Post-Race Party

Less than 24 hours after the Boston Marathon and I feel pretty good. My time was 3:49:17. That puts it after my 2 Green Bay Marathons (3:30:35 and 3:42) and my best Chicago time (3:36:01). All of these were about 40 degrees when the race started, while 3 of the slower races were 60, 80 and 90 degrees.

I pick up my gear past the finish line, and when I check my cell phone, I already have a text message from Alan congratulating me on my time. I stretch, and start to change out of my wet clothes, and put on warm-up pants, and Megan is calling me on the phone. She wants to know all about the race, and if I experienced the same thrill that she did the year before. I have to cut her off, because I am getting chilled, in between switching between wet/dry clothes. I call Laura, and find out she is just getting out of the T-station, a good 45-60 minutes after I met her at the 21 mile mark. I meet Laura near the Boston Public Garden (where they have the giant swan boats you may have seen in movies like “Fever Pitch” with Drew Barrymore.) We are both on the verge of tears, hugging and kissing each other. Laura tells me how proud of me she is, and how happy she is that I achieved one of my dreams, and I know she means it. I feel so relieved that she was able to be here, since she had started a new job, and that she saw me on the course, even if it was only once.

It turns out that our hotel is only one short block from the runner’s exit, so if you want the closest hotel to where you meet people after the marathon, stay at the Park Plaza Hotel. Just ask for a room that is not above HVAC units, because those kept me up at night some.
Laura is her usual attentive self, and she gets me ice from the hotel ice machines, and then goes back down to the street to get me a soup and sandwich. I take my time stretching, on top of the stretching I did after the race in the gear-pickup area. The water in the tub has had plenty of time to get chilled by the pounds of ice Laura dumped in. I set an alarm on my cell phone for about 12 minutes. Okay, I have done this dozens of times before, and I know it’s going to help my recovery, but it feels especially cold. I don’t know if it’s because hotel ice melts quicker, or because my body’s core temperature has still not recovered, but I’m shivering. The soles of my feet felt like they were burning up for most of the race, and now the nerve endings are so sensitive, it’s like thousands tiny, icy needles. Laura comes back with the food, and I figure it has been 10 minutes. She checks my phone’s clock, and it has only been 4 minutes. I must have misjudged the time, and I get out to drain the water, and get into a hot shower. After I’m dressed, with the heat turned up in the room, and I have the hot soup and sandwich, I feel replenished. We order a hotel movie, and I stay on the bed or sitting for a good 2 hours.
Laura is unsure about my plans to go to the post race party at Faneuil Hall, but I am feeling pretty good. My right ankle and right knee feel a little sore. It may have been due to altering my gait because of a blister under my right big toe. We leave the hotel room, to take a cab in the rain to Faneuil Hall. First we go to dinner at McCormick and Schmick’s Seafood. I have a 1.5 pound lobster dinner, and plenty of side dishes and a creamy artichoke dip for an appetizer. I have already been snacking to add calories (my GPS estimated that I expended over 3100 calories during the marathon- that gets added to my usual 2000 calories a day when I don’t run). A lot of the restaurants in this complex offer a discount to marathoners, and of course, most of us are wearing jackets, medals, caps, so it adds to the atmosphere.

After dinner we go across the complex to the post-race party. We got an extra entrance ticket for Laura from the woman who ran the 5K with her, since she flew home tonight. It is at a nightclub associated with the Irish bar “Ned Devine’s”. I guess it is named after that seminal film on Irish playboys “Waking Ned Devine”. It’s a pretty cool space once we walk up the spiral staircase (note to organizers, please don’t make runners do stairs after a race – going down is especially hard on the quads.) They have free bottled water set out, and other leftover post race snacks. Besides the bar setup, they have a room showing video of the race. In the center room is a very active DJ playing hip-hop/rap music. He has a trio of backup dancers to help him show the crowd the moves to dances. I’m kind of tired overall, but I feel like I could dance. But it’s not really my kind of music and our hands are full with drinks, water and jackets. Overall, the crowd is really active, considering the vast majority of us just ran one of the world’s toughest marathons. After a while, we meander out, and catch a cab back to the hotel. Our nightcap is Ben and Jerry’s Fudge Brownie Sundae - to bring the calorie deficit back in line. We are mainly packed, so we will fly out of Boston after a sound sleep.