Twenty One

Today was the day of the last big training run. A 21 mile run from the start of the marathon in Hopkinton to Boston College (right at Heartbreak Hill). This draws a big crowd from all of the various charity runners. You have the benefit of waterstops but have to contend with traffic and loads of other runners competing for space on the shoulders of roads.

There are some tenants of preparing yourself for a big race. Of course I seem to ignore common sense.

Advice: Eat a hearty breakfast 90-120 minutes before starting the run
Me: Roll out of bed wolf down some oatmeal and hit the road.

Advice: Keep hydrated by sipping water/gatorade for 90 minutes before a long run
Me: I get up and drink nothing (zero, ziltch, nada) before heading out to Hopkinton

Advice: Don't waste too much energy at the beginning of the race dodging people
Me: I waste energy do weaving around slower runners (risking life and limb with the oncoming traffic).

Bottom line is that I am not very smart and need to do a better job on the big day to prepare myself.

Despite the above mentioned handicaps - I had a pretty good run. The knee was bothersome at times but was essentially a non-factor. The weather was great for running (mid 40's to 50's) and it was nice having other people around to help keep you going. At the end of the 21 miles - I think that I had enough in the tank to go another 5 miles but certainly was not doing cartwheels. Marathon day has the potential of being quite a bit warmer - so that will also play a factor in my endurance.

Some other random thoughts from the 21 miles

• In general - I am amazed at how often some people have to go the bathroom. We were literally 700 yards from the starting point in Hopkinton and there was a guy who darted into the woods to relieve himself. If you can only make it 700 yards without urinating - you need to see a doctor or wear Depends.
• I saw two people that had CD walkmans strapped to their waist. This is curious on a number of levels. First - are they listening to the same CD for 3+ hours ? Can't they spring for the $70 that it would cost for an iPod shuffle that holds 300 songs and is the size of a postage stamp ?
• The training run was organized for the charity runners. Charity runners do not have to have a qualifying time to run the race. I will be shocked if some of the people I saw today see the finish line in three weeks. Some of them looked like they might have a hard time making it to the end of their driveway to get the paper, much less run 26 miles.