Boston Marathon 2011

[Scott Hughes]

This will be my first Boston Marathon and I am looking for some guidance as to where to stay- specific hotel, when to arrive/leave, do's and don'ts etc. Any help that I can get will be appreciated!

[Jeff Linger]

Hammer the downhills. As much as possible, as often as possible, as hard as possible. They absolutely crushed me. At the beginning of mile 20 I had 2 minutes in the bank towards a sub 3:00. I fell off to a 3:06 and it all started after the 1st downhill on the backside of heartbreak hill and got worse with each one. At one point I even had to walk out a muscle strain. If I had my training to do over again I would make downhill repeats part of my regular weekly training, and find a way to begin and end all my long runs with a number of miles of downhill. All in all though, I have even heard people who trained on the actually Boston course say the downhill still kicked their butt.

Although I still PR'd by almost 6 minutes at Boston I was in a comatosed daze at the end of the race. I missed out on all the enjoyment and excitement of the Boston Finish. My best advice would be to keep your goals in perspective and enjoy this race instead of shooting for a target time.

[jtshad]

Scott, book a hotel now if possible and stay downtown so you can enjoy the atmosphere of the town, get to the buses and finish line easily (in addition to the expo) and take in the full Boston experience.   There are many hotels to chose from, I have stayed at the Hilton Downtown Financial District and the Doubletree downtown/Chinatown and both were great. 

Both times I ran Boston, we arrived on Friday and stayed until Wednesday which allow for ample time for the race and sightseeing (not to mention recovery before having to board a plane!) such as walking the Freedom Trail, Duckboat tours, museums, Sam Adam's Brewery, JFK library, BoSox game, etc.

Do plan your itinerary ahead a bit to make plans for sightseeing and to make reservations at restaurants well ahead of time (great seafood joints, MUST eat Italian in the NorthEnd, inlcuding Modern Bakery for dessert at least once...best canolli's I have ever had!).