Life has been a bit of a whirlwind the last 16 months, running Boston in under 4 hours was a magical milestone. Sixteen months earlier I was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoms & underwent 18 weeks chemo to acheive remission in mid-June. On August 2nd, I still could not run 2 miles. Somehow by the grace of God, I completed the Erie Marathon six weeks later in 4:30. Six weeks after that I ran Peak 2 Creek in 4:36. This was probably not wise, but more or less shock therapy to my body ... I hurt if I ran & I hurt if I didn't run so I decided to just run far.
Running Boston with Team in Training was an incredibly inspiring experience, I made it up to Boston for three of the training runs including the 20 miler 3 weeks before the race, when I started walking at 19, mostly from hip pain. I was hurting all over ... I know how important it is to arrive at the starting line healthy, so walking the last mile made more sense than potentially aggravating something further. Somedays just are not good running days, but this performance definitely eased my race day expectations, clearly I am not ready to race 26.2 yet ... I signed up for Big Cottonwwod 9.10.16 to get my 2017 BQ ... for the first time in my life I think I am going to retain a ooach, even though I have learned more knowledge about running on this blog that made me a successful runner to begtin with. I need someone locally to help hold me accountable to consistent training and push me on targeted workouts.
Back to Boston ... my mind just naturally wanders to running a BQ when I think Boston. But the charity component is a big part of Boston too, and I was incredibly honored to run for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Socity, as that is the jpurney I am on! It was an awesome weekend starting with a Friday night fundraising celebration, Saturday Inspiration luncheon, Sunday realaxation, and a truly magical Monday ... followed by a victory celebration Tuesday & a trip to my brothers and NYC to celebrate turning 50 on Wednesday ... well really it was like a 6 day celebration of life.
As soon as I walked into the athletes village I ran into a friend from Atlanta, imagine that ... I was feeling good vibes. I joined my TNT teammates, and not too long after we were starting the walk to our 11:15 start time. It was about 70 degrees with the sun getting higher, not uncomfortably warm, but enough so to welcome an easy pace start, it was clear that hydration was going to be critical ... so happy I run with my trusty handheld!
There were a few of us who wanted to run a sub 4 if the conditions would allow it, and I was lucky to be in a pack of 4 that started out conservatively as dictated by starting in Wave 4/Corral 4. Wearing the purple TNT jerseys made it relatively easy to stick together through water stops. Around Mile 8, we lost Paul, I was not sure if we just got separated or if he just slowed a little as he had been batting injuries & it was warm ... by this time we had dropp.ed down to a pretty consitent 8:20 pace. Around 3 miles later, Chris dropped back, but he finished strong in 3:51.
At this point I was just sticking with my teammate Nora, ironically she is also a Lymphoma survivor & a very strong runner. I felt pretty comfortable and it really helped to have settled into a solid pace with her. We crossed the half at 1:52:52, I was thrilled that I had some time banked for a sub 4. My fastest 3 miles were 12-14, running 8:10, 8:16, 8:11.
At around 14.5 miles, I realized that pace was not sustainable, so I wished Nora well, and went into conserve mode. I had been taking in lots of liquids, so I dashed off behind some cypress trees, which helped get me out of race mode. Right after getting back on the course, I ran into my TNT coach who joined me for about half a mile with some encouraging words, before I sent him off to catch Nora, as she was not too far ahead. Sonn after, Chris reappeared running strong, so I fell in step with him for about a mile which got me to the Newton Firehouse, where my brother was waiting with a friend. I stoppoed, refueled, got a hug, and announced I was done racing and going to just enjoy the rest of the journey.
My plan all along had been to bank some time & then take it easy through the Newton Hills, so I could run the last 5 miles hopefully free of excrutiating pain. I averaged around a 10:40 pace over the next 4 miles with some walk breaks & also was joined for a while by the other Team coach ... again with well timed words of encouragement ... and news that the temperature was about 5-10 degrees cooler in downtown Boston. There was also a headwind most of the day, which really helped keep cool, there were only a few places wher it was strong enough to feel like it was fighting against you. I was happy to have the tradeoff & stay comfortable.
Upon reaching the top of Heartbreak, I was feeling pretty good with no real major discomforts, so I reengaged a 9:00 minute pace & reveled in the cheers of the crowds ... although I will never understand why some try to knock you backwards with a simple High 5! The people of Boston sure do know how to bring out race day magic though!
My brother was at the corner of Hereford screaming me on, and let me tell you, I was pretty darn happy to be on the home stretch! I tossed him my water bottle from about 20 yards away and took off up the short hill. As I turned onto Bylson I was a little overcome with emotion ... I stopped took my hat off, said a prayer and shared a breif moment with my Mom ... then took off for the final straight away!
Sprinting down Boylson Street ... living the dream! Now ... on to get that BQ! It has been a helluva journey, but I think alas my body is ready to tackle an 18 week training cycle ... and get some of my speed back! Cheers
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