Boston 2012- jonc

Thought I would put in my two cents on the race weekend.

First, thanks to Kbfitz who set up the get together at the food court which was the best time for us to meet a few of you all. It was nice to put a few names with faces and hope to do it again in the future. I think we have some really great people here on the 365 board.

As for the race, the main thing I can say was that I was impressed with how the community came together to help the runners out. You could run through water at least a couple times through most miles after 5 or 6 except at the end of the race. I also picked up ice several times and stuck it in my hat which had a bit of a cooling effect and even ate a strawberry popsicle around mile 22. Hannah was jealous about that when I told her after the race.

My plan after realizing it was going to be hot was run easy, hydrate, and take it a mile at a time. I found that I was about as hot as I was going to get after a couple miles and then it really didn't get any worse. I took gatorade about every other stop and used water at every stop especially the last half, both to drink and to cool myself off. Never had the sensation that I was getting too thirsty, and didn't have any early dehydration symptoms. I kept waiting to crash and burn but never really did. Of course I was exhausted at the end, but my legs held up very well with no cramping, no blisters at all. Of course I ran almost 40 minutes slower than last year so it was not stressing the cardiovascular system to the degree it normally would have been. I think having run the course four times now was helpful as I knew what was ahead of me. Did a lot of walking through the aid stations, but not anywhere else on the course. Started out the first two or three miles with everyone passing me, and me passing all kinds of people the last six or seven miles, even at my slow pace.

The lowlight in retrospect was the 4:10 time was my second over 4 hour finish time ever. The first was the second full of a double a few years ago in 4:16 or so. I'm OK with it since it was by far the hottest full I have been a part of. I do train in heat and humidity during the summer months, so that part wasn't a big deal to me, but running a race for that distance with only a few warm weather days here in Nebraska last month was a bit concerning. Good thing the humidity was relatively low, had it been humid it would have been even worse.

I have Lincoln scheduled on May 6 so we'll see how that goes. Weather out here is unpredictable in the spring.

Congrats to all of you that gutted this one out! It will definitely be a Boston that we will all remember. And again, it was nice meeting some of you in person!

Very nice job, Jon!

Good to meet you Jon and way to go with a smart and sane race plan and solid finish in conditions most of us were not acclimated to yet!

Hey another Nebraska person! I grew up in Lincoln and it was my first marathon, but I am in the Chicago area now.

Nice job with the heat in Boston! Hopefully Lincoln won't be quite so hot, but who knows with this crazy spring?

Great job pacing yourself Jon. Times were of no significance in that heat, and you just went out a ran a very smart marathon. Good luck next month in Lincoln.

Good job. It was tough!!

Great job out there Jon! Congratulations on a historical Boston finish!

Congrats on running a smart race and finishing in those tough conditions. Good luck in Lincoln.

Good job, Jon! I plan to be at the half-full split off mark (I think around 12 miles?) at Lincoln with 2 older guys volunteering so I hope to see you there.

Congratulations on finishing this toughie!

Nicely done, Jon! You managed the race and the conditions perfectly. Sure, your finishing time was slower than you would have liked, but your strategy ensured that you would finish. Congrats.

Congrats on a job well done in tough conditions! It was also nice to meet you, your wife, and cute little Hannah!

Congrats on finishing, Jon! All of you are inspirations!

Congrats on crossing that finish line. Slow or not, its commendable on that day.

Hopefully May 6th will bring cooler temps!

Great job Jon!

Jerry wrote:Great job Jon!

+1

Good job Jon - sounds like you were able to roll with the punches and enjoy the experience - there is wisdom in that!!!!!

Jon, it was a tough day out there and I really hope Nebraska works out really weel for you. I agree the spectator support was pretty amazing. Recover well.

Jim Lentz wrote:Very nice job, Jon!

Thanks Jim!

fostever wrote:Good to meet you Jon and way to go with a smart and sane race plan and solid finish in conditions most of us were not acclimated to yet!

It was nice meeting you too Steve! It was a bit of a hard decision not to try to push it, but the circumstances dictated a high risk of a disasterous result if I did.

carleenp wrote:Hey another Nebraska person! I grew up in Lincoln and it was my first marathon, but I am in the Chicago area now.
Nice job with the heat in Boston! Hopefully Lincoln won't be quite so hot, but who knows with this crazy spring?

Thanks Carleen! It is surprising to me how many Nebraska connections there are on this board.

Seth Harrison wrote:Great job pacing yourself Jon. Times were of no significance in that heat, and you just went out a ran a very smart marathon. Good luck next month in Lincoln.

Thanks Seth! Hope all is well with you. I haven't been accused of being smart too often in my lifetime, but I'm glad someone thinks that I was on Monday! haha!

mountandog wrote:Good job. It was tough!!

Ditto that Michael!

Lauren wrote:Great job out there Jon! Congratulations on a historical Boston finish!

It was historical all right, but not for all good reasons. Memorable, yes. Thank you Lauren, and it sounds like you ran pretty well yourself.

Joel H wrote:Congrats on running a smart race and finishing in those tough conditions. Good luck in Lincoln.

Thank you Joel! Appreciate you all following the race.

Julie wrote:Good job, Jon! I plan to be at the half-full split off mark (I think around 12 miles?) at Lincoln with 2 older guys volunteering so I hope to see you there.

Julie, will you be the ones directing the split of the two races or will you be handing out water etc? I will definitely look for you at that point.

Vivian wrote:Congratulations on finishing this toughie!

Thanks Vivian!

Mark B wrote:Nicely done, Jon! You managed the race and the conditions perfectly. Sure, your finishing time was slower than you would have liked, but your strategy ensured that you would finish. Congrats.

Thanks Mark! You are exactly right and that was my intent...to survive.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Congrats on a job well done in tough conditions! It was also nice to meet you, your wife, and cute little Hannah!

Thanks Michele, I enjoyed meeting you and seeing the excitement of your daughter going to college.

I am so excited to report that Hannah and I did a "practice" 5K run walk for her Girls on the Run last night that she missed earlier in the week. Her first official 5K will be in three weeks so she was excited to realize she can cover the distance. I am probably more excited about this race than for any of mine. I am going to be her race buddy.

KathyK wrote:Congrats on finishing, Jon! All of you are inspirations!

Thank you Kathy! I agree, there were a lot of memorable race reports from some of this group.

Dave-O wrote:Congrats on crossing that finish line. Slow or not, its commendable on that day. Hopefully May 6th will bring cooler temps!

Thanks Dave! That was my goal, to cross the finish line intact.
Whatever May 6 brings, it's not likely that the first couple hours of the race will be as warm as Monday was (with a 7am start).

Jerry wrote:Great job Jon!

Thank you Jerry!

ounce wrote:

Jerry wrote:Great job Jon!

+1

+1 on your comment, ounce! Thanks!

John Kilpatrick wrote:Good job Jon - sounds like you were able to roll with the punches and enjoy the experience - there is wisdom in that!!!!!

It wasn't my original plan of course, but it did make for an interesting experience to not feel like I was trying to race Boston.
As you can imagine, aspects of the race were enjoyable, but the actual going through the race was not as enjoyable. But that is one of the reasons I try to train in a wide variety of weather conditions. You never know when that will come in handy in a race situation.

JohnP wrote:Jon, it was a tough day out there and I really hope Nebraska works out really weel for you. I agree the spectator support was pretty amazing. Recover well.

Thanks John, and I hope the same for you in your recovery! You really went through the wringer and came through it to fight another day.

Great job Jon. Tough conditions and you came out well. Recover well for Lincoln.

A neighbor that ran the Kona Ironman told me that they run that a mile at a time, then rehydrate (and take salt tabs). So, you're now ready for Kona!

Nice meeting you, sorry we didn't get a chance to chat.

Jon I'll be helping direct runners, saying something really profound like "half marathons turn, full marathons straight ahead" and I think there's usually a pick up truck parked by the group.