Sunday, February 14, 2010

First Taste of Course

Yesterday was my first glimpse of the Boston Marathon course including the Newton Hills and Heartbreak Hill. All of the charity runners met at the Riverside MBTA T stop in Newton where we hopped on a bus to head out to mile 9 of the Boston Marathon Course on Rt. 135 to start our 17 mile training run. I had a great run averaging 9 min/mi which was faster than I wanted to go for a long run but I really felt great from the start and was able to maintain my pace fairly easily. The run was challenging because all of the roads were open to traffic so it was difficult to navigate at points as we got closer to downtown Boston. It was also challenging staying together as a group given that there were only a hundred runners or so all running at varying paces so towards the end where the pedestrian traffic picked up it was a challenge to find runners to follow to make sure I stayed on the actual course. The run was still a success given these challenges and I can't wait to see how this course is transformed on race day with spectators lining the street for the entire course and the streets of Boston belong entirely to the 25,000 runners who will be participating. It is hard to believe but the marathon is only 8 weeks away and my excitement is growing by the day!!! Next run is a 22 miler in late March on the course that starts at the actual start line in Hopkinton and finishes at mile 22 after Heartbreak Hill. More soon...

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