I’m getting ready to leave Boston this evening, but my flight is delayed so I’ve got time to write a few words about the trip.

I got in to town late Friday night as planned, though it was even later than expected thanks to a United delay. I slept in on Saturday – sort of – and wandered down to packet pickup, where I was met with a multi-hour security line. Figuring that most people at an event like this were likely to be Type-A personalities making damn sure they got their race number as soon as they could, I went back to my hotel – The Boston Custom House – and took a nap. When I went back towards the end of the day, I was able to walk through security without even stopping. I went out for a nice dinner with my parents and turned in for the evening.

Sunday was a laid back, 80-degree day. A little wandering down to the water, and a beer up on the observation deck of the Custom House was about it for the itinerary. The forecast for race day was hot and humid, and I kept going back and forth between going for it and just doing a fun run. By the end of the evening I decided on going for it, and slept poorly as a result of the excitement.

The race was a hot one. I have nothing unique to add from any other race report, so I won’t go in to much detail. It was close to 70 by the start, with a gentle tailwind to keep any sort of cooling breeze from helping. I gave it a go for the first ten miles, and backed off when it became clear I was not setting a PR. I focused on enjoying myself and the experience, and not completely wrecking myself. Despite a pretty ugly time, I’m thrilled to have run the Boston Marathon, something I never ever thought I would qualify for.

I’ve walked 20 miles in the past two days and my legs are still pretty tight, so I’m glad I backed off when I did. It’s been a great time, and Boston is an amazing city. I look forward to coming back and visit, but in the mean time I’m looking on to Leadville. More trail and hiking miles, more cycling, and less time pounding flat pavement. Four months from this moment, I’ll be hours away from the end of the Leadman series. It’s sure – if nothing else – to be memorable.

Well, it’s done. The pain will be lasting for a few days though, my guess is by Wednesday I’ll have full function in my legs back. I didn’t make my sub-4:00 goal, not by a long shot. New blisters started forming and subsequently popping starting around mile 5 and going until mile 22-23, and my legs turned into jello about halfway through. I hoped my general fitness would help me to a quicker time, but no such luck. The three weeks of not being able to do anything at all really killed me, as my HR was up around 190 even while churning out 8:00-8:30 miles. I finished in 5:09:45.

Now a couple thoughts on the race. First, the number of toilets at the start was grossly insufficient. I got there at 6:30, immediately got in line, and barely had time to run over to the bag check and make it to the starting line before the race started. Next, the course that is billed as “flat” is anything but. There are hardly any flat sections, and there are a few multi-mile long gradual, soul crushing hills scattered through the event. The Gu tables really should’ve been stationed right before water stations, rather than out on their own, but that’s not a huge issue, and finally, they need to get some real beer for the finish. I didn’t even bother going to the beer tent, since I’ve heard MGD64 is even worse than Michelob Ultra. Come on, we just did 26 miles, at least give us some High Life. Other than these issues, the event was run pretty well. Volunteers were largely great, traffic control was flawless (for the runners; I’ve read horror stories from people trying to drive through the mess). The official course cyclists were everywhere and helpful.

Once my legs recover, I think I’ll get working on speed for a while, since I can’t do any weight training for a couple more months. I feel a need to go back and do it right (ie break 4:00) but we’ll see how that goes.