With nothing but hopes, dreams and a dash of reluctance to get by - I did run and finish it.
Boston's Run to Remember
Sunday, March 12, 2006, 8:15am
Race #: 2226
Net Time: 2:09:03
Pace: 9:51
I almost decided not to do this: No formal long-distance training- the most that I did for one run session is 7 miles.... Problematic knees.... Need to finish leftover work from the entire week prior spent on the left coast. There were numerous excuses to list, but I gained a second wind of determination by Saturday afternoon. Coerced a friend to join me for a pre-race carb overload of pasta and ended my Saturday night early.
Headed for the Seaport area at 7am. I was heading to the World Trade Center to check the exhibit halls when I ran into Dave. Pleasant surprise - I guess it's not just me amongst my crazy lot of friends who opted to forgo the normal routine of sleeping in on a Sunday morning. Meant to meet up with another friend racing that day, but got sidetracked and just made it in time to position myself at my designated pace section.
Got my running tunes lined up... started the race. Boston and the entire course was a great location choice - heading into the downtown route, the financial district skyline loomed above. If I didn't worry to much, I could have enjoyed that sight even more. The course weaved through historic portions of Boston and Cambridge, and apart from a few hills (placed at very crucial points) - it was relatively flat.
By Mile 5, my right knee started hurting and paid it no mind.
Mile 7: Sharp pains whenever I bended.
Mile 9: Still painful, now numb - with some sort of muscle strain on the upper right thigh. At this point, I had to slow down... even walk for a couple of minutes. It will be too scarring for my pride if I don't finish this. Went to the sidewalk and stretched for a little bit - but determined to cross that line.
Mile 11: Not sure what mindset I was on - despite the pain... I was able to plug through. Few more miles, I thought. But why does it seem like it's taking forever to get to Mile 12?
Mile 13(?): Hits from the iPod... this song came on -
This could be the very minute, I know where I'm alive. All these places feel like home.
My friend, Kathleen, who also ran that day - had a good point: "Who's bright idea was it to put that hill on that last mile to the finish line?" I was thinking of that same thing as I remember seeing the blue Finish Line marker in the horizon. This bridge connecting downtown Boston to the Seaport area could have been a nice, flat quarter of a mile - but no. Some bright set of engineers they commissioned for the job, really. So close, yet so far: this was a longest mile of all them. My feet picked up speed and everything else was white noise for a brief moment.
Then I crossed over. Stopped, and realized I could not feel my legs. I relaxed for a few... just to get re-oriented before heading to the event hall at the World Trade Center. As soon as I got over that - I was brave enough to think: I just really ran 13.1 miles. A seasoned marathon runner might read this and have a chuckle, but when the sense of pride came in, I thought: Bring it on - give me that other half to run!
My knee is still screaming bloody murder, but I wish to believe it's all worth it. I've said it once before: No better way to roam Boston and say goodbye to what had become for me, not quite home - but somewhere relatively close.
Speaking of craziness and inflicting pain on oneself, anybody interested in signing up for this race with me next year?
Photo credits: www.bostonsruntoremember.org
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