Briefly re Boston

In my experience the progression of mental outlook in a marathon begins with euphoria, when in a rush of start-line adrenaline I may actually lower my goal time; moves through realism and resignation, when I recognize this is a long race and ultimately it isn't going to go how I had hoped; and ends with indifference, when I realize I've missed my goal anyway so I may as well walk a little. Or a lot.

Yesterday in the heat, the euphoria was gone as soon as I stepped out of the air-conditioned bus. Resignation came about three miles in. Somehow I never quite achieved indifference. I still wanted to run the hills in Newton, which I did, and I wanted to soak up the crowd's energy. And I wanted to appreciate the final half mile down Boylston Street.

Despite the 89 degrees recorded in Framingham and the near absence of shade and cooling breezes, I enjoyed this year's Boston Marathon. Losing hope at Mile 3 has its advantages -- I never felt out of control. The crowd was every bit as exuberant this year as last, which frankly means they were working as hard as was I. The vibe from other runners in a marathon is always good, but yesterday there was such a profound sense of shared suffering that I felt genuinely close to the thousands around me. M__, a friend from the triathlon crowd in DC, met me at the bottom of Heartbreak Hill with a cold bottle of water and paced me up it, a rare boost just when I desperately needed it. Coach Mike, who was also running, found me at Mile 21 and lied convincingly enough to make me believe I was running well. I also was able to share the experience (while not actually running together) with a group of friends, including some regular racing buddies from DC and T__, a very old friend whom I haven't seen since high school.

I've now run Boston in what may have been the best conditions in the history of marathoning (2011) and in conditions that, putting it euphemistically, were considerably less favorable (yesterday). Gotta say, and with apologies to those who really suffered yesterday, I preferred the latter.