How I Got Over

First things first, here's my Boston Marathon report:

It was hot.

Did you like it?  After putting in month after month of hard training this winter and into the spring only to be faced with a 90 degree Marathon Monday.  Temperatures were even steady the week leading up to Boston in the 40s and 50s.  There was no time to adjust to the heat.  Any chance at a PR or BQ was gone.  My strategy going into the race was to start easy but to try to run in the 3:05 range despite the heat.  This was foolish.  By body broke down very early in the race.  It was awful.  My heart rate was greatly elevated after the first few miles, even running at an easy pace.  I began to get dizzy and lightheaded too.  These conditions were dangerous.  Fluids were not helping me in the slightest to regain my strength.  I felt weak, tired, and my pace faded quickly.  I dropped out just before the 20k point at an American Red Cross station.  They took information from me and gave me fluids right away.  I learned that I had lost over five pounds of my body weight at this point in the race.  The medical personnel told me that my day was over.  My health was at a dangerous point and if I kept going things could have been much worse.  This was devastating.  I set my heart on one race, with one goal in mind.  I wanted to BQ at my first Boston from the day I got into the race.  After my stay in the medical tent, I was transported to the finish area in Boston with a number of others who had gone through similar ordeals.  One guy made me feel better, noting that all of the people around us were from cold weather areas (he was from Michigan) and had not trained in the warm weather.  He then said that it all has to do with genes.  Some of us can run in the heat, some of us cannot.  I was not in a position to run well in the heat at Boston.  As I rode on the bus into Boston, I put my head down in shame.  I had failed.  Everyone keeps telling me there is nothing I could have done and that they are happy that I came out with my health.  I, however, cannot do anything but blame myself for this result.  It has been tough to deal with over the past couple weeks.  I was down and simply did the only thing that could make me feel better: RUN!

Luckily, my run on Marathon Monday did not take anything out of me.  I hydrated well the rest of the day and in the days after too.  I cranked my training back up and ran 95 miles the week after Boston.  I already had another marathon planned out in my mind.  The Cox Marathon is right in Providence on May 6th.  This is a local race and much of the course is where I do all of my training.  During my 95 mile anger-week I put in a strong 17 mile run at a 6:52/mile pace on the Cox Marathon course.  I knew I had not lost any fitness and still had my base from Boston.  I am excited to say that I will be running the Cox Marathon on May 6th and be shooting for a sub-3:05 effort.  I played around with my training this past week and put in several quality efforts.  There was also one thing I wanted to do between Boston and the Cox Marathon.  RACE.


(Rambling it Up!)

This past weekend I ran the James Joyce Ramble 10k.  I regained my confidence by crushing my PR with a 39:09 (6:18/mile).  I won first place in my age group (19 and under)!  The course was amazing, taking us through rolling hills around Dedham.  There were also actors along the course reading bits of James Joyce to the runners.  This made me laugh at several points during the race.  I also am happy about this run because I was able to really "race."  I ran in a pack of about five runners through the middle miles of the course.  This kept my effort even and lead to a great result.  I really did get "lost in the moment" during this race.  I enjoyed this run in its fullest.  I would strongly reccomend this race for any runner looking for some type of historical aspect in a race.  So many positive vibes came from this race that will stay with me in my taper week for the Cox Marathon.  I am looking forward to this challenge and am feeling very relaxed and at peace with my running.

Run Happy,
David

"I don't think about the miles that are coming down the road, I don't think about the mile I'm on right now, I don't think about the miles I've already covered. I think about what I'm doing right now, just being lost in the moment." - Ryan Hall

Look for me right at 30 seconds into the video!