Boston Marathon

It's hard to believe that it's already been a week since the Boston Marathon! I'm back to walking normally and have even gone on one run (probably a mistake...). My body is clearly still in recovery mode since I am falling asleep at 8pm most nights.

We really enjoyed our trip to New Jersey & Boston! We spent Friday in New Jersey at Holly & Matt's house before driving to Boston on Saturday morning. We stopped in Providence, Rhode Island for frozen yogurt on our way to Boston--a state Todd & I had never been to. 47 down, 3 to go (for me, at least)! After checking into our hotel in Boston, we took the train downtown to the expo. I got my race bib & packet, and then we looked around at the booths and sampled bars, gels, chews, etc.

We walked along Boylston street, where the marathon finishes, and saw a memorial at the site of one of the 2013 bombs. It seemed like half of the people walking around downtown were there for the marathon--so many people were wearing Boston gear. We ate dinner downtown before heading back to our hotel.

On Easter Sunday, we attended a church close to our hotel. At times, we had a hard time understanding the pastor because of his thick Boston accent! Back at the hotel, we laid out our Easter dinner spread--sandwiches, fruit, crackers & hummus, and cookies! We played some games and then took the train back into Boston to explore. We walked around Harvard Yard, saw Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church, and ate in Little Italy. We even got some cannolis at Mike's Pastry.

On Marathon Monday, I caught the hotel shuttle to Boston Commons bright and early. It was strange to say good-bye to Holly, Matt, & Todd at 6:30am and know I wouldn't see them again until mile 16.5 about 6 hours later! I made a friend on the shuttle, a woman from Indiana who was running Boston for the 4th time. Since I was new to it all, she took me under her wing. At Boston Commons, we went through security & then got on school buses that would bring us to Athlete's Village (near the start line). As I sat on a school bus for an hour, I kept thinking "I have to make it the whole way back on foot, how far are we going?!?!". Athlete's Village was a fenced in grassy area surrounded by security. Over 10,000 runners were sprawled out in the sun trying to stay warm until their start time came. At about 10am, wave 2 runners (which was me) started to walk to the start line to get in our corrals. The 3/4 mile walk to the start was lined with Hopkinton locals who were giving high fives, sips of beer, oranges, and support to all of the runners.

The start of the race was amazing! The adrenaline was so high that I had to be careful to not go out to fast. The weather was ideal at the start--50 degrees & sunny. There were big crowds of spectators holding signs saying "We are Boston Strong" & "Today, YOU are our heros". It was really neat to know that the continuation of the Boston Marathon meant so much to the people of Boston. Helicopters flew overheard as a part of the security system.

At mile 2.5, the course took us past a bar in Ashland. Since Marathon Monday is Patriot's Day in New England, no one has to work. It seemed as though everyone was drunk & rowdy already at 10:45 in the morning! While the entire Boston course is rolling hills, the first half of the race is more downhill that uphill. I enjoyed that, but knew my quads were taking a beating and it would come back to haunt me on the uphills later on.

At the 10K mark

At half way, we ran past Wellesley College, which is an all-girls school. As a description of the race stated, "The women of Wellesley are loud and proud...but here, they are mostly loud. Impossible to ignore." At about 15.5 miles, the road plunged. I knew that meant one thing...when I got to the bottom of the hill, the next 5 miles would be brutal. But, on the positive side of things, I was looking forward to seeing Todd, Matt, & Holly on the sidelines in the next mile or so! I spotted them before they spotted me, and waved! It was nice to see some familiar faces--it gave me a burst of energy. The uphills were rough on my  already-battered quads, and my pace slowed. However, the crowd support on the famed "heartbreak hill" was amazing, and when I reached the top I knew I could finish.

The rest of the race was lined with spectators. Holly, Matt, & Todd saw me again at mile 22.5, but it was so loud & crowded that I didn't see or hear them. The last couple miles are through the heart of the city. As I turned on Boylston street, I was very emotional. I was SO happy that I was within 1/2 mile of the finish, but I was also imagining what this street looked like last year--and what it would have been like to be there. I crossed the line in 3:25:36--an 8 minute PR! I finished 1502 out of 16092 women. 

Crossing the finish line. Todd thinks this picture is funny--my body language says joyful, but my face says painful. I guess that makes sense...I was feeling both :)

Finished!

As I remember from the Chicago Marathon, the walk to find family feels harder than the marathon does. After re-hydrating, eating some food, & sitting for a bit, we headed to the train. We had a drive back to New Jersey to get started on! We arrived back in New Jersey a little before midnight, and then flew back to SLC bright and early the next morning.

It's a big accomplishment to run a marathon, and it is something I did not do on my own. I'm thankful for the coaching I received from Todd--my training went better than ever before. He encouraged me to push myself in order to reach my goals. I'm thankful for the Olympus High School runners who I coach--I received so much support from them. The boys team also helped push me on my long tempo runs. I'm thankful that Holly & Matt joined us in Boston and cheered me on--and also picked us up and dropped us off at the airport at times no one should be awake. I'm thankful for all of the family & friends who sent me encouraging and congratulatory notes--it was so sweet to know I had people cheering me on all over the US. 

Company, California, & Competition

Hello Friends & Family!

We are enjoying warmer weather in Salt Lake City, although the beginning of this week is going to be a bit colder. Tulips are blooming outside our front window & I planted an herb garden on our patio last week. After 2 1/2 years in Utah, I know to thoroughly enjoy this time of year before we are consistently experiencing temperatures over 95 starting in June.

Todd raced in the Leprechaun Lope 5K on March 15th. He placed 3rd overall. Lots of the high school athletes that we coached came out to cheer him on despite chilly weather. Following Calvin tradition, Todd sported a mustache for the race.

Some of the Olympus High School track team

Todd and I embraced the last bit of winter by tubing at Soldier Hollow. I'm not sure you could have even called it "winter"--the snow was man-made and the temperatures were above 60. Despite having to work pretty hard to get from the top of the hill to the bottom without stopping on the slushy snow, we had a great time.

Jeff & Lindsey Lombardo and Ben & Alivia Plankis came out to Salt Lake City for a long weekend. The Lombardos ran a 50K race on Antelope Island on Saturday morning (what an accomplishment!!). We were unable to watch their race since we were coaching an a track meet that morning, but we enjoyed hanging out the remainder of the weekend. We went on a hike, played some yard games, went out for Thai food, and enjoyed catching up!

High School friends reunited

We've enjoyed watching our good friends Mark & Jenna Moffatt's beautiful baby girl grow up! When we babysat her most recently, she was moving around and pulling herself up on everything. She's a happy, curious little girl!

Harper & Todd

We spent Todd's Spring Break in California. We filled the week with lots of sunshine, sleep, running, and relaxing. We spent a night at Death Valley National Park on our way to Newport Beach. 

The weather was warm!

Artist's Palette. All of the coloring on the rock is from mineral deposits caused by volcanoes.

At the Devil's Golf Course. Todd was tasted the crystalline salt formations to see if they tasted salty!

Badwater Basin--lowest point in the Western Hemisphere

We arrived at our resort at Newport Beach just in time to catch the end of the Michigan vs. Kentucky game. We watched the sad ending of the game while we waited for our room to be ready. Based on a recommendation from one of our high school athletes, we ate at Mama D's for dinner. The restaurant has won an award for "best spoil you service", and we found that to be true.

We spent Monday at Corona del Mar, a beach near our resort. It was a quiet, beautiful beach. I braved the water for a while, but it was cold!

Inspiration Point

Little Corona del Mar

We grilled for dinner and ate on our deck

We spent Tuesday walking around Balboa island. We houses were beautiful! We ended the day on the Newport Peninsula with a delicious seafood dinner.

Balboa Island

Trying a Frozen Banana - a local special

The highlight of the trip for Todd - taking the car ferry from Balboa Island to the Newport Peninsula for only $3

Dinner at Newport Landing

We started Wednesday morning with a nice walk down to Crystal Cove State Park for breakfast at the Beachcomber Cafe. The Crystal Cove area was originally a vacation location for a group of families in the 1920's. The land has become a state park, but the cottages original to the 1920's remain. It was a neat place to explore. Since Wednesday was a cooler day, we stayed at the resort and enjoyed the pool and hot tub.

Crystal Cove State Park

Breakfast at the Beachcomber Cafe

Thursday was spent in Laguna Beach. We got lunch at a place I had been with my mom and Uncle Bruce 11 or so years ago, and then we relaxed on the beach for the rest of the day.

Lunch at Wahoo's Fish Tacos

Laguna Beach

I did my last long run for the Boston Marathon on Friday. It was nice to run in a new location! Todd joined me for the first 4 miles, then took the ferry to my half-way point (the end of the Newport peninsula--10 miles) and then took the ferry back to run the last 4 miles with me. What a great guy! We drove up to Huntington Beach for the rest of the day. We ended the day with shakes from Ruby's Shake Shack and watched the sunset from Ruby's deck.

Street performer at Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach

We were able meet Uncle Mike, Aunt Elaine, & kids for breakfast yesterday. They were in Salt Lake City for the morning before driving down to Southern Utah for Spring Break. It was nice to catch up with them!

We've been staying busy (in a good way) with coaching. Many of our athletes competing well at an invitation yesterday. It is so rewarding to see their hard work pay off!

Now we are looking forward to the Boston Marathon. I can't believe it is only 8 days away! After 5 months of training, I'm more than ready to race! My training has gone better than I could have hoped for, so I'm ready to see what I can do. We're really excited to see Holly and Matt! We'll be flying in to Philadelphia and staying with them in New Jersey for a couple days before driving up to Boston together on Saturday. I'm so thankful that I'll have family to support me!