Feeling hot, hot, hot!

It's August. The unmistakable drone of air conditioners can be heard up and down the street. Oppressive heat slows you down, and you sweat just standing still. Your thermometer reads 87 degrees.

Except that I was just kidding. It's not August; it's Boston's Marathon Monday!

Suddenly, the whole outlook on the marathon experience has to change. People have been training for months, and visualizing how awesome this race would be, for much of their lives. Marathoners often hope to set a PR, but the bottom line for many is to have FUN.

When the weather forecast is 50 degrees higher than you've been training at (and 70 degrees higher than the coldest training day, at that), the marathon looks a bit less fun. It becomes less about a PR, and more about finishing. It's about survival.

(Seriously, please pray for the runners on Monday. Let's all hope that nobody drinks too much water/ not enough electrolytes and dies from hyponatremia, and nobody dies from heat exhaustion. If you're spectating, please also remember to be smart. It's April, but spending all day outside in 87 degrees will be taxing.)

I'd looked up last year's Boston results and knew that I'd be about in the middle-50% of finishers. (I don't remember if that's overall, or just for women; but anyway, somewhere in the middle.) I found this cool site that graphs analyses of finishers. Sure enough, last year in average temps of 50 degrees, with a steady tailwind, I'd fall right in the middle of the 23,879 finishers;

However, 2004 also boasted dangerous temperatures hovering around 85 degrees. A Boston.com article posted today described how 10% of runners received aid from medical tents, instead of the typical 2-4%. 185 runners went to the hospital, compared to the usual 15. I also remember that's the year my friend Kacie worked as an EMT and she described how many people had to drop out. Compare the graph above, to the same analysis of 2004:

Now, I'm curious about the number of finishers? There are 27,000 race entrants this year. There were 24,000 finishers in 2011 and only 17,000 in 2004. Did 7000 people really not start and/or finish? Or were there fewer entries? I can't find it easily online.

Anyway, I'm not really worried about finishing. I'm a little bummed that it won't be a super magical experience. I am thankful for the 85 degree day we had a few weeks ago when I had to do an 8 miler, and I survived that, without water. I am also thankful for the predicted southwest winds at 20 mph on Monday. Hooray sweat evaporation... and a little boost from behind! I will finish, but it will not be pretty. This morning, I played dress up:

a. Normally I would not run the race with the belt, as there are water/gatorade stops at every mile. But why risk it this time?
b. BIB NUMBER 23589. Text "Runner" to 345678 (and follow the prompts) to track my progress!
c. Note the goody bag in the back from a new buddy at school!!! YAY

On another note, we went to the expo last night. I'm SO GLAD we went last night because it was crazy busy, and surely Saturday/Sunday will be that much busier. Jon bought me some SWAG, and we watched a video that describes the course. I did not realize that 20% of the course is made up of the "Newton Hills." Did you know the Heartbreak Hill is actually the fourth and final beastly hill in Newton? Wikipedia says it is 0.4 miles long. But enough with the stats; I'm just going to freak myself out. But really, check out the elevation map:

(Hill 1 from 16-17, Hill 2 from 17.5-18, Hill 3 from 19-19.5, and Heartbreak from 20-21.)

So, we are looking forward to Monday-- with a new perspective towards completing an entirely different type of accomplishment. YEAH BOSTON. BRING IT.

Happy carbo-loading and hydrating to all!