cold out so we decided to stay inside as long as we could.

Renee and I stuck in the back seat of the bus.  Considering how good all the other runners are, this is probably where we belonged :-)

Last Reflections

  Well, the marathon is here.  I figured I would write one last entry before the big day since it would give me time to reflect back on the journey that I took to get me to where I am.  The best quote I could find to describe this moment comes from an American Poet named Don Williams, Jr. when he said "The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.”  I think I would be remiss if I didn't pause and acknowledge the five month journey that I took to get here and the people who helped me along the way.
   I still remember the shear excitement that I felt that November day when our friend Tom called me up to let me know that he was able to finagle an official number for me.  Still to this day I am not quite sure how he did it since when I first questioned him on it his response was "don't ask".  At that moment I was filled with excitement and fear.  I wasn't afraid of the race itself at that point, but more afraid that I would let Tom and Lyn down.  "What if I get hurt?", "What if I can't do it?", "What if the number goes to waste?"  ... these were my fears when I first got the number.  In fact, I was actually so afraid that I would let Tom & Lyn down that I actually didn't send in the application until mid-January to make sure that my training well enough where I had a shot to do it. 
    For those of you who have been following this blog from the beginning (which may be 2 people total) you'll know that I was a long way from marathon shape when I started.  My long run was actually three miles.  Through hard work, support of our friends, support from our family and fear from letting Tom & Lyn down I was able to hit my first short term goal of being ready to run 10 miles by the first L Street Run in early January. 
     Early January is when I felt great, the runs were coming along, the distance was going up and I was pain free.   Late in January is when I hit the only real obstacle that I have had to deal with in all of my training.  It was then that I started to get the symptoms of IT Band Syndrome.  Really, this was a turning point for me.  How do you train for a marathon if you can't run?  It was a question that I asked myself a lot when the injury first came up.  Honestly, I had my own doubts at that point.  Thankfully, I had the support of Renee there to help pull me through.  Honestly, I had some pretty down moments when I really didn't think that this marathon was going to be a possibility.  Renee got me through them all ... sometimes with just words of encouragement and support ... other times with tough love by telling me just to suck it up.  Regardless, I can say without a doubt, if it wasn't for Renee I most likely wouldn't be ready to line up on the starting line tomorrow.
     When the calendar turned to February is when my training moved indoors.  Unfortunately, this wasn't by choice.  While most people may think that moving the workouts indoors would be a blessing (especially with this years winter), it honestly made training 100x more difficult.  It was right around this point in time where I had really developed a love of running.  I know it sounds weird, but I literally would look forward to going out for a run ... sun, wind, rain, snow, sleet ... it didn't matter, there was something about running that I had never known previously, but became apparent during this training.  Instead, I was stuck on the elliptical.  Like a prisoner sentenced to jail, all of my workouts had to take place in a small room at the Wang YMCA.  I joke about the fact that I always worked out on "my elliptical" ... literally I never saw anyone else use the machine in 4 months probably due to the fact that the workouts are so mind numbingly boring.   Workout after workout I plugged through.  Again, there were times that I was unsure of what I was doing (this actually happened pretty often) since I wasn't (and still aren't) sure whether or not elliptical conditioning will translate into running conditioning.  
     As February turned into March, the real frustrations hit.  The injury hadn't improved at all despite "laying off it" for weeks.  It was here that I decided to pursue physical therapy.  At Renee's recommendation, I went to Declan since she had said he had helped her a lot when she was injured.  Now, in addition to all of the cardio workouts, I had to incorporate 2-3 physical therapy sessions as well.  When I started physical therapy, both Declan and I had high hopes that I would be back to running pain free by marathon time ... I mean it was 8 weeks away at that point.  Unfortunately, the progress didn't really go as fast as either of us would have liked.  I was able to muster some short runs and a long 15 miler.  Unfortunately, when the "do or die" 20 miler rolled up ... I bombed it miserably.  Honestly, in all the highs and lows of training for this marathon ... that was the Mariana's Trench.  Seriously, that was the lowest of the lows.  Its hard to describe the disappointment that I felt at that point.  It was here that I did some real soul searching ... doubt overwhelmed me ... "how could I run a marathon if I couldn't even run more than 10 miles?" ... "I was screwed" ... "all that work for nothing" ... these were the thoughts that I had after that run.  It was here that I had my epiphany ... It was here that I decided that it really didn't matter how I finished the marathon.  I went back to the original goal I set for myself which was to "finish the Boston Marathon".  Really, it was here that I realized it doesn't matter how I get to the finish line ... spring, run, jog, trot, stroll, walk, limp, hobble, crawl, roll ... if I get to the finish line I will have completed the Boston Marathon, which is something that 99% of runners will never have the opportunity to do. 
   With my new outlook on the race, April seemed to fly by.  I used my last Ace in the Hole in early April when I went to he orthopedic surgeon.  Hopefully, the cortisone shot will help and give me the boost I need tomorrow.   The remainder of April was filled with excitement and things to look forward to.  Then end of training, Dinner's with Tom & Lyn, The Marathon Kickoff Party, The Marathon Expo, The Naked Tour ... these are all the festivities that come with Marathon Weekend. 
    Now, the night before the marathon, I am filled with excitement and nervousness.  I would be a huge liar if I told you that I wasn't totally scared about tomorrow.  I think I did everything I could have done to prepare for this race given the injury I was dealing.  In the words of Randy Pausch (whom I referred to in one of my motivation entries),  I can't control the cards I was dealt, only how I play the hand.  Hopefully things go well ... if they don't ... well ... I will just have more time to take in the crowd! 

 
    I guess the most important part of reflecting on an experience is to figure out what you have learned from it.  Honestly, regardless of how this race goes tomorrow, this will have been one of the best experiences I have ever had.  I found out that I am capable of so much more than I ever thought I could have done.  If you asked me even a year or two ago if I thought I would ever compete in a marathon I would have told you that you were crazy.  In addition, Tom and Lyn have helped introduce me to a group of people, that like them, love to run / compete in races / be active and through them I have learned to cultivate this in myself.  Lastly, I found out how supportive Renee is and how much I needed that to get me through the tough times in this training. 

 
     Like I have said before, it may not be pretty but I'll get to Boylston eventually.

This is a picture from Renee in last year's Boston Marathon.  Honestly, without Renee's support to help me through the hard times in my training, I probably wouldn't be lining up tomorrow. 

Mom and Dad.  A special thanks for helping me get where I am today.

Tom & Lyn.  Two of the nicest, most genuine people we have ever met.  Without them, I never would have found the joy in running and participating in events like the marathon.  In addition, I never ever would have had the opportunity to run this race, attend events like the kick off party or meet half of the incredible people that we have met through the marathon.  Truly grateful for all that they have done for Renee and I.

The Naked Tour

   After the marathon expo and lunch, Tom, Lyn, Renee and I headed over to the Boston Public Library with hopes of catching "The Naked Tour", a presentation on barefoot running.  "The Naked Tour" was organized by Chris McDougall who is the author of the pivotal best selling book "Born To Run".  The book is possibly the most influential book in the sport of running and describes Chris' adventures in running.  As a middle aged, semi-athletic individual Chris would run a few miles a week to try to stay in shape.  Despite a relatively low mileage, Chris suffered a stress fracture in his lower leg and was told by his physician that "the injury was from running.  Running is inherently bad on your joints and bones".  Frustrated by this response Chris questioned what his doctor had told him and wondered why other animals don't get these injuries ... his example was "Cheetahs run all day, and they don't get stress fractures".  Through a random series of events he stumbles upon a tribe of Indians in Mexico who were superathletes, with each member of the tribe running upwards of 20-30 miles a day ... barefoot.  These revelations sparked a movement aimed at barefoot running.  The thought was that the human foot has evolved over millions of years and for 99.99% of that time ... we weren't running in shoes.  Without giving away the entire book, it delves into some scientific research that has been done looking at the mechanics of running and how they have changed since we started wearing heavily padded / cushioned shoes.  The book isn't a scientific book, although a little chunk is spent talking about the evolution of the foot, but rather it tells the story of a ridiculous ultramarathon that poses the this tribe of Indians vs some of the best ultramarathoners in the world. 

I know that I have essentially handed out an entire reading list with all of the books that I have recommended in this blog, but if you have time its also worth reading this one.  Its pretty entertaining and really motivating. 

    Needless to say, we arrived to the auditorium a little bit late.  We were told as we started to get in line that they were at capacity and that there was a chance we may not even get in to see the presentation!  That's when luck struck!  What I didn't tell you is that our friend Tom is actually friends with Chris McDougall (author / organizer of the tour).  He first met Chris a couple of years ago after Chris read one of the articles Tom wrote for a New England Running Magazine.  They have kept in touch since and tend to get together when Chris is in the Boston Area.  As we were waiting in line, Chris thankfully walked out of the auditorium and saw Tom waiting.  He waved Tom & Lyn in around the line, and like so many times before, they were able to sneak us in too.  Not only did we get waved in around the line, but Chris had "reserved" seats for us "up front".  So ... up front really meant right in the front row next to all the speakers!  It was pretty incredible.

Renee and I with Chris McDougall.  Chris was nice enough to autograph our copy of his book.

     The presentation was a little bit long, but was really informative.  I consisted of a few scientists and researchers presenting their work about the mechanics and benefits of barefoot running.  In addition, they had some other barefoot runners, the writer of the soon to be movie "Born to Run", Scott Jurek (I will get into his accomplishments in a minute) and of course Chris McDougall. 
     The highlight of this talk for me was definitely getting to meet Scott Jurek.  He is one of the characters in the book and is possibly one of the most elite ultramarathon runners of all time.  To kind of put it in perspective, he is essentially the Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods of running.  When you hear his accomplishments, you will think he is super human.  Here is a short list of them:

- Won the Spartathlon 3 years in a row.  This is a 152 mile race from Athens to Sparta
- Won the Badwater Ultramarathon 2 years in a row and set a course record.  This is literally the most ridiculous race you could ever imagine.  Its a 130+ mile race through death valley in the middle of July.  The temperatures during the race push 130 degrees at time and the road gets so hot that runners literally have to run on the white line in the road to prevent their shoes from melting
- Ran for 24 straight hours around a 1 mile track.  He set a record for the most miles run in a 24 hour period after clocking over 162 miles
  
    Since we were sitting in the front row, and he was on the floor right next to me, we were actually able to talk to him for a minute or two and get a picture with him.  Honestly, it was a very nice and humble dude ... really, its how you want all professional athletes to act.  Meeting him, was definitely the highlight of the day for me. 

Tom and I with Scott Jurek.  You can tell from Tom's face that he is really excited to meet Scott as well.  Surprisingly, Scott didn't have the typical runner's build.  He was actually taller than me, not normally what you think of when you try to picture an elite ultramarathon runner.

This picture was just to show everyone how close we were to Jurek during the presentation.  He was literally right next to us!

Scott Jurek talking about how he gets through these ultramarathons.  He said the best thing to do is to"turn your brain off" and to break things down into manageable goals.  Rather than focusing on "the last six miles" he said to focus on smaller goals like getting to the next water stop or getting to the next turn. 

Marathon Expo

   Time is moving by pretty quickly and Monday is approaching fast!  Saturday morning marked the day that Renee and I were going to go to the health and wellness expo at the Hynes Convention Center.  For those of you who have never been there, its basically a huge convention center filled with marathon memorabilia, new running equipment (shoes, water bottles, sports bars, etc) and lectures about running, nutrition and injuries.
    Based on our experience last year, we decided to get to the convention right when they opened up because the place gets packed!  Just imagine how crowded it would get if half of the marathon runners and their significant others showed up ... you are talking upwards of 25,000 people!!  Right when we got there we went straight to the bib number pickup.  This section is divided up by number and since Renee and I were in the 24 and 25,000 range, we were all the way down at the far end of the hallway.  In hindsight, its probably easier to board an international flight than it is to get your number.  In order to officially acquire your number you have to: 1) Present the number pickup card that was mailed to you, 2) Present a photo ID with accurate address, and 3) Sign a release form.  Its quite an intense process and actually reminds you that they reason they take such care in handing out the numbers is because they are ridiculously hard to get.

Its official!!!

Renee with her official number!

     After we got our official number, it was time to head into the expo and do some damage to the checkbook.  Renee and I were actually luck in the sense that we were able to get the official marathon race jacket and fleece from a local store in Boston using a 15% off coupon (which I think saved us about $60).  Despite the fact that we had already gotten the jackets, it didn't stop us from buying tons more stuff.  Included in the stuff that we got at the expo was a Boston Marathon Duffle Bag, flip flops, T-Shirts, energy packets for race day, marathon pint glasses / key chain and of course the picture frames to commemorate our running of the race!  Honestly, it was one day where price really didn't matter. 

This is the Adidas section of the expo, which only makes up a small chunk of the actual event.  You can see from the picture how crowded the place gets!

This is me sporting my new bag.  The bag was filled with stuff that we had already bought.

Renee holding up the pair of flip flops that we each bought.

    Once we had finished buying stuff at the expo we were able to meet up with our friends Tom & Lyn for lunch.  We decided to head to Atlantic Fish since it was located right out on Boylston.  Marathon season is always a good time because we are able to spend a lot of time with them.  I think in the last few days, they have introduced us to more people than I can describe!  Its pretty ridiculous how many people they know.  After lunch, it was off to "The Naked Tour" where we would meet some more incredible people (see next entry)!!!

Motivation

  I just thought I would include another posting on a great motivational story that I came across sometime last week.  I spent a lot of the week just watching youtube clips on the Boston Marathon and the Kona Ironman.  While doing it, I cam across a clip about Jon Blais, aka The Blazeman.  Jon Blais was a triathlete from San Diego, CA who was unfortunately diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) at the age of 33.  For those of you that don't know that much about ALS ... its a neurodegenerative disorder in which your nervous system slowly fails.  Unfortunately, its there are no successful treatments for the disease and it is uniformly fatal.
   Given his diagnosis, Blais was permitted to enter the 2005 Kona Ironman. Before he started the race, he declared that he would finish the race "even if they had to roll him across the finish line".  At the time of the race, his disease had already taken its toll on his body and he wasn't able to use his right hand.  Without giving away the entire story, I recommend that you watch the youtube clip on his story at the link below.  Definitely one of the most motivation stories I have ever come across. 

The Blazeman -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vrjp2P0GlE

Cheers to the Boston Marathon

   Like I said in my last post, this week marks the close of all of the training and the start of the marathon festivities.  Thursday night served as the kickoff of marathon week.  Over the past 11 years, the kick off party has taken place at the Hampshire House down on Beacon Street in Boston.  Renee and I were lucky enough to attend this function last year and with the help of our friends Tom & Lyn we were able to snag an "invite" for this years party as well.
    The kick off party is actually a pretty interesting event.  It consists of the "Who's Who" of the Boston Marathon.  The majority of the attendees are either involved in the Boston Athletic Association (BAA), their sponsors or well know marathoners (there were at least 3 or 4 past Boston Marathon Champions present at the event).  In addition a certain number of invites are given out to local running clubs, some of the sponsored charities and occasionally some randoms like Renee and I can be lucky enough to score an invite!
     Its definitely a fun event that consists of beer & wine, hor dourves and networking.  During the introductions, they also give a special mention to an honorary guest.  Last year, it was Teddy Bruschi due to his involvement in organizing / running his stroke charity which normally receives 5-10 charity spots for the race.  This year's honorary guest was a man named Clarence Hartley.  At first I had no clue who he was and neither did our friend Tom (which told me he probably wasn't all that well know in the Boston Marathon community).  It turns out that Clarence Hartley is actually the oldest qualifier for this years Boston Marathon.  At 81 years young, after serving in two wars (Vietnam & Korea) and surviving cancer he was able to run a qualifying marathon early in the year at 4 hrs and 39 mins (21 minutes under the qualifying time for his age group).  He gave a great speech and seemed like a genuine guy and real class act. 
     As always, Tom & Lyn introduced us to tons and tons of people.  Unfortunately, I am awful with names and can't remember half the people I meet.  Regardless, its great to meet new people especially when they are in the running community.  Its definitely cool to be around people that enjoying running so much and to see how they continue it no matter what their age is.  After the function ended at 9 pm, Tom, Lyn, Renee and I headed down to Cheers for one last drink before retiring back home. 
    Next ... the number pick up and marathon expo on Saturday!!  Only a couple more days until the race and thankfully the weather looks great (trust me, I have looked at the weather forecast at least 100 times in the last 5 days or so).

Cheers to the Boston Marathon!

Renee, Lyn, Tom and I.

Renee and I with Dave McGillivary.  Dave is the race director of the Boston Marathon.  He is also the person that I wrote about back in January who gave a great motivational speech.  He is kind of a super freak athlete and has run over 140,000 miles in his life.  He has run the Boston Marathon almost 40 years in a row and now that he is the race director, he actually runs it alone at night once the actual race has finished.

Clarence Hartley (black jacket).  He was the honorary guest since he is the oldest qualifying runner in this year's marathon.  He qualified for Boston at the age of 81.

Renee and I at Cheers

Renee and Tom

Tom and Lyn

The Last Workout ...

   Its official, all of the marathon training has ended.  With the race approaching quickly, my taper was in full effect.  Thursday basically consisted of another 25 min workout on the elliptical.  The workout went well, I felt good and I was honestly smiling during the whole thing because I knew that this was my last elliptical workout for a while.  It will be good to spend some time away from my elliptical machine, despite the fact that we have spent some quality time together over the last few months!  Once the workout had finished, I spent the next 20-25 minutes doing my physical therapy stretches to try to loosen up the quads / hamstrings / ITB.  In addition, I spent some more quality time on the foam roller trying to keep both of the IT Bands nice and loose for Monday. 
   This week has been really interesting.  It has really served as a transition point where the marathon is now in sight.  The days of enduring 1 ... 2 ... or 3 hour workouts are done and are now replaced by excitement for the festivities of marathon week.  Looking ahead, we have so many exciting things going on this week including the Marathon Kick Off Party, The Number Pickup, The Health & Wellness Expo and of course the actual race. 
   Overall, I feel great.  I have been well rested the last few days, the knee feels well and I feel as close to 100% as I have in weeks.  Looking ahead to the rest of this week with excitement and high hopes!

Motivation

   I figured since I have the time right now, I would include another little motivational entry.  This one is going to be devoted to possibly one of the most amazing athletic stories ever, Team Hoyt.  For those of you who have never heard of Team Hoyt, I recommend that you look them up and become familiar with their story.  Team Hoyt describes a father & son running team that is unlike any other since Rick (son) has cerebral palsy and is not able to walk.  For some time after his birth, many of the medical professionals had recommended to Dick (father) and his wife that they should institutionalize him since he would need round the clock care.  It wasn't until the 80's when Tufts University made a technology that allowed Rick to communicate using a computer.  After attending school in Westfield, Ma ... Rick asked his father if they could run in a 5k race to help race money for one of the schools athletes that had been injured.  At the time, Dick Hoyt wasn't an athlete at all, but not wanting to let Rick down he somehow developed a wheelchair that he could push and they were able to complete the race.  To say things snowballed from here is an understatement.  The 5k race led to another, and then a 10k, and then a half marathon, and then a marathon, and then hundreds more marathons, and then to triathlons and ultimately to the Iron Man in Kona Hawaii.  Its truly an amazing story, and while I can't do it justice with a paragraph or two ... I recommend reading their book if you have time.  Also, I have included an incredible youtube clip that shows pieces of footage from the year they completed the Kona Iron Man.   

Here's the book, in case you have some free time.  Its incredible.  

    Here is the link to the youtube clip.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF7Bv9Rjl0E

Packet Stuffing

   Its now official ... marathon week has begun.  The training is done and now its time to celebrate the marathon and enjoy in all of the festivities that go into marathon week.  This weekend marked the first event that we are scheduled to participate in, Packet Stuffing.  For those of you who don't know, everyone who was lucky enough to get an official number for the Boston Marathon will get a big bag of stuff when they pick up their race number.  The bag is filled with the official marathon booklet, tons of brochures, random snacks, a bottle of water, some marathon gifts and of course the marathon shirt!!   Unfortunately, these bags don't pack themselves so the BAA relies on volunteers to do it. 
   While it doesn't sound that bad, when you consider that you have to stuff over 25,000 marathon packets in 16 hours the task becomes a little bit more daunting.  The stuffing is actually run by our good friend Tom, so the packet stuffing helps serve as another way for Renee and I to spend some time with him and his wife Lyn. 
    We got to the warehouse around 1 pm and immediately took our place in our row.  We were towards the end of the line and our specific jobs were as follows:  1 - Renee was in the second to last spot in our assembly line and her job basically consisted of rolling the bottle of water in the free marathon shirt so that it fit nicely into the bag.  Once she was done putting it into the bag, she handed it to me.  2 - My job, which was probably the most important, was to roll the bags as tightly as possible and put them into a large cardboard box.  Each cardboard box had to fit 100 of the marathon bags, and the count had to be nearly exact.   
      Unlike last year, Renee and I were mentally prepared this year for the packet stuffing.  Its hard to imagine how slow 4 hours seems to go by standing in an assembly line.  I am not sure if it is because we were seasoned veterans of packet stuffing or if it was the fact that we got to stop 40 minutes early because we were actually ahead of schedule, but time seemed to fly this year!  All in all, it wasn't that bad, and with our early finish we got to spend more time at dinner with Tom and Lyn. 
     While some of you may not seem that excited by the packet stuffing, it really helped change the mood of the marathon training.  Honestly, it kind of symbolized the end of training and the start of marathon week which will consist of fun things like the health / wellness expo, motivational speakers, number pick up, etc.  It was a nice change and really helped build the excitement for the big day. 

Assembly Line.  Each row contained six volunteers and functioned independently.  This is a nice picture that helps show all the different things that need to get put into the bag before it is complete.

Picture of me functioning as the team anchor.  I am holding up a completed bag that will then be folded up and placed into the big cardboard box and shipped off to Boylston.

Renee holding a marathon shirt with a water wrapped inside of it.   Below is a video clip of Renee on one of her "multiple" breaks.  She tries to cover it up by saying she was trying to network, but I am not so sure.