Love that Dirty Water....Boston Marathon '09 Race Report Part 5

The day before the race, I hung out with Lam at his hotel near the finish. We tried to relax as much as possible and get everything ready for the following day.

We headed to Cambridge to have dinner with some other people who were running as well, and a lot of the conversation involved discussing the various injuries people were able to finish a marathon with. It was very comforting to hear that other runners would be in pain the next day as well. Misery loves company.

After dinner we went back to the hotel to get our gear laid out. I helped Lam get some added motivation by tattooing our motto “DDYA” (Don’t Deny Your Awesomeness) and < style="">

I gathered my usual assortment of gels, but added something special to my marathon mix: crack bags of tiger balm to carry in case of emergency.

I stuffed these in the tiny pocket inside my tights, and prayed they wouldn’t burst into my crotch during the race. Since I wasn’t wearing my usual Race Ready shorts, I had to get creative with the gels. I ended up pinning them to the outside of my tights, then flipping them inside so my waistband would keep them in place. Not an ideal setup, but it was the most creative way I could come up with. After we got everything ready, we settled down for the night. We ended up going to bed around 11, hours later than expected. I tossed and turned a lot, and my back was in a lot of pain. Not a good sign.

As expected, I wake up exactly five minutes before our series of three alarms was scheduled to go off. We woke up at 4:45—my latest race wakeup ever—and immediately went to work with the coffeemaker. As my multiple cups were brewing, I headed to the bathroom with a single task in mind. No, not what you’re thinking…something a little, umm, greasier. With sports shield in hand I went to task of lubing my entire body from neck down. Since I was running in new tights and a relatively new longsleeved technical, I wanted as much chafe insurance as possible. I slipped into my tights and instantly had a funny superhero feeling. Albeit, a very greasy superhero. I then went to task of stretching and trigger balling the piriformis. I was hurting. I was stiff. I was starting to freak out, but knew I needed to stay calm for Lam. He had enough to worry about already, so I assured him I was feeling great. Once we were ready we headed towards the bus loading zone.

Never in my life have I felt so back of the pack yet motivated at the same time. I boarded the bus with most of the first wave (meaning fast) runners, and they showed it. It was 90% male, and every one of them had legs as skinny as my arms. I felt like the fat kid picked last for the kickball team. Self-consciously I clutched my drop bag so my bib number was hidden (since you can tell what time someone qualified with from their bib number). On our long, foggy ride to Hopkinton I got very quiet and began to reflect on the day ahead. Suddenly I thought about everyone who would be tracking me and began to tear up. I realized then what my focus would be on during the race. If I thought about all the people who would be notified when my timing chip beeped across each mat, it would give me the motivation necessary to push through the pain and continue to the finish. That was all I needed: no fancy mantras, no power songs….just knowing I had a team of long-distance people rooting for me.

In the midst of all the chaos I ran into another maniac and fellow blogger, King Arthur. Apparently he had dinner the night before with the Ohana and recognized me in the crowd of thousands! We chatted for a bit then headed off to the athletes village.

When I stepped off the bus I was freezing. It was probably about 40 degrees but with my Hawaiian blood it felt like it was minus 40. I navigated the porta potty line,

grabbed a bagel, said goodbye to Lam,

and headed off to the Hawaii House.

Before I continue, let me explain the Hawaii house. A few weeks ago I got an email from the Hawaii House. It invited all runners from Hawaii to hang out at their house the morning of the marathon. It promised water, bananas, a warm place to hang out, but more importantly-----4 actual bathrooms! The holy grail of running! The directions to the house said to head towards the staring corrals, then look for the house with the Hawaiian flag out front.

Once we got to the house we were to go around back and enter through the rear. I had a giddy sense of entering some secret club when I came across the house. As expected, I was greeted with a big Aloha upon entering. The owner, Pete, gave me a tour of the house (did I mention it had 4 bathrooms?) and explained why he hosts the Hawaii house every year.

He loves Hawaii and has visited many times, and he is also a runner. He said he just loves the Aloha spirit and loves to open his home up to the runners. We certainly appreciated having a warm place to hang out at before the race. It gave us all plenty of time to stretch and hang out and take lots of photos. It was great to chat with everyone. I saw Maggs for the first time in awhile.

Here is the Ohana that traveled to Boston:

And here are all the Hawaii runners:

Before I knew it the wheelchairs started, then the elite women, then the first wave. I was in the second wave, 30 minutes behind the first wave. Ten minutes before gun time I went to the bathroom and smeared the thickest layer possible of tiger balm over my entire back and hip, hoping it would soak through my kinesiotape, which was still holding strong after 5 days! (Granted, I took “ghetto showers” while I had the tape to avoid getting it wet). Once that was done, I booked it to my corral. I made nervous small talk with the girl next to me. She seemed nice and she was cute, but I instantly hated her. Why? She qualified for Boston in her first marathon! Grrrr……

Soon the bullhorn was shouting “30 seconds till the start of the second wave” and suddenly there was a gunshot followed by “Congrats you are starting the 113^th Boston Marathon!” and I was walking, walking, walking…….then I hear the beep as my chip crossed the mat.

It’s go time, people. Time to bring on the high pain tolerance.

We have a marathon to finish.