Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Boston Marathon Race Report

On Monday morning, my friend Les dropped me off in Hopkinton. My friend and fellow runner Rebecca and I had planned to meet up and sit together while we waited for the race to start, but we couldn't find each other. I spent more than an hour waiting in line for a porta potty, and I expect that she was doing the same thing in line for another porta potty. I was starting to get nervous, because I couldn't find my running buddy, Afton, either. We finally found each other around the time we were walking to the corrals. Les kept me very warm-- I was wearing her entire DI pile-- my race tank, a long sleeved t-shirt, a big sweatshirt, a shearling coat, running shorts, velvet pajama pants, heavy socks (which would come to haunt me later on), gloves, a stocking cap, and a huge warm cozy thing that we warmed up for me before we left. All of it (except the shorts and the tank) ended up getting discarded along the race route.

The first few miles were amazing. I've run four marathons before this one. The first and fourth (both in Kingwood, Texas) had virtually no crowd support. The second, Country Music, had fairly good crowd support at times, but other times there was no one cheering. St. George had pockets of fans, but definitely nothing consistent until the last few miles. But at Boston, there are screaming fans the whole 26 miles. Afton had her name on her shirt, and had people call out "Go Afton" literally thousands of times. A girl named Eve ran behind us, and I swear I'm still hearing "Eve," "Eve," Eve." Eve was way popular.

The first mile was a little bit slow as the group found its pace, but we ran the next ten or so miles at a 7:35-7:40 pace, which I felt was going to be a little bit too fast to maintain, but it was too loud and too crowded for us to powwow and talk strategy, so we kept going at that pace. When we hit Wellesley (the halfway mark) we could hear the roar of the crowd well before we could see them. There were hundreds (thousands?) of girls with "kiss me" signs. "Kiss me, I'm a senior," "Kiss me, I'm Asian," "Kiss me, I'm Gay," "Kiss me, I'm a biologist." There was even a cute boy with a "kiss me" sign. I settled for a high five from him, but if I hadn't wanted to break my pace, I may have considered it...

We passed Team Hoyt around mile 17, just as we started hitting the hills. I really wanted to pat Dick on the back but figured that he must get patted and prodded the whole way, so I restrained myself. But I was so close to him! It was really cool.

The Boston Mormon contingent was waiting just before mile 19. They had orange slices and water in Dora the Explorer Dixie cups and a big sign that had my name on it. It was really, really fun to have people screaming my name! They had a cheering section of about 30, and my friend Elisabeth and her son were waiting a couple of blocks later.

After that, the fun was over and we settled into the hard work. We hit hill after hill after hill and the hills were tough. Our pace started to slow. Afton and I had agreed that she might need to walk during the later water stops, but I kept running at a slow but consistent pace because I was afraid that if I walked, I might never be able to start running again. Heartbreak Hill surprised me because it wasn't extremely steep, but it went on forever. That's when I was really happy that there were lots of people to cheer us on. Climbing up that hill with no support would have been so much harder.

Speaking of support, I often think of running a marathon as kind of a solitary endeavor. I often run alone. But I decided with this race that it takes a village to get someone through a marathon. Eddie was a single parent for four days. My friend Annie kept my kids for a long day on Monday. Leslie and her boys drove me all over New England for the whole weekend. Elisabeth drove from Boston to Western Massachusetts and back. Thousands of people volunteered and passed out water and orange slices and drove buses and did hard work behind the scenes. Thousands more spent a cold, windy day cheering us on.

Speaking of cold and windy, the last six or seven miles were both. The hills got really tough, and then the flats got really tough, and then the downhills got really tough. We saw a sign that said something like "sorry legs, the brain has taken over" and that definitely applied in the last few miles. When we saw the Citgo sign, I knew we were in the home stretch, and when we passed it and rounded the corner, I felt a final burst of energy. Then we rounded the very last corner and could see the finish line (way off in the distance). I kept thinking, "I can't believe we're finishing the Boston Marathon!" Afton's sister called out her name a couple hundred miles before the finish line, which was really cool. We grabbed hands at the finish line and I started sobbing. It was overwhelming to want something for years, to try and fail and try again and then, after a year of waiting, to accomplish a goal that once seemed impossible.

We finished at 3:32 according to the race clock, but when our watches dinged 26.2, the clock read exactly 3:30:00. My watch read 26.48 miles when we crossed the finish line, probably because we did a lot of weaving in and out during the first few miles of the race when the pack was really tight. Even according to the official clock, Afton had a 7 minute PR, which is amazing for the Boston Marathon. It was definitely a harder course than I've run before.

I'm surprised at how good I feel today. My quads are slightly sore, and one toe blistered badly (I could feel it before the end of the first mile, which is always a bad thing. If it hadn't been a race, I would have stopped and adjusted the seam in my sock, but I just left it that way. I'll probably lose that toenail). But overall I felt strong, even after the finish.

*thanks to Ellen Patton for the pictures and for organizing the mile 19 crew!

20 comments:

Dr Wednesday said...

You're a beast- in the best way!!! I can't believe how awesome it must have been. Running so much you might lost a toenail- I'm glad you were able to accomplish something you worked so hard for.

amydear said...

That is a great time! I am envious of you. I spent three Boston Marathons at Mile 19 with Ellen Patton and crew. I'm glad someone else knows them as well. I hope to run Boston someday. Thanks for the inspiration.

Amateur Steph said...

That's amazing! What a great time and on a hard course too.

Giggles said...

Congratulations!

Kelly(M&M) said...

Wow, you are amazing!! I loved your report and appreciate you sharing it with us. What an incredible experience! How cool to see the Hoyt team. Glad you had a good time. That sounds like an awesome support crew. Great job!

Kim said...

Wow! What an awesome time! I ran Boston last year, and I was so wishing I could be there this year. There is nothing like it. The crowds are amazing. I liked what you said about how it takes a village to run a marathon. that is so true. Congratulations on your excellent finish!

Mrs. Spencer said...

Wow!!! That is so awesome!!! Thank you for the great race report. The mile 19 crew sounds awesome as well! What a great time! Congratulations again!

Sarai said...

Wow! What a great experience! You are an awesome athlete! Great job!

Latter-day Runner said...

Thank you for posting the race report! I love the line that ends with ". . . then the downhills got really tough." That is the mark of a challenging course, a long run, and/or real effort in the pacing. I don't think I've ever done 3 out of 3 . . . yet. Thanks for being an example.

JP said...

I am just super impressed. I don't even have anything great to say...but congrats! Inspiring race report.

WAY TO GO, you're awesome!

Amy said...

You have inspired me to no end. I am so glad that you took the time to journal your experience on Marathon Mommy. Your PRtime is amazing! Congrats and good luck with that toe!

Laura said...

Thanks for reporting about Boston. You are amazing! I'd love to hear what kind of schedule you follow. Congrats on a great time and on completing such a worthy goal.

Tryna said...

So inspirational. I know it will take me years, but Boston is definitely the dream, thanks for sharing yours with us.

renae said...

WOW! Congratulations, what a fantastic race!

Shelah said...

Thanks Everyone! I really appreciate it!

Landy-- I follow sort of a modification of the FIRST marathon program. (http://www.furman.edu/first/fmtp.htm) I do the three weekly runs as laid out in the "first to the finish" training program, but since I train where it's really flat and always end up running my races in hilly places, I also add a day of hill work on the treadmill. It's usually a 5-7 mile run, with a mile at each end of easy flat running, the middle section at 5% incline, at my projected marathon pace. I swear by the FIRST program-- it's great!

Laura said...

Thanks for the info. Shelah- I looked up your name on here and stalked you on your blog yesterday and found the FIRST website. Thanks for adding what you did with hills here as well...I run on a treadmill a lot and your info. about hills was helpful...I'm going to use a FIRST plan for my next half marathon. I don't have your talent or long legs, but I'll let you know how it works for me!

Anniebananie said...

You are amazing! Way to go! I hope to run the Boston one day too! You are inspiring!

Megan said...

That's awesome!
I watched my husband run Boston this year as well. It was incredible to watch such amazing athletes!
Way to go on a fantastic time and a fabulous run!

Robyn said...

You're amazing! You guys are speed demons. What a great realization of your goal. You rock!!!

Lani said...

So glad that I found this blog! I'm planning on running the Disney marathon (my first) next year, and starting to train now. This made me want to do it that much more!