Matt Palombaro’s Boston Marathon Diary

I am not a warm weather runner, and I had myself really nervous the day before the event concerning the weather. Since the first 5K I knew I was going to have to back way off on my effort.

I could really feel the heat even before the race started while standing in line at the port-o-john. I really suffered early until about mile 11 where there was a woman handing out ice. I grabbed some, walked for 15 seconds and got going again and felt a ton better.

I felt pretty good running a slower pace through the Newton hills. Coming off of heartbreak with 10k left, I decided to make a push. That lasted all of two miles. The first sign I was in trouble was that I thought I was heading for the 24 mile marker. As it turned out I was coming up on the 23 mile mark. My legs then began to cramp and I wound up walking twice, for maybe 20-30 seconds each, somewhere between mile 24 and 25 .

Inside the final two miles I saw the rotund little baker on the back of a dark blue jersey in the distance and was like "is that Jeff?". I pulled even with him with about half a mile to go. We pushed each other into the finish. I was really glad to have someone next to me motivating me becasue my wheels were coming off quick. Jeff quipped after the race "I heard someone say my name and I thought I was hallucinating." I had the same thought when I saw the back of his jersey.

All in all I am bummed about my time, but glad I am not one of the folks who ended up in the medical tent or the hospital. My legs actually feel pretty good so I should be able to recover quickly. My worst aches and pains are the blisters on my feet. My shoes got drenched from dumping water on myself and running under hoses people had set up in front of their houses. My feet looked like prunes when I got done.

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