[Oe List ...] My report on running the Boston Marathon

[Herman Greene]

Thanks Ellie. Thanks for all of your great work!

Herman

On Wed, Apr 18, 2018 at 4:47 PM, Ellie Stock via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net
> wrote:

> Thanks for sharing, Herman.  Congrats on your persistence and endurance.
> Well done!
>
> The closest I've ever gotten to the Boston Marathon was watching it on
> Boyleston Avenue when we lived in Boston.
>
> Ellie :)
> elliestock at aol.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Herman Greene via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
> To: OE Listserv <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
> Cc: Herman Greene <hfgreenenc at gmail.com>
> Sent: Wed, Apr 18, 2018 9:20 am
> Subject: [Oe List ...] My report on running the Boston Marathon
>
>
> *Background: The race was on April 16. The temperature was in the 30s at
> the beginning and in the mid-40s at the end. Rain was constant and
> sometimes came down in sheets. Wind was in our face at 10-20 mph with gusts
> to 32 mph. This marathon, as all others, was 26.2 miles long. The Boston
> Marathon has been run since 1897. It's the granddaddy and the most
> prestigious of all. It's a metro-wide festival. The run is from Hopkinton,
> MA, to Copley Square in Boston. 2800 racers sought medical help. 59 were
> taken to the hospital, mostly from hypothermia. Thirty-two thousand were
> registered for the race. Seven thousand failed to finish or didn't run. I
> was toward the end of the finishers as explained below.*
>
>
> *The Report:*
>
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> * Every race you learn something. The conditions I ran in were totally
> new. Not only was the weather bad during the race, but because the ground
> was soaking in the "athlete's village" I had to stand for over an hour
> before the race and then walk a kilometer to the starting line.  This was
> my 21st marathon. I'm very satisfied with my race, but it was my second
> slowest ever, about 5:48. My slowest was when I tore a muscle and walked
> the last 12 miles. My time then was  6:15. I could say I'm just getting
> old, but I ran a 4:30 marathon in November 2017, so I don't think I've
> declined that much. Much of my slowness this time came from having
> something happen to my left groin at mile 7. I had to shorten my stride
> from there on. From mile 7 on I ran about 13 minute miles most of the way
> but even slower toward the end. I didn't walk!. So my achievement was
> putting one foot in front of the other and staying with it. The weather was
> a huge factor. The wind and rain drop body temperature and I read that
> with hypothermia comes shortened breath. I never felt I could breath well
> and that makes all the difference. I didn't have serious hypothermia
> because fortunately I did decide to wear a gore-tex type suit, but the
> weather was still a factor. The injury came out of nowhere. I didn't take a
> wrong step or anything and I have never had an injury in my left groin. I
> thought it might have been a groin pull but I think it must have been a
> spasm of some kind, possibly with some tendon strain. At the expo, a person
> handed out a homeopathic cream for cramps as well as homeopathic pills for
> cramps. I think they saved my day. Without that medication I would have had
> to walk and walking beginning at 7 miles which would really have been
> bad.   I'm changing my mind about the tapering. I think the most important
> training ends about three weeks out and that one should taper more than I
> did the last two weeks. I was pushing because an injury kept me from
> running in weeks 5 and 4 before the race.  Tens of thousands of people run
> marathons each year. They are all heroes in a way. Training for a marathon
> is hard and running one is hard . . . and you never know what might be
> coming at you in a race in terms of weather or injury. Aside from all this,
> the day was perfect. That strange logic of the marathoner takes over . . .
> the more grueling the experience, the more the spirit rages within. Pain is
> good! When's the next race?! Well, for me this really may be my last. It's
> been glorious and I feel I had a glorious ending. Plus it was great having
> Sandi and her brother and sister-in-law, Bob and Kristen Strong, as my
> team. We had a grand time. Herman *
>
>
>
> --
> __________________________________________________
> Herman F. Greene
> 2516 Winningham Road
> Chapel Hill, NC 27516
> 919-942-4358 (ph & fax)
> hfgreenenc at gmail.com
>
>
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-- 
__________________________________________________
Herman F. Greene
2516 Winningham Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
919-942-4358 (ph & fax)
hfgreenenc at gmail.com
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