Running the Boston Marathon was not a dream I really had...until I qualified in the fall of 2015. What was just a "cool achievement" then has come to mean SO much more to me now. In the past few weeks, I have realized that this race is not just a race or a time standard...it's an amazing experience.
PS-
If you want to read about my qualification race click here
My thoughts and journey leading up to the Boston Marathon click here
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OK!
Let's start from the beginning because half the "battle," "excitement," "whatever you want to call it" is in simply GETTING to the starting line!! Can I get an AMEN?! (All you racers understand this!) Every time I race I have the strange idea that things will just go smoothly. I'll be prepared and everything else will just happen the "way it's supposed to." When will I finally give up this dream?!
On Saturday morning my mom and I scrambled to get our last things packed. I had everything needed for a successful trip: Caffeine and some deep/thought-provoking "literature!" ;)
Mom had a little issue with her sun chips...The bag expanded in the air and popped when she opened them and the flight attendant freaked out a little. It would sound scary if you didn't know they were just chips!
We had a direct flight (YAY!) and arrived in Boston around 5pm. When we arrived at the hotel (about a 20 min drive from the airport), we went right to the front desk to ask about transportation to the race start. This is when I met Heather and Lee, two other racers asking the same question at the same time. The hotel did not have a shuttle service, but they would arrange a town car to drive us directly to the start so we wouldn't have to go into the city to come back out...extra 2 hours of travel...ummm NO thank you! We decided to share a town car so the cost would be less (25 dollars a person). We exchanged info (it's crazy how trusting you are of people you just meet when you find out you're racing haha!) and had the town car arranged for 8:30 am. Heather was in wave 2 and Lee and I were in wave 3, so this was early enough for us all to be there on time. Problem solved...right?!
Next mom and I went to TJ Maxx (like the BEST TJ Maxx EVERRRR) to get some "throw away" clothing for waiting for the race start. Mom and I had SO much fun looking for the tackiest clothing in clearance. I've never laughed so hard in a TJ Maxx!
Then we went to chipotle across the street to fulfill my major taco craving and headed back to the hotel to get some sleep. Unfortunately the sleep did not last long and the fire alarms started going off at 2 AM! We had to run outside (duck pjs and all!) to wait for the all clear. I was not happy coming back in:
It was funny the next day talking with others about the alarm and all the runners brought their running things out with them...typical athlete. Think about race gear before yourself in the event of an emergency haha!
Sunday we needed to go to the race expo-that was the only thing on the agenda that day. First we had breakfast...those potatoes...YUMMMM!
I only went through about half of the Expo before being too overwhelmed, so I got my bib number, a few goodies, and headed out to see the finish line that I would hopefully be crossing the next day! (PS-I call the celebration Boston jacket "cool kid jacket" because you put it on and become popular among the runners haha!)
Free sunglasses and signing the #Boston at the finish line!
It was SOOO cool. My mom said she got chills just looking at the finish line. By now I was starting to grasp just how much of a "big deal" this really was and I wanted to soak it all in! We didn't stay too long since we had a long day on Monday, so we got back to the hotel mid afternoon. When we got back we had a message on our phone that Heather canceled our town car. Then we heard from 2 other athletes that there was a shuttle to the race after all. Whaaa?? We went to talk to the front desk to figure out what the heck is going on...and Lee happened to be there too. We found that the town car drivers had arranged there own "shuttle" apart from the hotel, but they would take us in vans. Heather had signed us all up to be on one that left at 8 AM. She left a full message, but we only got half of it. Phew...what a relief! You pay all this money and spend so much energy to BE HERE you want to have SOLID plans about getting to the race, right?!
That night we went to Olive Garden for some pre-race carbo loading!
After watching a few episodes of House Hunters, we went to bed and I had a GREAT night sleep. Knowing that I would not need to get up until 7:30 made it a LOT less stressful. I slept really well not stressing too much about the race-whatever happens will happen! Clearly I'm a super intense athlete ;)
At 8am all three of us were out waiting for the town car. It was already getting hot. What was forecasted to be 63 degrees a few days ago suddenly became 74 degrees :/ Poop to the scoop!
Heather, Lee and I ready to leave:
We arrived to a parking lot a few miles away from "Athlete's Village" (aka porta potty mecca!) to load a school bus to get there. IT was INSANE. SO many people. I stood in line for a porta potty for an hour-chatting with 2 people behind me. Then I had about 15 minutes until my wave was called to walk to the starting corals. I wasn't sure if I could bring my water bottle and such with me, so I asked a random girl next to me. She happened to be in the same wave and corral number as me and we hit it off right away. Her name was Rachel and we talked about how nervous we were and how clueless we felt. Then we talked about our families and our "joy" about everyone tracking us at home ;) We stuck together walking to the corrals and to the starting line freaking out the entire way and calming each other down!
The moment had come! My eyes started to water as I thought about how exciting it all was. The gun went off and we were this huge mass of runners heading out for a 26.2 (26.48 in reality!) journey to Boston. I was in the second corral, and I kind of felt trampled a little bit. It was really hard to be moving and keep your own pace in the beginning because everyone was so close. I was surrounded by people running the ENTIRE time. Looking forward all you could see was a huge mass of runners--for the ENTIRE time. To be honest this was really overwhelming to me (someone who only ran a marathon with 200 other peeps!). Wednesday we went to Quincy Market and when I walked in I just saw a crowd of people moving in a row similar to my view during the whole marathon. I started to panic and told my mom we needed to get out. It ended up taking me about 30 min to calm down and my heart to stop racing. We're hoping the marathon just triggered a temporary crowd anxiety.
I knew that I needed to keep my first 10 or so miles very very relaxed and easy, so that's what I tried to do (key word: tried). I really didn't look at my watch too much for the first 10ish miles. I just tried to run "what felt good" (hey this "strategy" got me to Boston, so it must not be too bad, right?!). I drank a sip of gatorade every other mile and it seemed to be settling with me ok (key word: seemed). I think more gatorade went up my nose than in my mouth haha!
The course was a lot more "rolling hills" than I was anticipating. The whole course was up and down (at least it felt that way to someone who runs FL flat, which is is different kind of flat!). The miles were flying by--one by one. But around mile nine I started to have a feeling that something was not right. My stomach started to feel "off," but I tried not to panic. My legs still felt fairly good, so I just tried to relax and ease off the gatorade. Unfortunately by mile 14 it was too little too late. I was doubled over in stomach pain/cramping. I could not stand up straight. It hurt so bad. I wanted to be done. I was hating myself for signing up for this..after all it is OPTIONAL. I tried slowing down, walking, switching to water, but I was miserable. I'll never forget walking to the side to puke and this spectator said, "It's ok. You got this. Enjoy this!" I probably looked at him like he had 2 heads...
Being in so much pain made it hard to enjoy the last 10 miles, but every time I felt that I couldn't move, that I didn't want to move, all I had to do was look at the people around me cheering and I knew that I would NOT give up no matter WHAT! People were so amazing. Entire towns of people stood at the side lines--many having all kinds of food/drinks for runners (oranges, popsicles, water). I didn't partake in any of it..except for a piece of watermelon..couldn't resist that ;) And of course there were plenty of signs like "smile if you're not wearing underwear" haha! My mom was around mile 18 I think...I didn't see her, but she caught a quick pic of me (I'm in the white hat):
By mile 23 I had slow down and walked enough that I could maintain a slow slooooww jog to the finish. This is when the crowds were SO SO big. I can't even describe it..but I heard on the radio that half a million people were there watching us run. This is when you get a lot of "you're almost there!" Which is something you SHOULD NEVER EVER tell a runner...I want to punch those people in the face to be honest. Being close is not being done! I know they mean well, but at that point you are SOOO over it. Your body is SOOO over it. You're seriously questioning your sanity to voluntarily sign up and even PAY for this kind of torture.
Soon I was running past the famous "Citgo" sign about a mile from the end. The crowds were SO loud screaming at us. People lined the streets at least 4-5 people deep. Many of us picked up the pace and ran with everything we had left.
Soon I was turning the corner and could see the finish line. Three blocks...just three blocks...I looked to my right and saw a huge stand of spectators sitting in bleacher-type rows. The memory is burned in my mind and is a moment that will stay with me. I was about to finish the BOSTON marathon! Something that I qualified for over a year and a half prior to this date. Everything coming to this moment. I crossed the finish line with my hands in the air! (Photo from this year finish line!)
When we finished we walked to get our medal. As it was placed around my neck I said, "It's all about the hardware" haha! Then I had to walk about a mile past the finish line to finally get out of the barricaded area into the public streets again. There was food and water and yada yada but I didn't want anything, all I wanted was to get out of there. I wanted to SHOWER for goodness sake!!
I borrowed a stranger's phone (I mean how threatening can a sweaty girl in a foil blanket be?!) and called my mom to determine that I would walk back another 2 miles to get to the T station and we would meet there. I was thrilled to have to keep walking...not! But on my walk to the station the spectators' cheering did not end just because my race on the course was over. I cannot even tell you how many people gave me a high five, said congrats, etc. Even 20 people sitting outside in a group stopped what they were doing to give me a round of applause as I walked by! Talk about humbling! I've never felt so much ENCOURAGEMENT from strangers! I felt a little "thankless" since I just quietly mustered up a quick "thanks," but I was just so tired at that point and everything in me wanted to sit down.
Long story short (because this is already pretty lengthy!), it ended taking 2 hours to get from the finish line back to the hotel. I also had to walk up the up and down the stairs in the station TWICE due to meeting confusion with the mother! GRRRR :( Actually I wouldn't use the word walk..I would say hobbled. I ended up chatting with someone on the train who had a similar race experience to mine. He said a lot of people were cramping up...He came in with a sub 3:00 marathon and finished in a 3:45 that day. I added about 45 mins as well to my 3:30 time. I'm not sure if it was the heat since I train in 80 degrees year round, I'm thinking it was more the hills (maybe the jerky stop and going to get water and such?). Maybe I drank too much? These are just things to learn from I guess...Being someone that has only run 2 marathons before and doesn't have much to base their experience on (excluding Ironman marathon..which I call a "Good luck putting your legs in a blender to then run a marathon" marathon), it was helpful to know that more experienced runners found it hard too. I guess I've had a "life is awesome" marathon and a "kill me now" marathon!
After the race my stomach was waaayyy too upset to really stomach anything. Even days later it is not "happy" yet. My mom got me a sandwich, but after a few bites it was just too much. I ended up eating a smoothie, Starbucks hot chocolate, and twizzlers...not sure why twizzlers went down ok??..weird.
As you can see, it was QUITE an experience and it was SO worth it. The next day an old woman on the train saw my Boston jacket. Let's be honest--I'm not taking it off anytime soon ;) Anyway, with tears in her eyes she told me "Thank you for running the marathon...it makes us stronger." WOW! That hit me hard. I never thought that running a marathon would "build up" a community, but after the tragic bombings a few years ago, the fact that this tradition and legacy continues (STRONGER than ever!) is what makes this city Boston Strong. We had a moment of silence for the victims before the start and by running we honor and remember them. We don't let fear or acts of terror dictate our lives...
No more than 24 hours post race I am already being asked when I am doing another one. "Another one?! I'll get back to you when I can walk and sit down normal again!" Seriously though, this race has been much anticipated for a looonnngg time, so I'm not just "switching gears" or moving on right away. First I need to rest/recover and then I can see where my head and heart is in all this. More running races? More triathlon races? Distances? I'm really not sure..and that's ok. I do hope to try and swim more consistently again. I have been in the water 1x since surgery when I was cleared and I've definitely lost a lot of strength. So that's the only thing that's kind of on my radar I guess. Anyway, right now I just want to celebrate everything that has happened and the hard work that was done the past few months :)
