Boston Marathon Recap and NYC Marathon Training

When I first started running marathons, I never would have dreamed of being able to recap my Boston Marathon experience while also prepping for the NYC marathon in the same year. How lucky am I?! My Boston 2022 review is long overdue, in part because shortly after the race my family packed up and headed out west to Denver for the month of May, followed by a busy summer here in New England. I am also belatedly recapping Boston because while it was a special and memorable day in many ways, it wasn’t the race I had been hoping for. It was nothing like the 2021 fall Boston where my training came alive on the course.

I started training for Boston a few weeks after I ran the Philadelphia marathon last fall. My body felt fine going from one training cycle to another, but I think I was a little burned out mentally. But I was grateful to be training for the iconic Boston. Training included several races, two of which were getaways with Mark sans kiddos- the Fort Lauderdale half in February and the NYC half in March.

I also ran the Hyannis half at the end of February with Beth and Angela and ran a 1:39 in cold and windy conditions. In early April, I ran a local 10k (Cohasset Road Race), but my legs felt heavy.

In retrospect, doubts about running a PR in Boston started to creep in around then. I made some mistakes on marathon Monday, which I ultimately ran in 3:45.

1. Overhydrating with water & not enough electrolytes/salt. In the week leading up race day, I drank a LOT of water without balancing the intake with sodium and other electrolytes. This was such a rookie mistake, and one I hope to never make again, but I paid for this electrolyte imbalance on race day with cramps that developed early in the race and never went away. Since that day I have been much more in tune to sodium/electrolyte intake and haven’t had any cramps in any run since, even during the hottest days. My go-to’s are scratch hydration, nuun prime, and salt tablets.
2. Another rookie mistake, but I realized early in the race that my new shoes were causing problems. I had purchased some new Nike shoes leading up to race day and tested them out in 3 runs before, but for some reason they bothered me on race day. They felt very tight and I wasn’t able to loosen them appropriately during the race (I stopped a few times to untie/re-tie, it did nothing). It was hard to steer my thoughts away from this issue for some reason. I know I will be much more cognizant about wearing appropriate, well-tested shoes at races!

I think those were the biggest issues I had. But I also think that I should have dialed back more during taper for fresher legs, added in more strength training and hill work, and figured out a better pre-race eating plan for a late race start at 10:50am. Plus working on my mental game for the next race wouldn’t hurt either.

It is hard to complain about running a race like Boston but I definitely needed a break afterwards. Even though- seeing my friends all along the course from the beginning to the end (shoutouts to Amber, Lori, Ann, Luke, my parents, Beth, Ted, Mark and kids, and others…plus the amazing training partners/loved ones who followed me from afar!), made this race one of the highlights of my year!!!

That brings me to my next adventure, training for the NYC marathon. This race has been a BIG bucket list item for me. I’ve wanted to run for 10 years and finally got in!! I am running with my sister Beth which has made training and race day planning SO fun! I also started a local run club — shoutout to @harborrunclub! — in June and have met a lot of awesome new running friends. We meet every Sunday and that is often one of the highlights of my week!  Stay tuned for a separate post on that! This training cycle has been filled with so much joy and I am feeling strong these days. Since Boston, I have run several FUN races including the Denver half, the Covered Bridges half in Vermont, and the Hingham Road race.

I have several more races coming up during training too. I’m excited to tackle the next 11 weeks and I hope to have an amazing first NYC marathon experience. Thanks for following along – however sporadic my updates are!

Are you training for a fall race?! Hope it’s going well :)

Anyone run NYC before?! Please share you favorite memory or a running tip!