| May 2002 Newsletter |
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Delaney & Co. Master Beantown
I had a really good time in the race, which was a nice break from the craziness at work lately. The training was for about eight weeks with John Whitman and Chris Mansfield, which was very helpful to a novice like myself, as I had done just one marathon-the Wineglass in 2000, which qualified me for Boston 2002 (I turned 45 in the interim). The three of us got in a few good races during the training period: for me a couple of one-miles, a 10 miler in MD, a 4 miler on St. Paddy's Day, and the Forks 15K about three weeks ago. The weekly speed and Elm Street hill runs were also good prep for Boston. I broke the High Noon tradition and actually tapered for two weeks - from my eight weeks of 50-78 miles, I did 27 then 12 in the two weeks pre-marathon. That left me feeling pretty rested, and with all the carbs for the few days prior to race time, pretty well fueled.
I also had tried to plant the mantra in my head about not going out too fast, as I made that mistake at Wineglass, and also in the Hartshorne Mile, as Adam Engst so eloquently described a while back. Also, just before departing to Boston, on a run with Rick Harrison, he related his experience negative splitting at Boston and breaking 3 hrs, and John Saylor gave the advice to "run 18, then race 8 . . ." -so I had all the right messages reverberating in my head as I approached the race.
My number was 7694, so I was binned up in the 7000 series with Esther Prins and Rick Cleary's brother- in-law Michael Trenk. I stuck with Esther, who offered some useful tips about moving through the mélange of of people who were corralled up with us. The start was imperceptible, and then a minute or two later the river started to flow toward the east, picked up a little momentum until we were walking... and after four minutes a slow jog, toward what looked like the start 4:54 after the gun now at a slow run.
We picked up a little speed and ran together for a bit when Esther pointed out to me that the left shoulder had opened up and that I could make up some time, so I said bye and started to move around many people, sometimes going over yards and behind mailboxes . . . a bit like a cross country run in places. My first two miles were 6:48 and 6:37 followed by a few oscillations faster or slower than my target of 6:50. I got a smile on my face at each 5 km mat, as I knew another checkpoint was behind me, and also that some of my friends and family would be getting feedback on my progress, as they said they were going to monitor the race on the web as it progressed; thus when I heard my shoe ring it was like ET calling home. The 5 km and maybe 10 km mats were so full of people there were no beeps from the chips, just an eerie constant "bee" sound, as all the chirps merged into one continuous sound.
I passed runners throughout the race, sometimes skirting the edges next to all the fans.. (so many people!), sometimes weaving around like you'd do in heavy traffic if you were driving your car a bit faster than everyone else, sometimes wedging between clumps of runners... "excuse me ouch `scuse . . . sorry see ya later . .. ."
At one point I was close to the crowds on the left side of the road, giving a few little kids some low fives, when a boy stuck a cup of gatorade in my path. In my peripheral vision I could see my body hit the cup, flip it to the east toward boston right into the face of the next boy in line . . . oops! hazards of fanmanship . .. danger of sportsdrinks.
The weather was warmer than we had trained in (in the 50s), and was humid, though at the start actually felt chilly. I wore a hat until about 6 miles, when I started to heat up, then shifted to a headband I was carrying. I was concerned that the heat would be a factor after our Ithaca winter-mild for us but cool compared to Boston on marathon day, so I got major hydrated pre-race, and drank a whole cup of water or green crap at every mile. I also ate a gel every 50 minutes, as I don't have much fat to burn.
The fans were truly amazing with their energy and attention to the runners. In the beginning I heard many "Go Estah's" until I was out of earshot.. then I'd enter another acoustic zone where "Go Dave's" would predominate, and I'd leave that one to enter the "Go Canada" zone, which seemed to be a recurring theme, as there were quite a few runners sporting the Maple Leaf.
I chatted for a bit to a guy carrying a large American flag, "good job, hope your shoulders hold out," and cruised on through traffic. I hit the ten mile in 68:40. Just prior to Wellesley, I heard Rick Cleary call out to me from my right rear. I curled around to pick him up, and we ran together for a few minutes. He mentioned that Ann should be just ahead after the creek, so I took off hearing Rick in the rear saying "go get em . . . " and I was off to the next acoustic zone. I saw Ann up ahead as Rick said, and said "Hi" and waved. Around the 20 km I was crossing the timing mat feeling exuberant, arms up, head back.. "Hello World!" as the chip sensor beeped and I heard Chris Mansfield call out "Terry!" from the left. I curled over and we ran together for a few minutes comparing notes. I told him my toes were a bit sore but otherwise I was feeling pretty good, and he said Mike Trenk was somewhere up ahead.
I cruised on, climbed up the Newton Hills, feeling strong and picking up the pace on the downs to make up for the ups. After the 20 in 2:17:30 I knew the final rise to Heartbreak was coming, so put my head down and cranked my way up like we do Elm Street, which is much bigger than the hills on the marathon route. That mile was my slowest (7:16) until the last two. After cresting the hill I felt relieved but not spent and was able to pick up the pace to a 6:40 on the backside of the hill.
The final 5 km were tough, as my legs were getting tired and my calves tight. I heard someone say to run on my toes more, which I tried and was able to keep the pace up somewhat. Even then, mile 25 was a 7:33 and the final 1.2 miles at an 8:04 mile pace. The fans were very loud through there, and I heard my name from some friends on the side, though I couldn't pick them out from the throngs.
I finished in 3:02:28 chip time, a 19:35 PR over my Wineglass first marathon. I must have passed over 5000 people, as I finished no. 1740 after starting in the 7000 corral, was no 415 in men 40-50. The first half was 1:29:44, second half: 1:32:39 for a slight positive split (2:55). Pace overall: 6:57.9 per mile
Our HN Masters Team of John Whitman, Duane Kennedy, and myself ran a combined 9:10:08. I don't know how that ranked with the other masters teams.
I had a great time, and really appreciate all the training advice and camaraderie from all the noontime runners in getting into shape for this one. Now to get under 3:00!
--Terry Delaney
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