Anatomy of a Marathon Meltdown - Literally!

So, as most followers of this blog know by now, the E Streeters took to the 26.2 mile course of the Boston Marathon yesterday during frigid temperatures. Right.
By now, you've all probably heard from each of us about the horrors of running a damn marathon in temperatures north of 90 degrees. It was an eye opener for all of us, and by the end, a learning experience. I'm just happy that all of us made it out in one piece, pretty much no worse for the wear. So let's take a quick peek at the scenes before and during the race. Mercifully for some of us, we don't have any post-race photos to share here.
Here we are in Hopkinton joined by Larissa, who ran for the Matty Eapen Foundation this year, and ran in memory of her dad, who passed last year. Ignore the bucolic lake scene behind us. We did.

We got to the start early and staked a claim to some shade, one of the smarter moves we made all day, as we waited nearly two hours before we could actually step over the starting lineSo what did we do during those two hours? Basically, pose for beefcake calendars on the grass. Take a look:Almost makes you want to make a calendar, huh?

Here, Tommy and Ryan give us a preview of how they expect to finish the race. They were somewhat prophetic.Waiting at the start, with temperatures ALREADY approaching 85 degrees, I look a lot more relaxed than I really amFather-and-son MONSTERSOnce the race was underway, there weren't many pictures taken unlike past years, because it was too damn hot to go through the work! Don't try to adjust your computer resolution, Tommy and Barry are hazy because that's the steam coming off everyone's bodiesYes, you're seeing this correctly - this is us passing Tedy Bruschi around Mile 3. Don't worry, he eventually passed us again.Finally, we come to the highlight of yesterday's torture, the defeaning cacophany of Wellesley College. Here, I approach ready to hug my two favorite Wellesley WarriorsAnd of course, no stop at Wellesley would be complete without kisses from the girls. Here, Nicole gets ready to plant one on me.They made it all worthwhile - huge thanks to Nicole and Alex for making it an unforgettable 2-3 minutes of sheer hysteria (captured nicely on video by Andrew, now running alongside me)The father-son tandem prepares its final assault, bravado at its bestAnother shot for the calendar. Poster boys for the reason to join a fitness clubI wish you could have heard the noise emanating from these women. I think they store it up all year long, waiting for Marathon MondayAlas, the unrelenting sun would prove a merciless monster this Monday. Here's Andrew taking in one of the godsent misting stations outside the fire station in Newton. Trust me, we hit every misting station and water hose we could find, not to mention the water and Gatorade stops. And even those beverage breaks were heartbreakers, because the drinks got too warm from being out boiling in the sun. Unfortunately, we weren't able to secure one of our favorite treats on Heartbreak Hill, the delicious freeze pops.True story: as we began the ascent on Heartbreak Hill, the song my ipod chose to shuffle for me? Don't go breaking your heart, by Elton John.

Thanks to the always reliable Jim Rhoades from http://www.jimrhoadescom/ on Heartbreak Hill, Andrew and I were able to pose for one more shot before the final melt. Andrew proudly represented Holy Cross and 'Sader Nation for the second half of his run, getting tons of shoutouts from Holy Cross alums on the course.Sadly, getting to the finish in Boston wasn't meant to be in this year's record temps, at least not for a couple of us. But huge kudos to Tommy and Ryan for somehow creeping across the finish line on Boylston Street. To put things in perspective, I lost eight pounds during the trek. Somewhere around Framingham, I believe.

For Andrew's take on things, check out his truly creative Holy Cross blog post here: http://apcook15.me.holycross.edu/2012/04/17/marathon-inferno/

Once again, none of us could have done any of this - the months of training with long runs, the injuries, and the experience of a nuclear Marathon heat - without the support of our friends and families. 26.2 miles of thanks for all of the family members who braved the heat themselves, suffered their own sunburns, and supported us once again.

Time to take a couple of days off and soak the feet. We'll all be back hitting the roads again this weekend. Hopefully, the temperature won't be in the 90s.