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Ross Randolph 2018 Boston Marathon Race Report
The 2018 running of the Boston Marathon was supposed to be my non-IM "A" race this year. I had 3 goals for this race:
1. Finish.
2. Finish with a BQ.
3. Finish with a BQ PR.
This was my 4th year running Boston. Previous results:
2017: 3:29 (7:57 pace) - Tailwind, heat & poor hydration got me on the Newton Hills.
2016: 3:13 (7:20 pace) - Was coming off injury, had a lower mileage training program; very happy with result.
2015: 3:11 (7:14 pace) - First Boston, ignorance is bliss. My current Boston PR. Used Hanson Marathon method in training.
This was my first race (and thus my first race report) as a member of the EN team (joined late 2017). After Boston in 2017, I raced Santa Rosa 70.3 and then used the summer and fall to recover from some long-standing injuries (mainly achilles, but also intermittent calf & hamstring strains). I joined EN and Coach P had me in the Run Durability before jumping into Advanced Marathon program starting around January 1. I got stupid excited and ramped mileage too quickly; tweaked soleus so downgraded mileage and was immediately back in "runner jail" for the first month of my training plan. I took advantage of some OS Bike focus through November as injury was not that severe and I was able to get back on schedule by January.
My wife discovered ART (she is competitive IM KQ but alas, not an EN member - yet!?) and got me hooked. That, plus some run form analysis by Coach P and a doc here in California and we isolated my issue - hip drop due to poor core strength. Immediately started working on that and focused on strength training throughout Feb/Mar up to race taper.
Had a fantastic 3 months of training prior to Boston. I kept mileage no more than 30-40 miles per week (I have history of injury if go 40+ miles and in 2016 I never did more than 40 miles in a week). On March 24, I did a 20-miler and even included "Newton Hill" simulation % grades in miles 16-20. I maintained 7:07 pace and felt strong at the end. (Coach P recommended caffeine at Mile 18 - had never done that; OMG it made a huge difference.) I was confident. I was ready.
The warning signs came with the first weather report about 48 hours from the gun. Forecast for rain (near 100% chance), wind (up to 30-40 mph) and cold (high in the low 40's). Although all of us watched the forecast every hour for the next 48, it didn't change much. This was disappointing because the Saturday before Marathon Monday was sunny and cool and beautiful. I have volunteered at the BAA 5K every Saturday the last 4 years; always at the gear check tent. One way to 'pay it forward' and I love that I can get a 2nd Boston jacket! (Often the volunteer jackets are just as nice as the celebration jackets - and the color schemes are sometimes better.) By Saturday night, storm clouds were forming on the horizon.
By Monday morning it was raining, cold w/ blustery winds. I got up around 5 a.m. as is tradition, took a shower (more to wake up than hygiene) and took breakfast. Race day breakfast for me is usually bagel with PB, banana, Gatorade & oatmeal. Because the race is 4-5 hours from when I take breakfast I'm usually nibbling a bagel on the bus to Hopkinton. I was not prepared for the weather. I had packed a singlet and armsleeves. I thought that would be sufficient since 2015 was also a cold & rainy day and I generally run well in colder conditions. The big difference was the wind and also it was MUCH colder this year. So Sunday night at the last minute I hopped a train to REI and bought the LAST cycling windbreaker that they had in my size in stock. (LUCKY!) I did have the foresight to bring an old pair of shoes. I put on socks I planned to throw away, put plastic bags on my feet & then put on my shoes. I wore an Under Armour compression wear as base layer, followed by the windbreaker & then a running singlet w/ my bib. Shorts, compression socks (more for heat retention than for performance) and I kept socks & shoes for race in a separate bag nice & dry. For throwaway clothes over my run kit I had long sleeve shirt, 2 sweatshirts, 2 pair of sweatpants and a rain poncho. (And I was STILL cold before the start!)
The bus ride to Hopkinton was uneventful; I had made mistake previous years of sitting over the rear tire. (Ouch!) This year I knew better, but discovered what happens when you inadvertently pick the seat which is just above the heater. I was sweating for 45 minutes and not due to nerves. (Doh!)
The athlete's village in Hopkinton in other years is a festive, bright, cheery environment with tents you can sit in but many runners opt to sit & stretch on the grass. Not this year - the field was a muddy mess. Everyone was huddling in the tents, but the conditions weren't better than what was outside. In fact, many were worse. Sure, you got out of the rain, but the mud was super thick and would suck your shoes off your feet if you weren't careful. I tried to time my bus ride to minimize my time in the village but still have 90 minutes to kill before race time. While I should have been stretching and mentally preparing for the race I spent most of my time with others shivering & trying to stay warm.
The last 2 years I missed the Air Force flyover & national anthem while waiting in line for porta potties. There was no flyover this year due to weather but I did get in my corral (Wave 1, Corral 8) for the anthem. That was cool. At 10:00 a.m. the gun started and our corral slowly moved up to the starting line. Took us about 6 minutes to get there, but when we did we were off. (By now most had shed their outerwear, including me, though many kept their ponchos on for several miles - and, as it would turn out, many for the entire race.) And I must say there is absolutely nothing like passing that giant "MARATHON START" logo in Hopkinton - except, of course, for passing over that giant "MARATHON FINISH" logo 26.2 miles later!
Miles 1-6 were all about settling into a pace and not going out too fast. My target pace was 7:15/mile which would get me a Boston PR of 3:10 if I could hold on. Mile 1 = 7:24. I've never been able to hit target split my first mile despite the steep downhill coming out of Hopkinton. Mile 2 - 4 were 7:08/mile. Was doing well although I definitely felt my effort was higher than it should be this early in the race. The rain wasn't a problem for me and with the windbreaker and thermal (plus some hand warmers in gloves I wore) kept the cold at bay. But the stiff, variable headwind was all over the place. Never less than 10 mph and gust that felt 30+mph every few minutes. Definitely messed with the mind early on in the race. I wear a Garmin 920XT and I have lots of data on my primary screen, but - oddly - not my HR. So that was a miss; I should have been watching that better. For miles 1-6, HR was around 154 bpm which is a little higher than my training would have predicted given my pace. I did have one unexpected diversion - a pit stop at Mile 5. Cost me about 30 seconds but was much needed and I wasn't worried about losing time this early. First time in 4 years I had to do that.
Miles 7-12 are all about ticking off miles and staying in my bubble. The last 3 years I ran with music or podcasts (yes, one year I even had Coach Patrick in my ear on the course for a few miles - back before I was on the inside!). However, this year I left that at home and ran without. I'm glad I did. I thought that hearing all the footfalls around me and others grunting, etc, would bother me since I usually run solo and don't have that distraction in training. But maybe it was the (literal) pounding of rain or perhaps I've just never known what I was missing - regardless, I enjoyed the crowds (what there was of them - was lowest showing in 4 years) and tried to feed off them through these early miles.
Miles 13-17 are all about getting ready for the descent to Newton. But first you get the "scream tunnel" at Wellesley which is just about the coolest thing I've ever experienced while running. You hear them about 1-2 miles before you see them. The numbers were lower this year but they still managed to get spirits up. At this point I was still on pace and despite the weather still had my sights set on BQ and even potential PR. I was hitting 7:10-7:15 miles.
Last year the wheels started falling off not long after the turn at the Newton firehouse and the first of four sets of hills. I ended up 3:29 that year and did not want a repeat. Around Mile 16, I made my first move with my nutrition. I've found that my body responds best & my stomach is conditioned to water & Hammer Gels for marathon running. I usually take 2-3 deep sips every mile and a gel every 30 minutes (approx. 4 mile intervals). The one change this year was taking a gel with caffeine starting around mile 17 which I did. The response was same as in training - immediately perked up and found my cadence back closer to my target of 175 spm. (My average for the race was a disappointing 170 spm - I need to do a better job managing that next time.)
I managed the first 3 hills without too much incident. Pace was slipping toward and even beyond 7:30/mile but I expected that; my goal was not to charge up the hills but to keep leg turnover consistent and conserve to open it up on the backside of Heartbreak and into Boston. The fourth hill - known as 'Heartbreak' - had me slowing a bit more and a >8:00/mile split. Usually there are all kinds of motivational messages in chalk on Heartbreak hill. Not this year; everything was washed away. It was just us, the hill and what was really a handful of spectators who braved the conditions to cheer us on. Mentally, this is difficult not just because of the hills but because you see so many other runners slowing & it's so hard to stay in that bubble not to want to join them. (And it didn't help with so many of us near hypothermic seeing the "Medical Tent Ahead" advertisements every mile.)
Two of my three goals were crushed not on the Heartbreak uphill, but on the downhill side. After cresting the top at Boston College I was regrouping and starting to get my cadence back up. After about 500 meters I started to feel the familiar tugging on my right calf. I hadn't felt it in months but I know that feeling as it's kept me sidelined from running before. At first I was thinking (hoping) it was just cramping up so I stopped by the side of the road and tried to stretch it on the curb. I shortened my stride and it seemed to slowly work itself out - but I could feel it and was aware of it the rest of the way.
Miles 22-26 were about surviving to get across the finish line (about 5% of the field DNF'd); I didn't want to walk and didn't although splits for the final miles were 8:00-9:00/mile and I came across at 3:20. 10 minutes slower than I wanted, but 10 minutes faster than last year. And later, as I got the news about the pros and then heard all the stories of others who fought through the race, my self-pity gave way to the humility & thankfulness that should accompany the honor of racing this historic course.
The epilogue to my race report is actually pretty cool. So my employer - Abbott Laboratories - is one of the corporate sponsors. (In fact, they just renewed for a 5-year term for the Abbott World Marathon Majors which also include London, Tokyo, Berlin & Chicago.) A perk is that they rent out a conference room in a hotel not far from the finish. Every year, I've enjoyed being able to get into hot shower and a warm meal soonafter the race. Another really cool thing is I've been able to meet really amazing people, like Joan Benoit Samuelson (legendary runner, former winner of Boston and the first woman to win Olympic Gold in women's marathon in LA in 1984). And this year, as I waddled into the room, one of our Abbott handlers said "Hey Ross, do you want to meet Tim Don?" (Of course I knew about Tim Don and like many others had recently been reading about his 'halo' story - my source was a posting on the EN Run GroupMe page!) Tim had just run the same race under the same conditions and turned in an amazing 2:49; and while talking to him I could tell that he didn't have full mobility of his head. He told me he's having to do his swim training with a snorkel but is hoping to do full IM within next few months and has aspirations to be back at Kona in October! Truly an inspiration and great ambassador for our sport. That really made my day!
Well, that's it. 2018 Boston in the books for me. Focus now on 2018 IM training: Santa Rosa 70.3, Santa Cruz 70.3 & Langkawi (Malaysia) 70.3.
Here are some other specs:
Shoes: Asics GT-2000 for training; Saucony Mirage 5 for racing
Distance Run: 26.74 miles (don't know how I managed an extra 1/2 mile but it's real)
Time: 3:20:47 (according to Garmin)
Pace: 7:31/mile
Calories: 2884
Avg HR: 157 bpm
Avg Cadence: 170 spm
Avg Stride: 1.26 m
Link to Garmin file:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2628983795
Teeth stopped chattering for a minute to get finish line pic:
Me with Tim:
Me with Joan (after hot shower & some post-race nutrition):
1. Finish.
2. Finish with a BQ.
3. Finish with a BQ PR.
This was my 4th year running Boston. Previous results:
2017: 3:29 (7:57 pace) - Tailwind, heat & poor hydration got me on the Newton Hills.
2016: 3:13 (7:20 pace) - Was coming off injury, had a lower mileage training program; very happy with result.
2015: 3:11 (7:14 pace) - First Boston, ignorance is bliss. My current Boston PR. Used Hanson Marathon method in training.
This was my first race (and thus my first race report) as a member of the EN team (joined late 2017). After Boston in 2017, I raced Santa Rosa 70.3 and then used the summer and fall to recover from some long-standing injuries (mainly achilles, but also intermittent calf & hamstring strains). I joined EN and Coach P had me in the Run Durability before jumping into Advanced Marathon program starting around January 1. I got stupid excited and ramped mileage too quickly; tweaked soleus so downgraded mileage and was immediately back in "runner jail" for the first month of my training plan. I took advantage of some OS Bike focus through November as injury was not that severe and I was able to get back on schedule by January.
My wife discovered ART (she is competitive IM KQ but alas, not an EN member - yet!?) and got me hooked. That, plus some run form analysis by Coach P and a doc here in California and we isolated my issue - hip drop due to poor core strength. Immediately started working on that and focused on strength training throughout Feb/Mar up to race taper.
Had a fantastic 3 months of training prior to Boston. I kept mileage no more than 30-40 miles per week (I have history of injury if go 40+ miles and in 2016 I never did more than 40 miles in a week). On March 24, I did a 20-miler and even included "Newton Hill" simulation % grades in miles 16-20. I maintained 7:07 pace and felt strong at the end. (Coach P recommended caffeine at Mile 18 - had never done that; OMG it made a huge difference.) I was confident. I was ready.
The warning signs came with the first weather report about 48 hours from the gun. Forecast for rain (near 100% chance), wind (up to 30-40 mph) and cold (high in the low 40's). Although all of us watched the forecast every hour for the next 48, it didn't change much. This was disappointing because the Saturday before Marathon Monday was sunny and cool and beautiful. I have volunteered at the BAA 5K every Saturday the last 4 years; always at the gear check tent. One way to 'pay it forward' and I love that I can get a 2nd Boston jacket! (Often the volunteer jackets are just as nice as the celebration jackets - and the color schemes are sometimes better.) By Saturday night, storm clouds were forming on the horizon.
By Monday morning it was raining, cold w/ blustery winds. I got up around 5 a.m. as is tradition, took a shower (more to wake up than hygiene) and took breakfast. Race day breakfast for me is usually bagel with PB, banana, Gatorade & oatmeal. Because the race is 4-5 hours from when I take breakfast I'm usually nibbling a bagel on the bus to Hopkinton. I was not prepared for the weather. I had packed a singlet and armsleeves. I thought that would be sufficient since 2015 was also a cold & rainy day and I generally run well in colder conditions. The big difference was the wind and also it was MUCH colder this year. So Sunday night at the last minute I hopped a train to REI and bought the LAST cycling windbreaker that they had in my size in stock. (LUCKY!) I did have the foresight to bring an old pair of shoes. I put on socks I planned to throw away, put plastic bags on my feet & then put on my shoes. I wore an Under Armour compression wear as base layer, followed by the windbreaker & then a running singlet w/ my bib. Shorts, compression socks (more for heat retention than for performance) and I kept socks & shoes for race in a separate bag nice & dry. For throwaway clothes over my run kit I had long sleeve shirt, 2 sweatshirts, 2 pair of sweatpants and a rain poncho. (And I was STILL cold before the start!)
The bus ride to Hopkinton was uneventful; I had made mistake previous years of sitting over the rear tire. (Ouch!) This year I knew better, but discovered what happens when you inadvertently pick the seat which is just above the heater. I was sweating for 45 minutes and not due to nerves. (Doh!)
The athlete's village in Hopkinton in other years is a festive, bright, cheery environment with tents you can sit in but many runners opt to sit & stretch on the grass. Not this year - the field was a muddy mess. Everyone was huddling in the tents, but the conditions weren't better than what was outside. In fact, many were worse. Sure, you got out of the rain, but the mud was super thick and would suck your shoes off your feet if you weren't careful. I tried to time my bus ride to minimize my time in the village but still have 90 minutes to kill before race time. While I should have been stretching and mentally preparing for the race I spent most of my time with others shivering & trying to stay warm.
The last 2 years I missed the Air Force flyover & national anthem while waiting in line for porta potties. There was no flyover this year due to weather but I did get in my corral (Wave 1, Corral 8) for the anthem. That was cool. At 10:00 a.m. the gun started and our corral slowly moved up to the starting line. Took us about 6 minutes to get there, but when we did we were off. (By now most had shed their outerwear, including me, though many kept their ponchos on for several miles - and, as it would turn out, many for the entire race.) And I must say there is absolutely nothing like passing that giant "MARATHON START" logo in Hopkinton - except, of course, for passing over that giant "MARATHON FINISH" logo 26.2 miles later!
Miles 1-6 were all about settling into a pace and not going out too fast. My target pace was 7:15/mile which would get me a Boston PR of 3:10 if I could hold on. Mile 1 = 7:24. I've never been able to hit target split my first mile despite the steep downhill coming out of Hopkinton. Mile 2 - 4 were 7:08/mile. Was doing well although I definitely felt my effort was higher than it should be this early in the race. The rain wasn't a problem for me and with the windbreaker and thermal (plus some hand warmers in gloves I wore) kept the cold at bay. But the stiff, variable headwind was all over the place. Never less than 10 mph and gust that felt 30+mph every few minutes. Definitely messed with the mind early on in the race. I wear a Garmin 920XT and I have lots of data on my primary screen, but - oddly - not my HR. So that was a miss; I should have been watching that better. For miles 1-6, HR was around 154 bpm which is a little higher than my training would have predicted given my pace. I did have one unexpected diversion - a pit stop at Mile 5. Cost me about 30 seconds but was much needed and I wasn't worried about losing time this early. First time in 4 years I had to do that.
Miles 7-12 are all about ticking off miles and staying in my bubble. The last 3 years I ran with music or podcasts (yes, one year I even had Coach Patrick in my ear on the course for a few miles - back before I was on the inside!). However, this year I left that at home and ran without. I'm glad I did. I thought that hearing all the footfalls around me and others grunting, etc, would bother me since I usually run solo and don't have that distraction in training. But maybe it was the (literal) pounding of rain or perhaps I've just never known what I was missing - regardless, I enjoyed the crowds (what there was of them - was lowest showing in 4 years) and tried to feed off them through these early miles.
Miles 13-17 are all about getting ready for the descent to Newton. But first you get the "scream tunnel" at Wellesley which is just about the coolest thing I've ever experienced while running. You hear them about 1-2 miles before you see them. The numbers were lower this year but they still managed to get spirits up. At this point I was still on pace and despite the weather still had my sights set on BQ and even potential PR. I was hitting 7:10-7:15 miles.
Last year the wheels started falling off not long after the turn at the Newton firehouse and the first of four sets of hills. I ended up 3:29 that year and did not want a repeat. Around Mile 16, I made my first move with my nutrition. I've found that my body responds best & my stomach is conditioned to water & Hammer Gels for marathon running. I usually take 2-3 deep sips every mile and a gel every 30 minutes (approx. 4 mile intervals). The one change this year was taking a gel with caffeine starting around mile 17 which I did. The response was same as in training - immediately perked up and found my cadence back closer to my target of 175 spm. (My average for the race was a disappointing 170 spm - I need to do a better job managing that next time.)
I managed the first 3 hills without too much incident. Pace was slipping toward and even beyond 7:30/mile but I expected that; my goal was not to charge up the hills but to keep leg turnover consistent and conserve to open it up on the backside of Heartbreak and into Boston. The fourth hill - known as 'Heartbreak' - had me slowing a bit more and a >8:00/mile split. Usually there are all kinds of motivational messages in chalk on Heartbreak hill. Not this year; everything was washed away. It was just us, the hill and what was really a handful of spectators who braved the conditions to cheer us on. Mentally, this is difficult not just because of the hills but because you see so many other runners slowing & it's so hard to stay in that bubble not to want to join them. (And it didn't help with so many of us near hypothermic seeing the "Medical Tent Ahead" advertisements every mile.)
Two of my three goals were crushed not on the Heartbreak uphill, but on the downhill side. After cresting the top at Boston College I was regrouping and starting to get my cadence back up. After about 500 meters I started to feel the familiar tugging on my right calf. I hadn't felt it in months but I know that feeling as it's kept me sidelined from running before. At first I was thinking (hoping) it was just cramping up so I stopped by the side of the road and tried to stretch it on the curb. I shortened my stride and it seemed to slowly work itself out - but I could feel it and was aware of it the rest of the way.
Miles 22-26 were about surviving to get across the finish line (about 5% of the field DNF'd); I didn't want to walk and didn't although splits for the final miles were 8:00-9:00/mile and I came across at 3:20. 10 minutes slower than I wanted, but 10 minutes faster than last year. And later, as I got the news about the pros and then heard all the stories of others who fought through the race, my self-pity gave way to the humility & thankfulness that should accompany the honor of racing this historic course.
The epilogue to my race report is actually pretty cool. So my employer - Abbott Laboratories - is one of the corporate sponsors. (In fact, they just renewed for a 5-year term for the Abbott World Marathon Majors which also include London, Tokyo, Berlin & Chicago.) A perk is that they rent out a conference room in a hotel not far from the finish. Every year, I've enjoyed being able to get into hot shower and a warm meal soonafter the race. Another really cool thing is I've been able to meet really amazing people, like Joan Benoit Samuelson (legendary runner, former winner of Boston and the first woman to win Olympic Gold in women's marathon in LA in 1984). And this year, as I waddled into the room, one of our Abbott handlers said "Hey Ross, do you want to meet Tim Don?" (Of course I knew about Tim Don and like many others had recently been reading about his 'halo' story - my source was a posting on the EN Run GroupMe page!) Tim had just run the same race under the same conditions and turned in an amazing 2:49; and while talking to him I could tell that he didn't have full mobility of his head. He told me he's having to do his swim training with a snorkel but is hoping to do full IM within next few months and has aspirations to be back at Kona in October! Truly an inspiration and great ambassador for our sport. That really made my day!
Well, that's it. 2018 Boston in the books for me. Focus now on 2018 IM training: Santa Rosa 70.3, Santa Cruz 70.3 & Langkawi (Malaysia) 70.3.
Here are some other specs:
Shoes: Asics GT-2000 for training; Saucony Mirage 5 for racing
Distance Run: 26.74 miles (don't know how I managed an extra 1/2 mile but it's real)
Time: 3:20:47 (according to Garmin)
Pace: 7:31/mile
Calories: 2884
Avg HR: 157 bpm
Avg Cadence: 170 spm
Avg Stride: 1.26 m
Link to Garmin file:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2628983795
Teeth stopped chattering for a minute to get finish line pic:
Me with Tim:
Me with Joan (after hot shower & some post-race nutrition):
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