Where to begin? First things first, thanks everyone for all the well wishes before I left for Boston last week. You are all so awesome and I cannot even begin to tell you how much I appreciated your kind thoughts and words! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
My 2008 Boston experience was a comedy of sorts. I laugh out loud just thinking about it. I'll cut to the chase.
FUNNY (as in odd, not really ha ha) STORY:Left the hotel at 6:25 and got to Boston Common at about 6:40. Wave 1 runners were supposed to be on the buses by 6:45. Uh oh. The line for the buses was probably a 1/4 mile long! I fell in behind these two cute ladies and just waited. The ladies seemed pleasant and chatted quietly among themselves. One of them looked so familiar, and as soon as she smiled at her friend I realized it was Kristin Armstrong.
I was feeling brave so as soon as I recognized her I tapped her on the arm and said very quietly, "Are you Kristin Armstrong?" She smiled instantly and said, "Yes!" And then I looked at her friend and said, "And you must be Paige." And she laughed and nodded. I said, "Good luck to both of you. Run well today." And they both smiled these huge smiles and said, "Thank you." Then we all went about our business. I will say that they were gorgeous and if they weren't so nice and normal, I would probably say something snide out of pure insecurity. But I have nothing bad to say about them!
Somehow we ended up on the same bus and I was across the aisle and one seat up from the both Kristin and Paige. I sat next to this nice gal from Boston area and by the time we got to the Hopkinton exit, we both were literally ready to cry because we had to go to the bathroom so, so, so, so badly. I had never felt that pain before. I was going to pee my pants. I could not hold it any longer. Our bus was in the 1/2 mile long line of buses that were completely stopped on the freeway for at least 20 minutes.
Finally the gal I was next to got up and asked the bus driver if we could please get off the bus and run into the woods and then get back on the bus. As she spoke to him, I could see Kristin and Paige watching and I turned to them and they said, "Are you guys okay?" I said, "I am dying here. I have to go to the bathroom so bad. I'm dying." They looked at me sympathetically and didn't say anything.
The gal came back to the seat and said, "He was explicitly instructed to NOT let anyone off the bus." As I muttered the word, "Fu#k," under my breath, I said, "Screw it I can't hold it. Please cover me because I'm going to go right here." The gal said, "No problem and then we'll switch and you cover me."
I pulled an extra plastic bag out of my gear check bag and luckily I was wearing a running skirt which made the task easier. But long story short, I relieved some pressure on my bladder right there on the bus waiting in traffic to get to Hopkinton. Anyway, as the gal next to me was using her Nalgene bottle, Kristin and Paige asked me if we were okay and I turned around and said, "Now I am. I had go a little bit, or I was going to die." They asked how I did it and I told them I used a plastic bag. They asked what the gal next to me was using and I told her a big mouth water bottle. They looked at me astonished, wide eyed (probably shocked). I think Paige even said something like, "More power to her." Then Kristin said, "It's times like these... Guys just have it so easy." Then she jokingly pointed out the safety kit hanging over the driver's head that said, "BODILY FLUID CLEANING KIT." She said, "At least he has that on board." With that, we all laughed.
Right then, we all noticed that TONS of people were getting off the buses in front of us, running to the side of the road and just peeing like there was no tomorrow. The bus driver looked at the gal next to me and said, "Okay, you can go now." She said, "That's okay, I went." Doh!!!!! The look on the driver's face was priceless, but at that moment about 8 of us got off the bus and ran to the woods. Yes, I had to finish what I'd started! This incident was a glimpse of things to come.
Okay, so then the buses get moving and there's one more lady in the woods. The driver kindly waits. As the woman rushes back onto the bus, the rest of the people on board erupt into loud applause for her. It was comical!
I got to the school in Hopkinton at 9:38 a.m. and my wave started at 10 a.m. CRAP! I ran to the gear check buses and dropped off my stuff and then ran to the corral and got in with about 4 minutes to spare until the gun. The corral was just packed to the hilt. No one could move. One minute before 10, the sun came through the clouds and it was so beautiful and so bright. It couldn't have been more perfect. The gun went off and it took several minutes to get to the start. The crowds were so great. I ran on the side and high fived as many hands as I could reach. I'm sure I was smiling from ear to ear.
RACE NOTES:The first mile was my slowest (7:53). I forgot to turn off the Auto-Stop feature on my Garmin so when I stopped to go potty at mile 7 and again at mile 15, the clock stopped running. It started again as soon as I started running. Long story short, I crossed the finish line and my Garmin said 3:14:06 BUT my chip time was 3:17:45. What is this difference of 3:39, you ask? Well had I left the Garmin running through the two potty stops, I'm sure it would have had the same time as my chip when I crossed the finish. Anyway, I ran a 7:24/mile pace but when you add back the potty stop time, my pace reads 7:32/mile. Next time, I'm peeing in my pants!!! (okay, maybe not). But you see how the bus incident was an omen of sorts?
My time for 26 miles was 3:12:49. Trust me, I was elated as I ran the last .2 miles thinking I was going to run under 3:15. Dummy me did not factor in the potty stops so when I finished and found out my time was 3:17-something, I was a little bummed and couldn't figure out what happened. I still didn't know until this morning when I remembered how my Garmin chrono stopped each time I stopped to do my business. Oh well.
Along the way I met Val (the sis-in-law of Cindy from runningskirts.com). She was wearing a running skirt and had very cool logo on the back of her singlet and I knew immediately it was her. I said a quick hello and introduced myself on the run.
I also met Elisa (I hope I spelled your name right) from Running Times as we entered the Newton Hills. I'm so glad she introduced herself! Elisa, I hope you had a great race. Let me know how you did, okay? :)
Backtracking, somewhere around Mile 5 my Boston BB cap began driving me nuts. It kept falling into my eyes and was frustrating the heck out of me. So I took it off and ran to the cheering crowd on the side of the road, spotted a teenaged boy wearing an Oakland A's cap and asked if we could switch hats because I needed one with the hole in the back (for my ponytail). He stood there stumped and finally everyone with him said, "Hurry up, switch with her!" So he took off his hat and said, "Okay." What a relief! His hat fit me perfectly so I knew mine would fit him. Thanks kid!!!
SPLITS:Somehow I managed to run a 3 minute negative split. I ran 1:40:xx for the first half and 1:37:xx for the 2nd half. I knew I felt stronger going into the hills. I felt so strong through all of the Newton Hills. It was like a great release to get to them. I just let it all go. This was where I focused on even effort, just pushing up those hills and trying to maintain the same feeling I had on the downhills and flats. It was WORK, but I felt GREAT!
Mile 21 was 7:40, but 22-26 were 7;10, 7:05, 7:13, 6:55 and 7:00. The last .2 was 1:17. Did I leave it all out there on the course? Honestly, no I didn't. I felt like I could've run another 5 miles after I crossed the finish line. Did I run hard? Yes. I'd say it was a controlled, hard effort. I am so pleased with this year's Boston Marathon. I can't wait to go back, but it will be a few years from now. Travelling to Boston from California gets pretty expensive.
FUN STUFF:On
Saturday at the expo I saw The Boston Legends! Amby Burfoot, Dick Beardsley, Kathrine Switzer and Joan Benoit Samuelson among them. I was in AWE and completely inspired. I was starstruck and asked them to autograph my Boston Marathon Acceptance Card, and they graciously did.
After seeing them, Hubby, the toddler and I met John Fenton for lunch. We also had dinner with him. John also uses the Runner's World online forums. John, so great to see you and I'm so proud of you and your race! 3:03 is amazing!!!
Saturday after dinner we all went to Boston Beerworks to meet more people who use the RW online forums and although we didn't stay long, it was so, so great to finally meet these terrific people! Chooch, Cmmoore, Remmy's Dad, Brocknoxious, Fishmagic, Smick (who I met last year), Spopey, Runs Like a Girl, Landrunner, MrCanDoIt, Runner In Paradise, Kari26.2, Amble, and I know I'm forgetting some people so please forgive me! What a great group.
REMMY's DAD even gave my hubby a t-shirt from his fire department! That was so cool. Thanks RD! I also met Ashley on the T, LynnC at the pasta dinner, Runner in Kansas on the corner of Boylston and Berkeley and John1 on the plane ride home (poor John had to hear my 2 year old scream for 4 out of the 6.5 hour plane ride). That's a different story all together. Travelling with a 2 year old is not easy. Thank God we're home so he won't scream anymore!
Sunday I met Ali at MIT and we watched the Women's Olympic Marathon Trials. It was worth the lost sleep. I'm serious, it was without a doubt, THE highlight of my 2008 Boston experience. To see Deena Kastor pass Magdalena Lewy-Boulet after Mile 23 was just freaking amazing. I almost started to cry from sheer joy! But was very happy to see Lewy-Boulet and Blake Russell make the team as well. Not only did I get to see Deena run live and in person, but I got to see Joan Benoit Samuelson set a new marathon record for Masters Women. She is simply the best!
Of course race day was just magical. The crowds were breathtaking to me. All along the course, all I could hear were people screaming and shouting for us runners. All I had to do was make eye contact with them and smile, and they went wild! They screamed and screamed and it was just crazy and awesome all at the same time. There is no way you cannot get fired up around these people! I high fived every Wellesley girl I could. I would've kissed them too but didn't want to give anyone the wrong impression (not that there's anything wrong with that). I also high fived everyone I could before I had to dig really deep.
Mile 1 was dedicated to Steph, who broke her foot during the half marathon we ran together, which took her out of Boston this year. Mile 4 to Cody, Mickey's son who is battling cancer. Mile 18 was dedicated to my friend Monica, who couldn't run Boston this year due to a hamstring injury. Mile 22 to Megan who is also battling cancer.
At Mile 24 I heard loud and clear as a fire alarm, my name being called from somewhere in the crowd. I looked over and saw my sweet husband's beaming face. His smile from ear to ear pumped me up even more, and the sight of my son holding his lollipop almost brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to stop but was already feeling the dreaded calf, toe, hamstring and quadricep cramps and knew if I stopped I'd never start again. So I yelled as loud as I could, "I love you, Babe!" And blew him a kiss.
I always dedicate the last 2 miles to my older son and daughter. I carried their pictures in my skirt pockets this year. I felt them with me! I passed so many people in the last 2.2 miles. I saw some people just down for the count with cramps and a few who looked downright delirious. The home stretch down Boylston didn't seem so long this year. The entire 26.2 miles was pure joy and bliss for me. When I felt kind of bad, I prayed. I worked through the cramps and never hit anything that resembled even a short wall. The only thing I would change if I could do it all over again is I would have made sure my bladder was good and empty before the race started. Anyway, my overall place was in the 3,700s, I shaved 12 minutes of my 2007 Boston time and 2 minutes off my marathon PR, so I have a new PR!
Ali walked and jogged on her torn meniscus and finished in 4:31, which is pretty darn fast considering her injury. She rocked! Two other gals from our local running club finished strong too. Kim in 3:16 and Katie in 3:38. All in all, good, solid efforts.
Knowing that I could've run a 3:14 on Boston's course gives me great confidence for my Fall marathon plans... I feel a 3:10 coming on. God willing!
Thanks for reading and I hope I did not offend with my bathroom stories.
I'll post race pics soon. Time to recover and then get ready for my 50K in May! Can't wait!!!
