Boston: Baaaahston!!!! 2012

So, let me just start out this post with a HUGE shout-out to all of my peeps in Hopkinton, Ashland, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline and Boston, because without them, I would not have made it through this race. They really kicked it up a notch or two with their support in the form of sprinklers, hoses, "splash"es, busted fire hydrants... you name it! The good it did is truly immeasurable!


This morning started off quite early. With only a few hours of sleep (not sure exactly why), but I woke up and was  up an out the door by 4:50 a.m.

Shuttle Ride to the Boston Common

Bus ride out to Hopkinton!

We caught a hotel shuttle to the Boston Common and then a got on a bus. We were early enough to have our pick of the buses, so lucky #2 it was! After a short time, we were on our way to Hopkinton. Everything went off like clockwork. Which, I have learned about this race, it is like clockwork. They have done this for 116 YEARS, so they know how it goes and it is boom boom boom.


Anyways, we got to Hopkinton and entered the famed Athlete's Village, which was really nothing more other than some tents for people to camp underneath on and a bunch of food and beverages provided by the sponsors. Good enough for me. It was there we hooked up with Louis, Andrew and Bill (who caught a different hotel shuttle and bus). We all spread out our blankets, popped a squat, as the race was still 3+ hours away! I had never had a race where I had to wait that long, but time went by quickly with friends and we relished in the atmosphere reminding each other that the long wait was part of the "Boston experience".

 

Our little pre-race picnic. Notice all the room around us? Being type-a triathletes,
we all were on the first 2 buses out to Hopkinton. We told ourselves we just wanted the
"full Boston experience".

Heather educating us all on the benefits of Peanut Butter Gu

By this time, everyone was there.

No room in the tent now!

Lines for porta-potties.

After awhile, it was time for Andrew and Louis to head to their corrals (they started 20 minutes ahead of me, Heather and Bill), so they were off.

Our little 26.2 crew.

 Then it was the three of us to get ready to go, and off we went.

I wanted people to cheer for me. Wasn't effective. Next time use black.

Wave 2 buddies -- Holla!!!

Again, like clockwork. Dropping our bags, hitting the porta-potties (Boston Tip: there are porta-potties without lines by the bag drop and the start, don't waste your time in the village with these lines!) and off to our corrals to start the race.

Second wave - sixth corral. That's me!

 I think this is the first time I REALLY noticed the heat. Up until then, we had been in the shade and it hadn't really effected me, but now being in the sun - it was HOT!

 Now, if you have been following any of the coverage on Boston this year, you will know that the big news was the heat. Evidently in 2004, they had a race in the 80s and over 2,000 people ended up in the medical tent. They didn't want that happening again. Over the week, we received many emails from the B.A.A. pertaining to the weather and as the forecast got worse, so did the urges from the B.A.A. to run smart, run slow, possibly NOT run, to the point where they were offering deferments into next year's race. Crazy! My parents assured me that if I wanted to defer, they would not be let down and they would gladly come back to support me next year. I told them I wasn't contemplating that deferment was never an option for me, I was running this marathon and running it THIS YEAR.

Anyways, back to the race.

Heather and I ready to start in the corral!

The race started for us and off we went. Although Heather and I started together, I told her I didn't want the pressure of keeping up with her, so I just let her go and run off. And, I will be honest, I felt like CRUD. I don't know what it is, but I just did not fell like I had it in me today, but I was determined to finish. So I found a pace I knew I could keep for awhile. A loooong while. It wasn't fast, but it would do.

Now I will be the first to say I HATE running wet. I hate pouring water over my head because (a) it usually makes the salt (from sweat) go into my eyes and (b) I am terrified of blistering on my feet with so much moisture dripping to my shoes. After thinking, I decided that if I got wet right away, and kept myself showered with water to regulate my temperature, I didn't think I would get salt in my eyes BUT I would still be risking getting blisters. I decided to take the gamble and go with it. I think I saw my first aid station somewhere around 2.5 miles and was more than ready to pour water on my head. And did so.

As I went on, I continued to keep hydrated and cooled by pouring water on my head. A volunteer handed me two water cups and told me, "drink one, wear one". I quickly adopted that as my mantra for the day. At times it was "drink one, wear two". Or three. Or four.

The race starts in Hopkinton and travels down a pretty narrow road through a number of small towns all the way into Boston. The very cool thing about this is the amazing support along the route. I have run races through small towns a lot in my past and you generally see some support, but definitely not the amount that was along this route. And what was the coolest about this was that the residents were setting up their own aid stations along the route, setting out sprinklers, getting out their water hoses, cutting oranges, etc. My favorite were the kids with buckets of water that were offering "splashes", I was all over that one - oh, it felt so good! Whenever I could, I would tell the person with the hose, sprinkler, etc. "Thank you, you don't know how much this helps". I know, I know, you will say "I've seen that before", and I have too. But definitely NOT to the point that this race had. I will see a half dozen or so home-made aid stations along the way on a race, but here you had it continually for 26.2 miles - more in some towns, less in others - but you could count on getting water before the next aid station, if need be.

Makeshift aid and misting station set up by ambitious pre-teens. Awesome.

Kid handing out water: artistic interpretation or water-logged camera? You decide.

I'd like to say the miles ticked by quickly, but they didn't. It was hot and I was miserable for awhile. And then somewhere around mile 7, things all changed. I am not sure what did it. But I found my happy place, or as a banner for Gatorade said "find your happy pace", to me, they were the same. I'd like to say it was this that helped put me there:

That's a freeze pop handed to me by a little girl and it was HEAVEN.

So after that, I was all good. At least mentally, and that is when the miles really did just start ticking by. Soon I was at 10. Then 12. Then was Wellesley College, where the girls lined the course and for a long while you just heard some screeching, but it was still encouraging. All the girls had signs saying "Kiss me! I'm a senior!, "Kiss me- I'm a redhead", "Kiss me, I'm from Wiscoooooonsin", "I kiss girls, too", etc. I looked and I looked and I found one who was kissable--

But, considering I was married, I passed him by.

Runners coming through Wellesley.

Favorite shot because it has the steeple in the background, which to me is "New England".

I was almost to halfway and thought, "Man, it would be nice to see my family right about now", I thought they would be at mile 15.5 miles, but guess what --  THEY WERE THERE!!!

I was SOOO happy to see them!

Kisses and hugs to/from everyone -- they even love me when I am sweaty!

Close-up of how incredibly drenched I am in water, sweat, you name it!

As I left they got a shot of me, yet again, chasing a sprinkler.

Tip: throw your arms in the air to show you want the water and they spray you every time!

Then it was plug, plug, plug along. I was still feeling good and wondered when it was gonna hit. I was ticking down (or up) the miles and one just seamed to come after another. I knew that miles 16-22 the course went up, so I wondered if that is when I would really start slowing.

I hit mile 16 and nothing seemed to happen. I was still moving. Maybe 10 seconds or so slower per mile, but not too bad. I did start to notice people walking. Lots of people. But I tried not to think about them. People were talking about how slow they were going and how they hoped to finish in 5 hours. Really? We were on pace for a 4 hour marathon and I was only anticipating going faster. I guess not everyone was feeling the same way.

I wondered how many "hills" I was going to do. The course was going up, but I wasn't really sure... All of a sudden, I was somewhere around 20 and a spectator said "last hill!". I looked at him and said, "Really? This is Heartbreak?". He assured me it was and I was happy. I was running this bad boy.

Popsicles make me happy, so I took one as I was heading up.

All the runners - and the inspirational chalkings on the ground - on Heartbreak Hill.

HAPPY to be running it. The way the race started, I thought I might be crawling by now...

I think the top was around 21 miles. I knew I had another mile of up till I hit the "down" of 22. And that I did. Happy to be running on a downgrade for awhile, I just cruised. At 24, it turned flat and all the "down" momentum was gone. I felt like I was pushing so hard, but going soooo slow. But then, all I really had to do was look around me and there were people going much slower and loads walking, so I reminded myself I was doing "good".

Where was the end??? Between running in and out of of sprinklers and across the streets to get water, aid, etc. I had added a good 1/2 mile to my distance and wasn't sure when the end was going to be, BUT I knew there is a huge Citgo sign exactly 1 mile from the end, so I had that in my sites. When I hit the 1-mile-to-go point, I looked at my watch and knew I had to do an 8:50 mile to make a 4-hour marathon. So, off I went, mind over matter.

I got about 3/4 of the way through my last mile when I turned onto Boylson. Yay!!!! Until I saw that I had 3 minutes to make it to the end.

ALLL the way down there. Ugh. Yikes. Not sure if I will make it.

I didn't think I could make it, but I kept running. AND, I didn't want to miss out on this, either so, I whipped out my camera and started snapping pictures.

Almost there!

It was then my family spotted an arm reaching up in the air with a camera and knew it had to be me (evidently no one else was taking pictures at this point???) and I heard them yell my name and got to see them!!!! And then off to the finish line - would I make it???

YEP!!!!

Feeling good, and happy. I crossed in just under 4 hours (3:59:10). A far stretch from an ideal time goal, but considering the extreme conditions, it felt awesome! And that meant: Boston 2012 = success!

To top it off, after getting into the shoot, I turned around to see Heather. We had seen each other briefly at mile 7, but other than that, not till now, and I was ecstatic to end the race with the friend I started it with.

Yes, those are mylar blankets at 89 degrees.

It was a doozy of a day, but I loved every moment of it. The first 7 miles were not my favorite, but every race has a low point, and I am happy mine happened at the beginning and not the end.

On top of everything, I had the support of my family behind me, my friends, everyone watching online and I feel like the support of everyone who has encouraged me over the years. I really do look at the journey of getting to this finish line as starting when I ran my first marathon 10 years ago, not when I toed the line up in Hopkinton, and that made this 26.2 miles not the fastest, but the sweetest, I ever ran.

Thanks, especially, to my family who traveled to Boston with me. They are the reason I am here. I wanted to make this race not just about me, but experience it with them.

Freedom Trail (minus Ross)

Fenway (minus Mom)

Phoenix Phun!

Eight years ago this weekend, I ran my first marathon in Houston. It was all thanks to my friend, Jessie, who said "wanna go on vacation and we'll just run a marathon while we are there?". Hmm? At the time, I had not run over 5 miles. But I am always up for a challenge. And, thus, my marathoning began.

So this past September, I said "wanna go to Phoenix to run a marathon?" and Jessie was game. :) Plus, now living cross country from one another, it gave us a weekend to hang out, talk and reconnect. Yay! Jess flew in to Denver on Friday afternoon and we reunited for our trip. Trashy magazines and Red Vines- staples for all trips we take together.

With the race in mind, Saturday we spent doing all the pre-race duties like getting our packet from the expo,


And getting into the 'spirit' of the race by rockin' out.

That night was a pasta party with a bunch of running friends from Denver. After signing up with Jess, I kept finding runner after runner coming down to Phoenix. My friend Sonja was in the same boat, so we set a place, time and location and wa-lah! 20+ runners, support people, etc. out for dinner. It was the perfect way to get some good food, ease some pre-race tension and just hang out with friends. I was also excited to spend some time with Dana & Dan. It was going to be Dana's first half marathon-- and I kind of talked her into it... so I was happy she could meet us out. Plus, Dan (her hubby) got some spectathlete coaching from Sonja to help his day go smoother as well. Side note: HIGHLY recommend Harley's Italian Bistro if you are looking for good Italian in Phoenix. YUM!

All hugs and smiles before our race.

The morning came too quickly and I was off to the race. Jessie was doing the half (which started later) so, I got a ride down to the race with Sandy and Michelle. Thankfully, it wasn't too cold, so it made the waiting bearable.

While there, I went for a little warm-up run. Yes, more mileage before the race. It was something new to try, but I did it and I think I like it. It kinda jiggled out the nerves and I think it helped me so I didn't start out too fast.

Coming into the race, I really didn't know what to expect. I feel like I have been training for the Ironman, and this race just happened to pop-up. While that relieved some nervousness about it, I really didn't know what to expect. Since I am swimming and biking more, I have been running less than normal when training for a marathon. Not to mention that I have been feeling less than fast lately.

So earlier in the week, I talked with my coach and set some goals:
- Trying to negative split. (Run the second half faster than the first.)
- Trying to finish the race around a 4:10.

To accomplish these, we came about with a general race strategy of starting off at a 9:50 pace for the first 5 miles, working up to and staying at a 9:30 pace for the majority and then, hopefully, pulling in below that pace for the last few miles ~ so averaging about a 9:30 pace, if possible. This would end me with about a 4:10.

Back to the race. Although I knew multiple people running it, we all had different paces and goals in mind. So, after meeting up in the morning, we all wished each other well and dispersed into separate corrals. This helped as I could focus on me and what I wanted to do.

I started out a little fast for what I had intended, but got my pace down by mile 3. At mile 5, I upped my pace up to around 9:30s and kept it there. Since I was deliberately going slower, I really felt like I was "holding back" for the majority of the race. Somewhere between miles 5 and 10, I decided that I had about 8 miles of pushing in me and that I would hold my 9:30s till mile 18 and then push. I hit mile 18 and pushed. While I felt like I was pushing a lot more, my pace only dropped about 20 seconds. But, hey! that was a drop and I was happy. I kept on like this till the end of the race, slowly quickening my pace and finishing with 4:07:40-- yay!

So, that was it. I did it! I was very happy that I had goals and that I met them. I was also happy to see that my level of fitness was probably better than what I expected.
Part of the gang after.

As for the race in general, I would recommend it. There were lots of people, maybe too many for me for the pre and post activities (35,000 total). While our race course wasn't crowded, I heard the 1/2 was VERY congested. The bands along the route were great. There were even some "unofficial bands" that played along the way. Very entertaining. I enjoyed the humor of most of the announcers. There was tons of support along the way. And they gave out salt packets at 2 aid stations- yum. I had never had that before in a marathon, but it really helped. I think that I will add salt packets (like those you get from fast food restaurants) to my race belt. And the course was flat, flat, flat. While the course itself wasn't pretty, Arizona is. As you can see, they have lotsa funky cactii.
And nothing makes a better post-race celebration than good Mexican food (which Arizona has plenty of)... and margaritas!
Besides friends! Thanks to all (Jessie, in particular) for such a fun weekend! Cheers to a good race and great weekend!

Denver Marathon: Base Building 101

I know I am a week late, but I ran the Denver Marathon last weekend. :) The day before, a friends told me to "try to win it". I laughed and said, "I'm going to try to finish it."

Going into this race, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Since signing up in August, I had kept up with my running. So, I was prepared for the race (ie, could do the distance), but not really trained for it-- let alone prepared to do extremely well in it. To complicate things, we had hired our new coach and he had me running a 24 mile training run earlier in the week. (Generally you taper/rest-up prior to the race.) This confused me a it, but I rolled with it, thinking there must be some methodology in it.

As the race neared, I did get more excited about it. The expo was fun and I was going to be Trakked on the new Trakkers system. I went to dinner Friday night with a friend and we talked about the race. More talk and encouragement were given to me at a baby shower on Saturday. The morning of, we were up bright and early at 4:45 (actually, it was really dark at this time). We had a sitter arrive and Ross and I were off to downtown.
We took a disposable camera with us (more on poor camera quality later) and took a few shots and enjoyed the hubbub that surrounds the start. Our friend, Sonja, found us and helped us hop the fence (literally) into the corral and there we waited for the race to start, which is where this was taken.
The race was the race. I am sorry that I don't have more insight for you on that. The course was in a city that I know pretty well, so I wasn't enthralled by the scenery or the architecture. But it was flat, well supported and organized-- all signs of a good race. (It will be interesting to see how it is run next year when Rock'n Roll takes it over.)

At one point along the way, I was walking through a water stop with a guy who was obviously hurting, so I asked him if he needed anything. He said he didn't and went on to gripe about not training properly, his body, etc. I told him about my 24-mile run earlier in the week and he asked why I did it. I said "I dunno. My coach told me too." Then he asked "First marathon?". To which I replied "twelfth" and kept running. But it made me think more about my race and my training and why I was doing this. It obviously wasn't for a pr. I didn't need any more race t-shirts or medals. What was going through Steve's head when he had me train so hard earlier in the week? And I thought of the Ironman.

I finished the race strong. Slower than the start, but not in survival mode. Sonja was at the end smiling and waiting for me. She asked how I thought I did and I told her about my week and that I felt good that I could do that much mileage without compromising my body. She confirmed that this was probably Steve's way of building my base. A very, very wide base. Which is what I will need with my goals I have set out for myself for the next year.

Over all, pleased with my experience and my recovery, in particular. This race was an experience and it taught me many things, including that sometimes races aren't meant to be the prize, but the ticket to a bigger one. This next year, I am expecting to have a lot of races that aren't going to be pr's. They aren't going to be highlights. But they ARE going to prepare me to have one AWESOME Ironman!


OH! And I promised more on the picture quality of the camera. Here is another picture that came off of the camera:Recognize him? That's ROSS. With HAIR! Which means this camera is 9+ years old. No wonder the quality of the film was so horrible!