Each Day Is a Gift

 Nothing but VERY "warm" memories!!! :) :) :)

Shouldn't classify this as a race report.  I did NOT race today.  The heat simply gave me a good reason to have a party considering my current lack of fitness.  When BAA offered to keep the course open for an extra hour...I thought to myself: "YAY, instead of 6 hours, I get to have 7 hours to party! Silly me! :)  Met everyone (TomSlick, Hillbillyrunner, AndyB, Lark, Jeff, Mindy and Teena) down at the hotel lobby at 6am to walk couple blocks to Boston Common for our bus ride to Hopkinton.  Marcie deferred so she could run a PR at SLC, smart choice!  The mood on the bus was very subdued compared to past years.  

Got to the athlete village with over 2 hours to kill.  Found a shady patch of grass to set out our air mattresses.   It was so warm that I had zero appetite, forced down a banana, bagel and gatorade.  Wished AndyB and Jeff luck as they headed to their Wave 1 start; soon followed by Teena, Slick and Ronnie to their Wave 2 start.  Mindy, Lark and I were in Wave 3.  Lost Lark on the way to the drop bag buses.  Called Lowell and met him and his niece, Karen by the "It All Starts Here Sign" where we posted for more pictures.  Felt bummed that I did not connect with Steam8.  Mindy and I made one more trip to the pop...plenty to choose from.  The athlete village was suddenly deserted, they turned off the music.  Lost Mindy on our long march to the corrals.  

Of the 5 Bostons I've run, this was by far the farthest back we started.  Lowell, Karen and I didn't even bother to enter the corrals we were assigned, we simply followed the throng of charity walkers.  Couldn't believe we were still walking after crossing the start where we waved to the camera.  It was so crowded that running was futile.  We walked, jogged, goofed off, made new friends, told stories, sang, took insane amount of pictures for 17 miles.  Saw a Utah Valley Marathon ad. poster/sign so we ran back and found a spectator to take a picture of us standing beneath it.  Took pix under the TJ Diner sign in honor of TJ who had a pacemaker put in 5 days after running Boston last year.  Took pix at every memorable or interesting locations.  Wish I knew how to post pix from my cell here.  Saw lots of hamburger clad runners, one Robin Hood, one toothbrush, two tie-die warriors, 3 fairies,  a very cute spectator Santa.  We marched with the National Guards, danced with little kids, stopped at a backyard BBQ and was tempted to sample their food.

Cannot thank the spectators enough.  They offered us ICE, popsicles, cold water, apples, oranges, twizzlers, sprayed us with hose, water guns.  We marched with the National Guards.  High-fived so many hands that mine hurt a good hurt! :)  Lowell would pour water on me and Karen at every aid station.  I got a hold of a bottle of cold water and sneaked up on Lowell and doused him good.   Cannot remember the last time I had so much fun with a water fight which went on for a few miles! :)  Whenever we passed a runner/walker with a "in memory of...", we'd ask him/her to tell us their stories.  It was very inspiring. 

If I wasn't so short, I would've kissed the Wellsley girls on the foreheads!  I blew kisses to all the ones holding a "Kiss Me" sign and high-fived the rest.  Their energy was SO AWESOME!!!  Kept a close eye on Lowell to make sure no Wellsley girls geezer-napped him! :)  It was here that I lost him 2 years ago!  Karen was awesome in keeping track of us.  Her family has rented a car and would meet us on the left side of the road every so many miles.  We were running mostly on the right side of the road where there was more shade; but would run over on the left side whenever we got words that her family would be there soon.  We stopped and chatted with her family and reapplied sunscreen and of course took pictures.  We missed them one time and ran back to find them! 

I got separated from Lowell and Karen at the mile 17ish PowerBar energy gels station.  I ate my 3rd energy gel there and went to the left side of the road in search of water.  I should mention that because we were running WAY BACK of the pack, some of the aid stations had run out of cups.  But it was not a problem as the locals had plenty water to offer.  I made sure that I would drink gatorade at all the even number miles and water at the odd number ones.  Somehow in the chaos of searching for water, I lost my running buddies.  I walked back to the energy gel station calling out their names.  Other runners thought I was a nutcase when I asked if they'd seen "Idaho Sam" (that is what's written on the front of Lowell's shirt).  I pulled out my cell phone and called Lowell and left a message that I would be walking all the Newton Hills so he could catch up if they were behind me; otherwise I would keep a steady pace and hopefully catch up to them if they were ahead. 

NO ONE was running on the Newton Hills especially on Heartbreak.  I felt that I had the energy to run it but it was pointless so I just visited with my fellow walkers.  For some reason, the hills did not feel as long.  I really enjoyed the Korean drum music.  There were some scary sights from the Red Cross tents where many had succumbed to the heat.  I decided that after cresting Heartbreak I would run the rest of the miles for as long as my legs and lungs would let me.  The energy gel must've kicked in...I found myself running with ease and being carried along by the energetic and loud Boston College crowd.   I did not walk anymore, only slowed enough to grab fluids at the aid stations.  I heard so many people yelling: "Look at her GO!" as I passed a sea of walkers for 5+ miles.  The silly grin on my face from mile 1 stayed with me all the way to Boylston where it turned into a HUGE smile as I spotted my hubby by the Prudential Mall.  I found out later that he stood worrying for 2 hours when the AT&T alert quit coming after the half.  He thought I got hurt and DNF.  He called me but of course I did not hear my phone...how could I with the LOUD crowd! My sweet sweet hubby was there early standing by the guard rail on Boylston.  He watched the elites and winner ran by and cheered and waited patiently and looked for me every time a medic cart went by.  I love him so much! :)

This was my slowest marathon ever; yet one of my funnest.  My first Boston in 2008 was my fastest marathon.  Both times I had a strong finish and felt awesome afterwards.  I ran (err jogged) a 2:32:33 first half and finished with a negative split.  As a side note, my Garmin registered 26.6 miles, the longest Boston distance yet!  I am SO GRATEFUL that I had no asthma issue and was able to finish in one piece.

After the race, we went to Durgin Park for our post-race celebration dinner.  My son, Eric worked from 8am 'till 7pm in the finish line med tent.  He said it was like a MASH unit.  He started countless IVs, treated and bandaged numerous blistered feet.  "Bus-load" of runners were treated with heat-related problems, vomiting, cramping, fainting.  He earned his volunteer jacket.  So proud of him!  I saw many runners collapsed while walking to the bag drop buses! 

It was amazing that out of the thousands of spectators, I would run into Lowell's wife and daughter-in-law when I was walking back to my hotel.

Post race dinner. L ro R ~ Marcie, Larry, Smooth, Eric, Lloyd, Mindy, Jeff.

Many thanks and congratulations to my fellow bloggers and friends who braved the heat to race, run and offer support on this historical 116th Boston! :)