Boston Marathon Race Report

By: Zachary Chenoweth

2018 Boston Marathon

My Boston Marathon journey began before the start line in Hopkinton. For my first two marathons I had very limited training and maxed out at about 30 miles a week spread out mainly over Saturday and Sunday runs with the Dukes. That changed with CIM where I was running much more consistently, doing 70-75 miles a week. The problem came with the workouts. I ran with Sal, Corey, Brant, and Chris at the track but that would tend to be my only workout for the week and were normally of the quicker/shorter variety. I avoided tempos and long sustained marathon based efforts. Although CIM ended up being a big 14 minute PR, I fell apart hard. I went from averaging 5:55 through the first 20, to 7:20 over the last 10k. I knew I would need a change in my training strategy if I wanted to take the next step to being a better marathoner. No longer could I just do whatever I wanted to. A coach would be instrumental to that change. Arlene had nothing but good things to say about her coach Nick Arciniaga as he helped prep her for CIM so I decided to reach out at have him coach me as I prepped for Boston.

The goal was to run sub 2:37 and with Nick’s plan in place, training was going great. I was running workouts at the prescribed paces and even doing tempo runs, which I despise, at my marathon pace and feeling consistent and relaxed. The only race between CIM and Boston that I had planned was the Mountain 2 Fountain 15k. I had never run a 15k race before and had no idea what to expect but the course was similar to Boston so it was out to Phoenix for a weekend with some of the other Dukes. There I was able to PR in the 5k, 10k, and by default the 15k. I felt strong and relaxed the whole race and was a good boost in my confidence.

I had to leave the mountains of Albuquerque for the flatlands of Abilene, Texas for my last rotation of PT school. There, training continued going well. The local college, Abilene Christian, was hosting a track meet one weekend and I decided to jump in. Although I had not done any true speed work, I figured the strength from marathon training combined with the lower elevation might carry me through to a PR. The race went well. I felt strong over the first 2 miles but then the lack of speed work caught up to me and I faded over the last mile. Even still, I ran a 17 second track 5k PR. Following the race, I did a short 800 meter workout and then watched the rest of the meet. The next few days I was doubting if I should have jumped in that race. It was just over 3 weeks until Boston and my hip/glute was really bugging me and made it painful to run. My guess was that, as I was wearing spikes, I had focused more on stretching my calves following the race and neglected my piriformis/glutes. I took off about a week off, stretching and loosening up my irritated/tight muscles and thankfully when I returned to running it was relatively pain free. Over the last few weeks leading up to the race, my legs were feeling ready to go so I had to make sure to keep the runs nice and relaxed and not go too crazy.

It was finally the Friday before I was to fly out to Boston. After work, I did a short run and decided to go see a movie to help keep my mind off the upcoming race. When the movie ended, there was a notification I did not want to see: My flight leaving from Abilene the next morning had been cancelled. American Airlines was “kind” enough to switch my flight to one leaving the next afternoon. The problem was I would not arrive into Boston until after 1:00 AM on Sunday and then I would still have to make my way to the great Tim Gill’s place. As I did not want to risk being super rushed and tired the day before the race in a city I was not too familiar with, or worse not making it to Boston in time for the race due to other cancelations, I decided to make the drive to Dallas. I called American and got back my original flight, minus the Abilene to Dallas leg. I drove to Dallas and got in around 1:00 AM and looked for a hotel near the airport. There weren’t any rooms available so I ended up sleeping in my car. I arrived at the airport early the next morning. Waiting at the gate I could see other runners in Boston jackets and shirts from previous years converging for the last part of the journey. I had made it. I was shipping up to Boston. On the flight, I did the most Boston thing I could do at 35,000 feet and watched The Departed. Everything else went smoothly over the next day and a half. I met up with Tim and was able to relax as much as one can leading up to a marathon.

I woke up race morning a little after 5. I made myself some oatmeal and then prepared for the elements. I had extra clothes and a nice trash bag dress ready to help stay dry before the start. After dropping off my gear check at the finish line, the bus ride to Hopkinton was quiet as everyone seemed to be readying themselves for what was to come. I knew it was not ideal PR weather so I just told myself to go out there, have fun, and make it to the finish line. Arriving in the village I was overcome a little with emotion. I had made it and there would be no turning back now. I tried to stay warm and off my legs as much as possible, waiting out the remaining hours before the race was to start by sipping on some water, eating a banana and some HoneyStinger chews. When they gave the call for the Wave 1 runners to make their way to the start line, I jogged along, discarding my extra clothes. In the final minutes leading up to the race, I discarded my trash bag covering and readied myself for the journey into Boston. Then the moment I had been waiting for: the gun went off.

Everyone took off and I did my best to try and stay as relaxed as possible. A few miles in I heard a familiar voice, Paul Ross had caught up to me. We chatted and even joked how the rain was not too bad. We stayed together for a mile or two before Paul said he was going to go for it and took off. After the slower first mile, I was hitting between mid-5:50s and low-6:00s. Leading up to the 10^th mile marker I felt like I had to pee. We were coming into Natick, so pulling off on the side of the course wasn’t really an option. Luckily I saw portapotties and quickly jumped off to relieve myself. Coming back out, I knew there was still a lot of race left so I did not have to kill it to get back up to where I had been. I was able to settle nicely back into the high 5:50 pace.

The constant presence of the rain meant I was pretty much soaked. My singlet now clung to my body. But it didn’t matter, I was racing and my body heat was keeping me relatively warm. Next up was Wellesley and the halfway point. Although you couldn’t see the crowd at the college, you could hear the scream tunnel from a ways off. Coming into the college, I ran along the barrier high fiving the outstretched hands. I tried to make sure I did not get carried away from the enthusiasm and support of the crowd and continued with my high 5:50s, low 6:00s. My legs were still feeling good. I was feeling relaxed, ready for the second half of the race.

Following the uphill leading out of Newton Lower Falls, I noticed my right quad felt like it was tight/wanted to cramp. I made the decision to back off a little. I was now averaging around mid 6:20s for the next miles. Even though I backed off the pace some, with each medical tent I passed I thought how it would be nice and warm in there and how nice it would be to dry off. Those thoughts were fleeting as it was the Boston Marathon and I was going to make it to the finish line. Before the race I had looked up some outlines of the course and knew there were 4 Newton Hills. I went over one, and then the others including Heartbreak. I shortened my stride and kept the same effort and that helped make them very manageable. My pace had slowed slightly with the hills, but seeing the Mile 21 mark I knew I was almost there and had just over 30 minutes of running left.

With this section of the race now being downhill, I tried to open it up, but my quad kept me back. I kept telling myself to make it to the next mile marker and then the next. I had slowed down a little more and was now in the 6:30s. There was a short little uphill leading up to the Citgo sign and that is what did me in. Now instead of just my right quad feeling like it wanted to cramp, my left hamstring decided to join in on the fun. I slowed down and came to a stop and took a few seconds to try and stretch it out. After the short break, I knew I was almost there. The sign meant there was one more mile. I did my best to keep the legs moving and make the right onto Hereford Street. It is hard to put into words what I was feeling as I made the left turn onto Boylston Street. The crowd was cheering and although I was wet and chilled from the wind and rain, I was within sight of the finish and could not feel it. I tried but couldn’t really put up much of a final sprint to the line. I was okay with that though. I had made it this far and was going to finish. Coming to the line I made an attempt to throw up my arms in celebration. Looking at the finish line video makes me laugh as my arms didn’t even make it above my shoulders. It wasn’t until after I crossed and received my medal that the cold hit me. I began to shiver and was very happy to receive the space blankets. The struggle came in getting out of my wet clothes in the changing tent but after some time I was able to do it. I then hobbled back to Tim’s to get cleaned up so I could enjoy some beer and food.

I crossed the finish line with an official time of 2:45:09 (I estimate I probably lost about 30 seconds with the pit stop). This was only 1:20 off my PR I had run at CIM in December, but that was under much better conditions—perfect temp, no rain, and no headwind. I knew going into the race I was in the best shape I have ever been in. That leads to the what if game…If conditions were better, how much faster would I have gone? Would I have gotten my sub 2:37? Or gone even faster? Or would I have gone out too fast and faded? No one knows. I cannot let myself get caught up on this as I still ran a very solid race and to come that close to a PR in those conditions is still something to be proud of. This was the best I had felt finishing a marathon and was much more consistent over the later stages.

Now I just have to rest and get ready to attack my next training block for whatever my next race will be……TWIN CITIES? PHILLY? BOSTON 2019?