Boston Marathon 2013

Boston Marathon 2013

Where do I begin?

I had run Boston in 2007. I didn’t really prepare myself for the course or to try to race it. I wanted my Boston experience to be one of enjoyment; running with a smile and for the memories. That plan went out the window as a noreaster blew into town on race morning. I also let the first half of the course take me and went out too fast. This was not the experience that I wanted but I fell in love with the course anyway. It was impossible not to love every bit of the course.

With this in mind, I qualified to run Boston again this year. I was coming off of 2 marathon times of 3:03. I wanted a sub 3 so badly and my last attempt was on a trail marathon due to the NYC cancellation. The trail terrain ended up putting some minutes onto my time. I felt ready to break 3 hours but I had to find happiness in assuming that I was fit enough to break the barrier on a paved route. Anybody that knows me knows that this will not do. Both of my 3:03 times qualified me for Boston. One for this year’s (2013) and the other for next year’s (2014). Fresh off of my second 3:03, I decided that Boston will be my next shot. I put every effort into my race training and strategy for the course. I would be able to say that my marathon pr starts with a 2. This would be my time!

I am very lucky that I have friends in Boston that allow Kelly and me to stay with them whenever we get the Boston itch. We LOVE Boston and truly think of it as our favorite city. One of those friends, Shauna, often tries to convince us to move to Boston. She doesn’t know how much we fantasize about it (well, now she does). Shauna, once again, offered up her place for us to stay for the weekend of the race. We gladly accepted and asked if we could have a few friends come and stay, too. She replied that our friends were more than welcome. So with that, we had Mark and Liam (Team Loco teammates and good friends) make plans to come cheer me and the other runners on. They also knew they were going to enjoy some free time in Boston, which didn’t hurt.

With everything going so smoothly on race weekend, I felt like this was it. This was going to be the marathon where it happens. I was going to break 3 hours. I stayed gluten-free for a little over 2 weeks and race weekend was no different. I ate the right things and got my steak meal the night before. Kelly, Shauna, Liam and Mark were great as they kept me relaxed and kept my mind off of the worries of the marathon. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to spend marathon weekend with (well, maybe the rest of Team Loco would have been even better). I got a solid night’s sleep and woke up at 4:30am on race day. I ate breakfast and my stomach was very accepting. I put on layer after layer, made sure I had my number and nutrition for the day and said goodbye to Kelly.

The plan was for Kelly and Shauna to see me finish. I was assuming that they were going to get as close to the finish line as possible. I was excited that Kelly would be able to see me finish in under 3 hours. This was to be a VERY special moment for me due to the frustration and struggle to make it happen. To have Kelly witness it would be more than I could ever ask. She has put up with my crazy gluten-free approach. She made our meal gluten-free, researched ingredients, searched ingredients in the market, researched restaurant menus to make sure they have options for me. She’s witnessed my struggle with the 3 hour barrier. She’s my sounding board even though she is tired of hearing it. But I got the sense that she wanted it as much as I did because she knew what it meant to me.

I arrived at the starting line under perfect conditions. The weather was mid 40s at the starting line and wasn’t to exceed lower 50s by the time I finished. There was an ever-so-slight breeze to dry the sweat and keep the skin cool during the first half of the race. There was a moment of silence for the victims of the Newtown shooting before the race started. It was a somber moment but it was touching. With the confidence that something special was going to happen, I “toed the line.”

The gun went off for the start and there was no way I wasn’t following my plan. I was going to stay over 7 minutes for the first mile. The pace I needed was 6:52 and all of the research I found said to hold back early on. If you let yourself go down the hills, you will lose the very muscles (quads) that will get you up the hills from 15-21. I learned this in 2007 so it wasn’t happening again. I watched all of these people go flying by me in that first mile and came through in a 7:07. I was very happy with that. From that point until mile 5, it was all about finding my groove and staying relaxed.

I took salt capsules and powerbar gel for sustained energy. I stuck to the plan and continued to hit my goal pace time. It seemed that 6:52s were clicking by. My legs felt great and I was able to breathe through my nose (a check I do with myself to make sure I’m not pushing too hard early on). This was mile 11! I made my way through Wellsley College and read all of the signs that the young ladies created for this special day. Many of those signs can’t be mentioned here as this is a family friendly blog. After I made my way through, I was at mile 13! Still feeling good!

I knew that this would be the true test. The hills were coming. I placed myself behind a man that was going my pace and stayed right on his heels. He brought me through the next mile in 6:51. I couldn’t believe things were going this well. I stepped to the side and went past him. I did the next mile on my own and hit a 6:43 mile. Here are the hills. At this point, I was actually looking forward to them as I was looking for a change in the muscles that were being recruited. I settled into the hills with a quick turn over and good arm pull. I made it up the early hills with no problem. The positive thoughts started forming in my head. I was thinking that this could be possible today.

The next (and possibly most frightening) challenge was heartbreak hill section. I sucked down a few more salt capsules and another energy gel and leaned into the hills. I watched all of these runners falling back, walking, stopping, and suffering. I couldn’t believe just how great I felt. I started to get chills thinking about seeing Mark, Liam, Kelly, and Shauna while feeling this good. I knew that Kelly was worried and I didn’t know if the tracking system that Kelly used was working. I finished the hills with a 6:51 pace without even pushing. I was still able to breathe through my nose. This was inexplicable! I felt like I was on a cloud that was transporting me to the finish line. I rounded the corner onto Beacon St. and there were Liam and Mark! I was not ready to see them as I thought they would be closer to Mile 23. I gave Liam a high five and gave them a thumbs up. I had just over 3 miles left and I was pretty sure I was on pace to achieve my goal. I felt way too good for this not to happen.

I continued passing a huge amount of people and was doing more weaving now than I was in the beginning of the race. I didn’t mind, however, because I was feeling so good. Next up, the finish line and Shauna and Kelly! I popped one more energy gel at mile 23 and set my mind on the line. I kept telling myself, “just keep your turnover up.” I couldn’t believe I was doing it! I had goosebumps that wouldn’t quite. I had feet that couldn’t feel the ground. I had spectators yelling, “GO TEAM LOCO!!!” I floated towards the finish. I turned down Hereford and onto Boylston, the final road to victory! I saw the finish line, looked at my watch, saw that I had a cushion to work with and immediately started scanning the crowd for Kelly. I wanted to share this with her and had to find her. I also thought that I should make sure my number was showing for the finisher picture. As I thinking about my number I heard, “Joe Sullivan!!!” I looked to my left and there was Kelly, lunging over the railing, shouting for me. I pumped my fist and smiled to her and knew my journey was complete. I could finish now. I turned towards the finish line and my heart starting to beat out of my chest. This was the first time that my breath was uncontrollable. I started to hyperventilate and wheeze. I told myself to calm down or I wasn’t going to finish. I relaxed and slowed my pace a tad, ripped my number off of my race belt and held it up to the crowd in the grandstand. I was gesturing for the spectators to make some noise and was rewarded with screams and applause. What an unbelievable feeling. I had never experienced that before. I crossed the line holding my number over my head with a huge smile. I did it! 2:57:55! I have many people to thank for my successful race. I will continue to do so for a long time.

I met Kelly, Shauna, and Maureen at the family reunion and we made our way to our celebrating spot at mile 23 (Brookline).  We were sitting outside, enjoying a wonderful lunch and watching the runners continue on to their finishing line when one of our lunch party received a notice about the tragic events at the finish line. Our celebration immediately turned to disbelieve and heartbreak.

I know that this tragedy was done to strike fear into the hearts of Americans. This only made me sad and proud. I am incredibly saddened that innocent people were forever scarred on a day that was meant for celebrating. I have a feeling that the Boston Marathon will be back even stronger next year. I have a feeling that more people will try harder to qualify to show that we will not bend in the face of fear. I am proud of the people that responded in the way that they did at the site of the tragedy. I am proud of the BAA and the way they handled everything very swiftly and decisively.

I still don’t know how to feel about my race. Every time I sit back and start to feel the excitement from my accomplishment, sadness creeps in and saturates everything. I’m sure it will work itself out, but for now it’s not about me. I will revisit this blog in the weeks to follow and at some point it will be about my race, but not now.