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.