Warning: this is not a happy, fun, or entertaining post. This is pretty much a whining, unhappy rant.
So much as the marathon led me to believe this is true, I am definitely not invincible. Something is wrong with my left knee and I am so unhappy I could throw things about it. I honestly don't get WTF happened. I took a few days off after the marathon, ran SUPER easy for 20 minutes the days after that. The problem started in the last mile or so of a 5.8 miler at the end of last week. The outer front part of my knee below the kneecap (not like the outside of the knee where IT band pain would be, more like directly under and to the left of my left kneecap) started feeling tight and kind of hurt. I thought it had something to do with my IT band so I stretched that, along with my quads and hamstrings, took a day off, wrote it off as something still to do with the marathon, done and done.
Fast forward to Monday...I planned on doing the same route, but this time the flare up happened earlier, after ~20 minutes, and I ended up cutting the run short. Tuesday similar problem after about 20 minutes, so I took yesterday off. Today, things were feeling fine and I'm thinking "well, I've been icing and stretching and even taking some anti-inflammatories for the past few days, it didn't feel as bad on Tuesday, I took yesterday off, things should be fine for a 6 or 7 miler, right?" Wishful thinking, that.
Once again, I set off and felt ZERO PAIN for the first 20 minutes. Absolutely nothing that would indicate that I was going to have a problem. After exactly 20 minutes, I could feel the tightness starting. I stopped and stretched everything...quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, IT band, glutes...you name it...anything that would possibly be tightening and causing this problem. Continued on for like 5 more minutes..tightness starts up again. Stop, stretch, this time it doesn't help as much and soon the tightness has once again escalated into all out pain. [Insert screaming various expletives here. That's what I was doing in my mind.] So I ended up having to walk the 2 miles home, pretty much holding back tears the entire time. I tried to jog a couple of times and my leg just wasn't having it...so I would go back to walking dejectedly and cursing anyone running past. It doesn't hurt when I'm walking. It doesn't hurt when I'm doing ANYTHING besides running, which is just stupid, and actually makes me even crankier because I keep thinking it's fine when it's not.
I think the level of frustration I'm feeling about this really goes beyond just the fact that "I'm cranky because I'm injured and I can't run". One problem is that I don't have any options for cross training. I just got done with 4 months of the most intense running I've ever done, and I need my daily shot of endorphins. I don't have access to a pool, which would be my #1 option for a basically injury proof workout, and something that I enjoy doing too...I'd be totally cool with taking some time off running if I could do that for 2 weeks. But...I don't. Nor do I have an elliptical, rowing machine, exercise bike, or anything else, or the money to join a place where I could have access to that kind of equipment. But I think the worst part it of all this this: I'm still unemployed, and getting more and more frustrated and angry by the day about it. I really thought I had something going, but apparently the guy has decided he doesn't want to follow through...nothing I can do about it, I guess. Anyway, hunting for a job has made me feel pretty worthless - I mean, I can't even get a job as a waitress or at a damn Starbucks for the love of God. It's just the feeling of never being good enough. Not to mention, spending my days watching TV and playing video games when I'm not looking for a job has made me feel like a piece of crap too. So running has been the ONE THING that has made me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile. That one or two or three hours a day when I can forget about all the other crap that seems to be neverending in my life. Like..."well shit, I don't have a job or money to do anything, but at least I can run 20 miles at 8:15 pace! or pass every single person I see on the reservoir! or fly down the sidewalk like there's no tomorrow! and this is FREE!" So not even being able to do that, especially when financially my shit is about to hit the fan, well, its just really freaking poor timing, I'll tell you that.
I know I should be happy that this happened AFTER the marathon and when I really have nothing to even vaguely think about training for in the next 2 months, but I'm finding it hard to see the sunny side of the situation at the moment. I'm sure running the marathon in that type of weather was enough to eff up anybody, and yeah, I suppose this is an ideal time to take some time off, but without running I have literally NOTHING to do. And when I don't have anything to do...I get bored. Which makes me cranky. And when I'm bored and cranky and jobless and don't even have the option of going out and running as fast as I can for 10 miles...well...let's just say you should probably pity the BF for having to deal with me in that state.
So if anybody has any idea what sort of mystery injury I've brought upon myself and how to fix it, go ahead and let me know. Until then I guess I'll be resting...possibly in an endless river of my own tears. Hopefully next time you here from me we will be back to our regularly scheduled, entertaining, happy, ramblings...hopefully.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
A picture is worth 1000 words...
I swear, I actually have a huge smile on my face in this picture. I'm pretty sure you just can't tell because it was so ridiculously cold that my mouth was frozen...also, I enjoy the fact that you can SEE THE BLOOD dripping down my leg. One thing I didn't mention in my race report was the fact that apparently my calves were rubbing together during the race [and my legs were also apparently numb, because I felt nothing] and I ended up chafing so much I was bleeding for who knows how long. I had no idea until I finished the race and looked down and was like...wtf? Why am I bleeding? Battle wounds - kinda badass.
That singlet is so freaking short. Damn you, women's cut. But this is my favorite of the "close up" finish line pictures
I think this one pretty much says it all. Throwing up the W! I also love how you can that a) it's raining and b) it's freezing by the miserable, bundled up spectators in the background. I also like that you can kind of see the clock. :)Thanks Capstone Photo! I will definitely be ordering these pictures. :)
Today it was 68 AND HUMID...so, so weird. Last time I checked it was the end of October? I'm still waiting on fall. I was thinking about it though, and honestly, if the weather had been like this for the race, I don't think it would have gone as well at all. I think for me, crappy weather is more of an advantage than anything else, I seem to deal well with it. Not that I'm opposed at all to 55 and sunny and dry with no wind and puffy clouds, but I would take what we had on Sunday any day over something that in any way resembles warm or humid.
I went for my longest run since the marathon because I just got so ansty I couldn't stand it anymore. It felt great to get out for a run of more than 20 minutes, but my left knee is still a little jacked up - I think it's something with the IT band stuff that I was feeling before the race, that just got escalated by running for 3.5+ hours in the freezing rain. Aside from that though, my legs are feeling pretty much normal. Muscularly, I think things are good. I did two reaaaaally easy 3 mile runs yesterday and the day before and I wasn't feeling so great during those, but I think everything is finally starting to calm down.
And finally, a shoutout to my beloved WTC XC ladies for WINNING NIRCA REGIONALS!!! For as long as I can remember the women's team has been kind of overshadowed by the guys, so it's SO awesome to hear that they finally brought home a plaque! [The guys team won the meet as well but I mean...that's no surprise :)]
Today it was 68 AND HUMID...so, so weird. Last time I checked it was the end of October? I'm still waiting on fall. I was thinking about it though, and honestly, if the weather had been like this for the race, I don't think it would have gone as well at all. I think for me, crappy weather is more of an advantage than anything else, I seem to deal well with it. Not that I'm opposed at all to 55 and sunny and dry with no wind and puffy clouds, but I would take what we had on Sunday any day over something that in any way resembles warm or humid.
I went for my longest run since the marathon because I just got so ansty I couldn't stand it anymore. It felt great to get out for a run of more than 20 minutes, but my left knee is still a little jacked up - I think it's something with the IT band stuff that I was feeling before the race, that just got escalated by running for 3.5+ hours in the freezing rain. Aside from that though, my legs are feeling pretty much normal. Muscularly, I think things are good. I did two reaaaaally easy 3 mile runs yesterday and the day before and I wasn't feeling so great during those, but I think everything is finally starting to calm down.
And finally, a shoutout to my beloved WTC XC ladies for WINNING NIRCA REGIONALS!!! For as long as I can remember the women's team has been kind of overshadowed by the guys, so it's SO awesome to hear that they finally brought home a plaque! [The guys team won the meet as well but I mean...that's no surprise :)]
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
I suck at recovering
I seriously want nothing more right now than to run out the door and pound out a few miles, that is the kind of high I'm still on from Sunday. I have taken THREE WHOLE DAYS off! And it has basically felt like forever. I will say I had absolutely no desire to run the day after the race. My knees were absolutely killing my, my left Achilles was so sore that I had to stretch it before I could even walk normally, and my legs just generally ached. Of course, I had to take the T to a job interview and that meant walking up and down massive flights of stairs...I was almost late to the damn interview because I was having so much trouble, and I'm sure the people around me were...well...intrigued as to why I was moving like a slug haha. Yesterday things were quite a bit better, although it seems as the pain in my knees and feet has started to fade, I've actually noticed the fact that my quads and hamstrings feel kind of torn up. So yesterday was much more of an "ouch my muscles are sore" kind of pain than a "I feel like someone has been banging on my knees with a metal rod" sort of pain. Today I am feeling almost 100%, a little lingering soreness but I was still able to run, with 3 bags of groceries, to catch the train, so I must be recovering well. If I'm feeling good tomorrow I'll probably go for an easy half hour run or something just because I'm starting to go a little crazy with this recovery business. It's harder than the training, I tell you!
Today I put my antsiness towards something productive and cleaned my closet. And did dishes. And laundry. Wow, recovery posts aren't nearly as interesting as training posts are they? I'm still looking for a place to put my mylar blanket. As gloriously as it blends in with the decor of our living room...hehe. I know I need to let my body recover from what was obviously one of the hardest races of my life, but there's a little voice inside me that's like...hey, so when do we get to do another one of those long runs? Like a good 20 miler maybe? WHO AM I??!! Hahaha.
And of course I keep thinking back to the race, which almost seems like some sort of wonderful dream that I can't even believe actually happened. I realized last night as I was falling asleep that my math had been flawed and I actually didn't run the second half of the marathon 25 seconds slower, but 25 seconds FASTER! A real live negative split? That's not something I've ever seen before. I'm already starting to think about my next training cycle and what I'm going to try to change or improve on. Since I didn't really have a plan of any sort going into this race, but whatever I was doing obviously worked for me, I'm hoping to kind of analyze what I DID do a little bit and maybe make an effort to create something that resembles a plan as I train for Boston. Granted, it will be the Run Like A Llama plan, not the Higdon/Pfitz/Hudson/whoever plan, though I will probably be trying to take some hints from all 3 of those peeps, who are obviously smarter training planners than me. But I'm already thinking in the back of my mind, hmm, if you could run this time and feel great the whole time and negative split even though you went out faster than planned and do it all in the shittiest weather imaginable, you could probably run even faster. So don't worry, the details of this plan will probably be hashed out over the next couple of months on this blog, because I'm sure the BF doesn't want to hear about how many tempo runs I'm planning on doing or what my new goal MP is. :)
The fact that I'm already getting excited about running another marathon is really cool to me. When I finished each of the 3 half marathons that I've done, my overwhelming feeling was of never wanting to put myself through that ever again. Obviously I did, and I will continue to do so [because damnit 1:40, I'm coming for you!], but at the time of the finish of the race it was just like...omg that was awful. Compare that to the marathon where even at the worst of times I was still enjoying myself and pushing myself and all I could think as I crossed the finish line was that was AWESOME! When can I do it again? So does this mean I should be running the marathon faster, so I DO feel that way? Who knows. Guess we'll see next time around. ;)
I'm also working on my "race calender" for the next 6 months because right now, for the first time ever? possibly? I have nothing planned or scheduled. I am definitely going to take it relatively easy for the next couple of months, maybe jump in a turkey trot, a 10K would actually be awesome since I haven't really gone for a good PR in that distance in awhile...and then it will be back on the marathon bus in January...
See, you would think that having to take a few days off of running would maybe mean I would stop THINKING about running for maybe 5 seconds...but then again I guess if you know me at all, you know that's really not possible. :)
Today I put my antsiness towards something productive and cleaned my closet. And did dishes. And laundry. Wow, recovery posts aren't nearly as interesting as training posts are they? I'm still looking for a place to put my mylar blanket. As gloriously as it blends in with the decor of our living room...hehe. I know I need to let my body recover from what was obviously one of the hardest races of my life, but there's a little voice inside me that's like...hey, so when do we get to do another one of those long runs? Like a good 20 miler maybe? WHO AM I??!! Hahaha.
And of course I keep thinking back to the race, which almost seems like some sort of wonderful dream that I can't even believe actually happened. I realized last night as I was falling asleep that my math had been flawed and I actually didn't run the second half of the marathon 25 seconds slower, but 25 seconds FASTER! A real live negative split? That's not something I've ever seen before. I'm already starting to think about my next training cycle and what I'm going to try to change or improve on. Since I didn't really have a plan of any sort going into this race, but whatever I was doing obviously worked for me, I'm hoping to kind of analyze what I DID do a little bit and maybe make an effort to create something that resembles a plan as I train for Boston. Granted, it will be the Run Like A Llama plan, not the Higdon/Pfitz/Hudson/whoever plan, though I will probably be trying to take some hints from all 3 of those peeps, who are obviously smarter training planners than me. But I'm already thinking in the back of my mind, hmm, if you could run this time and feel great the whole time and negative split even though you went out faster than planned and do it all in the shittiest weather imaginable, you could probably run even faster. So don't worry, the details of this plan will probably be hashed out over the next couple of months on this blog, because I'm sure the BF doesn't want to hear about how many tempo runs I'm planning on doing or what my new goal MP is. :)
The fact that I'm already getting excited about running another marathon is really cool to me. When I finished each of the 3 half marathons that I've done, my overwhelming feeling was of never wanting to put myself through that ever again. Obviously I did, and I will continue to do so [because damnit 1:40, I'm coming for you!], but at the time of the finish of the race it was just like...omg that was awful. Compare that to the marathon where even at the worst of times I was still enjoying myself and pushing myself and all I could think as I crossed the finish line was that was AWESOME! When can I do it again? So does this mean I should be running the marathon faster, so I DO feel that way? Who knows. Guess we'll see next time around. ;)
I'm also working on my "race calender" for the next 6 months because right now, for the first time ever? possibly? I have nothing planned or scheduled. I am definitely going to take it relatively easy for the next couple of months, maybe jump in a turkey trot, a 10K would actually be awesome since I haven't really gone for a good PR in that distance in awhile...and then it will be back on the marathon bus in January...
See, you would think that having to take a few days off of running would maybe mean I would stop THINKING about running for maybe 5 seconds...but then again I guess if you know me at all, you know that's really not possible. :)
Monday, October 19, 2009
Three hours, thirty nine minutes, and fifteen seconds of joy: Baystate Marathon Race Report
OK, well, since we all know that I write some of the longest race reports around, I would suggest grabbing some food or a tasty beverage to enjoy while reading what I'm sure is going to be an absolutely epic post...but you know, it was my first marathon [so...longest race ever, which probably means longest race report ever :)], and it was absolutely amazing, and I don't want to forget a single instant of it!
Day before the race - 10/17
I got a great night of sleep Friday night and took myself for a little mile jog to shake out my legs a bit that morning. Pretty much all I could think to myself was the next time I put on these shoes, I'm going to be running a marathon which was enough to send my heart rate shooting through the roof. I kept busy packing/freaking out the rest of the morning, almost had a heart attack when I thought I lost my one and only pair of tech socks [Thought process: I will NOT run in the rain in cotton socks!!] but eventually seemed to have my crap together. As I was waiting around, watching the Badgers play a pathetic second half against Iowa, Claire called to tell me she had finished her marathon and that it was awesome! She said it didn't really feel any harder than her 20 miler even though she was going faster, and she had a huge negative split so that made me feel good about my race strategy. She apologized for stealing all the nice weather...of course the forecast was still looking grim for Sunday but I tried not to think about it.
Kelly and her husband picked the BF and I up at around 2:30 and we headed to Lowell for the expo. It was held at the high school which was kind of hilarious...picture a whole bunch of runners milling around in a cafeteria with signs for "Vote for Diamond for Homecoming Queen!" hung up everywhere. We got our packets and bib numbers, and that's kind of when I knew it was real...tomorrow I would be wearing this number...tomorrow I would be running a marathon. There wasn't much to the expo, but we browsed around a bit and then decided to take advantage of the free pasta dinner, even though it was only like 4:45...we figured we could eat now, then continue to snack once we got back to their place. We got to go through what was essentially the high school lunch line which was kind of hilarious [though the guy working promised us it wasn't cafeteria food, haha], got the standard spaghetti with meat sauce, bread, and water [the BF enjoyed the soda option "for the non-runners" haha]
By the time we [when I say we, I mean my running buddy Kelly, her husband, and the BF] left the, the wind had already started to pick up in an extremely foreboding way. We decided to drive the course before heading back to Waltham and I just could not wrap my mind around the fact that I would be RUNNING this tomorrow. It all kept becoming more and more real, seeing the porta potties set up for water stops, lines on the ground for mile marks, and finally, the chute leading into the stadium where the finish would be...I got chills just looking at it. Tomorrow, I will be here, finishing a marathon...
We headed back to Waltham to eat, drink, and attempt to relax. After some Gatorade and pretzels, we all settled in to watch Running On The Sun, a documentary about the Badwater 135 mile ultramarathon. I felt slightly better about having to run a marathon in a frigging Nor'easter after watching these nut jobs run approximately 5 marathons back to back in Death Valley....dear lord. We turned on the weather channel, as if somehow watching the scrolling forecast of doom would change it, but to no avail...it was still looking like a cold, rainy, windy forecast for marathon day. But this song had come on my iPod on one of my last training runs..."Everytime it rains...I know it's good to be alive..."
I somehow fell asleep at 9:30...I have no idea how I did it. I only woke up like twice throughout the night, it was by far the best night of sleep I've ever had before a big race. Now, this might have something to do with the fact that I was sleeping on a comfy sofa-bed in a quiet Massachusetts suburb, as opposed to a too-short couch in a 90 degree apartment [CDC 07] or a Murphy bed without pillows on a loud, major street [MMM 09], but either way, I woke up 3 minutes before my 5 am alarm feeling awake, and ready to go.
Race Day - 10/18/09
This is it. It's Marathon Day.
I woke up before my alarm and sat in bed for a few moments, stretching easily and just savoring the last few moments of quiet before I began the pre-race ritual that would culminate in me putting my body and mind through quite possibly the hardest thing I had ever done. Just a few moments to remember all the work that had brought me to this day...and now, here it was. It was time.
And then it was up and walking around, eating breakfast, drinking Gatorade, making sure everything was right with the race outfit. I had a banana and my standard "deconstructed peanut butter sandwich" [two pieces of toast, one with peanut butter...I realize I could just put them together as a sandwich but for some reason I like the peanut butter one followed by just a piece of dry toast...also, I'm a weirdo.]. I started getting race-ready...on with the race outfit, the singlet and arm warmers, hair up in a messy bun [a style I rock for races and only for races], prewrap headband and orange ribbon in the hair, D-tag on the shoe, number crumpled and pinned on the singlet...the next 45 minutes were a blur, just going through the motions of pre-race ritual that I've done so many times before, only this time everything seemed more deliberate, like it would somehow change the outcome of my race if the bow in my hair wasn't tied just right or my bracelet was on the wrong side of my watch [God forbid!! haha]. Anyway. Just the standard weird crap that seems extremely important when you're about to go run 26.2 miles.
We left the apartment at 5:45, by which point it had started to mist, but the outside temperature was apparently around 45 and didn't seem too awful. It could only get warmer, right? [Hint: wrong.]
We arrived in Lowell fairly early which meant we didn't have to deal with much traffic - I realized how amazing this was later when we were headed to the starting line and there were still cars lined up trying to park...um yeah I'm pretty sure that that would be my WORST nightmare! There was plenty of space to relax and stretch in the blissfully heated arena that was acting as the staging area for the race, and once we arrived there, I started to get into racing mode. I munched on some strawberry Gu Chomps since my stomach was starting to feel a little empty, threw on my iPod with the mix I made specifically for this purpose, and tried to get in the zone. The enormous, indoor bathrooms were pretty phenomenal...about 8 million times better than the standard porta potties, and the lines weren't terrible either which was somewhat mind-blowing haha. I honestly felt extremely calm...there was none of the intense anxiety that I've felt in cross country in track races...it was like the calm before a big, big storm. Relax...breathe...stretch...I cued up my power songs [Swim - Jack's Mannequin, Don't Stop Believin' - both the Journey and Glee versions, Poker Face - Lady Gaga, My Weakness - Moby (because it makes me think of this YouTube video which almost made me cry in the week leading up to the race) and How Far We've Come - Matchbox 20], tried to figure out how to deal with shoving 3 Gus into my racing attire [one in the bra, one in the shorts pocket, and one safety pinned to the tag turned out to be the winning combo], more random pre-race self pumping-up...and soon, it was time to head to the start line.
The street leading from the Tsongas Arena to the start line was a sea of adrenaline and humanity with more than one nervous comment being made about the weather. There was a waterfall-type fountain outside the arena and I heard one woman behind me gasp "Oh my God! I thought that was rain!" Little did we know... We reached the bag drop and it was time to strip down to racing gear...maybe it was the adrenaline rushing through my body, maybe it was the fact that the wind and rain hadn't really kicked up yet, but as I stood there wearing clothes that most people would think appropriate for a day in summer, maybe spring, I didn't really feel cold.
Race ready! Wearing that hat = best decision of my life
8:27, 8:25, 8:27 [HM split ~1:49:50], 8:23, 8:20
Miles 11 and 12 passed very similarly to the previous 10. I was cruising along, feeling great. I remember thinking "wow, I remember when I ran 10 miles and thought I was the coolest person in the world...and I was probably running way slower than this!" Mile 13 was a big bridge that marked the turnaround, where we would go into our second loop. The atmosphere on the bridge was electric - there were pretty much the most spectators I had seen all day, and everyone was yelling and banging cowbells and just generally being rowdy. I was absolutely thrilled [and perhaps even a little surprised] to be feeling as good as I was, and being on the bridge knowing I was halfway there definitely pumped me up. I saw the BF, which made me SO happy - what a frickin' trooper, standing out in the rain and cold for all those hours to see me run by!! I yelled "I love you!!!" and grinned and blew him a kiss, and he actually yelled "Go Audrey!" [which is impressive, because he's not big on cheering haha] And then it was onward into the second lap...and now it was time to race.
As soon as I crossed the half marathon mark it was like my mind was like "now time to pick it up!" I think this was part of why mile 14 was one of the hardest for me, because I just got a little worried mentally since when I tried to pick up just a little bit, my legs felt it. But I mean, hello, I had already run over 13 miles! I took my second Gu [Tri-berry] at the water stop near the 14 mile mark, and did my same eating on the run act. That definitely gave me a little boost heading into the "hilly" portion of the course. There were definitely a few rollers between miles 14-17, and boy, did I ever feel them the second time around! Holy crap! It was like wait...I don't remember there being a hill here? And somehow, my crazy marathon mind followed this thought process: meh, these hills aren't that big...they're just like little humps! My humps my humps...my lovely little lumps...check it out...oh god, no, what have you done...my humps my humps...and thus, I trucked on to the tune of "My Humps" for the next couple of miles. Of all the possible songs...dear lord.
I also noticed at this point that the mile markers didn't seem so close together anymore. In fact, I often found myself wondering where in the hell the next mile marker was. But I was becoming encouraged because amazingly, I was starting to pass people. Chug chug chug...I just kept chugging along. Between miles 14 and 15 was the only point in the race where I ever really had a conversation with anyone. I had been running with a woman for awhile, and she asked me if I had done this race before. I told her I hadn't, and that this was actually my first marathon and I had just moved from Wisconsin. She was like "oh, you're used to this weather then!" Damn straight, lady! Then she tried to strike up a conversation about what I was doing here, and while I'd love to detail all the finer points of my PT school application process, in the midst of a marathon was not the time to do it. She told me she was a nurse, and I said something along the lines of "yeah, it seems like most runners I know are really smart people! Although, anyone watching us running in this weather would probably think otherwise..." After a couple more minutes, she dropped back and that was that. I was happy in a way, since I just don't like feeling like I need to "pace" off anyone.
So things were getting harder, but I was still feeling really good, despite the increasingly ridiculous onslaught of rain and wind. I also started dropping the pace just a little bit, so little that I hardly even noticed, but each time I looked at my watch at a mile mark and saw something faster than 8:24, it just gave me a little shot of adrenaline...like maybe, just maybe, somehow, I could BQ today.
Miles 16-20: Fish hats and cruise control
8:21, 8:20, 8:15, 8:23, 8:25
I continued on through what I was thinking of as the "backstretch", and surprisingly [to me anyway], I was constantly passing people. Not really consciously, it just kind of...happened! This was also where I kind of started to notice the wind. And the fact that it was kind of cold. And the fact that my feet were starting to get wet. And then, out of nowhere, here is the song that popped into my head [note: NOT the original song, but this version, ridiculous lyrics and all]:
Most particularly, the part involving the "fish hat" and "Angola". Seriously brain? WHY? When I told the BF about it later, he said it was probably because I was cold and I wanted to be warm haha. So anyway, that lovely little ditty was playing in my head for the next couple of miles, but at least it had a nice beat!
I noticed I had pretty consistently started picking up the pace just a little bit, and I was continuing to pass people, which was making me really happy. I kept trying to tell myself that there was still a ways to go, but I couldn't stop myself from grinning when I hit mile 17 and thought to myself, less than 10 miles! And if miles 16 and 17 were good, I couldn't have even prepared myself for mile 18 when suddenly, up ahead in the distance, I saw a familiar neon yellow shirt. Could it be? Was this going to happen?
Yes, yes it was. Shortly before mile 18, I passed the 3:40 pacer. That was seriously the defining moment in the race for me. I was keeping my pace, keeping steady, my legs still feeling reasonably good, and here it was: I PASSED the 3:40 pacer! It was just like...at that moment, I knew. I knew come hell or high water, I was going to do this. I had it in me. It was mine.
Just after this glorious realization, along with the fact that I had somehow thrown down an 8:15 18th mile, we crossed the bridge that represented the turn toward home. 8 more miles, all headed in this direction....it was going to happen. Cruise control, I kept telling myself, just put yourself on cruise control and your legs will keep this up. You're cruising. And cruise I did. I did slow down slightly after the crazy bridge mile, and miles 19 and 20 were definitely where things started to get a little hard. I think that had a lot to do with the fact that I was getting COLD! It was getting harder to push my watch for a split with each passing mile because my fingers weren't really enjoying attempting to move anymore. I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to unpin my last Gu from my shorts, so I grabbed one from the Gu stop [Orange Burst, almost getting run over in the process, but you do what you gotta do] and took it right around mile 20. At mile 19, I thought to myself - 7 miles to go! This is the Arb loop - that's it - how many times have you run the Arb loop? And this is way less hilly! No big deal! Let's rock!
The clock at the 20 mile read 2:47:27. I had calculated [based on what, I don't even know] that if I could get to 22 miles by 3:05, I could qualify. So the new mind game was: Can I run 2 miles in 18 minutes? Well yes, I can do that! And I just kept on keeping on, putting my legs into cruise control, still passing people basically nonstop, and thinking - holy crap...6 miles to go. I'm really, seriously going to do this.
Miles 21-26.2: Don't stop believin'
8:22, 8:17, 8:26, 8:26, 8:08, 1:43 [last.2]
Six miles to go.
And I think to myself, this is where you find out. This is where it happens. This is where you really find out what you've got inside you. And a familiar tune started to pulse through my brain, the beat in time with my footsteps: Don't stop believin'. Hold on to that feelin'. Don't stop believin'. Hold on to that feelin'. These 8 words became my mantra for the rest of the race.
I hit mile 21 and saw another familiar neon yellow shirt. There was another 3:40 pacer, WTF? In a kind of hilarious twist, I ended up running in a pack near her for about a mile. It made me laugh. Earlier in this race, though it seemed like approximately an eternity ago, I had told Kelly that "I don't run with pacers because I don't really like running even splits"...and here I was, unknowingly doing both of those things. She later pulled ahead [so once again clearly running faster than 3:40 pace] but I was unconcerned. My heart gave a little jump as I came through mile 22 [where did I pull that 8:17 out of??]. We were in no-man's land now...the distance of my furthest long run was behind me. My legs and training had taken me this far. Now it was time for my heart to take me the rest of the way.
Don't stop believin'. Hold on to that feelin'.
4 miles...4 miles...why, that's shorter than even your easiest days! But the mile markers seemed to be getting further and further apart, and the wind was going insane, and dear god was it cold. And this was where the carnage was starting to pile up...lots and lots of people walking, people pulled off to the side stretching, and no more of the chatter that had been everywhere through the first part of the race. People are paying for too-fast starts, or the cold is getting to them, or they are cramping up...and somehow, I am still moving forward. Things are starting to tighten, and God I would LOVE to stop, but I can't. I know walking at this point for me would be a death wish. And so I truck on.
The last 3 miles, hands down, were the most challenging 3 miles I have ever run in my life. I was absolutely freezing, and my legs were starting to shut down. We passed the bridge where we had turned around on the previous lap and headed into an extremely open area near the river where the wind just kicked up another 5 notches from where it had been the rest of the race. I had given up trying to avoid puddles a long time ago since my shoes were already soaked, and I just kept my eyes on the white line stretching out endlessly in front of me [it's like a lane on the track!] It seemed like the closer we got to the finish line the more people were slowing down, or walking, and oh how much I wanted to stop, but inside I just kept screaming at myself those lyrics from "Swim"...I'M NOT GIVING IN!!! I had not come this far, to come this close to qualifying for Boston to give up and slow down and give in with two miles to go. It just wasn't happening. Today was MY day, and I was going to keep on believin' until I had crossed that freaking finish line.
I came to the 24 mile mark and it was just like....OH MY LORD 2 MILES TO GO! 2 miles. 2 miles is nothing! I can do this...I am GOING to do this...is this seriously happening?? It's happening. Oh my gosh. This is about where I started getting a little emotional. I was in so much pain but with two miles to go I knew, with all my heart and soul, that not only was I going to finish this race, I was going to BQ. And I literally thought I was going to start crying...but now was not the time to get emotional. But I did allow myself to think about all of the people and events that had brought me to this place. Of the miles, and miles, and miles, and miles, and running when I didn't want to, and getting up early, and runs in the heat of the summer when I thought I might die, and of Kelly who got me through some of the longest runs in the training cycle and convinced me to do this in the first place, and of all my WTC girls who had made me love running - I've never been so proud to be wearing that club jersey. And just everything - this was me, someone who had never been thought of as much of an athletic person and who was one of the 10% of people in elementary and middle school who didn't play soccer and who finished last in conference in the 300 hurdles twice in a row and who never could have dreamed of accomplishing something like this ever in my life....this was happening for me. I was going to do this, this thing that such a small, small percentage of people can ever say they did. Those were my thoughts during mile 25 - just awe and wonder and so much joy that I was doing this...I was really, truly doing this. Don't stop believin'. Hold on to that feelin'.
I don't know if there is any sight so glorious in this world as the mile 26 marker during a marathon. A LITTLE OVER A MILE TO GO! Doing some quick mental math, I figured I had about 12 minutes to run 1.2 miles. Oh my God. I was going to do it. For real and for true. There was a "one mile to go" sign located directly across from, of all the possible things, A TRACK. What an absolutely beautiful coincidence. Where it all began for me, and sure enough, there it is, with one mile left to go in my first, amazing, wonderful marathon. Once again, I almost felt like crying, but my emotional mood was quickly changed by one of my favorite things that happened to me the entire race. There was this one, lonely guy standing by the "one mile to go" sign, and when I ran by I happened to be kind of by myself. So as I go by this dude starts absolutely SCREAMING: "THERE IS ONLY ONE MILE LEFT! YOU CAN DO IT! YOU ARE AMAZING! GO GO GO!!" It was absolutely incredible, I have no idea who this man was out there cheering for but there he was, standing alone in the pouring rain and giving so much motivation to every single person going by.
One mile to go. Don't stop believin'. Hold on to that feelin'. Just one more mile. This is happening. You're doing this...you're really, really doing this! In that last mile, the pain and the cold and the fact that I'd been running for 3 and a half hours...it was all gone. None of it mattered. The only feeling I experienced that last mile was 100% pure joy. I could not stop myself from smiling as I cruised down this last road, towards the last bridge which I knew was coming. One more mile. One more mile. This is it. This is happening!!!
I was so tired, so, so tired, but it didn't matter. I turned onto the last bridge, the bridge that I had said about the night before "I'm totally going to freak out when I hit this bridge...it's like a speed tunnel!". I sped up and I could see it, the stadium, there was the finish. 706 miles, and this is what it comes down to, one last push over a bridge with a huge smile on my face, the rain pouring down but I can't even feel it, the wind whipping but who cares, strong and powerful and everything I've ever dreamed of being I am, here at this moment.
Across the bridge, turning a corner, and into the "chute" that led into the stadium. I saw the BF once more, overcome with everything in the moment I couldn't say anything but knowing he was there meant everything. The corrall leading into the stadium was lined with people, cheering and screaming and banging cowbells and holding signs...everything you imagine the finish of a marathon to be. Right before actually turning into the stadium, there it was, the 26 mile mark. Oh my God. 0.2 miles. This is real, this is happening...THIS IS YOUR VICTORY LAP!!!
I turned onto the warning track of this Lowell Spinners baseball stadium, and I don't think I've ever felt so much emotion in my entire life. I wanted to laugh, cry, yell, throw my arms in the air, and grin uncontrollably, all while attempting to run as fast as my legs would go. There was a photographer somewhere on that warning track and I have the feeling that's going to be a ridiculous, yet awesome picture. I passed one last person and there I was, into the home straight. I could see it...the finish line, and the clock with those incredible numbers of 3:39. It was happening. It was really truly happening. As I crossed the line, I threw up my arms into the "W" sign that was such a thing with our club last year. It was a W for Wisconsin...for WTC...and for Win. Because I had defeated every running demon I had ever had, every voice that ever told me I could never truly be great, and most importantly, my thoughts that I couldn't execute in a race when it really counted...it did not matter in the least what place I had actually come in in this race...I had won.
Mile 26.3 and onward: Post race
The instant I stopped running was the instant the cold and the pain hit. I was so overcome with emotion that I had done it, that it was over, and most of all, that I had actually qualified for Boston, that I was somewhere between hyperventilating, laughing, and crying. I got my mylar blanket and promptly almost fell over, my legs were shaking so hard. A girl put a medal around my neck and asked how I was...when I responded "AMAZING!" she laughed and was like..."wow, that's the first time I've heard THAT one today!". But how could I not feel amazing? I had just finished my first marathon AND qualified for Boston!
With my newly gained shiny objects, I slowly, painfully made my way towards the bleachers, still in my awkward laugh/cry/hyperventilate stage, although now I had added "shivering uncontrollably" and "hoping legs don't collapse" into the mix. Then, the cruelest of all tortures: we had to CLIMB THE STAIRS to get to food, friends, and bathrooms. TORTURE! Most painful stair climb of my life, hands down, although I'm sure it was quite entertaining to spectators to watch thousands of gimpy runners struggle up the steps of the bleachers. I finally reached the BF and basically fell into his arms. "I did it!!! I qualified!" "I know!" I still didn't really know what to do with myself so we decided to try and make our way up the rest of the stairs to locate the post-race food. On the way I ran into Kelly's husband, who had finished 11th overall and PRed - pretty awesome, and he is one speedy guy! I decided I wanted some food and struggled my way over to the tent...honestly, I can't even think of anything to compare the pain in my legs after that race to. It didn't help that I was shaking uncontrollably, so my muscles which were already in pain were spasming...causing them to be in more pain...and it was just generally awful. This so occupied my mind when I got to the food table that I really wasn't even sure what to do, and ended up with some chicken noodle soup [which I eventually managed to eat] and a peanut butter sandwich [which I essentially stared at for 20 minutes before realizing that it didn't look even remotely appetizing]. Oh, and a Diet Pepsi. Because apparently these race organizers read my mind and know about how much I adore diet soda after a hard run.
I found my way to the bathroom to put on some dry clothes and discovered just how difficult it is to put on pants when your hands are frozen and you can hardly move your legs. I was moving like a granny, that was for sure. Right as I came out of the bathroom Kelly came in, and we were all pretty anxious to hightail it back to the car...alas...it was like half a mile away. A painful half mile, let me tell you. The BF was practically carrying me. Once we got back to the car and warmed up everyone started to feel a bit better and we all swapped race stories and talked about the ridiculousness of the weather and whatnot. I think I was still kind of in shock and amazement over the whole thing, to be honest!! I obviously had to call the fam, and the cutest thing was my sister [who had called Saturday and asked if I was running THE Boston Marathon, which I told her you had to qualify for] who called and was so incredibly excited and proud and was like "and you said it was really hard to qualify for!! You are so amazing!!" Hearing from her actually made me tear up a little bit too to be honest, since it was kind of incredible to see just how huge this is even to someone who isn't at all involved in running.
We finally made it home, and by now it was snowing. I was just in a world of pain, but I wanted one thing and one thing only: an enormous burger. So the BF and I trekked on the train to Joshua Tree and I ate possible the most incredible meal of my life: an appetizer of calamari, waffle fries, and a burger STUFFED WITH CHEESE, and topped with cheese, bacon, bbq sauce [BQ sauce??!!] and the usual veggie fixings. And of course, a Magic Hat #9, because beer was kind of a requirement in my life at that point. We got home and attempted to watch a movie/have a couple more beers. but my legs hurt so badly that all I could really do was whine about it. I went to bed at 9:30 and it was amazing. And there it was...it seriously happened...my marathon day.
So I have all sorts of other random ramblings to ramble about this race being the culmination of my running life so far and things...but I think I'll at least put that post under a different heading because I'm sure anyone who has made it this far is probably really sick of scrolling down this page. I've also been writing this on and off for almost 2 hours so...yeah...my brain is a little fried, especially with re-living the race in my head. But I will end this post with 3 post-race thoughts:
1. I am so, so, so proud of the way I ran this race. Honestly, I would say it's one of the best races I've ever run in my life. I excecuted exactly how I wanted to [my second half was only 25 seconds slower than my first. Despite the fact that I went out faster than planned. That is almost even splits, people! Remember when I said I don't do even splits??!!], when things got tough I refused to give in and back off the pace, and I pushed myself as hard as I knew how for 26.2 miles, ran my own raced, and finished feeling strong, powerful, and incredible.
2. Today I was riding the T to a job interview, and I looked out the window at this random hotel on Beacon Street. And I suddenly thought to myself: I have run past that hotel so many times in the past month and a half. On short runs, on long runs, good days, and bad. And an even funnier thought crossed my mind: I realized that the first run I went on when I arrived in Boston was the last 4 miles of the Boston Marathon course. And then I thought: Wow. I am going to be running down this street to the finish of the Boston Marathon in 6 months. And I almost started crying right there on the train, and at the same time just grinned. I think that was the moment when I realized that I am going to run THE Boston Marathon. And that is pretty much the coolest thing I can think of.
3. Yesterday, for the first time in my entire life, I finally realized that I am a good runner. And I've been able to come that realization through the training and the miles that have led up to this one, amazing moment, this one race. And now that I know what I'm capable of...well..the possibilities are endless.
Well, I just copied and pasted this entry into Microsoft Word and discovered that it is 11 PAGES LONG...so to anyone who has reached the end, I salute you.
3:39:15
52/185 AG
572/1561 OA
Day before the race - 10/17
I got a great night of sleep Friday night and took myself for a little mile jog to shake out my legs a bit that morning. Pretty much all I could think to myself was the next time I put on these shoes, I'm going to be running a marathon which was enough to send my heart rate shooting through the roof. I kept busy packing/freaking out the rest of the morning, almost had a heart attack when I thought I lost my one and only pair of tech socks [Thought process: I will NOT run in the rain in cotton socks!!] but eventually seemed to have my crap together. As I was waiting around, watching the Badgers play a pathetic second half against Iowa, Claire called to tell me she had finished her marathon and that it was awesome! She said it didn't really feel any harder than her 20 miler even though she was going faster, and she had a huge negative split so that made me feel good about my race strategy. She apologized for stealing all the nice weather...of course the forecast was still looking grim for Sunday but I tried not to think about it.
Kelly and her husband picked the BF and I up at around 2:30 and we headed to Lowell for the expo. It was held at the high school which was kind of hilarious...picture a whole bunch of runners milling around in a cafeteria with signs for "Vote for Diamond for Homecoming Queen!" hung up everywhere. We got our packets and bib numbers, and that's kind of when I knew it was real...tomorrow I would be wearing this number...tomorrow I would be running a marathon. There wasn't much to the expo, but we browsed around a bit and then decided to take advantage of the free pasta dinner, even though it was only like 4:45...we figured we could eat now, then continue to snack once we got back to their place. We got to go through what was essentially the high school lunch line which was kind of hilarious [though the guy working promised us it wasn't cafeteria food, haha], got the standard spaghetti with meat sauce, bread, and water [the BF enjoyed the soda option "for the non-runners" haha]
By the time we [when I say we, I mean my running buddy Kelly, her husband, and the BF] left the, the wind had already started to pick up in an extremely foreboding way. We decided to drive the course before heading back to Waltham and I just could not wrap my mind around the fact that I would be RUNNING this tomorrow. It all kept becoming more and more real, seeing the porta potties set up for water stops, lines on the ground for mile marks, and finally, the chute leading into the stadium where the finish would be...I got chills just looking at it. Tomorrow, I will be here, finishing a marathon...
We headed back to Waltham to eat, drink, and attempt to relax. After some Gatorade and pretzels, we all settled in to watch Running On The Sun, a documentary about the Badwater 135 mile ultramarathon. I felt slightly better about having to run a marathon in a frigging Nor'easter after watching these nut jobs run approximately 5 marathons back to back in Death Valley....dear lord. We turned on the weather channel, as if somehow watching the scrolling forecast of doom would change it, but to no avail...it was still looking like a cold, rainy, windy forecast for marathon day. But this song had come on my iPod on one of my last training runs..."Everytime it rains...I know it's good to be alive..."
I somehow fell asleep at 9:30...I have no idea how I did it. I only woke up like twice throughout the night, it was by far the best night of sleep I've ever had before a big race. Now, this might have something to do with the fact that I was sleeping on a comfy sofa-bed in a quiet Massachusetts suburb, as opposed to a too-short couch in a 90 degree apartment [CDC 07] or a Murphy bed without pillows on a loud, major street [MMM 09], but either way, I woke up 3 minutes before my 5 am alarm feeling awake, and ready to go.
Race Day - 10/18/09
This is it. It's Marathon Day.
I woke up before my alarm and sat in bed for a few moments, stretching easily and just savoring the last few moments of quiet before I began the pre-race ritual that would culminate in me putting my body and mind through quite possibly the hardest thing I had ever done. Just a few moments to remember all the work that had brought me to this day...and now, here it was. It was time.
And then it was up and walking around, eating breakfast, drinking Gatorade, making sure everything was right with the race outfit. I had a banana and my standard "deconstructed peanut butter sandwich" [two pieces of toast, one with peanut butter...I realize I could just put them together as a sandwich but for some reason I like the peanut butter one followed by just a piece of dry toast...also, I'm a weirdo.]. I started getting race-ready...on with the race outfit, the singlet and arm warmers, hair up in a messy bun [a style I rock for races and only for races], prewrap headband and orange ribbon in the hair, D-tag on the shoe, number crumpled and pinned on the singlet...the next 45 minutes were a blur, just going through the motions of pre-race ritual that I've done so many times before, only this time everything seemed more deliberate, like it would somehow change the outcome of my race if the bow in my hair wasn't tied just right or my bracelet was on the wrong side of my watch [God forbid!! haha]. Anyway. Just the standard weird crap that seems extremely important when you're about to go run 26.2 miles.
We left the apartment at 5:45, by which point it had started to mist, but the outside temperature was apparently around 45 and didn't seem too awful. It could only get warmer, right? [Hint: wrong.]
We arrived in Lowell fairly early which meant we didn't have to deal with much traffic - I realized how amazing this was later when we were headed to the starting line and there were still cars lined up trying to park...um yeah I'm pretty sure that that would be my WORST nightmare! There was plenty of space to relax and stretch in the blissfully heated arena that was acting as the staging area for the race, and once we arrived there, I started to get into racing mode. I munched on some strawberry Gu Chomps since my stomach was starting to feel a little empty, threw on my iPod with the mix I made specifically for this purpose, and tried to get in the zone. The enormous, indoor bathrooms were pretty phenomenal...about 8 million times better than the standard porta potties, and the lines weren't terrible either which was somewhat mind-blowing haha. I honestly felt extremely calm...there was none of the intense anxiety that I've felt in cross country in track races...it was like the calm before a big, big storm. Relax...breathe...stretch...I cued up my power songs [Swim - Jack's Mannequin, Don't Stop Believin' - both the Journey and Glee versions, Poker Face - Lady Gaga, My Weakness - Moby (because it makes me think of this YouTube video which almost made me cry in the week leading up to the race) and How Far We've Come - Matchbox 20], tried to figure out how to deal with shoving 3 Gus into my racing attire [one in the bra, one in the shorts pocket, and one safety pinned to the tag turned out to be the winning combo], more random pre-race self pumping-up...and soon, it was time to head to the start line.
The street leading from the Tsongas Arena to the start line was a sea of adrenaline and humanity with more than one nervous comment being made about the weather. There was a waterfall-type fountain outside the arena and I heard one woman behind me gasp "Oh my God! I thought that was rain!" Little did we know... We reached the bag drop and it was time to strip down to racing gear...maybe it was the adrenaline rushing through my body, maybe it was the fact that the wind and rain hadn't really kicked up yet, but as I stood there wearing clothes that most people would think appropriate for a day in summer, maybe spring, I didn't really feel cold.
Race ready! Wearing that hat = best decision of my lifeA couple quick sips from my Nalgene, one last kiss to the BF, and we were off to the starting line. Which was, for lack of a better word, a clusterfuck. The half marathon and the marathon started on opposite sides of the same street, and the only access to the corral was through the front and back, no side gates at all. This isn't some gigantic race, but there were still 1500 marathoners to contend with and trying to squeeze your way through the sausage casing of the corral gates with 5 minutes until race time just wasn't going to end well. Kelly and I decided to try to get in through the front and hope that people would let us move back, as opposed to starting out near the back and risk getting caught up in the slower runners. So...in the end, we were about 5 rows back from the start...yes, definitely much further up than we probably sould have been, but there was literally no way out. People were smashed together like sardines left and right, back and front, so all we could do was own our place in line and wait for the start.
I was so incredibly giddy right before the start of the race - I just couldn't believe I was actually doing it, actually here, that I was really, truly going to run a marathon. I honestly got a little teary eyed during the national anthem...all of the emotion of everything that had brought me to this day and to this place just kind of welled up in me. Then the mayor of Lowell came on the mike and here it was...three...two...one...GO!
Miles 1-5: Easy peasy
8:08, 8:16, 8:12, 8:33, 8:13
Remember my plan of going out really slow and easy? Funny how that didn't work out so well, huh? Not that I'm terribly surprised that most of my splits for this section were fast, but I had to kind of laugh when we went through the first mile in 8:08...whoops. :) As we crossed the starting line, I literally got chills, and once again, that sheer excitement and disbelief welled up in me - it's actually starting, I'm ACTUALLY DOING THIS!! I tucked in beside Kelly and just tried to relax, relax, relax. With the awkwardness of the start corral and the fact that the half was starting at the same time, there were people speeding by at various levels of craziness, and it was really difficult not to get caught up in it all, but I just kept telling myself, either a) they're running HALF the distance you are, or b) they are crazy-looking men, obviously they're going to be running faster than you!
I remember thinking that I felt like I was pushing just a little bit too hard for this point in the race, but everytime I tried to dial it back nothing really happened. Kelly and I talked a bit but for the most part we were kind of in our own little bubbles just focusing on moving forward and staying calm and relaxed. At the 4 mile mark I thought to myself "woo hoo, only 22 miles to go! You've run 22 miles before. Just forget that you ran the last 4 miles and just rock it like a long run!" Mind games, how I love thee. Also around that point was when the supposed 3:40 pacer passed me. Now, since I'm pretty sure I was in the middle of my 8:13 mile at that point, I'm not sure what kind of pace those girls were running, and so I decided to put them out of my mind together. Bye bye, neon yellow shirt! [Little did I know I would be seeing them again later...]
We hit up the water stop that was right around 5 miles, and I decided I didn't want to pull off for a drink that point. Kelly did, and she must have gotten caught up behind me because before I knew it, she was gone. I was on my own now, with 21 miles left to go.
Miles 6-10: Let it rain
8:25, 8:30 [10K split: 51:41], 8:24, 8:25, 8:23
And the rain rain rain came down down down, and Audrey kept on running.
So around mile 6, it started drizzling. And then the drizzle became more than a drizzle, and then the wind started kicking up, and soon enough it was just a ridiculous, pouring, mess out there. But for some reason, now that the race was actually in progress, it didn't bother me that it was raining. I actually thought it was kind of awesome. Like, I'm pretty sure this is actually how my thought process went during the race: Wow, it's raining. God I'm glad I'm wearing this hat. These arm warmers are the best. thing. ever. God I love running in the rain. THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!!! The sad part is, I'm actually not even kidding.
So my main recollection about these miles is just how steady, calm, and relaxed I felt. Like I could literally go on like this forever and ever. I got all snazzy with my Gu #1 [Chocolate Outrage] at about mile 7, pulling it out of my sports bra and ripping it open with my teeth before I got to the water stop, taking it down, and then grabbing Gatorade on the run as I ran through. Side note: I LEARNED HOW TO DRINK WHILE RUNNING!! Don't ask me how. It's like something that miraculously came to me during this race. Did I get a little bit of Gatorade on my face? Yeah, but I did not stop running, at any point in time, for any reason. OK, so that was pretty amazing. The water stops were all manned by high school XC teams which was pretty amazing, they were all really upbeat despite the weather and my whacked out mind found it hilarious hearing them yelling things that you would totally hear in a cross country race [my personal favorite: "Look at this pack! Keep working together guys, stay with this pack, you're looking awesome! Cross country all the way :)]
Mile 8 was the bridge that we got to run over twice, basically representing the turn back towards home. The first time I ran over it I was kind of taken by surprise because it was one of those suspension bridges that like...bounces...when you run on it? Now multiply that by a whole bunch of people running on it and yeah...it was kind of weird. There were a bunch of spectators right near it though, so that was cool...such troopers. At this point in the race, the mile markers seemed to come SO quickly...I would be like...wait...is that a mile marker up there? OMG it is! How has it seriously been another mile? I also dealt with some interesting characters running near me over this stretch. I had two different women and one man who were possibly the LOUDEST breathers I have ever encountered. I mean...whatever floats your boat I guess, but just being near these people was making me feel like I was getting more tired! As for myself, my breathing was about as calm as could be. There was also a dude whose friends me up with him to give him Gatorade and then ran with him for a ways. I really couldn't care one way or another about the "outside help" thing, but what bothered me is that they were running 3 across, kind of blocking my way. The roads were open on a lot of the course and we didn't have a very wide lane to run in, so it was just kind of like....hello? Can these people who are not actually racing get out of my way??!! Not to mention this man was also the hyperventilator so...double whammy of irritation haha. But it was really no big deal. I was feeling cool as a cucumber and my legs felt great. I knew after the halfway point things would probably get tougher, so I was just focusing on the fact that for now, I felt great, and just savoring every step. I was running a marathon, and it was feeling AWESOME!
Miles 11-15: My humps, my lovely lady lumps
I was so incredibly giddy right before the start of the race - I just couldn't believe I was actually doing it, actually here, that I was really, truly going to run a marathon. I honestly got a little teary eyed during the national anthem...all of the emotion of everything that had brought me to this day and to this place just kind of welled up in me. Then the mayor of Lowell came on the mike and here it was...three...two...one...GO!
Miles 1-5: Easy peasy
8:08, 8:16, 8:12, 8:33, 8:13
Remember my plan of going out really slow and easy? Funny how that didn't work out so well, huh? Not that I'm terribly surprised that most of my splits for this section were fast, but I had to kind of laugh when we went through the first mile in 8:08...whoops. :) As we crossed the starting line, I literally got chills, and once again, that sheer excitement and disbelief welled up in me - it's actually starting, I'm ACTUALLY DOING THIS!! I tucked in beside Kelly and just tried to relax, relax, relax. With the awkwardness of the start corral and the fact that the half was starting at the same time, there were people speeding by at various levels of craziness, and it was really difficult not to get caught up in it all, but I just kept telling myself, either a) they're running HALF the distance you are, or b) they are crazy-looking men, obviously they're going to be running faster than you!
I remember thinking that I felt like I was pushing just a little bit too hard for this point in the race, but everytime I tried to dial it back nothing really happened. Kelly and I talked a bit but for the most part we were kind of in our own little bubbles just focusing on moving forward and staying calm and relaxed. At the 4 mile mark I thought to myself "woo hoo, only 22 miles to go! You've run 22 miles before. Just forget that you ran the last 4 miles and just rock it like a long run!" Mind games, how I love thee. Also around that point was when the supposed 3:40 pacer passed me. Now, since I'm pretty sure I was in the middle of my 8:13 mile at that point, I'm not sure what kind of pace those girls were running, and so I decided to put them out of my mind together. Bye bye, neon yellow shirt! [Little did I know I would be seeing them again later...]
We hit up the water stop that was right around 5 miles, and I decided I didn't want to pull off for a drink that point. Kelly did, and she must have gotten caught up behind me because before I knew it, she was gone. I was on my own now, with 21 miles left to go.
Miles 6-10: Let it rain
8:25, 8:30 [10K split: 51:41], 8:24, 8:25, 8:23
And the rain rain rain came down down down, and Audrey kept on running.
So around mile 6, it started drizzling. And then the drizzle became more than a drizzle, and then the wind started kicking up, and soon enough it was just a ridiculous, pouring, mess out there. But for some reason, now that the race was actually in progress, it didn't bother me that it was raining. I actually thought it was kind of awesome. Like, I'm pretty sure this is actually how my thought process went during the race: Wow, it's raining. God I'm glad I'm wearing this hat. These arm warmers are the best. thing. ever. God I love running in the rain. THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!!! The sad part is, I'm actually not even kidding.
So my main recollection about these miles is just how steady, calm, and relaxed I felt. Like I could literally go on like this forever and ever. I got all snazzy with my Gu #1 [Chocolate Outrage] at about mile 7, pulling it out of my sports bra and ripping it open with my teeth before I got to the water stop, taking it down, and then grabbing Gatorade on the run as I ran through. Side note: I LEARNED HOW TO DRINK WHILE RUNNING!! Don't ask me how. It's like something that miraculously came to me during this race. Did I get a little bit of Gatorade on my face? Yeah, but I did not stop running, at any point in time, for any reason. OK, so that was pretty amazing. The water stops were all manned by high school XC teams which was pretty amazing, they were all really upbeat despite the weather and my whacked out mind found it hilarious hearing them yelling things that you would totally hear in a cross country race [my personal favorite: "Look at this pack! Keep working together guys, stay with this pack, you're looking awesome! Cross country all the way :)]
Mile 8 was the bridge that we got to run over twice, basically representing the turn back towards home. The first time I ran over it I was kind of taken by surprise because it was one of those suspension bridges that like...bounces...when you run on it? Now multiply that by a whole bunch of people running on it and yeah...it was kind of weird. There were a bunch of spectators right near it though, so that was cool...such troopers. At this point in the race, the mile markers seemed to come SO quickly...I would be like...wait...is that a mile marker up there? OMG it is! How has it seriously been another mile? I also dealt with some interesting characters running near me over this stretch. I had two different women and one man who were possibly the LOUDEST breathers I have ever encountered. I mean...whatever floats your boat I guess, but just being near these people was making me feel like I was getting more tired! As for myself, my breathing was about as calm as could be. There was also a dude whose friends me up with him to give him Gatorade and then ran with him for a ways. I really couldn't care one way or another about the "outside help" thing, but what bothered me is that they were running 3 across, kind of blocking my way. The roads were open on a lot of the course and we didn't have a very wide lane to run in, so it was just kind of like....hello? Can these people who are not actually racing get out of my way??!! Not to mention this man was also the hyperventilator so...double whammy of irritation haha. But it was really no big deal. I was feeling cool as a cucumber and my legs felt great. I knew after the halfway point things would probably get tougher, so I was just focusing on the fact that for now, I felt great, and just savoring every step. I was running a marathon, and it was feeling AWESOME!
Miles 11-15: My humps, my lovely lady lumps
Miles 11 and 12 passed very similarly to the previous 10. I was cruising along, feeling great. I remember thinking "wow, I remember when I ran 10 miles and thought I was the coolest person in the world...and I was probably running way slower than this!" Mile 13 was a big bridge that marked the turnaround, where we would go into our second loop. The atmosphere on the bridge was electric - there were pretty much the most spectators I had seen all day, and everyone was yelling and banging cowbells and just generally being rowdy. I was absolutely thrilled [and perhaps even a little surprised] to be feeling as good as I was, and being on the bridge knowing I was halfway there definitely pumped me up. I saw the BF, which made me SO happy - what a frickin' trooper, standing out in the rain and cold for all those hours to see me run by!! I yelled "I love you!!!" and grinned and blew him a kiss, and he actually yelled "Go Audrey!" [which is impressive, because he's not big on cheering haha] And then it was onward into the second lap...and now it was time to race.
As soon as I crossed the half marathon mark it was like my mind was like "now time to pick it up!" I think this was part of why mile 14 was one of the hardest for me, because I just got a little worried mentally since when I tried to pick up just a little bit, my legs felt it. But I mean, hello, I had already run over 13 miles! I took my second Gu [Tri-berry] at the water stop near the 14 mile mark, and did my same eating on the run act. That definitely gave me a little boost heading into the "hilly" portion of the course. There were definitely a few rollers between miles 14-17, and boy, did I ever feel them the second time around! Holy crap! It was like wait...I don't remember there being a hill here? And somehow, my crazy marathon mind followed this thought process: meh, these hills aren't that big...they're just like little humps! My humps my humps...my lovely little lumps...check it out...oh god, no, what have you done...my humps my humps...and thus, I trucked on to the tune of "My Humps" for the next couple of miles. Of all the possible songs...dear lord.
I also noticed at this point that the mile markers didn't seem so close together anymore. In fact, I often found myself wondering where in the hell the next mile marker was. But I was becoming encouraged because amazingly, I was starting to pass people. Chug chug chug...I just kept chugging along. Between miles 14 and 15 was the only point in the race where I ever really had a conversation with anyone. I had been running with a woman for awhile, and she asked me if I had done this race before. I told her I hadn't, and that this was actually my first marathon and I had just moved from Wisconsin. She was like "oh, you're used to this weather then!" Damn straight, lady! Then she tried to strike up a conversation about what I was doing here, and while I'd love to detail all the finer points of my PT school application process, in the midst of a marathon was not the time to do it. She told me she was a nurse, and I said something along the lines of "yeah, it seems like most runners I know are really smart people! Although, anyone watching us running in this weather would probably think otherwise..." After a couple more minutes, she dropped back and that was that. I was happy in a way, since I just don't like feeling like I need to "pace" off anyone.
So things were getting harder, but I was still feeling really good, despite the increasingly ridiculous onslaught of rain and wind. I also started dropping the pace just a little bit, so little that I hardly even noticed, but each time I looked at my watch at a mile mark and saw something faster than 8:24, it just gave me a little shot of adrenaline...like maybe, just maybe, somehow, I could BQ today.
Miles 16-20: Fish hats and cruise control
8:21, 8:20, 8:15, 8:23, 8:25
I continued on through what I was thinking of as the "backstretch", and surprisingly [to me anyway], I was constantly passing people. Not really consciously, it just kind of...happened! This was also where I kind of started to notice the wind. And the fact that it was kind of cold. And the fact that my feet were starting to get wet. And then, out of nowhere, here is the song that popped into my head [note: NOT the original song, but this version, ridiculous lyrics and all]:
Most particularly, the part involving the "fish hat" and "Angola". Seriously brain? WHY? When I told the BF about it later, he said it was probably because I was cold and I wanted to be warm haha. So anyway, that lovely little ditty was playing in my head for the next couple of miles, but at least it had a nice beat!
I noticed I had pretty consistently started picking up the pace just a little bit, and I was continuing to pass people, which was making me really happy. I kept trying to tell myself that there was still a ways to go, but I couldn't stop myself from grinning when I hit mile 17 and thought to myself, less than 10 miles! And if miles 16 and 17 were good, I couldn't have even prepared myself for mile 18 when suddenly, up ahead in the distance, I saw a familiar neon yellow shirt. Could it be? Was this going to happen?
Yes, yes it was. Shortly before mile 18, I passed the 3:40 pacer. That was seriously the defining moment in the race for me. I was keeping my pace, keeping steady, my legs still feeling reasonably good, and here it was: I PASSED the 3:40 pacer! It was just like...at that moment, I knew. I knew come hell or high water, I was going to do this. I had it in me. It was mine.
Just after this glorious realization, along with the fact that I had somehow thrown down an 8:15 18th mile, we crossed the bridge that represented the turn toward home. 8 more miles, all headed in this direction....it was going to happen. Cruise control, I kept telling myself, just put yourself on cruise control and your legs will keep this up. You're cruising. And cruise I did. I did slow down slightly after the crazy bridge mile, and miles 19 and 20 were definitely where things started to get a little hard. I think that had a lot to do with the fact that I was getting COLD! It was getting harder to push my watch for a split with each passing mile because my fingers weren't really enjoying attempting to move anymore. I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to unpin my last Gu from my shorts, so I grabbed one from the Gu stop [Orange Burst, almost getting run over in the process, but you do what you gotta do] and took it right around mile 20. At mile 19, I thought to myself - 7 miles to go! This is the Arb loop - that's it - how many times have you run the Arb loop? And this is way less hilly! No big deal! Let's rock!
The clock at the 20 mile read 2:47:27. I had calculated [based on what, I don't even know] that if I could get to 22 miles by 3:05, I could qualify. So the new mind game was: Can I run 2 miles in 18 minutes? Well yes, I can do that! And I just kept on keeping on, putting my legs into cruise control, still passing people basically nonstop, and thinking - holy crap...6 miles to go. I'm really, seriously going to do this.
Miles 21-26.2: Don't stop believin'
8:22, 8:17, 8:26, 8:26, 8:08, 1:43 [last.2]
Six miles to go.
And I think to myself, this is where you find out. This is where it happens. This is where you really find out what you've got inside you. And a familiar tune started to pulse through my brain, the beat in time with my footsteps: Don't stop believin'. Hold on to that feelin'. Don't stop believin'. Hold on to that feelin'. These 8 words became my mantra for the rest of the race.
I hit mile 21 and saw another familiar neon yellow shirt. There was another 3:40 pacer, WTF? In a kind of hilarious twist, I ended up running in a pack near her for about a mile. It made me laugh. Earlier in this race, though it seemed like approximately an eternity ago, I had told Kelly that "I don't run with pacers because I don't really like running even splits"...and here I was, unknowingly doing both of those things. She later pulled ahead [so once again clearly running faster than 3:40 pace] but I was unconcerned. My heart gave a little jump as I came through mile 22 [where did I pull that 8:17 out of??]. We were in no-man's land now...the distance of my furthest long run was behind me. My legs and training had taken me this far. Now it was time for my heart to take me the rest of the way.
Don't stop believin'. Hold on to that feelin'.
4 miles...4 miles...why, that's shorter than even your easiest days! But the mile markers seemed to be getting further and further apart, and the wind was going insane, and dear god was it cold. And this was where the carnage was starting to pile up...lots and lots of people walking, people pulled off to the side stretching, and no more of the chatter that had been everywhere through the first part of the race. People are paying for too-fast starts, or the cold is getting to them, or they are cramping up...and somehow, I am still moving forward. Things are starting to tighten, and God I would LOVE to stop, but I can't. I know walking at this point for me would be a death wish. And so I truck on.
The last 3 miles, hands down, were the most challenging 3 miles I have ever run in my life. I was absolutely freezing, and my legs were starting to shut down. We passed the bridge where we had turned around on the previous lap and headed into an extremely open area near the river where the wind just kicked up another 5 notches from where it had been the rest of the race. I had given up trying to avoid puddles a long time ago since my shoes were already soaked, and I just kept my eyes on the white line stretching out endlessly in front of me [it's like a lane on the track!] It seemed like the closer we got to the finish line the more people were slowing down, or walking, and oh how much I wanted to stop, but inside I just kept screaming at myself those lyrics from "Swim"...I'M NOT GIVING IN!!! I had not come this far, to come this close to qualifying for Boston to give up and slow down and give in with two miles to go. It just wasn't happening. Today was MY day, and I was going to keep on believin' until I had crossed that freaking finish line.
I came to the 24 mile mark and it was just like....OH MY LORD 2 MILES TO GO! 2 miles. 2 miles is nothing! I can do this...I am GOING to do this...is this seriously happening?? It's happening. Oh my gosh. This is about where I started getting a little emotional. I was in so much pain but with two miles to go I knew, with all my heart and soul, that not only was I going to finish this race, I was going to BQ. And I literally thought I was going to start crying...but now was not the time to get emotional. But I did allow myself to think about all of the people and events that had brought me to this place. Of the miles, and miles, and miles, and miles, and running when I didn't want to, and getting up early, and runs in the heat of the summer when I thought I might die, and of Kelly who got me through some of the longest runs in the training cycle and convinced me to do this in the first place, and of all my WTC girls who had made me love running - I've never been so proud to be wearing that club jersey. And just everything - this was me, someone who had never been thought of as much of an athletic person and who was one of the 10% of people in elementary and middle school who didn't play soccer and who finished last in conference in the 300 hurdles twice in a row and who never could have dreamed of accomplishing something like this ever in my life....this was happening for me. I was going to do this, this thing that such a small, small percentage of people can ever say they did. Those were my thoughts during mile 25 - just awe and wonder and so much joy that I was doing this...I was really, truly doing this. Don't stop believin'. Hold on to that feelin'.
I don't know if there is any sight so glorious in this world as the mile 26 marker during a marathon. A LITTLE OVER A MILE TO GO! Doing some quick mental math, I figured I had about 12 minutes to run 1.2 miles. Oh my God. I was going to do it. For real and for true. There was a "one mile to go" sign located directly across from, of all the possible things, A TRACK. What an absolutely beautiful coincidence. Where it all began for me, and sure enough, there it is, with one mile left to go in my first, amazing, wonderful marathon. Once again, I almost felt like crying, but my emotional mood was quickly changed by one of my favorite things that happened to me the entire race. There was this one, lonely guy standing by the "one mile to go" sign, and when I ran by I happened to be kind of by myself. So as I go by this dude starts absolutely SCREAMING: "THERE IS ONLY ONE MILE LEFT! YOU CAN DO IT! YOU ARE AMAZING! GO GO GO!!" It was absolutely incredible, I have no idea who this man was out there cheering for but there he was, standing alone in the pouring rain and giving so much motivation to every single person going by.
One mile to go. Don't stop believin'. Hold on to that feelin'. Just one more mile. This is happening. You're doing this...you're really, really doing this! In that last mile, the pain and the cold and the fact that I'd been running for 3 and a half hours...it was all gone. None of it mattered. The only feeling I experienced that last mile was 100% pure joy. I could not stop myself from smiling as I cruised down this last road, towards the last bridge which I knew was coming. One more mile. One more mile. This is it. This is happening!!!
I was so tired, so, so tired, but it didn't matter. I turned onto the last bridge, the bridge that I had said about the night before "I'm totally going to freak out when I hit this bridge...it's like a speed tunnel!". I sped up and I could see it, the stadium, there was the finish. 706 miles, and this is what it comes down to, one last push over a bridge with a huge smile on my face, the rain pouring down but I can't even feel it, the wind whipping but who cares, strong and powerful and everything I've ever dreamed of being I am, here at this moment.
Across the bridge, turning a corner, and into the "chute" that led into the stadium. I saw the BF once more, overcome with everything in the moment I couldn't say anything but knowing he was there meant everything. The corrall leading into the stadium was lined with people, cheering and screaming and banging cowbells and holding signs...everything you imagine the finish of a marathon to be. Right before actually turning into the stadium, there it was, the 26 mile mark. Oh my God. 0.2 miles. This is real, this is happening...THIS IS YOUR VICTORY LAP!!!
I turned onto the warning track of this Lowell Spinners baseball stadium, and I don't think I've ever felt so much emotion in my entire life. I wanted to laugh, cry, yell, throw my arms in the air, and grin uncontrollably, all while attempting to run as fast as my legs would go. There was a photographer somewhere on that warning track and I have the feeling that's going to be a ridiculous, yet awesome picture. I passed one last person and there I was, into the home straight. I could see it...the finish line, and the clock with those incredible numbers of 3:39. It was happening. It was really truly happening. As I crossed the line, I threw up my arms into the "W" sign that was such a thing with our club last year. It was a W for Wisconsin...for WTC...and for Win. Because I had defeated every running demon I had ever had, every voice that ever told me I could never truly be great, and most importantly, my thoughts that I couldn't execute in a race when it really counted...it did not matter in the least what place I had actually come in in this race...I had won.
Mile 26.3 and onward: Post race
The instant I stopped running was the instant the cold and the pain hit. I was so overcome with emotion that I had done it, that it was over, and most of all, that I had actually qualified for Boston, that I was somewhere between hyperventilating, laughing, and crying. I got my mylar blanket and promptly almost fell over, my legs were shaking so hard. A girl put a medal around my neck and asked how I was...when I responded "AMAZING!" she laughed and was like..."wow, that's the first time I've heard THAT one today!". But how could I not feel amazing? I had just finished my first marathon AND qualified for Boston!
With my newly gained shiny objects, I slowly, painfully made my way towards the bleachers, still in my awkward laugh/cry/hyperventilate stage, although now I had added "shivering uncontrollably" and "hoping legs don't collapse" into the mix. Then, the cruelest of all tortures: we had to CLIMB THE STAIRS to get to food, friends, and bathrooms. TORTURE! Most painful stair climb of my life, hands down, although I'm sure it was quite entertaining to spectators to watch thousands of gimpy runners struggle up the steps of the bleachers. I finally reached the BF and basically fell into his arms. "I did it!!! I qualified!" "I know!" I still didn't really know what to do with myself so we decided to try and make our way up the rest of the stairs to locate the post-race food. On the way I ran into Kelly's husband, who had finished 11th overall and PRed - pretty awesome, and he is one speedy guy! I decided I wanted some food and struggled my way over to the tent...honestly, I can't even think of anything to compare the pain in my legs after that race to. It didn't help that I was shaking uncontrollably, so my muscles which were already in pain were spasming...causing them to be in more pain...and it was just generally awful. This so occupied my mind when I got to the food table that I really wasn't even sure what to do, and ended up with some chicken noodle soup [which I eventually managed to eat] and a peanut butter sandwich [which I essentially stared at for 20 minutes before realizing that it didn't look even remotely appetizing]. Oh, and a Diet Pepsi. Because apparently these race organizers read my mind and know about how much I adore diet soda after a hard run.
I found my way to the bathroom to put on some dry clothes and discovered just how difficult it is to put on pants when your hands are frozen and you can hardly move your legs. I was moving like a granny, that was for sure. Right as I came out of the bathroom Kelly came in, and we were all pretty anxious to hightail it back to the car...alas...it was like half a mile away. A painful half mile, let me tell you. The BF was practically carrying me. Once we got back to the car and warmed up everyone started to feel a bit better and we all swapped race stories and talked about the ridiculousness of the weather and whatnot. I think I was still kind of in shock and amazement over the whole thing, to be honest!! I obviously had to call the fam, and the cutest thing was my sister [who had called Saturday and asked if I was running THE Boston Marathon, which I told her you had to qualify for] who called and was so incredibly excited and proud and was like "and you said it was really hard to qualify for!! You are so amazing!!" Hearing from her actually made me tear up a little bit too to be honest, since it was kind of incredible to see just how huge this is even to someone who isn't at all involved in running.
We finally made it home, and by now it was snowing. I was just in a world of pain, but I wanted one thing and one thing only: an enormous burger. So the BF and I trekked on the train to Joshua Tree and I ate possible the most incredible meal of my life: an appetizer of calamari, waffle fries, and a burger STUFFED WITH CHEESE, and topped with cheese, bacon, bbq sauce [BQ sauce??!!] and the usual veggie fixings. And of course, a Magic Hat #9, because beer was kind of a requirement in my life at that point. We got home and attempted to watch a movie/have a couple more beers. but my legs hurt so badly that all I could really do was whine about it. I went to bed at 9:30 and it was amazing. And there it was...it seriously happened...my marathon day.
So I have all sorts of other random ramblings to ramble about this race being the culmination of my running life so far and things...but I think I'll at least put that post under a different heading because I'm sure anyone who has made it this far is probably really sick of scrolling down this page. I've also been writing this on and off for almost 2 hours so...yeah...my brain is a little fried, especially with re-living the race in my head. But I will end this post with 3 post-race thoughts:
1. I am so, so, so proud of the way I ran this race. Honestly, I would say it's one of the best races I've ever run in my life. I excecuted exactly how I wanted to [my second half was only 25 seconds slower than my first. Despite the fact that I went out faster than planned. That is almost even splits, people! Remember when I said I don't do even splits??!!], when things got tough I refused to give in and back off the pace, and I pushed myself as hard as I knew how for 26.2 miles, ran my own raced, and finished feeling strong, powerful, and incredible.
2. Today I was riding the T to a job interview, and I looked out the window at this random hotel on Beacon Street. And I suddenly thought to myself: I have run past that hotel so many times in the past month and a half. On short runs, on long runs, good days, and bad. And an even funnier thought crossed my mind: I realized that the first run I went on when I arrived in Boston was the last 4 miles of the Boston Marathon course. And then I thought: Wow. I am going to be running down this street to the finish of the Boston Marathon in 6 months. And I almost started crying right there on the train, and at the same time just grinned. I think that was the moment when I realized that I am going to run THE Boston Marathon. And that is pretty much the coolest thing I can think of.
3. Yesterday, for the first time in my entire life, I finally realized that I am a good runner. And I've been able to come that realization through the training and the miles that have led up to this one, amazing moment, this one race. And now that I know what I'm capable of...well..the possibilities are endless.
Well, I just copied and pasted this entry into Microsoft Word and discovered that it is 11 PAGES LONG...so to anyone who has reached the end, I salute you.
3:39:15
52/185 AG
572/1561 OA
Sunday, October 18, 2009
BQ!!!!!!!!
I DID IT!!
3:39:28, give or take a few seconds....
Quick stats: 40 degree temperatures, 20 mph winds, steady rain starting at about mile 8, almost even splits, and an absolutely incredible day. Full race report to come, for now I am just kind of basking in the glow of being a Boston Marathon qualifier....oh and hoping my legs don't fall off.
AHHH!!!!
3:39:28, give or take a few seconds....
Quick stats: 40 degree temperatures, 20 mph winds, steady rain starting at about mile 8, almost even splits, and an absolutely incredible day. Full race report to come, for now I am just kind of basking in the glow of being a Boston Marathon qualifier....oh and hoping my legs don't fall off.
AHHH!!!!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Let's see how far we've come
I think if I have have the chance to race in the rain - real rain, not some drizzle - I'll set some kind of PR I can't even imagine.That's a direct quote from my entry on this blog on June 19. Granted, I think I was talking more along the lines of a 5K race, but you know what? This is how I have to think of this: I'm finally getting my chance to race in the rain. The fact that it's COLD rain...well...whatever. This is running: we are badass, weather is unimportant to us. I have trained for this, and I'm ready, and no nor'easter is going to stop me!
706.1 miles.
That's how many miles I've run to train for this marathon. I mean, after over 700 miles, what's 26.2 more? I am ready.
It's funny, because when I really think about it, this marathon is more to me than just my first marathon. It's really a representation of how far I've come over the past 5 years as a distance runner. Running has shown me a lot of what I'm made of, and I know I have the strength to dig deep and find that once extra ounce of something when all I really want to do is stop. I'll need that strength tomorrow, but I'll know it's there, because I've been building it up slowly over these years of running. When I ran with the varsity in practice even though I would never race with them. When I struggled through XC workouts alone because I had class during practice. When I found one last gear to kick it in at the end of a cross country race. When I achieved something even I never imagined I could actually do. When I randomly entered a half marathon and finished in a respectable time, and 2 years later when I smashed my PR by 6 minutes. The runs through the Arb, long runs in the rain, the workouts when you're clinging to nothing more than a fragment of a song in your head and the back of the teammate in front of you, the disappointing races, and the great ones. These things are all a piece of the puzzle, something that I hope will come together into something amazing tomorrow. When I am struggling through the rain and the wind, and I think I have nothing left, all I need to do is look back at these moments when my will prevailed, and know, just know, that I can do it.
So here I am, with millions of strides behind me. Now all that's left to do is run. And ROCK. IT. OUT.
See you at the finish line!
PS - Shoutout to my WTC buddy Claire who is probably around mile 14 of her first marathon as we speak...she's clearly going to rock it! :) Moo moo moo moo :)
And also good luck to Running365 [one of the 3 or 4 AWESOME people who read this blog! :)] who is also doing her first marathon tomorrow! Go girl!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The race plan is, there is no plan
I woke up this morning and literally, my first thought was - "what day is it? It's Thursday...Thursday Friday Saturday....omg, 3 days left until the marathon. Holy crap." I'm getting nervous. My legs are antsy and I feel like I need to be constantly stretching or moving or rubbing or rolling them to stay halfway sane. I told the BF we couldn't have split pea soup for dinner because it wasn't carbo-licious enough [we compromised and I'm just planning on eating a lot of bread along with it. A lot. :)]
So yeah. Nerves. Wow. Anyway, I'll try to spew some nonsense out on this blog and maybe that will help me calm down haha. Yesterday I went out for a "dress rehearsal" run with Kelly. We did 6 miles at 8 am [race time], wearing the clothes/shoes we planned on wearing for the race. What's that you say? You want to know what I'm wearing? OK, I'll tell you. :) My basic outfit is my electric blue Nike tempo shorts with my WTC singlet. I sort of wanted to wear the tiger shorts, but they tend to ride up and I just don't feel like dealing with that for that long of a race. The singlet is pretty much a no brainer since there is no way I would be running a marathon right now without my past 4 years with the WTC, so I will be proudly representing the club. I will also be rocking my ONE pair of technical socks [they were part of a goody bag from a 100K relay that I did last year, along with a long sleeve tech shirt, dartboard (??), and CHEESE & SAUSAGE BOX! Totally worth running the 6 am shift 10K after a night out :)] and my beautiful Mizuno Wave Inspire 5's.
So then there's the cold weather issue. Seriously, the weather forecast for race day keeps getting WORSE! We are now looking at a high of 46, wind (~20 mph), and rain (70% chance). Which is pretty much, the most god-awful thing I can imagine. Because I REALLY needed something else to add to my nerves! Anyway, I will be getting my arm warmers in the mail today and if things are really bad, I'll be wearing gloves as well, at least for awhile. It's really, REALLY going to suck if it's that windy and raining, but I guess there's no point in adding layers if it's raining since they're just going to get wet.
OK - digression over. Anyway, the run went well yesterday, and it was actually around 40 when we started so it was good running in that for temperature. We ended up running quite a bit faster than goal pace (right around 8 flat) and again, it felt really easy, so dear god, I am going to need to rein it in especially the first few miles when everyone is excited and is just shooting out of the start corral like cheetahs on crack.
Which leads me to my race "plan"! And my plan pretty much boils down to this: Have fun the first half, race the second. My goal is to come through the halfway fresh and awesome and feeling like "hell YES I can run another half marathon, but faster!" The first loop is going to be all about enjoying the course, enjoying the moment, relaxing, staying calm, and just letting it flow. But once I hit that 13.1, that's when I'm going to really get my head in the game. That doesn't mean I'm going to suddenly take off, but I'm going to actually kind of start paying attention to my splits and if I'm feeling good, start picking it up a bit. Really...that's about it. I'm going to try to run by feel more than by the watch and yeah...I guess we'll just see what happens!
I guess that's really all I've got. The butterflies in my stomach are already unstoppable...
3 DAYS UNTIL BAYSTATE!!
So yeah. Nerves. Wow. Anyway, I'll try to spew some nonsense out on this blog and maybe that will help me calm down haha. Yesterday I went out for a "dress rehearsal" run with Kelly. We did 6 miles at 8 am [race time], wearing the clothes/shoes we planned on wearing for the race. What's that you say? You want to know what I'm wearing? OK, I'll tell you. :) My basic outfit is my electric blue Nike tempo shorts with my WTC singlet. I sort of wanted to wear the tiger shorts, but they tend to ride up and I just don't feel like dealing with that for that long of a race. The singlet is pretty much a no brainer since there is no way I would be running a marathon right now without my past 4 years with the WTC, so I will be proudly representing the club. I will also be rocking my ONE pair of technical socks [they were part of a goody bag from a 100K relay that I did last year, along with a long sleeve tech shirt, dartboard (??), and CHEESE & SAUSAGE BOX! Totally worth running the 6 am shift 10K after a night out :)] and my beautiful Mizuno Wave Inspire 5's.
So then there's the cold weather issue. Seriously, the weather forecast for race day keeps getting WORSE! We are now looking at a high of 46, wind (~20 mph), and rain (70% chance). Which is pretty much, the most god-awful thing I can imagine. Because I REALLY needed something else to add to my nerves! Anyway, I will be getting my arm warmers in the mail today and if things are really bad, I'll be wearing gloves as well, at least for awhile. It's really, REALLY going to suck if it's that windy and raining, but I guess there's no point in adding layers if it's raining since they're just going to get wet.
OK - digression over. Anyway, the run went well yesterday, and it was actually around 40 when we started so it was good running in that for temperature. We ended up running quite a bit faster than goal pace (right around 8 flat) and again, it felt really easy, so dear god, I am going to need to rein it in especially the first few miles when everyone is excited and is just shooting out of the start corral like cheetahs on crack.
Which leads me to my race "plan"! And my plan pretty much boils down to this: Have fun the first half, race the second. My goal is to come through the halfway fresh and awesome and feeling like "hell YES I can run another half marathon, but faster!" The first loop is going to be all about enjoying the course, enjoying the moment, relaxing, staying calm, and just letting it flow. But once I hit that 13.1, that's when I'm going to really get my head in the game. That doesn't mean I'm going to suddenly take off, but I'm going to actually kind of start paying attention to my splits and if I'm feeling good, start picking it up a bit. Really...that's about it. I'm going to try to run by feel more than by the watch and yeah...I guess we'll just see what happens!
I guess that's really all I've got. The butterflies in my stomach are already unstoppable...
3 DAYS UNTIL BAYSTATE!!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
5 days to go: 5 marathony things
1. Current weather forecast for Lowell, MA on October 18: High of 48, low of 37, with a few showers...um, that's quite a change from the "High of 60, partly cloudy" I saw 2 days ago! I mean, I know you can never trust weather forecasts that far out, but yikes!2. Thanks in part to #1, I decided to just go ahead, give in, and buy a pair of arm warmers. I've been thinking about this for awhile actually, because I don't really want to wear a shirt under my singlet because something tells me I'll get warm and then be cranky that I had it on. But arm warmers...voila! If I want to take them off, they're off. I found an Asics pair for $7.95 online so I figure if I have to toss them for some reason, its no big loss...but I'd be totally cool with tucking them in my shorts and keeping them for the future. Plus...I think they just look cool. Whatever. :)
3. The less cool part of my day: I am starting to feel like I'm coming down with a cold, and this is NOT OKAY!!! I've been taking vitamin C and drinking water like it's my job because I absolutely refuse to get sick this close to race day. Uh uh.
4. You can tell your taper is working when you go out for a half hour run, trying really hard to go slow, and you run 7:45 pace and it feels like you just went for a walk....naughty! I am NOT allowed to run that fast on race day, unless it's at the END of the race!
5. 5 "power songs" that I'm going to keep in mind during the race...I'm not wearing an ipod because it's just not my thing to race with music, but these are some songs that I'm going to bring up on my mental cd player when times get tough:
-Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
It's like my power anthem of my life...how can I not? And if I hit a low point during the race, I just have to believe, believe, believe.
"Don't stop believin'...hold on to that feelin' [of how much you love running!]...!"
-Swim - Jack's Mannquin
I think the lyrics say it all...
I'm not giving in....
You've gotta swim
Swim in the dark
There's no shame in drifting
Feel the tide shifting and wait for the spark
You've gotta swim
Don't let yourself sink
Just find the horizon [finish line!], I promise you it's not as far as you think
-The Nom Nom Song
Because it will make me smile and make me think of my WTC girls!
-See You Again - Miley Cyrus
Because it's just...awesome. Can't even explain it, and I'm not ashamed. Plus, my favorite XC meet of all time is this weekend too, and last year hearing this song playing at the mile mark of that race made me laugh and spurred me on to a PR...it just makes me happy.
-What Would Brian Boitano Do?
Only if the going gets really tough....what would Brian Boitano do? I think he would BQ :)
5 DAYS UNTIL THE MARATHON!!!
Monday, October 12, 2009
6 days to go: cloudy with a chance of taper madness!
Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at marathon week. Please make sure your seatbelts are securely fastened, all negative thoughts are securely stowed, and if you feel like your legs are not functioning properly, do not be alarmed. We recommend that you commence carbo loading, easy running, hydrating, and resting at this time. Remember how many miles you have come to reach this point, we are now making our final approach. Sit back, relax, and we will be landing shortly....
OK, that was kind of cheesy I know...but I mean...its the week of the marathon. Things are bound to get a little crazy. Wait...I need to repeat that again..THE BAYSTATE MARATHON IS IN 6 DAYS!!!
Oh my lord. I just can't believe that after all of the training that it's actually, finally, here. EEK! And I feel like I am definitely showing some signs of taper madness, namely: random twinges/muscle pains/general odd sensations coming from my legs, a general feeling of laziness (like yesterday, when I had to run for a measly 20 minutes!), and the need to consume any carbohydrate based food in sight and never be more than 12 inches from my Nalgene bottle.
Strangely enough, after all this time spent not following any sort of plan in my training, I am (kind of) following a plan for taper! Since my general running mantra is "run hard. all the time.", I needed someone to tell me how to run easy, and one of the GBTC women who is running Baystate sent out a link to the Pfitz taper plan...sounded pretty perfect to me! So my last "workout" was Wednesday, I went to the reservoir with Kelly and we did some pretty fast 800s, but only 6 of them and with realllly easy jogging in between. Saturday was the last "long" run, 13 miles at a really easy pace, and other than that,it's just been 3 miles here, 5 miles there, all at as easy of a pace as I can muster.
I got REALLY freaked out on Thursday, when my hip was really bugging me even on an easy half hour run. I literally came home and cried...pathetic, I know, but all I could think of was that it was some kind of catastrophic injury and it was going to ruin my race and on and on. Hello, taper madness much?? Because the next day it was just a little sore, and it's been no problem the past two days...so I think the moral of the story is I need to stop freaking out about every little ache and pain at the moment. One of my friends who is majoring in athetic training was telling me that when you drop intensity it can be just as weird on your body as if you suddenly ramp it up, and so there can be some random pains as things adjust...so talking to her calmed me down quite a bit. :)
My running buddy and I called our last 13 miler our whining run...both of our legs felt like crap and we just decided that we might as well whine on this "short" long run and think about how hilarious it was that 13 miles was "short" for us now. My favorite thing that happened was when we passed a little kid who was whining and crying about something, and as we passed his mom goes "See, look at these girls, they're up early and they're running, and I don't see them complaining about it!" I told my running buddy and she was like..uh..yeah, she didn't see us 10 minutes ago! But I guess I knew it was really an easy long run when I had the energy to dance around my apartment to techno music during our Badger pregame (3:30 kickoff? Amazing.), stand for 3 hours during the game (which was...uh...not pretty...oh, how I hate Ohio State), and even do Jump Around after the 3rd quarter. Needless to say, I will NOT be doing such intensive physical activity at this Saturdays game...nor will I be consuming any adult beverages. ;)
So, what are my exciting plans for the next 6 days? Well, posting here every day, most likely, since I have all this extra free time.
-Easy running.
-A "dress rehearsal" on Wednesday with Kelly, complete with race day outfits and lemon lime -Gatorade (gotta make sure it goes down smooth!)
-Obsessing over the weather (current race day forecast, partly cloudy with a high of 53). -Listening to "Don't Stop Believin'" on repeat.
-Trying to figure out if I own a throwaway shirt to ditch at the beginning of the race or if I can McGyver some armwarmers.
-Staring at my Gu packet and thinking about how delicious its going to taste during the race. -Freaking out about my wardrobe.
-Freaking out about my pace.
-Having nightmares about missing BQing by 4 seconds (this happened the other night, don't worry).
-Making the BF do things for me because "I need to rest my legs". :)
-Eating a lot of pasta...like, absurd quantities.
-Getting ready mentally, telling myself I'm going to kick ass
-Ignoring mysterious leg twinges
-Sticking and stretching every day
-Getting ready, physically and mentally, to ROCK THIS BITCH!
it's go time: 6 days!
OK, that was kind of cheesy I know...but I mean...its the week of the marathon. Things are bound to get a little crazy. Wait...I need to repeat that again..THE BAYSTATE MARATHON IS IN 6 DAYS!!!
Oh my lord. I just can't believe that after all of the training that it's actually, finally, here. EEK! And I feel like I am definitely showing some signs of taper madness, namely: random twinges/muscle pains/general odd sensations coming from my legs, a general feeling of laziness (like yesterday, when I had to run for a measly 20 minutes!), and the need to consume any carbohydrate based food in sight and never be more than 12 inches from my Nalgene bottle.
Strangely enough, after all this time spent not following any sort of plan in my training, I am (kind of) following a plan for taper! Since my general running mantra is "run hard. all the time.", I needed someone to tell me how to run easy, and one of the GBTC women who is running Baystate sent out a link to the Pfitz taper plan...sounded pretty perfect to me! So my last "workout" was Wednesday, I went to the reservoir with Kelly and we did some pretty fast 800s, but only 6 of them and with realllly easy jogging in between. Saturday was the last "long" run, 13 miles at a really easy pace, and other than that,it's just been 3 miles here, 5 miles there, all at as easy of a pace as I can muster.
I got REALLY freaked out on Thursday, when my hip was really bugging me even on an easy half hour run. I literally came home and cried...pathetic, I know, but all I could think of was that it was some kind of catastrophic injury and it was going to ruin my race and on and on. Hello, taper madness much?? Because the next day it was just a little sore, and it's been no problem the past two days...so I think the moral of the story is I need to stop freaking out about every little ache and pain at the moment. One of my friends who is majoring in athetic training was telling me that when you drop intensity it can be just as weird on your body as if you suddenly ramp it up, and so there can be some random pains as things adjust...so talking to her calmed me down quite a bit. :)
My running buddy and I called our last 13 miler our whining run...both of our legs felt like crap and we just decided that we might as well whine on this "short" long run and think about how hilarious it was that 13 miles was "short" for us now. My favorite thing that happened was when we passed a little kid who was whining and crying about something, and as we passed his mom goes "See, look at these girls, they're up early and they're running, and I don't see them complaining about it!" I told my running buddy and she was like..uh..yeah, she didn't see us 10 minutes ago! But I guess I knew it was really an easy long run when I had the energy to dance around my apartment to techno music during our Badger pregame (3:30 kickoff? Amazing.), stand for 3 hours during the game (which was...uh...not pretty...oh, how I hate Ohio State), and even do Jump Around after the 3rd quarter. Needless to say, I will NOT be doing such intensive physical activity at this Saturdays game...nor will I be consuming any adult beverages. ;)
So, what are my exciting plans for the next 6 days? Well, posting here every day, most likely, since I have all this extra free time.
-Easy running.
-A "dress rehearsal" on Wednesday with Kelly, complete with race day outfits and lemon lime -Gatorade (gotta make sure it goes down smooth!)
-Obsessing over the weather (current race day forecast, partly cloudy with a high of 53). -Listening to "Don't Stop Believin'" on repeat.
-Trying to figure out if I own a throwaway shirt to ditch at the beginning of the race or if I can McGyver some armwarmers.
-Staring at my Gu packet and thinking about how delicious its going to taste during the race. -Freaking out about my wardrobe.
-Freaking out about my pace.
-Having nightmares about missing BQing by 4 seconds (this happened the other night, don't worry).
-Making the BF do things for me because "I need to rest my legs". :)
-Eating a lot of pasta...like, absurd quantities.
-Getting ready mentally, telling myself I'm going to kick ass
-Ignoring mysterious leg twinges
-Sticking and stretching every day
-Getting ready, physically and mentally, to ROCK THIS BITCH!
it's go time: 6 days!
Monday, October 05, 2009
The hay is in the barn
All the hard work is done, the long runs have been completed, the workouts finished. All that's left to do now is taper and get my legs ready to run 26.2 miles in a little less than 2 weeks!
Last hard week summary:
Monday: off
Tuesday: track workout - warmup, 5 x 1000 @ ~4:18 w/ 400 recovery, cooldown [9.8 miles total]
Wednesday: 5.8 easy [7:49 pace]
Thursday: easy/fartlek 9.1 miles [7:38 pace]
Friday: 8.75 easy [7:39 pace]
Saturday: 5.8 easy [7:42 pace]
Sunday: 21-22 long [8:30-8:18 pace]
Total miles: 61.4
Unfortunately I'm not 100% sure what the distance was for my long run on Sunday, since I ran with my running buddy Kelly out in an area by her house that I don't know well, and we ran on some trails which made it pretty much impossible to map out, but my guess is since we ran for 3+ hours and weren't running terribly slow, I would guess the absolute minimum was 21 and the max was probably around 22. It was a GREAT run though...as usual, I woke up at 7 completely dreading the fact that I had to go run for 3 hours...just one more time. I wanted to test out my breakfast plan for the actual race, so I had what basically amounted to a peanut butter sandwich [two pieces of toast, one with peanut butter on it] and a glass of Gatorade. The combo seemed to work really well for me - I wasn't hungry during the run, and I didn't have digestive issues...so basically, I call that a WIN!
Once again, what a difference running with someone else made. I'm happy I did a couple of long runs alone just to get some of that mental toughness, but in this case it was utterly fantastic having someone to talk to. My legs didn't feel that great when I woke up but once I started running everything loosened up fast. We ran on a trail along the Charles River which was gorgeous, then turned out onto some more residential roads. Stopped at about 1:20 for Gu and Gatorade [I tried the tri-berry Gu which was pretty tasty...it kind of reminded me of raspberry pie filling or something?]. It was amazingly warm and humid for the beginning of October...like 65? The humidity didn't bother me too much and I was loving my new Nike tech shirt that I got for $9 when I bought my new shoes from runningwarehouse.com [I have to put in a plug for this site because seriously, it is amazing. The shoes are generally 15-25% cheaper than what you'll find in stores, and they always have some kind of perks like the cheap tech shirt, free cloth shopping bags, $10 sweatshirts, etc. And 2 day FREE shipping!]. After awhile we turned onto some trails in the woods which led up a STEEP hill...it was kind of crazy...but then downhill into what was basically a long, slight uphill grade for the rest of the way out.
We turned around at 1:31 and had to run up this crazy steep hill that we had run down on the way out...ouuuuch, it hurt after running for like 2 hours. Kelly was like "Heartbreak!" and if Heartbreak Hill really is as steep as this one was...well, I can see how it got its name. We ran back through the woods, this time on a downhill, and I was loving just scampering down the slope dodging rocks and stumps and stuff. At one point I leaped over a dead tree and thought to myself "seriously...you've been running for over 2 hours, and you still have the energy to hurdle a tree. This is a little ridiculous". On the way back we stopped at a college to grab a drink and had not one, but two people in cars ask us directions to various places...apparently we look like we know where we're going! After that I hardly even realized how much I was picking it up until I noticed that I had kind of lost sight of Kelly behind me. We caught up at a stoplight and she told me to just go for it...so the last half hour, I basically hammered it home. I'm terrible at judging pace but if I had to guess, I wouldn't be surprised if I was right around, or maybe even under, 8 minute miles. I felt like I was flying. My legs had none of the heaviness and cramping that I experienced in my other two 20+ mile runs...this was just glorious. I got done and I thought, could I run 4-5 more miles like this? Yes, yes, and yes.
So mostly I think this long run proved to me that a) my training is working and b) I am ready to run this marathon. The way it played out got me thinking about marathon strategy. I don't think obsessing over it during the race is going to be a good idea - honestly, this is my first marathon, I want to soak it in, enjoy every single second, and just have that feeling of "hell yeah, I am running a marathon!" But...let's be serious. This is me we're talking about here and I'm not the kind of person who runs races just to run them, not even something crazy like this. And I've had all sorts of A, B, C goals floating around in my head, but as my training has been going really, really, like...absurdly well the past month [seriously, is there something in the water in Boston?] those little letters "BQ" seem to be coming into my mind more and more. And I'm thinking, based on my long runs, that the best way to maybe make that happen in this race is to rock a negative split.
This is not a strategy I have EVER tried to employ before, honestly because it freaks me out...how can you count on going FASTER in the second half of a ridiculously long race? But when I look back at my long runs, I realize that if I run for 2 hours at a lower effort, I start gradually picking it up until I'm running full force for the last half hour and finishing really, really strong. Kelly was saying to me "you are really strong at the end of these runs...that's really good". So just based on that, I feel like negative splitting would be the way to go. I don't want to put myself in an extreme time defecit by going out TOO slow, but I think if I could get to the halfway point and feel like I really hadn't had to work for it yet, I could pick it up the second half and still finish really well. I also think going in with a plan of negative splitting MIGHT help to temper my usual kamikaze first couple of miles...which is definitely another key, key, aspect to my strategy for this race. I am not, under any circumstances, allowed to get caught up in the excitement and go out in under 8 minutes, or, if I'm really being smart here, under 8:30. This is a 2 loop race, so in a perfect world I would do the first lap at ~8:30 and the second lap at 8:15 or better. Obviously the world is not perfect and you never know what's going to happen on race day, but I am just feeling like based on my training, and my long runs in particular, that I am really ready to run a better race than I ever could have dreamed of 2 months ago, and negative splitting just might be the way to do it.
Hmm...can you tell I'm starting to get a little nervous? I keep alternating back and forth between excitement, nervousness, and "omg, I can't believe I am basically DONE with training?!". Tapering is going to be so weird. I have some 800s planned for Wednesday for a little tune up, 13 miles on Sunday [what? less that 2 hours for a long run??]...and everything else is pretty much just easy peasy. I just can't believe it's almost here...and I'm starting to feel the confidence that I CAN do this!
The hay is in the barn...welcome to taperville. 13 days.
Last hard week summary:
Monday: off
Tuesday: track workout - warmup, 5 x 1000 @ ~4:18 w/ 400 recovery, cooldown [9.8 miles total]
Wednesday: 5.8 easy [7:49 pace]
Thursday: easy/fartlek 9.1 miles [7:38 pace]
Friday: 8.75 easy [7:39 pace]
Saturday: 5.8 easy [7:42 pace]
Sunday: 21-22 long [8:30-8:18 pace]
Total miles: 61.4
Unfortunately I'm not 100% sure what the distance was for my long run on Sunday, since I ran with my running buddy Kelly out in an area by her house that I don't know well, and we ran on some trails which made it pretty much impossible to map out, but my guess is since we ran for 3+ hours and weren't running terribly slow, I would guess the absolute minimum was 21 and the max was probably around 22. It was a GREAT run though...as usual, I woke up at 7 completely dreading the fact that I had to go run for 3 hours...just one more time. I wanted to test out my breakfast plan for the actual race, so I had what basically amounted to a peanut butter sandwich [two pieces of toast, one with peanut butter on it] and a glass of Gatorade. The combo seemed to work really well for me - I wasn't hungry during the run, and I didn't have digestive issues...so basically, I call that a WIN!
Once again, what a difference running with someone else made. I'm happy I did a couple of long runs alone just to get some of that mental toughness, but in this case it was utterly fantastic having someone to talk to. My legs didn't feel that great when I woke up but once I started running everything loosened up fast. We ran on a trail along the Charles River which was gorgeous, then turned out onto some more residential roads. Stopped at about 1:20 for Gu and Gatorade [I tried the tri-berry Gu which was pretty tasty...it kind of reminded me of raspberry pie filling or something?]. It was amazingly warm and humid for the beginning of October...like 65? The humidity didn't bother me too much and I was loving my new Nike tech shirt that I got for $9 when I bought my new shoes from runningwarehouse.com [I have to put in a plug for this site because seriously, it is amazing. The shoes are generally 15-25% cheaper than what you'll find in stores, and they always have some kind of perks like the cheap tech shirt, free cloth shopping bags, $10 sweatshirts, etc. And 2 day FREE shipping!]. After awhile we turned onto some trails in the woods which led up a STEEP hill...it was kind of crazy...but then downhill into what was basically a long, slight uphill grade for the rest of the way out.
We turned around at 1:31 and had to run up this crazy steep hill that we had run down on the way out...ouuuuch, it hurt after running for like 2 hours. Kelly was like "Heartbreak!" and if Heartbreak Hill really is as steep as this one was...well, I can see how it got its name. We ran back through the woods, this time on a downhill, and I was loving just scampering down the slope dodging rocks and stumps and stuff. At one point I leaped over a dead tree and thought to myself "seriously...you've been running for over 2 hours, and you still have the energy to hurdle a tree. This is a little ridiculous". On the way back we stopped at a college to grab a drink and had not one, but two people in cars ask us directions to various places...apparently we look like we know where we're going! After that I hardly even realized how much I was picking it up until I noticed that I had kind of lost sight of Kelly behind me. We caught up at a stoplight and she told me to just go for it...so the last half hour, I basically hammered it home. I'm terrible at judging pace but if I had to guess, I wouldn't be surprised if I was right around, or maybe even under, 8 minute miles. I felt like I was flying. My legs had none of the heaviness and cramping that I experienced in my other two 20+ mile runs...this was just glorious. I got done and I thought, could I run 4-5 more miles like this? Yes, yes, and yes.
So mostly I think this long run proved to me that a) my training is working and b) I am ready to run this marathon. The way it played out got me thinking about marathon strategy. I don't think obsessing over it during the race is going to be a good idea - honestly, this is my first marathon, I want to soak it in, enjoy every single second, and just have that feeling of "hell yeah, I am running a marathon!" But...let's be serious. This is me we're talking about here and I'm not the kind of person who runs races just to run them, not even something crazy like this. And I've had all sorts of A, B, C goals floating around in my head, but as my training has been going really, really, like...absurdly well the past month [seriously, is there something in the water in Boston?] those little letters "BQ" seem to be coming into my mind more and more. And I'm thinking, based on my long runs, that the best way to maybe make that happen in this race is to rock a negative split.
This is not a strategy I have EVER tried to employ before, honestly because it freaks me out...how can you count on going FASTER in the second half of a ridiculously long race? But when I look back at my long runs, I realize that if I run for 2 hours at a lower effort, I start gradually picking it up until I'm running full force for the last half hour and finishing really, really strong. Kelly was saying to me "you are really strong at the end of these runs...that's really good". So just based on that, I feel like negative splitting would be the way to go. I don't want to put myself in an extreme time defecit by going out TOO slow, but I think if I could get to the halfway point and feel like I really hadn't had to work for it yet, I could pick it up the second half and still finish really well. I also think going in with a plan of negative splitting MIGHT help to temper my usual kamikaze first couple of miles...which is definitely another key, key, aspect to my strategy for this race. I am not, under any circumstances, allowed to get caught up in the excitement and go out in under 8 minutes, or, if I'm really being smart here, under 8:30. This is a 2 loop race, so in a perfect world I would do the first lap at ~8:30 and the second lap at 8:15 or better. Obviously the world is not perfect and you never know what's going to happen on race day, but I am just feeling like based on my training, and my long runs in particular, that I am really ready to run a better race than I ever could have dreamed of 2 months ago, and negative splitting just might be the way to do it.
Hmm...can you tell I'm starting to get a little nervous? I keep alternating back and forth between excitement, nervousness, and "omg, I can't believe I am basically DONE with training?!". Tapering is going to be so weird. I have some 800s planned for Wednesday for a little tune up, 13 miles on Sunday [what? less that 2 hours for a long run??]...and everything else is pretty much just easy peasy. I just can't believe it's almost here...and I'm starting to feel the confidence that I CAN do this!
The hay is in the barn...welcome to taperville. 13 days.
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