Boston Marathon 2019Boston Marathon: you never know what's going to happen, but it's always an adventure. Weather forecast: thunderstorms. Well, luckily rain and thunders were done before I start. Good. What was left was humidity and, later in the race, heat, I can live with that. This is my 6th Boston, and this time around though I know that I'm in for a treat: friends and family waiting for me almost at the top of Heartbreak Hill, around mile 20.5. I'd get my kiss there, high fives and possibly hugs. This year I'm starting in Wave 2 corral 1. That meant starting at the front of the slightly slower runners. They let the fastest start at 10am, then us at 10:25, wave 3 at 10:50, and so on. I'm almost in the front line, with 3-4 runners in front of me, and thousands behind. The music is loud, and we all must feel lucky to be toeing the start line. We know it won't be easy, but that's a marathon. You know you're going to suffer, you just don't know when and how much. My first Boston in 2014 is still my best result, 3:13:52. In 2015 I felt more trained, that was my second best, 3:17:01. It had gone only worse, after all every year you're supposed to slow down an average of 2 minutes on a marathon. This year I want to get under 3:24, which would be 11 minutes under my Boston 2020 qualifying time and also allow my to skip the New York marathon lottery. I remember how in 2014 cramps started around mile 23, and how in 2015 at the half marathon mark I knew I was not going to keep the fast pace I had started with. This year the plan is to start slower, but heck no! It's 10:25 and the gun goes off! We all start running like crazy in the front, I run my fastest mile during a marathon, 6:46. The craziness continues the first 5k, I'm under a 3 hour pace, although I know that the beginning of the race is downhill, but then hills come fast and at mile 16 the four Newton hills start, culminating with Heartbreak. I get to the half and I feel OK. I slow down on hills, but never stop running, trying to at least maintain 8:30 instant speed. Clouds dissipate, and I start having mini-cramps that don't worry me too much. I eat a gel around mile 10, and another around mile 16-17. I swallow 2 salt tabs. I now also drink some Gatorade besides water at the very efficient aid stations. Sometimes I drink half cup of water and pour the rest on my head to fight the increasing heat. I'm so glad to have followed Amanda Jurinen's advice and wear a shirt with no sleeves. And here we go, Heartbreak Hill! I kiss Veronica, hug Alex, high five Enrico and Rosa, they are so concerned I'm going to waste time, but hey, it's the energy and love that keeps me going (and yes, a breather is what I need too ;-). The energy of the crowd today is unbelievable, that's what makes this event special. They push you along every step of the way. Every mile is a fight, but you can't disappoint the hundreds of thousands of people there to encourage you! Two miles from the finish I check my time and realize that if I run around 7:30 min/mile average I can beat my personal best, Boston 2014. I see the CITGO sign bigger than I've ever seen it in my previous 5 Boston marathons, I want to experience it. I wait to really push to the limit until I see the finish line, the final stretch on Boylston. I'm really running against time, looking at the big clock, which is showing 3:12. I cover that final stretch in a 6:47 min/mile average, finishing in 3:13:26. All this work to average 1 second/mile less than 2014! It was worth it, and I plan on being back in 2020! This year I'm top 8% in my age group, next year I'll be into the next age group, who knows, I may get faster! Thanks all for the support! Net Time 3:13:26 (my new Boston PR!) Overall 5039/26632 In Gender 4435/14662 (Male) In Division 246/1853 (M50-54 Age Group) Boston Marathon 2018It was not the year for top performance, it was an experience that once again confirms that Boston is unpredictable. I had never thought that I'd wear a rain jacket during a marathon in April. I started with a fleece jacket that I was ready to discard at the start, but that I ended up wearing up to mile 17, when it got too heavy to carry up the hills. I had never stopped at a portapotty during my previous 7 marathons but adding 3 minutes away from rain and wind didn't seem too bad. On the other hand this is is the first marathon without cramps, I guess my body was more concentrated on saving heat than legs. And on mile 17 I finally got to show my ITALIA shirt, which gave me a big push with a lot of Bostonians shouting encouragements. Highly recommended even if you're not Italian :-) Best of all, cold weather, wind, but no pneumonia! This was my slowest Boston by far Net Time: 3:24:21 Overall 6391/25746 In Gender 5187/14142 (Male) In Division 375/1859 (M50-54 Age Group) Boston Marathon 2017BOSTONNetTime 3:17:27 Overall 4125/26411 In Gender 3609/14438 (Male) In Division 209/1945 (M50-54 Age Group) Boston Marathon 2016The Road to Boston Three consecutive Boston Marathons! Who would have thought 4 years ago? This year is going to be particularly special, since April 18 is also my birthday. It's definitely going to be an adventure, and I feel confident I can pull off a memorable performance, although the numbers are stacked against me. After my left tibia stress fracture in September 2015, I have run 864 miles, with 0 miles for 5 weeks, and reaching my weekly mileage target of 50 miles only twice (I clearly don't obsess over that :-) Compare that with the same 9 months before Boston 2015: 1,760 miles, 19 weeks over 50 miles, including a few >60, >70, and Javelina 100. On the other hand, I feel well rested, with no plantar fasciatis pain … and I went to over 10 spinning and Bikram yoga lessons which have to count for something! Bottom line, my targets for this year's race are to 1) re-qualify for Boston 2017 with over 5 minutes under my BQ (hence run under 3:25), and 2) possibly beat my Boston 2015 time … why not? The reason why I can think about beating last year's time is the weather. 2015 had been cold and rainy, let's say miserable. And while cold is good for running, I had suffered it a lot at the end. The forecast for Boston 2016 is mid-60s, sunshine, and a little headwind. Not perfect, but more enjoyable. As every year, I get the royal treatment at Enrico and Rosa's. A wonderful, quiet, cozy suite in their castle and, best of all, the company of true friends. We manage to squeeze in a Saturday performance with Olympic champions like Jason Brown at the Harvard Ice Skating rink, followed by a real Boston/Italian-style pizza. On Sunday I pick up my bib and manage to meet Amanda at the Expo, try all the latest Hokas, and connect with Marisa. A quiet dinner with Enrico & family on Sunday night, a few hours of sleep, and the royalty treatment continues with Enrico dropping me off 2 blocks from the bag drop-off tents, where they hold the Boston-provided clear plastic bag with all the stuff I'll retrieve at the end of the race. One change compared to previous years is that the bag drop-off / pickup is not in Boston Commons but on Boylston St, hence right at the finish, no need to walk that extra half mile. Great job guys! I jump on the schoolbus to the start and we get off at the Athlete's Village in Hopkinson where we'll spend a couple of hours before the race start. The weather is already warm, yet I keep the hoodie and sweatpants that I'll discard just before the start. I line up for porta-potties twice (hey, it wouldn't be a pre-race blog without this critical piece of info), and I think I'll be OK for the race. However, I need to pee again just when they call us to enter the corrals, so for the first time I use the porta-potties located just before the corral entry. This year I won't be the first behind the rope of my corral, but who cares? I'm not going to run sub-7 min/mile for the first 10k like last year, I learned my lesson, right?!? The Race! … and we're off! There are thousands of runners in front of me. I find myself running on the left shoulder and let my legs go, on the passing lane yet trying to reduce the impact so I don't crush my quads and feet, still running a fast mile 1 (7:02). My target is running around 7:15 downhill and on the flat, so that I have some cushion for the uphill to average 7:30 min/mi for the race. I feel good, it's hot but not too much, and there is a cold headwind with occasional gusts that cool us down. I drink a little Gatorade and a little water every 2 miles, I remember that last year I knew I was going to be in trouble when I reached the half, hence I push but I have no intention to run sub-7. My fastest mile is going to be mile 4, 7:01. I eat a GU Roctane around mile 9. I get to the half and I'm happy to see that I'm around 1 hour 35 min, hence in between 2015 (1:33) and 2014 (1:36). Hang in there! I reach Wellesley College, what an experience! All these girls shouting and wanting to be kissed, I high-five probably 30-40 of them, until my right arm hurts. This year the energy along the course is much more than last year, the weather helps! Every year I come back and relive the dream, impossible to just take it for granted! However this year there is an extra surprise: around mile 15 Francesco, one of Enrico's friends that I met on Saturday night, comes out of nowhere and starts running with me! I'm suffering a bit thru an uphill, so I'm not really chatting away with him, but although a little worried that it may not be legal, I enjoy his company. He's complimenting me for my speed, although my legs are not as quick as one hour before. We hit a downhill and go fast, then he disappears. Thanks Francesco! He would later tell me we ran that mile together in 7:03. And surprises are not over yet! I now have to tackle the four Newton hills, the last being Heartbreak Hill. I'm not sure why I have such a hard time counting those hills. Should be easy: 1, 2, 3, and 4. In reality, I'm never sure when they start, although I (and everyone else!) know when they end. Now, imagine half a million people shouting at you (for encouragement, clearly). You hear a read signs of all kinds, and sometimes you think someone is calling YOUR name, and that happens even to me, although my name sounds like Czech-sah-reh … However around mile 19.7 I distinctively hear someone calling me. Who? What? I'm dazzled and confused, I had hallucinations while running, but only after 23 hours of running, not 2! I finally turn and I see Marisa, JoAnn, and Andy! Wow, they spotted me among 26,000 runners, they've been tracking me while waiting for Eleonore, and Andy has his camera pointed at me! Grazie ragazzi! The last photo of the sequence, where I look scared, is also the one where I experience my first cramp on my right calf! This is the first time I experience this kind of cramps during a race. I have taken a couple of salt tabs already, but clearly is not enough. The heat combined with the cold headwind is tricky: I now understand that when Francesco told me "you're not even sweating" that was a signal that getting dehydrated is a real risk today: we're sweating for the heat, yet we don't feel it because the cold headwind is cooling us off! I start drinking more and eating more salt tabs, I had carried only 5 with me, thinking that one per hour would have been enough, but it isn't. I also eat another GU Roctane, the second and last. The cramps increase while I'm running Heartbreak Hill (my slowest mile, 8:30), but cramps really peak at the downhill after the four hills. It's really strange, looks like some muscles had been idle during the climb, and now that I have to go downhill they cramp on me! I'm in recovery mode, I'm able to run but if I push and run fast my cramps get worse. The left leg is doing better, maybe because of the sleeve I'm using to protect my stress fracture. Anyways, the crowd is now roaring, I wish I could just let their enthusiasm push me like two years ago! I have to hang on, and finish. I see a few runners suddenly stop and grab their calf, and I hope it won't happen to me, slow is much better than walking to the finish! One image is stuck in my mind: the sign "4 miles to Go!". "Just" 4 miles, on a regular day that would be easy, but they now seem fraught with unknowns and suffering! I estimate that I will finish just above last year's time, and I turn off the real time speed, listen only to my legs, pull thru. At the 40k sign I know I have it in me, I won't stop. I push thru, gaining in just the last 2 km a whopping 47 seconds compared to last year, I cross the finish and I'm not feeling too bad at all, I get my beautiful medal, drink two protein shakes and a bottle of water, eat a banana, gather my gear bag with my phone. I check my finish time: 3:17:48, just 47 seconds slower than last year. Here's the detailed comparison with last year: At 40k I had a delay of 1:34, which I cut exactly in half in the last 2km! Bottom line, let's say my time was 3:17, same time as last year, right?!? :-) Here is the Strava detail: https://www.strava.com/activities/549829748 Post-Race Celebrations! I call Honey and enjoy her sweet voice. In my gear bag I have wipes and towels to somewhat clean myself. I then change into compression gear for recovery, call Marisa to see if we'll be able to meet, but they are not in the finish area yet, hence I head out and jump on the T train. It's past 2pm and my flight is at 4:57pm EDT. One more reason to run fast! I get to the airport easily, proud of walking up and down those stairs, breeze thru security, I have actually time to enjoy a bacon burger and a porter. I land at 8pm PDT, Veronica and Alex are waiting for me in their Boston Marathon gear, they pick me up in San Jose, and by 9pm I blow my candles and eat my cake with the family! The magic of living a 27 hours birthday! Boston Marathon 2015 |