Boston Marathon - April 18th 2022

Usually do London in April but as it's moved to October again put my name in for Boston. No confirmation email yet but I did see today the money was taken from my credit card so I assume my entry was validated and accepted.

Something to train for post Christmas - hopefully they won't shut down travel again next year and will be able to fly.

What days are folks travelling? I'm going Saturday - Tuesday, I assume that's enough time to get to the expo etc.

Any ideas on training plans? Following a regular one or doing some Boston specific stuff?

Also planning Saturday to Tuesday. Expo on the Sunday. Heard it is a tough enough course even though negative downhill. Probably try and be conservative in first half as miles 17-21 are the toughest. Maybe some marathon pace miles in training on a downhill route would be good as well as some hill work.

I've never ran in Boston, but as a travel destination I've been a good few times.

In terms of getting around it's very easy. Its a city that's perfect for walking. Good sea food also as you'd expect for coastal city. Plenty of sights to see as it's full of history.

I ran it in 2019. The atmosphere is amazing. I just loved the way the whole city embraced marathon weekend. The expo is really easy to get to, its on Boylston street, just down from the finish line where everybody goes before the event to take photos etc. The weather in Boston can be really unpredictable. In 2019 when I was leaving my hotel there were massive thunderstorms and everybody was soaked just getting to the buses to drop the finish bag (there is no bag drop in Hopkinton). I brought my race gear in the small plastic bag you are allowed and changed in the tents at the start, tip here.........if it is wet, bring talcum powder, trying to get dry socks onto wet clammy feet is not easy and you will feel much better with dry socks and shoes. Brong old shoes and discard in Hopkinton. The first 5 miles are a net downhill but dont be fooled, the road out of Hopkinton is like a roller coaster so try not to get caught up in the hype at the start. Anyway, back to the weather......by start time the rain had stopped, sun came out and I knew we were in trouble when I saw the steam rising from the roads. Having trained all winter in a cold North Westerly wind I was in no way prepared for the humidity and heat......it was 100% and 23 degrees at the start, running in a sauna would have been easier. The miles from 13 to 17 are mostly downhill and your quads will take a pounding and then just at the right turn at the Newton fire station the road goes up. Anybody living in Dublin might understand if I said that its like running up Mount Merrion Avenue 3 times with a downhill between each one. If you havnt kept yourself in check before this you will suffer.........like I did when the contents of my breakfast made a reappearance at 16 miles, loads of people were throwing up around this distance, I blamed the humidity but if I was being truthful I went a bit too hard early on trying to bank some time for the hills. If you survive all that then you will have fantastic support through Brookline and along by Fenway and remember the famous saying.....right on Hereford, left on Boylston and then its 580 metres of a celebration run to the finish line. Its a wonderful experience, enjoy.

One more here! I'm still working on sorting flights and accommodation. But plan is Friday-Tuesday.

What flight options and accommodation did you folks book?

Training has gone pretty well for me. Had a little calf injury in January which set me back a couple of weeks, but the last 7-8 weeks has been great. Just one more big session, meno's sting, on Wednesday.

I am starting to panic about the pre-departure Covid test though as I'm taking the whole family and we have a family wedding 3 days before flying 😷. But yes, I am planning to wake up on the 19th with a Samuel Adams hangover!

I'm going to give it a miss. Prefer to find a nice restaurant/bar and relax with a steak and a few beers.

Waves and corrals have been published: https://registration.baa.org/2022/cf/Public/iframe_EntryLists.cfm?mode=results

I'll be running at least a minute per mile slower than the qualifying pace for my corral, so I might drop back.

Starting to get excited now, less than two weeks to go. I'm always cautious looking forward to a marathon in case the training goes sideways, but so far so good. Hopefully the training will prove to be good enough!

The corrals list is cool, nearly 200 people listed "Ireland" as their country, so there'll be a good sprinkling through the field

Got my pass this morning, very exciting. Trying to avoid everyone until the Covid test.

7:30 bus time for me for a 10:25 start time.

That's a great site, thanks. At least the temperature looks good. I'm in NY at the moment and it's been up to 22 the last 2 days with the sun splitting the sky.

Way too much walking around so far so I'll be taking it easy now apart from a short run tomorrow and Saturday.

Best of luck with the test.

Does anyone know if there's anywhere to watch this live?