I don't even know where to begin or end. This experience was more than incredible. It was unbelievable. The city was electric, on fire, very emotional. I'm so impressed with how much love for the marathon the people have. It is impressive to think that the people make you feel like Heros just for running the course. I felt humbled and emotional the entire run. I never thought I would run a marathon let alone run Boston. I have spectated three times and it is very surreal going into this morning thinking hey you're about to run this historical 118th Boston Matathon. I cannot imagine the a better first time in Boston to run this event.
Lots of apprehension coming into this race. My body only really got 11 weeks of training and I had to cram a lot into a short amount of time. Even the short run with Walter, Bethany and Gina Sunday morning around Jamaica Plain Ponds was very frustrating. Just too tight and nothing I had done the past few weeks let me stay loose or feel ready. I was just gonna go in happy and let the event be about the people of Boston and run for my little men, famil and friends and not make it about what I need out if this. This is how I would fill my cup.
And so the morning arrived and I eat my normal cliff bar and Gatorade along with a bagel. The night before Walters Aunt Faith had made the most delicious carbo load meal I've ever eaten. Unreal meal. Care package for the morning included. So thoughtful. Again the people just so happy for every runner.
I decided to use strength tape all over my right back and leg so that I could have some support for the pain. It worked. I'm glad I did this. The bus ride up was entertaining. We sang happy bday to Gina as it was her bday. Y'all know how I sing happy bday if you've ever run with me on your bday. Pretty fun to have the whole bus listen and then clap and cheer after the opera was over.
The village was awesome. Three bathroom visits and I was ready to go. I walked with Walter to the corrals. I started in corral 7. When the lady dropped the ropes I moved up to about 4.5 and then the gun went off. That sent chills through me. everyone was cheering us on and I immediately started the thousands of high fives that I would be doing through the course. From the beginning I knew I need to hold back. 6:40 pace to start and it felt like 8 min pace. I immediately started to jog. I went through the mile mark in 7:01 which is exactly what I wanted to do. I knew if I got sucked out I would be in trouble and so many people passed me like they were doing a 5K. At 2 miles Steve Turley grabbed my right a and said what's up. We started talking and we were just so overwhelmed with how cool this was to participate. Steve was so excited he took off. I tried to get h to hold off. It was hard to pass him at mile 4 seeing him be really sick. He got food poisoning the night before. I never saw him again. In fact the only other familiar face I saw the rest of the way was Carina who finished just ahead of me.
I ran what I thought was a smart game plan. My splits were all very consistent I felt and the effort felt right. I never tried to kill myself. I drank water at every aid station from 1-24. The only aid station I didn't get was mile 25. I took GI at 8, 13.5, 17.5 and 21. I feel very confident that I did the right nutrition. The start temp was 54 degrees and my finish temp was 62 degrees. Might not seem hot but there was no cloud cover and the wind was weird. The sun felt a lot hotter than it should have. When it feels nice right at the start and you're not cold then you know you're in for some heat. Such is the spring marathon. I had trained for it though with running at specific hot times and so I mentally said just drink at every aid station and you'll be fine. It's true. I saw hundreds of runners walk, fall down, cramp, cry. It was bad. You had to just suck it up and push on. My quads were hurting pretty bad. I managed however to keep going. I was frustrated with trying to manage my pace during the aid stations. With so many people around me I had slow down and speed up a lot after every aid station. It was a great experience to learn a lot. I definitely learned a ton during this marathon. One thing I learned is I need to run a faster marathon time so I can start in corral one next time because it was so many people the whole way. If I run faster I can finish earlier and have more room to run. Sounds dumb but it's true.
Mat mile 18 I'm running by the aid station and this cool masters runner woman is with me much of the run. We worked well together. But our legs got crossed up when I tried to get out of the aid station. It pulled my left groin and quad bad. I thought I might have injured myself really bad. My left quad remained tight the rest of the way. This probably led to my slow miles from 23 on but for sure it hurt me. Nothing I could but suck it up and go.
Wellsley College was unreal. I raised my right hand to my ear and kept saying can't hear y'all? It was deafening. All I can say is the girls were awesome. I didn't get any kisses but I was very emotional through this mile. I probably choked up six times through the course. Cresting Heartbreak was cool. Thought the hill before Heartbreak was tougher. But it's where Heartbreak is during the course that makes it fun. I didn't even realize I was running up Heartbreak until half way through. I told myself this better be heartbreak because I'm ready to be done with these hills. Haha. When I passed Boston College went around Chestnut Hill Res I really started getting pumped. The turn on left on Beacon Street was awesome. I felt rejuvenated. I picked what I thought the pace up. My legs were hammered though. At 23 I could tell I was on my last wind. I saw the Citgo sign at 23. I knew I was gonna make it. I was thrilled. At this point I decided, hey take this moment all in. Enjoyed the crowds and supporters. I had given tons of high fives the whole way but these last few miles I was done with slapping hands. I just smiled and said thank you. Passing Citgo was extremely overwhelming. So many people. One million spectators today. The most ever. You felt like you're in another world. Couldn't believe it. Then you come under Nass Tirnpike and the crowd was crazy big. Right on Hereford. WOW. Left on Boylston. Holy crap. It's packed. It's loud. It's the coolest emotions ever. I just did what I wanted. I waved my hand up in the air the whole last mile. I didn't even care. I knew I was gonna PR because of what I had already done. Not a big deal but fun to say I improved a little.
I crossex the finish line and stood there and just have a champions clap like I was at Winbledon playing tennis and thanking the grandstands. It was so cool. This is now my favorite part of the whole day. I decided to make sure very volunteer knew how much I cared and loved their help. I literally hugged 400 people at the end. I shook their hand with 200 others. I said Thank you to all of them. They laughed, cried, hugged me back and have me water and food and cool blanket. I didn't care who they were. Just loved that they made my day fun and unreal. I felt loved by these people. I felt #bostonstrong. At mile 18 I heard a guy on the side of the road say "MEB, just won!" I was so pumped. The people all around me with myself just yelled and cheered. Finally. An American wins. And what a year to win it! The champs MEB and RITA were increbibly gracious winners. Such a great awards ceremony and acceptance speeches of perfect humility and confidence. I'm touched by these Atheletes. So excited for how well Shalane ran and made the women's race. Ryan Hall's strategy to tell the rest of the Anerivans to hold back and let MEB go was also genius. Ryan is a stud and truly did his part today to help and Ametican win. So rad! I qualified again today to run this marathon again and I believe I will do just that.
MADE IT HAPPEN!;)
thanks to all who have helped me train and continue to train. Appreciate y'all.
Splits for Boston
7:01
6:50
6:43
6:43
6:53
6:51
6:51
6:57
6:54
6:56
7:00
6:45
6:55
6:50
6:57
6:48
7:03
7:13
6:57
7:08
7:35
6:52
7:09
7:12
7:14
7:29
2:21 .39 (6:38)
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