First and foremost, this is a FAST course!!!!! Number one goal was to get Shelbey a BQ! This was her first marathon ever but she is crazy athletic and I knew she could do it! In short, she did, by 7 minutes!!!! Who qualifies on their first marathon? That girl is AMAZING! Can not even begin to express how excited I am that she will be coming to Boston this year. As for myself, I also had a goal. Looking at the elevation drop for the race I knew that it would be fast if I could keep my body relaxed and cleared of any cramping issues. Boston was 2 1/2 weeks prior and I felt great! No residual pain from Boston at all. In short, I knew this was my chance to hit a sub 3:20, everything was in place: - My body felt great - Well trained - Fast course - Perfect weather And so it went! Mile 1: Ran this one with Shelbey. It was actually snowing! The first mile clicked in just as I had planned. Nodded at Shelbey and told her I was going to take off and see what my body would do. Miles 2-11: Crazy fast!!!! Saw Shelbey at a little loop around mile 5.5. It was perfect timing!!!!! Miles 12-20: I stayed pretty consistent but was beginning to feel the muscle fatigue that accompanies running faster than one is used to as well as the steep downhills. Was worried about cramping because my calves were feeling tense. Miles 21: Noticed I was slowing down Mile 22: Tried to pick up the pace one more time Mile 23: Mind started playing with me. I knew that I could slow considerably down and still hit sub 3:20 (which has been a goal for several years). Justified that it was smart to slow down a bit to avoid a total disaster that would accompany any cramping. Not sure if that was the right or wrong thing to do. Miles 24-26.2: Kept the pace decent, I was tired, but I wasn't going as slow as I could have and still met my goal. It felt hard (even though it was much slower than the first 20 miles) but I was okay. I was actually getting emotional knowing that I was going to finally hit my long sought after goal. FINISHED: 3:17:51 (6th in Age Division, 22nd Female Overall) SO HAPPY!!!! Watched Shelbey finish at 3:28:xx. She ROCKED it!!! Went back out for Smooth. She was having major issues with cramping. She is one of the strongest women I know. I cannot say enough about her grit and determination. I could see her legs seizing and yet she was continuing to give it everything she had. She is absolutely, hands down, amazing! I love her! :-) :-) :-) | 
