I knew that I couldn't even contemplate wearing the pair of toe socks that I had. But I still gave a shot at putting on the Wrightsocks that I had. Nope. Those are way too snug for the way my left toe is feeling. Wool socks it is. (Thank you, Jess, for having knit me these socks!) I've never run in wool socks before. In fact, the only time I've ever worn the wool socks has been AFTER a marathon -- they are loose, comfy, and keep my feet warm. But could I run wearing them? Who knows? Mercifully, the second pair of sneakers are my typical pair, and I was able to don them without any problem. So, first hurdle cleared.
Finally get out the door with my bottles of water and Shot Bloks in the clear runner's village bag, and I walk to the T station. Plenty of time. It only takes about 30 minutes for the train, including one transfer, to get me to Boston Commons, where the bus loading is to take place.
As I walk along the front of the park, I briefly meet up with a few other members of the Boston Squeakers group -- all of whom have the ultra-speedy Wave 1/red bibs. I have the slightly less speedy Wave 2/white bib. After a few minutes of chatting, we start walking over to the buses. While they go through Security and board the buses, the white wave isn't being let through yet (which was expected). So, I just stand around for a little while, intermittently chatting with the volunteer who is directing the continuous flood of people. I decide that I want to have a bagel (since there is no runner's village this year -- and any of the food that they would normally have there is not going to be available pre-race), and eventually make my way to the nearby Dunkin' Donuts, pointed the way by some local cops. (Sure, it's not a New York bagel, but pre-marathon, I'm not exactly going to be picky about that. It's the carbs that I wanted.)
Eventually, they decide to allow the 2nd wave to join, and we all pile in to a pre-staging area, waiting for the current set of buses to finish loading and depart. The new set of buses pull in, it starts raining a little bit, and they let us go to the staging area for the buses. If you've ever seen the beginning of a marathon, the way we were off like a shot towards the different buses was reminiscent of the scene.
I chat with my seatmate for most of the ride out, and we eventually get to Hopkinton. The rain has dissipated, but it's still a nice cool day to start with. We couldn't have asked for more perfect conditions. And where we were dropped off at the high school, the portapotties had no more than 5 people in any given line. Wonderful! Make the final pit stop, do a little bit of stretching, get my water bottles and my Shot Bloks into my belt, and begin amking the trek through town towards the Start Line. It's early, but they're not holding back any of us wearing white bibs. By the time I get to the starting area, it's closing in on 9:13. Even though my start window isn't supposed to begin until 9:24, they allow me to proceed.
This is it. The moment of truth that I have been worrying about since Mile 17 during the Chicago Marathon. While walking has been fine, how would I handle running?
As you may know, the first mile of the Boston Marathon is the steepest part of the entire course. EVERYONE always goes out faster than they should here. It's typically a matter of whether you can rein that back in to a more reaslistic time so that you don't drain your batteries too early while you're feeling great.
7:18. That was how well I was doing. I was able to *run* down that hill without feeling any pain in my toes whatsoever in 7:18. Yes! While I know that I won't be keeping that pace for the entire race (I'd be thrilled with 7:30 - 8:00 as my average pace), I finally know the answer to my dreaded question: Yes, I *will* be able to finish the Boston Marathon. And not only will I be able to beat 5 hours easily, I should even be able to beat 4 hours without a problem.
No comments:
Post a Comment