Boston Marathon 2023

127th Boston Marathon. Monday April 17, 2023. The 10 year anniversary of the Boston bombing in 2013. I had to come back for this last run from Hopkinton to Boston. This would be Boston #12 which includs the COVID virtual run of 2020. I wasn’t able to run last year, 2022, which broke my streak due to a piriformis issue. That was tough because we came to the city anyway and I ran the 5K. I loved being present with all the energy but come Monday when I stood at the top of Hereford and watched finishers run in, it broke my heart not to be a participant. That was when I knew there would be one more year for me running this iconic course.

April 15th. Saturday morning at 9:15 am, we were underway and packed for all kinds of weather because it can change in an instant. We exited the Mass Pike at Hopkinton for a drive along the course to Morse Tavern in Natick. This has always been a favorite for lunch before getting to the city.

After lunch, we continued to the 2nd hill in Newton before getting on 90 to finish our drive to the Boston Park Plaza. I had got myself all worked up over the silly hotel room since I booked through Marathon Tours (as I always have) for a superior queen. The hotel, even though the initial confirmation was correct, changed the room to “Wicked Small”. They put us in a 150 sq ft room on a previous year and it was so small, there were no drawers for clothing. I’m not even sure why they have a room that is so darned uncomfortable. I won’t even mention the bathroom. That’s enough complaining. On a positive note, in my opinion, the Boston Park Plaza is one of the best locations for the marathon. It is steps away from Boston Commons and the staff really whoop it up for runners as we all return on marathon Monday.

Saturday continues after check in with a walk along Newbury St, then on to FanFest where live musicians were playing, vendors had giveaways, and elites were being interviewed. Our dinner was at Basile Fine Italian Kitchen where we met some friends. Service and food were very good. Ted and I shared a salad. My main course was sea bass over sauteed spinach.

April 16th. Following a sleepless night thinking about the weather on Monday, what to wear, how to pace myself and everything else to make me restless, I got up to run 2 – 3 miles around the gardens. From the hotel through the Commons to Public Gardens and back (with a bit of weaving here and there), I ran a slow 2 1/2 mile shake out run. Paid a visit to my usual friends in Boston Commons and took photos.

Breakfast as the hotel, egg white omelet with all sorts of vegetables, fruit, dry rye toast. Now it was time to make our way to the expo at 10:15 am. The expo set up was really weird this year. We walked through empty aisles to get to bib pick up where they separated red-white bibs to go left and blue-yellow go right. It made for a faster check in to get my bib #21280. Blue, corral 6. Bus loading on Monday by 8:15 am and race start time at 10:50 am. We missed the old expo which offered so many more vendors. The only good thing about this year was we spent less money.

Following the expo, the Oofos store was screaming my name. They ran out of the women’s Oofos sport with the Boston Marathon 26.2 logo but had the mens in my size. Perfect! Love these recovery shoes!

Now it was time for a 12pm meet up at the finish line with Marathon Maniacs for a photo. *I ate a Fuel For Fire Smoothie at 12:15pm instead of a usual sweet potato.

We headed back to the room for an hour to relax before crossing the street to Legal Seafood for a light lunch. *Green salad with farro salad on the side. Following lunch, Ted found the Lynx gym at the hotel where they offered Top Spin golf. Why not?

Dinner Sunday night was at Davio’s Back Bay Boston. *Salmon over lemon risotto with asparagus on the side. Now it was time to toss and turn but try to sleep as much as possible. To bed at 9:30, up at 10, up at 12, up at 1:30, up at 3 am, gave up and got up at 5:30 am. It was marathon Monday!

Monday morning: Made oatmeal at 5:30 am with hot water from the coffee maker, adding 1 TBS of UCAN granola, then downed a 5-Hour energy to keep me awake. I tried drinking the UCAN energy powder drink but my stomach wasn’t having it so stuck with water. I took a Clif bar and small bottle of water with me for the bus ride. For running, I wore Gypsy Runner pocket carpris, Rabbit pocket tank, Nike shug (long sleeves with hand holes), ankle socks (first time I did not wear Injinji), and Nike Alphaflys. For Athletes Village, I wore long pants cut to get off easily over my sneakers, a fleece zip up which I kept on through the initial 5 miles of the race, gloves with plastic bags due to rain, an old marathon heat coat from Portland, and finally a plastic rain cover.

Ted walked with me to the buses at 7:45 am. The park was crowded so I skipped the porto-potties to load the bus by 8:15. Thank goodness the hotel was so close.

A runner named “Dani” sat next to me and she was a 12 time Boston marathoner as well. Our conversation made the ride go quickly. Our bus arrived at Hopkinton by 9:15 so I walked straight to the porto-pottie line where I stood for 35 minutes.

It began to rain and it was cold. My multiple layers were not warm enough. There were some discarded garbage bags to sit on under the tent and out of the rain where I people watched for the next 25 minutes before walking to the top parking lot for release to the starting area. Wave 3, Corral 6. The announcer was offering encouraging words such as “Look, you’re not going to win so just have fun!” A truth. The walk from Athletes Village to the start area is .7 mile. Once in the area, I went through the gate to the final row of porto potties for one last stop. They have a few tables set up where runners can take various items for free e.g. hand warmers, energy bars, bags, water, etc. If it’s there, it is free.

By the time I was in the corral, it was 10:45. At 10:49, I stripped off the pants, the plastic, the Portland zip-up but kept the plastic on my gloves and my fleece jacket but I unzipped it so my bib could be seen. I had a workout programmed on my Garmin to help me pace and let me know when to take the gels. Warmup 1 mile. 4 miles faster due to adrenaline rush. 5 mile segments to the end mainting designated pace between 8:20 to 9:00 per mile. Gels at miles 5 (UCAN gel), 10 (UCAN gel), 15/16 (Maurten gel), and finally 20 mile (Mauten Caff. gel).

The Race: I set out to fast. It felt as if energy was being expended trying to slow myself down so I ran a comfortable pace which may have been a bit fast. Tossed the fleece jacket at about mile 5, then the gloves around mile 10. I took water through mile 14 then Gatorade every other mile there after. One porto pottie stop somewhere after heartbreak hill. I did walk a few steps on Heartbreak and a few more around mile 22 and 25. My left leg, knee area, started seizing up on the down hills. It very nearly took me down which is why I had to slow way down in those areas. The pain was weird. It grabbed at my entire knee area making it feel so weak and unstable but then it slowly went away. This was on repeat for about 4 instances. By the time I crossed the finish line, it was gone. I think it had something to due with going up and then down at such a varied pace. The weather was not the best. It rained heavier in two areas on the course for about 5 – 10 minutes. Keeping the Nike shug on the entire race was smart because my comfort level felt right.

In preparation for the hills, I made the following mental notes when deciding to conquer them one by one:

1st hill: Newton Lower Falls (over route 128/I-95). Mile 16. 0.6 mile in length. 2.6% grade then 1 mile to next hill. This would take me about 2 1/2 – 3 minutes to get over. Longest but least incline.

2nd hill: Turn at the fire house: Mile 17.6. 0.3 mile in length. 4.4% grade then 1.3 miles to next hill. This is the steepest hill but also the shortest.

3rd hill: No name hill: Mile 19.2. 0.4 mile in length. 3.6% grade then .7 miles to Heartbreak which is flat and easy going.

4th Hill: Heartbreak: Mile 20.3 and 0.5 mile in length with a 3.5% grade Gave myself 5 minutes to get over it. Slight down at the top then a slight uphill before a very steep down hill to Boston College.

I walked once on Heartbreak then once or twice more in the remaining miles with a very quick porto stop. Other than the leg issue, I felt good.

Mile by mile: 8:39, 8:25, 8:23, 8:17, 8:30, 8:20, 8:24, 8:33, 8:29, 8:38, 8:35, 8:33, 8:39, 8:40, 8:48, 8:21, 8:53, 8:44, 8:41, 8:51, 9:35, 9:16, 8:32, 8:47, 8:40, 9:05

Got cleaned up then ventured to the local restaurants for small bites and celebratory drinks.

I was happy with my time. We had a mild winter in New York this year which allowed me to get through training with the piriformis issue. I had 3 x 4am long run mornings which were on Fridays before work. They went really well and it was actually nice being out there so early. That was done to avoid weather that would head in over the weekend and possibly force a long run on the treadmill which I could not stand. That being said, I had 2 x 15 mile runs on the treadmill this training cycle.

Even though I have a very large qualifying window, finish time of 3:48:30 where my qualifying time is 4:20, this still may be my good bye to Boston and the marathon distance. I will focus on shorter races through the rest of the year and see what that brings. The Distance Medley may spike my interest in 2024 but we shall see. Until then, it’s been a fantastic, memorable 13 years with 12 runs at the Boston 26.2.