Running to Dinner: I DID IT!!!

I am now a Boston Marathon finisher! It wasn't easy. In fact, those hills were harder than I expected, despite all the warnings. But thanks to the support of the Front Runners and my parents on the course, all of you who encouraged me along the way, thousands and thousands of spectators, and some crazy Wellesley girls, I made it through all 26.2 miles of the 114th Boston Marathon.

First off, my time: 3:23:10--an average 7:45 pace. I am very, very pleased with this. It was nowhere near a PR (I've had five faster marathons), but considering the course, my limited training, my injury, and just the fact that it was BOSTON, I couldn't be happier.

Part of the reason I'm so pleased is that the entire experience was just so wonderful. By the time I arrived in Boston, I knew I was ready. I didn't have the mileage that I had before my prior marathons, but thanks to the FRNY long run group, and especially Mikey B and Matt who made sure I got out of bed every Saturday morning, despite bitter colds and harsh winter winds, for our scheduled 9am runs, I knew I could conquer 26.2 miles of Boston roads. When I made it to the expo, I felt charged. It was so invigorating to look around and see runners who were among the best in the sport--only about 10% of marathoners qualify for Boston, even less in the most competitive 18-34 age group--to just be among them, feeling like I was one of them. Whatever happened on Monday, I knew I would always be a Boston Marathon qualifier.

The night before the race, 15 Front Runners got together for a pasta dinner at the lovely Antonio's of Beacon Hill. There were actually only 5 of us at the dinner running the next day; the rest were Front Runner supporters. The fact that it was mostly supporters I think calmed my nerves a bit, and I was able to step back and realize that the reason I run is because I love it, and the friends I've met through running, and that first and foremost I was running the marathon to have fun.

The most memorable thing of the night (aside from Antonio's homemade cavatelli fra diavolo, below) was Koach Kelsey's pre-marathon pep talk. Kelsey gives the same talk before every marathon, and I've heard it a million times, but it always gives me a bit of a chill when I hear it, and it definitely puts me in the right mindset to be ready to race. This time, though, it brought some tears to my eyes as I realized how far I had gone and how hard I had worked to get here. I just knew that I was going to run a great race.

After one (and only one) glass of wine to calm the nerves [thanks, Michael O!] Mikey, Matt and I were asleep by 11pm. I actually slept very well that night, and when the alarm woke us up at 5am, I was ready to race! The next 5 hours were spent getting ready, taking a loooooong bus ride out the 26.2 miles to the start in Hopkinton, and mentally preparing for the race. We randomly ran into Ramon at the bus pickup area, so we all stayed together until the start.

Finally, the time came to head over to the corrals. I was surprised at how calm I was feeling. It felt great not feeling the pressure to get a particular time. I think the fact that I was recovering from an injury actually helped me to relax for this race, not get too stressed out, and take the first few miles easy--which is what everyone says to do when running Boston.

I had decided to wear a 3:20 pace band, but I wasn't married to it. It was only in the last week or so before the marathon that I decided I was going to wear a 3:20 band. My first goal, of course, was just to finish (this was all the more important given that I had spent $250 at the expo buy bright blue Boston Marathon branded running gear that I wouldn't be able to wear if I didn't finish). I would have been extremely happy with a 3:30 or 3:25, and I would have been ecstatic if I could do it without walking. So as the start horn sounded, I was off to run the fun run of my life.

Somehow my watch only ever fails me in marathons, and it didn't record my last 9 miles. But here's what I could piece together.

Mile 1: 7:22. I think my pace band said I was supposed to do about a 7:36, so it was a little fast. I vowed to slow down a bit for the next mile. (I don't have the pace band any more because I threw it out at around mile 21 when I realized that I wasn't going to do a 3:20, and decided I just wanted to have fun rather than stress about how far behind I was). About half a mile into the race, there's this little tiny hill. Nothing serious, but it just made me realize, boy, these first 15 miles aren't really all downhill as I had maybe convinced myself they were.

Mile 2: 7:08. Uh, the pace band said 7:40ish, so this was way fast, oops. I seemed to have gotten swept up in with all the runners around me. I did a quick mental check to remind myself that everyone around me qualified with about a 3:09-3:10 and was probably aiming to run a good 20 seconds a mile faster than me. I slowed down and tried to get comfortable with people passing me.

Mile 3: 7:29. Better. It was around time that I began to notice my butt/hamstring issue. Nothing major, and it didn't cause any pain or alter my gait, but I did become cognizant of it, and for the entire rest of the race.

Mile 4: 7:21.

Mile 5: 7:28.

Mile 6: 7:30. The course starts to level off a bit starting here, so I try to settle into an even pace.

Mile 7: 7:21

Mile 8: 7:27. Derek Petti said he was gonna be here cheering. I looked for him, and I didn't see him. I hate him.

Mile 9: 7:33

Mile 10: 7:40

Mile 11: 7:49

Mile 12: 7:36. As you enter each town, there's was a big Adidas banner on the course that says something like "Run Natick Better" and the like. The "Run Wellesley Better" banner had a drawing of a couple of Wellesley girls screaming "Kiss me!" I contemplated whether I would kiss any.

Miles 13-14: 15:16. This is the scream tunnel! I got distracted and forgot to press lap. Everything they say about this is true. You can hear the girls screaming from almost a mile away. As I approached, and the screaming got louder and more intense, I felt chills run down my side. I felt like I finally got to experience what people were raving about, and it felt even more amazing than I imagined. I stopped to give one random girl a kiss on the cheek, and I ran off. But the screams kept coming, it was like the tunnel that would never end, and I kept getting drawn into it. What felt like a quarter mile after my first kiss, I kissed another Wellesley girl. I was so giddy!

Mile 15: 7:50

Mile 16: 7:39. This was my favorite mile! First, I saw Sandi, Blossom, Katrina and Sharon. Sandi was wearing her big gay rainbow cheerleader vest, so I noticed her right away and gave her a big hug and kiss. In my rush, I failed to notice the poster Sharon was holding, which I think was awesome.

Then, less than a mile later, I saw another FRNY group. This time it was Mike Terry, John MacConnell, Derek and Jim. I almost missed them because I was on the right side of the street and they were cheering on the left. So I cut across the street and gave them all hugs and kisses. That was so fun!

Mile 17: 8:05. The next four miles were not as much fun. By the time I hit the first of four Newton hills, my pace had already slowed from the 7:20s to the 7:40s. My legs were starting to get tired after the first 16 miles of downhill pounding. My tactic was to look slightly down so I wouldn't see how far the top was, shorten my stride, and just keep friggin' running till I got there. I kept telling myself that none of the hills were particularly long--maybe a half a mile at the most--and that it would soon be downhill again.

Mile 18: (My stopwatch for some reason stopped recording the laps... but all the rest of the miles were in the 8:00-8:10 range). Ugh, this second hill was steeper than the first one! Don't look up, shorten that stride, run like the dickens.

Mile 19: With the first two hills done, mile 19 provides a little bit of a respite. At this point, I realized that I was probably gonna finish this thing. So there was a bit of a boost during this nice downhill stretch. However, I also knew that the extra minute that I had banked from running a faster first half had just about disappeared, and I wasn't going to be able to maintain what I needed to do to break 3:20. So I took off the pace band, and decided to just run the last six or seven miles for fun. It was actually quite liberating as I tossed the band to the street...I felt that I could run the race I wanted to run, instead of being tied the stupid mile splits.

Mile 20: The third hill. I told my parents to stand right at mile 20 so I could have their support before I headed up Heartbreak Hill (the fourth hill). But knowing they were there waiting for me definitely pushed me up the third hill, which ended up not being too bad. After I crested that hill, I started looking at the street signs, looking for the corner where I had told my parents to cheer for me. This little game that I was playing motivated me to make it to each successive sign, until I found Sumner Ave, where my parents were super excited to see me!

Seeing my parents was what I needed to get myself up Heartbreak Hill. Honestly, the placement of that hill, the longest and steepest one of the marathon, 21 miles into the race is just plain wrong. As I trudged up the hill, I felt like I was going at a snail's pace. It was so tough. And as I kept looking up to see when the hill would end, it seemed like I wasn't getting anywhere close to the top. But I just kept going at it, step by step, absolutely refusing to stop or walk, and somehow I made it up there.

When I reached that top, I felt such exhilaration! I stared Heartbreak Hill down and kicked it in the ass. It wasn't fast, or pretty, but I had conquered it. At this point, I knew that I was on my way to finishing the Boston Marathon. Even though I still had five miles to go, I had just reached the pinnacle, and I was not giving up.

Mile 21: OK, to be honest, I don't remember very much after Heartbreak Hill. Around mile 22, I saw Rich standing there cheering. I almost missed him since he wasn't wearing any FRNY gear, and it wasn't till I had run right by him that I realized it was him. For a millisecond, I was so sad that I missed him, so I had to turn around and circle back to give him a proper hug and kiss. I lost a few seconds there, but I was feeling so spent by that point, and when I saw Rich I got a big boost of energy to carry me through to the next mile.

Over the next couple of miles, I saw the Citgo sign off in the distance. One of my earliest childhood memories is sitting in the back of the car with my brother when my parents drove to Boston's Chinatown, and watching the flashing red and white lights of the Citgo sign. In high school, I spent many a late night at the IHOP that sat in its shadow, which has since been demolished and replaced with a boutique hotel. My mind at this point was wandering, and I nearly missed Loren cheering for me around mile 24. I was in such a zone that I also nearly missed a gaggle of FR men cheering me on at mile 25...Rob, Kelsey, Michael O, Peter and Todd. They didn't get hugs and kisses, though--Kelsey would have wanted me to keep running.

As if everything I had gone through so far wasn't enough, the planners of the Boston Marathon make you run--at about mile 25.5--underneath the Mass Ave overpass, which means going up a little hill so close to the finish. Ugh. But after a few turns, there I was, on Boylston Street, staring at the finish straight ahead of me. It was about a half mile ahead of me, the longest half mile I've ever run.

I ran what seemed like my fastest pace all day to get to that line, and when I reached it, I had FINISHED the Boston Marathon! I started tearing up immediately, realizing how tremendous this achievement was for me. It was a good day. In the end, I was very pleased with my time, thrilled that I didn't walk, and just ecstatic at the fact that I am now a Boston Marathon finisher.

Thanks to my parents and some very good friends, I had an amazing time in Boston. Thanks again to everyone who helped to get me to the finish, whether by cheering for me, training with me, or just encouraging and supporting me. I couldn't have done it without you!