Nice weather if you are a DUCK....

Yesterday was my last big run as I prepare for my first marathon on April 20th in Boston. The run was sponsored by the Hopkinton Running Club and it was a 21 mile run from the starting line to the Boston College campus at mile 21. The running club charged non members $12 and it included 4 water stops on the route and transportation back to the start line. The event was very well planned and I would definitely do it again.

So, around here it was a beautiful day on Saturday with clear skies and temps in the 50’s to 60’s. As I ran my weekend errands it was great to hear everyone say “enjoy the day and the weather because nobody in there right mind wants to be outside tomorrow” and all I could do was ignore the comment and watch my wife snicker under her breath because she knew one fool that would be out there with Noah and his ark on Sunday.

I got up at 3:30 AM on Sunday to fuel for my run by eating my unsweetened applesauce, my banana while watching TV and sitting with my “Snuggly” that my son bought me for my birthday. I had to pick up my friend Aimee at 6:30 to be at the start for 7:00 AM and other then being up at that time all went well. I decided to go with running pants over shorts and I am glad I did that, I also left my new New Balance 769’s at home and took out my older shoes for a good soaking. I wore my windbreaker and my running cap which helped keep the rain off my face and the jacket did the best it could to keep my dry. The smartest thing I did was grab my running gloves as they saved my life on the run.

The start of the run was in a steady mist and soon picked up to a light rain by the time we got to Framingham. My goal was to not run any faster then a 10 minute pace for the first 16 miles and to finish with hopefully a 10:30 pace or better. There were 4 of us who started off at 7:00 (Matt, Carl, Aimee and I) and it soon became apparent that Matt and Carl were going to run a faster pace then I wanted to so Aimee and I let them go ahead. Once we got to Natick the rain picked up and it rain pretty steady through to Wesley. We tried to avoid the puddles but at a certain point that just became a useless thought since our shoes were soaked.

The run through to mile 16 went well and we were running a 10:10 average and then we started the hills after Newton Lower Falls. I had run to this spot once before and so anything after this was uncharted territory for me so I had no idea what the hills would be like. These hills were demanding but not as bad as I thought. We never stopped to walk the hills and we managed to pick up the pace on the climbs and I actually liked that there was a short level stretch after each climb. Since I had never run or driven up “Heartbreak Hill” I had no idea where it was so when I finished the hill and got to our buses I was happy to stop and get into dry clothes but I wasn’t wiped out and if I had to I could have kept going.

We ran the 21 miles at an average 10:15 pace and my fueling through the run worked fine, no “bonking” and no cramps. My only real issues were that I didn’t follow 100% my pre-run fueling plan of limiting fiber and solids the day before and that caused the need to stop on the route (thank God there are at least 200 Dunkin Doughnuts on the course with restrooms). So I need to address this before race day because I don’t want to have to do that on the course again. I was very happy to get back on the school bus and get into some dry clothes. It was funny to see 50 strangers opt for warm clothes and disrobe on the bus full strangers, most of us lost any sense of shyness or humility at mile 17 in the rain. I never wanted to get out my clothes faster in my life. We had a great ride back to Hopkinton sharing war stories about the run, prior races and marathon tips. As much as I like to share my love of the sport with my friends online it was nice to talk face to face with other obsessive compulsive people who would lace up there shoes on a raining day and run 21 miles instead of staying in there pajamas watching Meet the Press….

Also, thank you for those of you who heard me on the Runners Roundtable and dropped me a line, I haven’t listened to it yet so I don’t know how bad I sounded. I would be honored if you followed my blog and my progress on Patriots Day. If you have time drop me a line with your bib number if you are running Boston so I can check your status when I get home. I am also up for meeting for lunch on Saturday the 18th in Boston for anyone who wants to meet?

Cheers,

Tim Doiron