52. Boston Run to Remember, 2010
I was having a hard time getting back into the swing of things after my first New England Winter, so I set a clear goal for myself. I would run another half-marathon in under two hours. At the very least, I would finish it without walking. At the most, I would train my way out of my Fatboy Jeans again, and this time I would burn them.
About the Course
I really couldn’t have asked for better scenery. There were 5-mile and half-marathon courses which started and finished at the Seaport in South Boston. I’m not sure where the 5-mile people went, but I seemed to end up everywhere. We ran through town, passing Government Center and enjoying some of the nicest scenery Boston has to offer. After that, we stuck to the Charles River until the turn-around. It was fantastic.
Camera Woes
I borrowed Cara’s new shock-resistant, water-resistant… oh, screw it. I borrowed Cara’s new Cara-Resistant Fuji camera today, which seemed like a good idea until I discovered three things:
- It hesitates for a moment before taking a picture. Not good for quick shots.
- The rechargeable battery inside the thing didn’t last all day. It ran low in the last quarter of the race, and finally died while I was trying to take some crowd shots later.
- I found out upon returning home that I had never changed the photo settings in the thing, so instead of 10 megapixels, I was taking photos at 640×480. That’s the lowest setting. Dammit.
It turned out okay, though. I mean, I wasn’t parked far away, so I went to the car and got my regular camera for those last few shots. You can tell which ones they were in the gallery below. They’re a little bigger when you view them at full size.
Running Better than Expected
I haven’t trained religiously lately, but apparently I trained enough. I felt strong through most of the race, only having to dig deep during the last two miles or so. I finished with a chip time of 1:50:06, well below my goal of two hours. In fact, that’s several minutes lower than my previous PR of 1:55:00!
Final Thoughts
The course was great, the event was well organized, and there was a good spread afterward. There were several booths where people handed out some truly horrible energy drinks, but just past them was water and real food. Oranges, bananas and bagels, oh my! Below are some links to things I’ve posted online, plus the gallery for this race. Enjoy!
View Album on Flickr