Marathon Monday!

The Race

They call it "Marathon Monday".  I got up at 5:50 am.  Adrienne made sure I got everything I needed.  It was comforting having her there.  I had a gingerbread poptart and banana.  Same as my first marathon in 2007.  I drank lots of water between then and the race start.

I had to shower.  I don't like racing if I'm not clean before I start.  Then, I went to the bus downstairs.

Adrienne used a pass that the Wards had to watch the finish from the Grandstands.

The bus ride was incredible.  Usually that is not the case in Boston.  It takes so long to get around town because of stop lights and one-way streets.  However, we had a police escort.  The lights were ignored and traffic was all stopped as we moved along.  We got on the freeway and a police motorcycle would drive ahead to keep traffic from entering the freeway while other patrol cars stayed behind us to keep people from passing us.  As we left the finish line area, I noticed dump trucks blocking the way of streets.  That was to keep anyone from driving into the finish area from any location.  A race official that missed his bus sat with me and told me some things about security.  I kept thinking about Betty's prayer about my safety and realized everything would be fine.  They have drones above the race that can zoom in to see someones expression, snipers in the buildings, bag checks at every entrance to where athletes would be around the finish, the escort to the start, SWAT team on hand, and police lining the course mixed among spectators.  They even have three finish lines, so if something happens at the real finish line, they will divert the rest of the runners somewhere else.

Up at the start, we had access to a church where I found Jon Kotter who was also in the elite group.  We went upstairs to rest and found Jared up there.

We relaxed, hung out, and laughed while most others were "in the zone".  There was a mix of personalities and attitudes up there.  Some others were also more relaxed and having fun.

We warmed up a little, then got ready for the start.  I was still feeling the pain in my foot and lower leg, but it was minimal.  I said a prayer that I would make it through with that not being an issue.  I did one more stride and could not feel it at all.  When I would walk or jog, I noticed it a little, but race pace was completely fine.

We were treated with enthusiasm as we entered the start area.  The crowds were enormous and the Corral 1 runners that start behind we were excited to greet us as we walked by them.  I saw one coach from SLC that said hi as I went by.  It was crazy being at the start.  I was pretty happy and excited to be at the start as you can tell from the screenshot Rachel captured from NBC.  http://boston.cbslocal.com/video/3652061-2017-boston-marathon-elite-mens-race-start/

There is about a 10m gap behind the elites and the rest of the runners.  I tried not to get too excited and go too fast at the start.  The effort felt right and the first half is faster than the second on the Boston course if you run it right.  So, my splits had me a little faster than my goal pace, but it felt good and I was banking some time for when the hills come during the second half.  I tried to hydrate as much as I could without causing a side ache.  I knew it would be hot.  It did get into the 80s around the start time.  I felt my first bit of fatigue around mile 9 and wondered if I had gone too quickly, but that was the mile I dedicated to Michael Morgan and felt a gust of wind from behind as I thought about him.  That gave me some support and I quickly forgot about that bit of fatigue.  I had a list of names that I memorized of people or families to think about for each mile. I memorized it and it really helped quite a few times.

Jared was my first mile since he is a smart racer and I needed to think about that to not be too excited to start quickly.  I had Adrienne twice.  The first time was as I passed Wellesley College. It's an all-women's school where most of them come out to the race to kiss as many runners as they can.  I thought I should stay focused on Adrienne ahead at the finish line for that mile.  I also had her near the end where there is a small hill that I thought would feel big and would need some extra motivation.  My dad was the 26th mile and Jon Kotter, the only runner I've ever kicked to the finish with was my motivation for the final 385 yards.

I passed a mission president and wife and about 40 missionaries at one point.  They were excited to see my BYU uniform.  I had many people cheering for "Hunter" and "BYU" the entire way.  It was the right uniform to wear.  When I got to the Newton Hills, I got a little slower, but felt I could run a good time still.  I only needed to run 6:00 pace for the last 10 miles to get 2:28.  That should be easy, I thought.  I got to the top of the hills with a downhill 10k to the finish and as soon as I started down the hill, my abdomen cramped up.  It's still sore today.  I ended up walking for a couple of minutes.  Then, I ran to 35km (the whole race is 42.2km).  I saw my drink and thought, "I don't want anything but water."  At the next table, Jared had not taken his bottle.  It was nearly full of water.  I took it and walked while I drank the whole thing.  I started running again, not very fast, but I was running.  I found it hard to keep going, but my last few miles were my mum, Rebecca, Adrienne, and my dad.  I really felt like walking a few times, but kept about a 6:30 pace going for most of it and just thought "I'm not going to stop during this person's mile".  The closer I got, the better I started feeling, but my abs still hurt.  They weren't getting worse so I kept pushing. It was motivating to think of my people throughout the race for various reasons, but the last 10km it really helped a lot.  So, although I was disappointed with my finish time, I was pleased by my effort.  With how my body reacted, I don't think I could have done any faster that day.  So, no regrets, but it sure would have been fun to get a top 3 award to have an awards photo with Jared who got one for being top 10.

Post-Race

I crossed the finish and had to put my hands on my knees for a little bit.  I was quite dehydrated.  Mike, a finish line worker, said he's in charge of bringing me to VIP recovery.  That sounded like the kind of place I needed to go.  As soon as we started going there, I saw Adrienne, which is a challenge in that area.  I went over to give and get a hug.  We visited for a bit then planned where to meet after I was done in recovery.  I must have received a medal because I have one with me now, but I really don't remember getting it.  We got to recovery.  I quickly signed up for a massage and started drinking.  I visited with some people and found out results.  The massage was good.  I realized I was generally fatigued and sore all over, but my foot had never even been noticed the entire way.  Erica's massage the night before and my prayer before the start did the job.  In the prayer, I made sure I was grateful for making it through the training without injury.

I made my way to the hotel and showered.  My little toe had a good sized blood blister.  So, I went back to medical to have it drained.  The medical tent was incredible.  I thought I had walked into MASH unit.  There were people with some real problems in there and I just had a blister.  A podiatrist name Ken drained it for me.  He was very kind and talkative.

I went back to Adrienne and after a rest and more fluids, we went out to watch Larry Lawrence finish.  I talked a finish line worker into letting me give him his medal.  It was fun to award it to him.  That is his 23rd finish of the Boston Marathon.

While I was waiting for Larry, a lady finished and I notice something unique about her uniform.  Her name was Jill Bishop.  Her uniform said, "Takapuna, NZ".  I went up and asked her about it.  Morgan lives right next to Takapuna right now.  She told me her race was bad.  She was too hot and it didn't go well, but she was still very happy and enjoyed the experience.  We talked about NZ for a little while and I told her about Morgan serving a mission there.  She told me to have Morgan run the Rat Race.  It's a 5k every Wednesday in Takapuna.  We'll see if the president will let him.

Then, we went to the awards ceremony for Jared.  The top 10 overall get awards.  At the Olympic Trials, Jared was third and Luke Puskedra, also from Ogden, was fourth.  Here Luke was 9th and Jared was 10th.

We missed the dinner because the awards took so long.  Jared said he would like a burger.  That sounded really good.  So, we went to "Tasty Burger".  I got a bacon cheeseburger.  It tasted so good, then I felt sick for a day.  I don't think it was so much the burger, just my body being so messed up from racing in the heat.

We wandered around the finish line taking some pictures and just enjoying being together.  It was really easy to get to bed at 10:00 and fall asleep quickly.  It was so good having Adrienne there.  I kept thinking of how she will be worried that I'm not there in my goal time and I needed to hurry to have her know I was ok.