I did it!

 

Here is a picture of me at the base of the legendary Heartbreak Hill looking fairly energetic.

 

 

The 111th running of the Boston Marathon did not disappoint.

This Marathon came with unusual challenges.  I had a pretty significant injury that seemed to occur on my last long run 3 weeks before the race.  I had a really sore achilles the next day, and after attempting to continue training on it a few times, realized I was in trouble.  I had ultrasound, MRI, and plenty of therapy on it, and it was pretty tough.  I had to stop running almost completely for the 2 weeks leading to the race, and substitute with water running (yuck) and elliptical work (ick).  The MRI showed some edema, so I have something in the "moderate injury" range going on there (a tear or strain in the muscle at the attachment point to the tendon).  The Orthopedic specialist thought it was mainly inflammation and "adherence" on the tendon itself that was causing me trouble, though. In the end (even though it was recommended that I choose not to run) it did not seem like I would permanently disable myself by doing so.

 

I went out at a very conservative pace, and really listened to my achilles the whole way.   I was pretty worried during the first half of the race that my achilles would totally give out, and I would have to quit.  I decided not to go for time, but just to have a lot of fun.  I'd have to say that I would recommend to other runners doing a race just for fun sometime...it was great!  I slapped every hand of the college kids lining the street in front of Wellesley College. I took a couple minute off between mile 14 and 15 to change out of the wet shoes, and swap out some equipment/gels.  When I got into the legendary Newton Hills after mile 16 (culminating in heartbreak hill), I was ready to pump up the speed.  I also got to take the time to really entertain the crowds along the way...calling out all kinds of crazy stuff, and getting them to cheer really loudly.  I ran strongly, and mostly passed people to the finish.  What fun!

 

It was an unusual marathon, and a challenge for everyone.  A huge Nor’easter moved in over the weekend, and there were concerns that it would peak during the Marathon.  It was definitely cold, windy, and rainy (especially at the start), but happily the weather lifted a bit as the run went on, so it wasn't completely horrible.  Still, the winners were approximately 7 minutes off their usual expected times.  Not too many people PRed (i.e., did a Personal speed Record), so I had company in my adjusted expectations of the race!

 

 

Laurie:  3:44:49

Dave:  3:43:38

Sharon:  3:38:31

Bettina:  3:38:02

Nannette:  3:36:26

Scott:  3:13:08