Boston Marathon ‘21 Race Recap

Man I haven't had this great of a race in a few years! Weather was near perfect, body

Felt good from jump, paced well, tackled the hills and have enough left in the tank for a bit of a kick at the end! What more could you ask for!

For my 5th Boston Marathon - 4th time in Boston + last yrs virtual edition, wifey and I kept things pretty close to the norm when we travel to there. Got in the Thursday before and were lucky enough to stay at the Doubletree in Chinatown, which is about a half mile from the end of the finish line chute. Great location central to lots of sights, good restaurants nearby and a subway station feet from the hotel entrance.

Quick Travel Advice
For those of you traveling to Boston for the marathon, I highly recommend booking your telly and flight mad early. Like, book the hotel as soon as you BQ and book your flight as  soon as you find out you’re officially. Hotels and airlines know the race is going on and there's 30K runners typically racing, so things fill up fast! So save yourself some $$$ and get those RSVPs done ASAP! We actually bought travel insurance for the first time well just in case they canceled the race last minute; an extra $50-$60 for peace of mind.

Pre-Race Communications and Protocols
The BAA did a great job in keeping everything as close to the norm of previous years; but obviously had to make some changes because of COVID. Communication from the race org was stellar - regular emails leading up to the race that became more frequent in the final weeks or two.

Most notable addition was all of the protocols ensuring everyone was either vaccinated or tested negative prior to race day. In reading emails from RDs of other smaller races, I assume a lot of the extra leg work was mandated by city, county and state officials requiring the precautions or else the race could not go on.

As such, there were tents outside of the expo to verify your vaccine card or provide testing. Once confirmed, athletes were given a blue bracelet that was their ticket to access the expo, and the bus to the start line. They also asked to RSVP a time that you would do this during race weekend to not have crazy lines. Luckily, we went to the expo on Friday, around three, and there were zero lines.

In front of the Abbott World Marathon Majors booth. Six Star medal is a long term goal!

Expo Experience
Previous years, there are typically crowds of people on a Friday. This year, it was dead. I'm sure it's in part to there being less runners racing overall - 20k VS 30K were allowed, plus folks choosing to get into town later in the weekend for the sake of safety.
Once inside the expo, I had to go pick up my bib, much like at local hometown races. This was another change compared to year's past. Usually, they mail your bib to you before the race. But in being COVID cautious, they opted for the weekend pick up.

The usual signing walls, photo op standees and backdrops were all available for people snap away throughout the expo. Usually, they give out posters with every runner's name on it. But they didn't do that this time. 😕 It is a cool extra swag piece to have, but with some BQrs finding out late that they qualified and made it in, I'm sure it was beyond the timeline to pull it together for the printers to have them ready in time.

The first booth you enter is the enormous Adidas booth. There you can get your hands on all the official gear and swag - your Celebration jacket, warm ups, training gear, shoes, shot glasses, mugs, water bottles, pins and patches. Just a smorgasbord of stuff for you to open up your wallet for. So of course I did! Copped the usual stuff - Celebration jacket, an everyday hoodie, quarter zip long sleeve for cold days, training shirt for others, some souvenirs for the fam. Blowin. Money. Fast. 💸💸💸💸💸
Paid for it all and was excited to check out the other two halls where all the other vendors sit at, but got there and it was like being on the Pirates of the Carribbean ride at Disney - you get all amped up for the big finale and then, bloop a tiny little fall. The one and only other exhibit hall had few vendors with plenty of room to walk around. And that was it. Completely underwhelmed.  A Sam Adam's beer garden, another booth to pick up beer from, a booth from Maurten, Abbott World Marathon Majors, Marathon Foto, Gatorade, and few others and that was it. Womp. Womp. No New Balance - who is based in Boston, no Saucony, any other major running brands, no nutrition vendors. Nothing. It felt like my local half marathon expo than a major running event. I overheard conversations that perhaps either the city of Boston or the convention center itself didn't allow the typical expo set up for the race lest it become too crowded and create a potential risk in spreading COVID. I mean you could be mad about it, but if the decision was to have all these safety precautions to put on the race put in place or not, I'll take it. However I will say that we did go to a Celtics game that was mad crowded – easily more than 15K with everyone masked up, but that is OK I guess. I digress.

So after that let down, we dipped out and peeped a bit of the outdoor fan fest set up they had with another Adidas booth, a band, other vendors and some cornhole games set up.

So I harp to all my athletes the importance of checklisting everything you need to bring with you for your race, especially if you’re traveling. I even created a race day checklistso that you don’t forget anything. But despite that, and having raced nearly 80 different races, you would think I have it down cold by now. Nope. Shit happens to even the best of us. I didn't forget anything too major, ONLY MY FUCKIN GELS FOR THE RACE! No big deal! 🤣🤣🤣. Luckily, I'm in marathon mecca with lots of run specialty stores available. A quick hop on the T on Sunday morning out to Marathon Sports in Brookline fixed that problem. Shout out to the staff there that were super helpful and friendly and had what I needed in stock.

Sunday Routine
After fixing the nutrition debacle, wifey and I chilled the rest of the day - grabbed some quick lunch at Tatte Bakery and then headed back to the telly to just chill and veg. 3:30 comes and I take my ass down to the hotel gym for my usual pre-race workout. Now I know this goes against most coaches’ suggestions, but I’m different. Yes, I know I’m not going to get any faster. But, it’s become my ritual for the longest time, much like wearing your lucky running shorts. Plus it’s my fifth Boston, so Ima say that I’m on to something and that it works. I also use the hour and change to get my head in the game and visualize the course, think positive-I’m-gonna-crush-it affirmations, and be to myself with my thoughts. The workout usually goes like this:

·        Foam Roll/stretch/warm up – see what feels tight, how the body moves.

·        5K on the treadmill at marathon pace. Again listen to my body, see how it moves.

·        Cable core work – woodchoppers, lawnmower pulls, baseball swings, plank cable rows, reverse cable flys; things to tighten the core up so my running form feels solid

·        Leg work – basic squats, lunges & deadlifts with some light to moderate weight

·        Stability leg work – some glute activation movements, adductor work, balance moves.

I do all this to get a good eval on my body to see how it’s feeling under a bit of tension, so I can either address it with stretching/foam rolling, or so I can keep my eye on it on race day if it worsens. Nothing is done with crazy reps or sets or heavy weights. I want the body to feel engaged and activated, but not enough to wipe me out and feel sore the next morning. Sometimes if the muscles are too loose, it’s hard to get them activated properly on race morning.  This workout handles that and primes the pump if you will. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for all my athletes, but would definitely take it into consideration with them as a possibility.

I head back to the room, shower up and we head out to dinner at a dope Thai restaurant called Kala Thai Cookery. Some of the best prepared Thai food I’ve had everer! Didn’t get anything too crazy – some pad see ew, chicken wings, pineapple fried rice, and some Thai tea (of course). Well cooked, fresh ingredients, plenty of carbs and good protein to fuel up for the big show!

Pre-race pic before the action starts! #runbuds

Race Morning

I actually felt relaxed and slept pretty good the night before! Usually, I’m a bit anxious and excited and have trouble sleeping before a big race. With the rolling start for the race, I didn’t have to wake up before the crack of dawn to catch the bus. Met up with my boy – shout to @JulesEdward6, who was also running and we walked to Boston Commons were the buses are. I grabbed a coffee and bagel at the hotel lobby and off we went.

It seemed like more chaos than in previous years with getting on the bus. We went to bag check so he could check in his gear and then we walked to get in line to get on a bus. The whole line process just seemed disheveled compared to years past or maybe I just don’t remember it being crazy. Maybe having security double check we all had wristbands made it seem more hectic, or maybe because more people were catching buses all at once, but it just seemed off. Waited a few minutes to get on, and then a few more to take off and away we go! It was actually nice to see the drive out to Hopkinton with the being sun up and not being groggy from waking up hella early. Leaves were just starting to turn for the fall, so it was extra pretty to look at. I still managed to take a short nap before we got to our exit.

Finally getting off the bus! But not at the local high school! We rolled right past that mug and got off on the street and immediately were being shepherded to the starting line. It was the usual half mile walk, but they were moving us along! We weren’t ready! But oh well, gotta go! Weather was solid, so didn’t need to delay keep our throwaways on for long. It was great seeing the neighborhood locals hanging out in front of their house like they usually do to cheer us on and wish us good luck. As we get to Main St. where the starting line is, they have a bunch of porta potties all set up in the CVS parking lot right on the corner. Tons of people are all in line to use them, getting their final stretch on, getting their mind right before they head off to start. We both do the same.

As we handle all the last minute business, we’re constantly hearing over the PA system that once we’re ready, we can walk up to the starting line and start racing. No corrals, no waves to sit in, just walk on up, make sure you got your watch ready to go and go! We were all kinda unsure, but as we get closer to the line, another announcement assures us that our timing will start once we cross the timing mats and that there is no starting gun or extra hoopla. Not sure if I liked the rolling start. Typically, I’m in Wave 1 and in one of the back corrals (it’s all decided based on your BQ beforehand), so I’m starting about 10-15 minutes behind the pros and can hear the announcers greeting everyone, emceeing and finally pop off the starting gun. But with this year’s rolling start, the elites started at 8:37am and we didn’t start until close to 10am. So we didn’t catch none of that. It felt kind of like a deflated kickoff – no big send off, no nerves to build up as you’re waiting huddled up with everyone else. So while for some a rolling start might be a good thing because there’s no time to over think it, I personally was a huge fan of it. On the plus side, as we’re running, I did pass up a lot of the slower runners that somehow were able start a lot sooner, despite starting times supposedly still based on your BQ. No complaints here! I was happy that they were able to take advantage of the better running weather instead of having to wait to start until closer to noon as in other years where it could be getting way hotter or as in 2018, turning colder, rainier, windier and more miserable as the day got on. It’ll be interesting to see as we move on past COVID, which of these changes stay and what goes back to “normal”.

The Race

So I double check the shoe laces, make sure my GPS is good to go on my watch, say a prayer for all of us and off we go! Like I said in the beginning, I haven’t felt so good throughout the whole race in years! Probably since my first Boston back in ’15, but with the weather being so shitty that day, I couldn’t really enjoy the moment. As much as I tried to soak in the moment that year, I was also getting soaked from all the rain and was just trying to get done and out of there. So this year it was great to enjoy it all and not have to suffer with bad weather.

It being my 4th time running on the course, I know it enough and was set on not going out too fast and paying for it once I got to the hills of Newton. It’s hard to do because of the descent right from the start mixed with all the race hype. Somewhere between mile 2 & 3 I realized I had to take another leak. I start thinking, “Do you really need to pee? Can you hold it another three hours?” Yes and no were the answers, respectively. So before the porta potties become scarce further down the course, I find one and handle business.

As I’m running through the different towns, I’m hella impressed with the number of folks that are out watching. It was a bit less than previous years, but with the pandemic surely keeping folks away or people not having the day off on what was Indigenous People’s day, plus less runners from out of town which also mean less spectators from out of town watching, there was still a huge presence of people cheering all along the route. I couldn’t help but high five and fist bump the kids sticking their arms out, hit a couple of power button banners and since it wouldn’t be wise to kiss the girls at Wellesley during a pandemic, I flashed them per the orders of one sign holder. The Boston Marathon is hands down the best crowd support for a race.

Before I knew it, I was already getting towards the halfway point. I thought to myself, man, that felt really fast! I’m not even tired yet! Looked at my watch as I hit the timing mat and it clocked me at around 1:33. I do the math and figure I’m just a bit off pace from my 3:05 goal, but figure I can make it up after the hills. Finally we get into the town of Newton, where all the infamy of this race lies. You hear constantly about runners falling apart on the hills because of how late they pop up on the course, how they kill your legs after running downhill for so long, how the holes in your training will show up. Not this time for me, though I can definitely attest to how hard the hills can be. 2016 had me joining the sufferfest in the heat as I cramped up from not hydrating well. 2018 had me taking some walk breaks as my body was just exhausted from trying to stay warm in the freezing temps, 30mph wind gusts and rain coming at me sideways. This year, the stars aligned, my training was on point, weather was good – all of that! I was powering up each and every hill with ease! Felt like my body downshifted and I hit that low gear to put the torque into the hill without overtaxing my heart rate. Hill one, chewed up and spit out. Hill two, laughed at and dissed. Hill three, that was a hill? By the time I got to Heartbreak Hill – the one everyone talks about, I thought I was done with the hills. Oops! Having too much fun I guess. So by that point, I just took in stride the miscalculation and monstered up that one too! This is why you train on hills!

So although I didn’t remember that there are four hills in Newton, I damn sure knew it was about six miles of downhill to the finish line! As I’m assessing myself after tackling the hills – still feeling great, I’m starting to figure out how much gas I got left in the tank. It can be tricky in deciding when to pick up the pace – too soon and too fast and you’ll burn up and end up crawling to the finish line. Too late, and you’ll feel like you didn’t leave all out there on the field.

I get to about 22.5 miles and figure, “Let’s go!” and decide to pull the trigger. Slowly try to let out the pace and let the body adapt to running faster. By now, I’m in Brookline so I know this part of the course well, having gone on my usual recon run on Saturday. Body feels good considering. Get to about mile 24, and as I’m trying to pick up the pace more, I can feel the calf wanting to cramp up. No biggie, it usually happens, I adjust my stride a bit and run it off before it worsens. Make another attempt to pick up speed, calf still wants to act up, so I run it out some more. I get up and over the freeway overpass and I make a third attempt as I get near the famous Citgo sign, which is one mile out from the finish. This time, I feel the hamstring wanting to cramp up, which is waaay harder to run off if it cramps up, so I decide it best to sit and hold at my current pace.

If there’s ever a moment where time moves slow as molasses and your destination feels like a mirage, it’s during the last few miles of a marathon. For me, the last three miles of the race should take just about twenty two minutes. But by then, my body is feeling the fatigue, the exhaustion is settling in and it becomes a mental game testing your willpower and pain management. But if you’re feeling that way only at the last few miles of your marathon, you know the training has gone well. You’re still gonna have to earn your medal and aren’t going to get away with it easy throughout the whole race. You’re gonna have to pay the piper at some point. So these last few miles are my time to pay up.

I know what’s left on the course, the famous Boston Strong underpass, and then this tiny down & up to go under another underpass. Any other time running, this thing is nothing. But man! On race day, it’s just insult to injury. It’s short and steep so I try to use it to pick up speed for the way up, but the body is like, nope! Hammy wants to cramp again, so I feel like I Frankensteined my way out of there.

Finally ready to hit a right on Hereford and left on Boylston for the longest half mile ever! Hereford Street is another nothing of an incline any other time, but can feel like a mountain! Make that left on Boylston Street to a deafening roar of literally tens of thousands of people cheering me and everyone on! You feel like Meb, Desi, Shalane, Lelisa, all the marathon greats that have won this race over the years. It’s amazing that while all the elites have finished and are safely tucked back into their hotel rooms recuperating; that all these people are still out cheering for me! It feels like they waited just to cheer for me. I stay in the middle of the road, passing up a few people, trying to catch up to others and cross the finish line. That energy from the crowd is so well appreciated and needed as you muster up all the energy you have left to run tall like the pros do, pick up the pace and finish strong.

It’s chaining day and I hobble over to one of the volunteers to have them drape my medal around my neck. A gold shiny unicorn to add to the collection! My boy Jules finishes just a minute after me and we give pound and a bro hug to each other. It’s the first time I’ve been able to really savor the finish line in Boston. Two years of shit weather made you want to just grab your stuff and find somewhere dry. Another year left me dehydrated, cramped and feeling horrible and wanting to just get back to my hotel room to lick my wounds. So this time, the weather’s great, I’m feeling great, I’m soaking it all in!

We keep on walking down the finish line chute to grab post race goody bags, a thermal blanket and snap some pics. We see wifey and another friend and she’s amazed at how well I looked. She’s seen the best and worst out of me post-marathon and she can tell right away that all is good with me. Even though I’m tired from running 26.2 miles, I feel pretty damn good, considering. So her confirming that made me feel happy that the plan went as planned.

I always tell the athletes I coach to have an A,B & C goal for their race. For me it was no different. The A goal was to run it in 3:05. The B goal was to run a BQ time – for my age that means a 3:10 or better. C goal was to just finish. This race had me setting other goals I didn’t initially plan on: conquer the hills, pace well and feel great throughout. So while I didn’t meet that A goal, man, I’ll take all the other added wins for the day, any day! But I’ll take another BQ too! Looking back, my only critique is that perhaps I could have paced it a bit faster or not take that potty break. But hey when you’re going through it, you’re making decisions seemingly on the fly and at the end of the day, you gotta live with that. Sixteen marathons in, and the distance continues to teach.

Final finish time: 3:07:03

Places we ate at:
Tatte Bakery – solid sandwich items made to order, good coffee, great vibe inside.

Ruka Restobar – dope ass sushi with a nod to Peru (King Tupac roll & hamachi ceviche FTW), chic, dimly lit restaurant with great ambience and music playing over head. Pricey, but worth the quality!
French Quarter – Cajun restaurant near Boston Commons. Roux on the gumbo was thin, but the shrimp and grits and biscuits were smackin! You’re paying for the New Orleans décor.
Kala Thai – Super fresh ingredients, super tasty Thai food. Small restaurant, but worth it!
Bostonia Public House – steps from Faneuil Hall, big boisterous restaurant with a full bar, good standard food.
Beehive – Cute neighborhood restaurant in the Shawmut neighborhood. Great brunch menu, lots of dope artsy/vintage shops nearby
Caffe Nero – Great coffee shop chain, well priced for the quality java.

Post-race jubilation!