Belated Boston Marathon report - 5 weeks later

Okay, I'm not normally a superstitious person. However, four weeks before Boston, I wore a 2006 Boston Marathon jacket. Several folks told me this was bad luck. I didn't believe them but here is what happened leading up to the race.

Two days after the, "jacket," I managed to strain my left hamstring. This caused me to to miss out on several very important workouts leading up to the race. In addition, it affected my running stride and I did some minor damage to my calves. Then I strained my back lifting a lawmower into a truck.

In Boston on Sunday morning, we were unable to get pancakes for breakfast. Long story, but we were also unable to get to Fenway Park for the ballgame (a tradition I hold dear). On Monday morning of the race, in a different restaurant, we were unable to get pancakes again. Oh, yea, this was my 13th marathon finish.

Here's a very short report.
Because of all the bad luck leading up to the race, my goal of a sub-3 hour Boston finish was out. That said, I did want to pace my buddies for as long as possible. I was pain free until just after the half-way point. That's when the first back pains started. Somewhere around mile 15 or 16 I dropped off the pace and was on my own. After Heartbreak Hill, there was so much cramping in my hamstrings (likely from altering my stride to protect the back) that I had to stop several times to massage it out. The marathon turned into quite a challenge and I managed a very respectable 3:07.

Oh yea, I'll do it again!