Boston Marathon 2018 Weather – Just be smart, don’t freak out

If I cared about clicks I would call this post “Potential nightmare scenario at this year’s Boston Marathon!”  But, I don’t so I’m going to call it “Just be smart this year at Boston…”

As I sit here in my warm home office about 24 hours before I’ll be grinding up Heart Break tomorrow I would like to calm your nerves and give you some thoughts on the weather.

It’s raining, windy and spitting ice as I write.  I’m about 15 miles due east of Hopkinton.

Tomorrow looks to be about mid-40’s, with t steady rain and a 15-30 mph head wind.

First, don’t panic.  c’mon people, take a breath.  Relax.  This is not the end of the world. Breath.

OK, now, let’s talk about what this means practically.

On the positive side, if you’re from New England, or some other northern hemisphere cold place, this is pretty good weather for racing.  Compared to what we trained in all winter, if you could drop the head wind and lighten up the rain a bit it would be almost perfect racing weather.

Also, on the positive side you won’t have to worry about staying hydrated.  In this temperature range my sweat-rate is going to be a bout half of what it would be on a room-temperature day.  Adjust your fluid consumption accordingly.  If you’re like me and carry a bottle, it will last twice as far.  And this is what we trained with, it’s a great match.

Is the wind going to be a factor?  Yes, but not as bad as you think.  Did I mention that this is my 20^th Boston?  We’ve had weather like this before and it is never as bad on the course as they say it will be.  In ’98 I set my PR in a nice 50 degree drizzle.  2007 we had a Nor’easter and it was a fine day for racing. 2015 wasn’t a bad year either.  Don’t get caught up n the panic.

Unless you’re one of the top 200 racers you are going to have thousands of runners ahead of you, beside you and behind you.  This creates some nice pockets for getting out of the brunt of the wind.  This isn’t an ironman, you can work together and draft as much as you want.

Let’s get on with the cautions now.

The advice at Boston is always to go out easy, but I strongly recommend a conservative start.  If you have to walk in the last 10K with this wind, rain and cold you risk hypothermia.  Best case you finish and end up in the med-tent.  Worst case your body seizes and you pull the plug.  Don’t be stupid. Go out slow.

With this kind of head-wind you want to do your best to work with those around you to draft.  Take turns and work together.  Drafting creates an envelope that helps everyone, including the person in front.  Even with that you will probably lose 3-5 minutes to the wind.  Adjust your goals accordingly.

The other thing that wind and cold will do is cause your form to change.  If you’re leaning in to the wind or being stood up by it can make your mechanics hinky.  That can cause cramps.  Especially calf cramps.

What to do?  Try to check your form and stay clean.  Consider calf sleeves to keep the compression and heat on them.  Make sure to warm up well.

You’ll also want to stay on top of the electrolytes.  Just because you’re not sweating doesn’t mean you can stop fueling.  Consider electrolyte supplements of some sort early.  I usually take an Enduralyte capsule every 10k or so to keep the cramps away.  If you don’t have supplements just keep sipping the on-course sports drink as you pass each water stop.  Stay on top of it.

You might be tempted to wear some sort of rain coat.  That’s fine but anything loose or having a hood is going to act like a parachute in the wind.  You’re better off wearing tighter technical clothes.  You’re not going to stay dry, you just want to stay warm.  Especially focus on the core.  Wear multiple tech shirts for layering.  Cut off the sleeves if you need to.  Use the old big trash-bag trick at the start.

What I usually do is to put my race shoes in a plastic bag with dry socks and switch into them when I get to the corral.  You’re going to get wet, but you don’t have to start wet.  If you have to go to the Athletes’ Village avoid wearing your race shoes if you can.  The grass is going to be wet and muddy.

Another challenge with this weather is chaffing.  With all the wet you stand a good chance of losing some skin.  I’m from this climate, but If you are coming from a dry place make sure you lube up! You might consider carrying some with you that you can re-apply.  Chaffing won’t kill you, but it will make that post-race shower interesting!

In summary, it’s never as bad as they say it’s going to be.  Unless you do something stupid to make it bad.  Relax. It’s the Boston Marathon!  Go out easy, be as prepared as you can, work with the runners around you and enjoy.  It’s going to be epic!

Chris,