My Boston Marathon Experience

I ran my first marathon in October of 2012, in hopes of qualifying for the Boston marathon. My time was not fast enough to qualify for Boston and I was so disappointed. I finally qualified for Boston on my 4^th marathon in May of 2015, with a time of 3:39:14, but I knew that wasn't fast enough to get accepted. It was my 5^th marathon that I qualified with a time of 3:31:35. I qualified in September of 2015, a day before registration opened. The Boston Marathon was my dream and I worked hard to achieve it. So, once I got accepted, I wanted to work my hardest to complete it to my best ability. Up until I started training for Boston, my highest mileage week was 50 miles. When I was training for Boston, I was up to 75 miles a week and I was doing a lot of speed work and tempo runs. So, I left for Boston, hoping for a finish time of 3:18. The day before Boston, I found out that there was going to be rain and wind all day with temps in the low 40s. I brought a windbreaker jacket and I knew that wasn't going to keep me warm so I bought a nice light running raincoat in Boston. I was pretty scared of running a marathon in rain and wind. I had trained in snow and wind, but Colorado doesn't get much rain in the winter. I left my hotel and said Goodbye to my Mom, who was planning on meeting me close to the finish line. When I boarded the bus to Hopkinton, I realized that a 3:18 goal was pretty much impossible in the conditions. So, I settled for a goal somewhere in the 3:20s. I was just hoping for a PR. The bus ride went smoothly and I enjoyed talking to all the runners. Everyone had an interesting story to tell. When I got off the bus, I was surprised to find that they set up huge tents to keep the runners dry. That was relieving! After getting some snacks, drinks, and waiting in line for the port of potties, it was time to line up at the start. I had dressed in throwaway sweats and didn't shed them until 5 minutes before the start. It started raining about 20 minutes before my start time and it never stopped. When the gun went off, it was pretty congested and I had to run slower than I wanted to because I couldn't get around people. My raincoat did a pretty good job of keeping my core warm but my hands, legs, and feet were freezing. The wind was pretty bad in some spots and I had to hold on to my hat. I had to make one potty stop along the course. It didn't cost me much time but it was really hard to go potty when your clothes are completely soaked. The spectators were unbelievable! There were so many people yelling and holding up signs. One sign caught my eye that said, "I want to be just like my Mom when I grow up". That made me think of my kids at home. I did my best to high five every kid that had their hand up. It was cold and rainy and I was so amazed that they were out there cheering on runners. There were so many volunteers out there serving water and Gatorade. It felt like there was water and Gatorade at every mile, which was more than I had seen at any marathon. My two favorite spots were Wellesley and Boston College. The amount of cheering and energy there gave me goose bumps. I knew that the Newton hills were at mile 21 and I was dreading them. At mile 20 a young girl pointed at me and said, "Smile! You are doing something incredibly amazing!" It is unbelievable what something like that does to your willpower. That gave me a huge surge of energy. Once I got to the Newton hills, I was shocked that I was told this was a big hill. It was nothing compared to some of the marathon hills I had run in Colorado! Once that hill was done, I knew that it was smooth sailing from then on. My body was in complete pain and I was frozen, but I stopped feeling my body at that point. I just jammed it to the finish. There were people lined up like there was a huge parade. Nothing was going to stop me from crossing that finish line! I didn't even look at my Garmin for those last miles. I just took it all in! When I saw the clock at the finish, it said 3:27:02 and I was so relieved. It just PRed by 4 ½ minutes in some of the worst race conditions that I had ever experienced! I grabbed a protein shake and a fruit bowl and jammed it to the warmth capes. Volunteers put the warmth capes on me and it didn't warm me up. Volunteers told me to get on a warm bus with some chicken broth and it didn't warm me up. The volunteers were asking me if I was okay, but all I could think about was getting back to the hotel for a warm shower. I found my Mom at the family meeting area and she ran up and hugged me and said, "I cannot believe you did this! You are shaking! We need to get those wet clothes off!" I said, "No! I just want to get back to the hotel!" She got me into a warm building and helped me get the wet clothes off so she could give me a layer of her dry clothes. It is at this point that I realized how much support I have from my family when I do marathons. If my Mom wasn't there, I probably would have hopped on a train back to the hotel, which would have took about 45 minutes. I probably wouldn't have made it without going into complete hypothermia! My amazing husband was at home taking care of my son who had an ear infection and a spelling bee, my daughter whose 7^th Birthday was the day that I ran the marathon, and my 5-year-old daughter who had soccer. He also had been my sports psychologist when I had self-doubt and my massage therapist when I was on the verge of injury. My Dad has come to cheer me on at multiple races and calls me frequently to wish me good luck. I believe that running makes me a better person and gives me much more energy to take on the demands of my family. But, they are a tremendous support for me and I am so grateful. What an amazing experience!