(Sunday Paper, Year VI, Issue 43)

You’ve indulged me for almost six months now.

I know that, and I appreciate that.

But I’m going to take just one more week to write about the Boston Marathon.

It’s more for me - I have so many different notes about the training and the race in so many different places…at least I can come back to this spot to have a bunch of thoughts in one place.

I was originally thinking I’d summarize the race mile by mile..

But I don’t even know if I could do that.

So let me divide the race into chunks and tell you about it that way.

You can maybe think of this as a companion, post-race piece to the pre-race Sunday Paper the day before the Marathon.

Miles 1-6: The start of the race really started with the lead-up to the start of the race. Under normal circumstances Team Framingham would have taken a bus from Framingham to Hopkinton (about 6 miles) for the start of the race. But this year the BAA discouraged - well, didn’t encourage, let’s put it that way - any other transportation besides what they were offering. So I took a bus from Boston - meaning I had to go from Framingham to Boston to Hopkinton that morning. Not ideal…but when we got to Hopkinton I was following everyone from the buses which at least eliminated the doubt I would have had if, say, Kathy had dropped me in Hopkinton and I would have mixed into a flow of people who I wasn’t sure knew what they were doing.

Anyway. Hopkinton was way different on race day morning than I expected. It was a rolling start - so once we were there and ready we could just go. I had a banana walking from the bus to the start line (I had my sandwich on the bus), I used the bathroom, I stretched…and then suddenly I was at the start line and figured, “OK, I guess we’ll go.” If you remember, I thought I wouldn’t start until around 11:20. It was 10:53 when I found myself at the start line. Part of me thought I should wait until 11am for an even number…but I was eager to go.

I think I mentioned this last week: the marathon course starts with a big downhill - I didn’t go crazy down the hill. I managed to keep myself from going too fast down the hill….but I was going faster than what I should have been doing for my marathon pace. I knew it…but I couldn’t change it. It was just exhilarating to be running the Boston Marathon. People were hanging out on their lawns, they were barbecuing, blasting music, there were bigger gatherings at the bigger intersections, and before I knew it I was in Ashland and I was really looking forward to Framingham, and that first hour of the Boston Marathon was one of the fastest hours of my life.

Miles 6-10: As we approached the Framingham border I saw another Team Framingham runner and we ran together for a minute. I told him I was going way too fast and was going to pay the price later but I couldn’t help it. It was just so exciting. But I needed to slow down. So I fell behind him. I unexpectedly saw someone I knew watching from somebody’s house in Hopkinton - it was weird how I could actually take in and process faces along the road. In Framingham, though, it was almost overwhelming. There were so many people I knew on both sides of the road and I only saw some of them. But I knew where to look for my family so I wasn’t worried I would miss them. I was able to stop for a minute with them before I was off again. I saw some other friends - I guess that must have been around the mile 7 marker - before the Framingham crowd thinned out…and I saw my Team Framingham friend again. “How’s that slowing down working for you?” he asked, laughing. “Not good,” I said. Another Team Framingham runner ran past us as we crossed into Natick - she said their bus had gone the wrong way on the Mass Pike and then again on 495 - It took them close to two hours, I think, to get to Hopkinton. I was happy I wasn't on that bus. Everything that morning felt somewhat stressful leading up to the race (I forgot to mention - I woke up with sore legs. I think when I get stressed it goes to my legs.) … I didn’t need bus stress.

Anyway, I knew to look for another friend in Natick - she took the picture at the top of this post, which another friend pointed out was a nice reminder of the only Boston Marathon in the fall - the foliage! Also, another friend also pointed out the pink sign in the background there appropriately says “John”.

There is a quiet stretch of houses leading up to the Natick Center green - at least it was always quiet during training. On Marathon Monday it was - like Hopkinton - filled with people watching the runners. Very cool.

Miles 10-17: It’s funny because at no point during training did I think I’d be excited by that stretch of Natick. There were a bunch of places along the route where I thought, “I can’t wait to see what this is like on Marathon Monday!” And some of those places I have no memory of from race day. The 11th mile of the race is kind of a no-memory stretch for me. Except for the fact that I’m pretty sure this is when I realized the marathon was going to be a bit more of a struggle than my training runs had been.

I started to feel really tight in my quads. It was a weird spot because at this point I hadn’t started walking - other than to have a little water at the water stations without spilling it all over myself - but I knew I was going to have to walk and I knew we weren’t even at the halfway point yet. So I’d finally managed to reach my slower marathon pace…but I was going to drop beyond that pace soon too.

The crowd was always a good distraction though. By mile 12 the Wellesley College students were - even though it was certainly a smaller crowd than other marathon years - out in full force and full voice cheering (screaming) through what’s known as the “Scream Tunnel.” These things really do provide a boost. That got me through the halfway point in Wellesley Center and I think somewhere in here I walked for a bit and tried to stretch out the quads as I walked. I remember it was around here because I knew I was approaching another meeting spot with Kathy and I felt better when I ran again. Shortly before I saw my family a Framingham teacher cheered me on because she saw my Team Framingham shirt. She’s not someone I’d met before but she teaches district-wide and has had all three girls. Anyway, it turned out she recorded our interaction so that was funny to re-watch and show the girls.

By the time I saw my family it was almost mile 16. During the 21-mile training run I remember getting to Mile 16 and saying to myself, “OK. Take note of this. Mile 16 - I feel great.” During the Marathon it was Mile 14 where I was like, “Uh-oh.” So maybe that’s where I started walking and stretching.

Anyway, it was nice to see family. I stopped and took pictures and I told them these next 10 miles were going to be hard. I wasn’t wrong.

This was somewhere in the hills, I think. I like that this is the one picture where I’m actually looking at a camera and it’s like, “Oh, man, they caught me during a walking part.”

Miles 17-21: Mile 16 (this is an estimate from my brain, but I think it’s accurate) is kind of a downhill into Newton Lower Falls before it goes uphill over 95. So Mile 16 wasn’t bad…and I ran most of the way up the hill over 95. I usually counted to 100 up that hill - by the time I reached 100 I was almost at the top. This time when I hit 100 I just walked. I knew there were a few more hills beyond and I think this was kind of the low point for me in the race. I hadn’t even hit the major hills yet and I was already needing to walk and I’d messed up my pace…it was not going to be the marathon I dreamed it would be.

But I was still running the Boston Marathon. And I had to get to the Finish Line. And my legs were still working. So I moved on.

Combination runs and walks were the way I got through the hills. I knew this part would be a struggle…and it was. Kathy’s cousins live in Newton and they met me at Mile 20 - near a stretch where I was running, for what it’s worth - and that was such a huge lift, seeing them. That lift got me up the last hill - the original Heartbreak Hill - and then I cruised downhill by Boston College. Somebody along the route must have been reading my mind - or reading my pained face as I chugged down the hill - “Good job Team Framingham,” she said. “Use that hill momentum to get you there!” (Maybe I should mention I was wearing my Team Framingham shirt, and since I didn’t put my name or anything otherwise identifying on there, that’s what people called me as they cheered.)

The cameras caught me a couple of times in the hills walking, looking exhausted…come to think of it there were a lot of photographers in the hills. Maybe they should put more photographers in Hopkinton so I have pictures of me looking fresh.

Miles 21-25: I mentioned this in that Sunday-before-Marathon-Monday post: I had run Miles 21-25 before during training, but I had never run them after having run 20 miles. This was the part of the marathon I had most looked forward to - this is the part that goes through Coolidge Corner and all the parts of Beacon Street where I had spent so much time when I went to Boston University. And during the Boston Marathon….it was kind of torture. I was cooked. OH! I forgot to mention - the other thing that happened around Mile 14 was that the sun came out and the temperature was climbing. Basically it got hottest when I was the most tired. And it continued getting hot, and I continued getting tired.

But I walked for a block, tried to run for two, and continued that way and just kept thinking, “What’s another five miles!?” Which is crazy talk after running 20 miles, but I guess the whole marathon experience is a little crazy. I was looking forward to seeing Kathy and the girls and my parents one more time - I told her to go by my old apartment at 864 Beacon Street, about a mile from the finish line. I figured I didn’t need a boost at the finish - the experience there would be enough. But 864 would be a good boost. I was right about that. I didn’t even stop when I saw them - I just gasped, “I need to finish.” And on I chugged to Boylston Street.

Miles 25 and 26: There’s a hill over the Turnpike just past my old apartment. I had trouble with that hill on the 17-mile run that took us from Natick to the Finish Line. I half-walked, half-ran it during the marathon. I half-walked and half-ran my way through Kenmore Square. I was dreading the underpass under Massachusetts Avenue because that was a hill coming back up. But then there’s Hereford Street. I started running. (It is also uphill.) I walked for a few steps because I wanted to run all of Boylston. But after a few steps I was like, “OK, here we go.” And I ran and I turned onto Boylston and people were shouting and it was beautiful. It was all worth it for that moment. I told you last week - I got choked up, it was so emotional, and I tried to take it in but I was afraid I’d break down in tears if I looked around.

I ran through the finish line and it took a minute for my brain to tell my legs to stop moving and then I got the medal and the cape and took some pictures and that was it. I completed the Boston Marathon. I’ve been getting some more pictures from the Marathon Photo people - I’m not sure if there are more to come but I have a better one of me at the finish. (If I ever do this again I’ll make more of an effort to smile at the cameras when I spot them.) And another picture that I’ll share below too.

Fun fact: My Strava calculated 27 miles during the marathon. Probably from all the side to side along the road depending on where I ran and when I went to the side to see family and all that. AND that doesn’t even count what I think was 7/10 of a mile walking from the bus to the start line. And standing on Boston Common waiting to board the bus. Lots of strain on the ol’ legs that day.

Some people manage to look happy at the finish line…I just tried to get there.

Here’s a happy picture of me after I finished if you missed it on the Facebook page this week:

Hard to believe this is mere moments after that previous one.

As I also mentioned on Facebook, we reached my fundraising goal of $4,000. Thanks to everyone who contributed to that. If you still want to give you can - here’s the link.

My doctor, when I told him I was running the marathon, cautioned me about recovery. He said to make sure I allowed my body to recover. Which I mostly thought meant during all the training, so I was careful about that during training. But I think he actually meant after the marathon itself - it’s a longer recovery period after 26.2. But I think I’ve recovered. Or at least…I’m getting there. I’ve been running again and not feeling terrible.

Which, I guess, means it’s time to start thinking about what long run I want to do next.