The Boston Marathon

It's hard to put into few enough words, all my thoughts about the experience I had being in Boston and running The Marathon (read: warning, this won't be short!) First I must say, after running my first marathon 3 years ago I never thought I'd run another let alone qualify for Boston. Less than a week later I was signing up for my 2nd marathon that year where I came in less than 2 minutes short of qualifying. At that point I thought it might be possible and told myself if I did ever happen to qualify I had to go, but it would be a one time thing. The next year, at that very same marathon, I shaved over 15 minutes off my time and qualified to run in the 2016 Boston Marathon!

We flew in late Saturday morning and after a quick cab ride to the apartment where we were staying, I was eager to get out and see the city. During my early 20's I had a short career as a flight attendant with many layovers in Boston and I loved this city. Travis had been to Boston once briefly, but had never explored the area so I was excited to bring him to all my favorite places. 

The entire weekend, Boston is all about the marathon and the excitement and energy there can't even be described! It was hard to not want to celebrate before even getting to the starting line! I tried to save most of the sightseeing for the 2 days after the marathon, but there were just too many things I wanted to do. We did a lot more walking, eating out and not relaxing then I had planned on over the weekend.  I did manage to stick to my plan of making Spaghetti and getting to bed at a reasonable time Sunday night and I felt ready for Marathon Monday.

The weather forecast was all over the place and kept changing, but the night before it was looking like it would be just about perfect; partly cloudy with low to mid 50's at the start and maybe getting up around mid to upper 60's at the finish. I had my clothes and gear all set out and ready to go and decided it would be cool enough to wear my knee high compression socks. I was having a bit of anxiety about carrying my water bottle, but I had trained with it using my own drink and wanted to stick with what had been working for me. Worst case I could toss it along the way.

I slept better than expected but started tossing and turning early Monday morning so I got up before my alarm. I was feeling pretty relaxed, confident and ready to take on the marathon. Before I knew it, it was time to make my way to the buses to catch a ride to the start. Travis walked me there, we went down Boylston Street over the final stretch of the course. As we walked by the finish line I got all choked up thinking that in just a few hours I will be running across that line, it was still unbelievable to me!

I got on a bus right around 7:00. The ride took longer than I thought, but it was nice chatting with the other runners. We arrived at Athlete's Village just before 8:00 where we hung out until our wave start time of 10:30. The time waiting went by faster than I expected. I had found a place to sit in the shade and didn't realize how hot it was starting to get until I took a sip of my drink and it was warm. Before I knew it we were called to make our way to the start which was about a 3/4 mile walk. 

Once I was out of the shade it hit me that it felt a lot warmer than the forecast had said. There was not a cloud in the sky and I was starting to regret not wearing a visor. But it was a beautiful day and I felt good and was about to run the Boston freaking marathon! This was my victory lap and my only goal was to enjoy every moment of it.

with Dana from Canada who I met on the bus

just seconds before starting

Surprisingly I never felt nervous like I usually do. I crossed the start with a huge smile, it was going to be a great day!

From the very start there were a ton of people lining the streets cheering. Since the first several miles are down hill I knew I needed to try to hold back and not go out too fast or my quads would be shot before I got to the rolling hills later in the course. I just focused on enjoying the crowds and slapped as many high fives as I could. During the first mile I also met a man from MN named Mike and we started talking and running together. 

By about mile 3 I was already getting too hot, I later heard that it got up to 75 by the start and I don't doubt that. I was also already annoyed with carrying my bottle but I knew I needed my fuel so I refrained from tossing it yet. My legs felt fine but overall I was starting to not feel great and by mile 6 I knew it was going to be a tough day. Mike was still with me and I think he knew I was starting to struggle. He told me he was just out there to enjoy it and didn't care about his time so he would stick with me even though I told him to go ahead. I continued on and tried to smile and pull energy from the crowds as much as possible. 

I knew a group of people that were going to be cheering at either mile 6 or 9 so I had something to look forward to and focused on watching for them. I was already in rough shape but so happy to see them around mile 9 which gave me a push to keep going! I ended up giving them my water bottle since I had been grabbing water at all the stops and was beyond irritated with carrying it. 

This is how excited I get when I see friends cheering!

Miles 10 - 13 there were a couple small rolling hills that felt much bigger than they were! It was way too early for the way my mind was already wanting to give up! I wanted so badly to be enjoying the day but all I could think about was just being done! Again I tried to focus on interacting with the crowds and tried to channel their energy. By mile 13 I was feeling a little better, maybe it was just from the scream tunnel at Wellesley College!?

Miles 14 - 17 are a blur. Mike is still with me and if it wasn't for him I might have started to walk or just quit all together. At one point I started to feel a little cramp in my right quad after walking through a water station but once I continued running it went away. I knew then, that if I did walk I would probably cramp up and wouldn't be able to keep going so I had to keep running! I also reluctantly started taking the Gatorade they provided on the course since I no longer had my own drink and knew I needed electrolytes.

Miles 17 - 21 were my slowest miles, which proves the Newton Hills are no joke! It's not so much the hills themselves, I'm used to running on longer and steeper hills, but that they begin when your legs are really starting to get tired. While these miles were slow, and heartbreak hill was a bitch, I'm proud to say that they didn't destroy me. 

Miles 21 - 25 while not exactly fast, I was able to pick back up and even out my pace. At some point during this stretch we passed a man running while pushing another man in a wheelchair and the crowds were going wild. All my struggles seemed like nothing at that point and it made me want to keep pushing on.

Mile 25 -26 another blur. I just knew Travis and my friends would be around the corner when I made that left onto Boylston and I couldn't wait to see them. Turning onto the final stretch was the most unbelievable feeling. It was so loud and packed with people cheering on both sides of the street. It didn't matter how fast or slow you were going, you felt like a champion approaching that finish line!

So excited to see my people at mile 26

Mile 26 - 26.2 despite struggling all day, I managed to finish that last .2 strong. I had finally hit the pace that I had trained for and anticipated running at! I felt like crap and my stomach was a mess but I finished with a smile.

with Mike who ran the entire marathon with me!

This was by far the marathon I struggled through the most. The first thing I said to Travis when I saw him was "Never again, I'm done with marathons!" At first I was really disappointed, not so much with my time, but that I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. I didn't go to Boston looking for a PR, of course I wanted to run it in decent time, but all I truly wanted was to enjoy the experience.  I trained harder than I've ever trained before because I wanted to be able to run it with relative ease and just take it all in. My training went exceptionally well and I was on track to run in about 3:35, it took me 3:50:59 and felt like a struggle most of the way. I would have been happy with an even slower time, if I had just been able to enjoy it more.  I was only going to run Boston once, not to get the best time, but to have the best time!

My biggest disappointment, I didn't really get to enjoy it because I never felt great

It was warm, I ditched my fueling plan and took Gatorade which I know my stomach can't handle, I did a ton of walking the days before and didn't eat as well as I should have. Maybe I was too relaxed and didn't take it seriously enough? Maybe I should have just put my music on and pushed harder? Maybe my age is starting to catch up to me? Maybe my previous marathons just went too smoothly and I needed to learn what it was like to really struggle yet not give up? Whatever the reason(s) it doesn't really matter. Surviving the struggle will only make me stronger!

The marathon may not have gone my way, but I still had an amazing time in Boston! The next 2 days, the feeling of proudly walking around Boston as a marathon finisher made up for the way I felt during the run. I take back saying that I'm done and it was a lie that I would only run Boston once. Maybe not next year, but I will return and run it again someday. And next time I will have the best time!