Life has been busy lately- and included a quick trip down to CT this weekend for a visit with my Mom- and it was our puppy Isaac’s first big car trip! He did really well- he slept the entire way down- no crying, whining or other silliness.
When we got there, Mom had bought him a stuffed goose (with a squeaker, of course)- and he and my mom’s dog, Ruth (she’s a Westy, and is 13 years old!!) decided to murder the goose ASAP and play tug. It was adorable.
Of course every shot is blurry, because no puppy and his new best friend will stay posed for very long!
Mom and I also went on a long-ish run around town- I took some tourist photos along the way:
For whatever reason, though- I have developed a knot on the bottom of my left foot, sort of near-ish to the ball of my foot (but not ON the ball of my foot, more towards the arch)- and the entire run it felt like I had a marble stuck in my shoe- and unfortunately I ended up walking the last mile home. Overall, it was 10 miles though (including my walk).
Later, we went to go harvest some ramps.
JUST LOOK at all of those edible garlic yummies! I grabbed a bag full, but since I will be back for the 1/2 marathon this weekend, I mostly left them alone.
When I got home I used my ramps for a slapped together pizza (I already had the flatbread cooked off, and literally used string cheese for the mozzarella portion- quite slackery, if you ask me)- roasted cherry tomatoes, pepperoni, string cheese, some ricotta, pecorino romano, and RAMPS!
And from yesterday- apparently Isaac’s new best friend is a Rottweiler!
Have a great Tuesday everyone! What did you guys do over the weekend? Anyone else already looking forward to the weekend even though it is only Tuesday???
This week has been about reflection- and also about looking forward. What am I aiming for in the coming months? What PRs am I chasing down? What races?
I don’t have all of the answers right now- however- I do know that I have a few runs that I am eagerly anticipating- not necessarily because I am going to race them, but because they are my super-duper favorite
Next weekend my Mom and I are running the Redding Run for the Cows – it will be her first formal half marathon (though she and I have run the distance- and further! many times before)- and for me it will be my first time back on the course since my DNF in 2012. We plan on running it 100% together, and enjoying it. We may not wear timing devices- and we won’t be winning the race- but we are going to kick some major butt!Source: www.reddingroadrace.com
May 18th is Evan’s Run – a fabulous race for a fabulous cause. This race benefits autism, features a scenic course, and has a great after-party! They have a 5 and 10k- we are running the 10k this year. I am hoping to be able to race this one- no goal yet- but I will be giving it 100%. Every year that we have run (and I think we have run it the past 4 years?) we always say that it is our absolute favorite
.
May 24th is the Maine Craft Brew Festival 5k – I have never run this race before, but we are doing it with great friends and it ends at a brew festival! How could that be bad? I am not sure what my goal will be for this race- I will base that on the outcome from Evan’s Run.
For now- that is all that I have registered for- I am still looking at schedules and dates to figure out what will be coming down the pike for June and July!
OK- I know I took my time with this- but I needed a few days to get my thoughts together.
Pre-Race:
Saturday we hosted a crowd to color eggs and EAT! I did more than my fair share of carb-loading
The day before the marathon was spent with family, hanging out and napping- reading the newspaper in the sun- and doing face masks. What did I eat pre-race? A low-dairy mac n cheese (made with pasta water and Cabot cheddar shake- no butter/no milk), a hot dog (with a bun), sweet pickled jalapenos- and a dessert of angel food cake with some strawberries and a little whip!
Sunday night I felt really allergy-ish. I had a scratchy throat- but I was trying desperately not to overthink it. We all went to bed a little after 9 PM- and set the alarm for 5.
I actually slept the night before. In fact, I was strangely not nervous at all. The best way I could describe the way that I was feeling was a little detached; I did not take this as a good sign. I once had a coach tell me that if you weren’t nervous about a marathon that there is something wrong- and I believe it! The marathon is a BEAST no matter how well trained you are!
(Marathon morning- in my toss clothes!)
The drive to Hopkinton was seamless- except for when we turned around a 1/2 a mile from the house to get my garmin (!)- but we arrived traffic-free at 7 AM and I hopped right on a bus at the South Street parking lot. Security for runners was easy- we were gone over with metal detecting wands and any items that were not in clear bags were turned away. Since I had stuffed all of my gels, headphones, dollars, and drivers license into my awesome lululemon bra top (with built in pockets!!)- no need to worry about a bag for me!.
The athlete’s village never felt crowded- so I commenced the runners ritual of porta-pottying, working on my tan (ha!), drinking some coffee- and meeting up with Tracy, who I had met at the Boston Prep 16 miler earlier this year.
Tracy and I at the village!
Things I am glad I did in the village-
1. Liberally apply sunscreen.
2. Continue to hydrate
3. Get all of my pooping done (sorry for the TMI- but this is a good thing!!)
And then we were off to the start! I ditched my arm warmers in the corrals- I was already feeling the warmth of the sun. Tracy and I decided to at least start together- she was not anticipating a strong race (she has been focused on cross training- and is SO strong and SO encouraging- that I told her she was NUTS)- but we didn’t end up separating until about 16 miles in.
The first 7 miles were amazing. I wasn’t too hot- the crowd support was AWESOME- and I had people to be on the lookout for! My college friend Leila was stationed at mile 5, and my friends Kristen, Val, and Kevin were at mile 7.
Around mile 9 the heat and full sun began to become an issue. My mouth was dry- and occasionally my head would feel particularly hot- almost like I was getting sick. I started walking through the water stops at this point- dumping water on my head and taking the 10 second breaks that I needed. The intense heat lasted into the Newton hills- the Boston course has almost no shade! From miles 9-16 I was literally going from water stop to water stop, just doing my best to stay hydrated- and I noticed that I was turning WHITE with salt. For the first time I wished that I had trained with salt tabs or that my body tolerated gatorade- I was losing electrolytes, fast!
Miles 7-15 (the splits above) were spent mostly wishing for Boston to come faster! I saw Kristen, Val, and Kevin again at mile 14- and it was MUCH NEEDED!
I have to be honest- around mile 14 serious doubt crept in. I began to really feel all of the “things”- the heat, my butt pain that had been nagging me… and it was right around this time I also started to have trouble breathing. My chest felt really tight- and it made me nervous. (Which probably made it tighter)- so I took it down a notch. What made me sad about my breathing trouble was that my legs still felt GREAT-
Tracy and I got separated at mile 16- totally my fault. She ducked in for a potty break and I left her. I am a terrible friend! But, I felt like I needed to keep on trucking. I may not have been as negative for the remaining miles if I had stayed with her, in retrospect.
Miles 15-23 are listed above- as you can see the Newton hills really killed me. If you aren’t breathing properly, getting up and over a hill is tough work. The 9:13 mile is Heartbreak- I also took a really quick hug break with my Mom, Mike and sister Emily! I had A LOT of negative thoughts and doubts during these miles- basically I had a hard time thinking any positive thoughts- and the crowd (which should have helped)- almost made me withdraw even more. I was so in my own head I was barely enjoying myself. I regret this BIG time and I feel like if I was able to get myself back on a positive track I would have not only run faster, but I may have gotten through my breathing issue.
The last 3 miles were interminable. I truly didn’t get my head back on straight until I passed the mile 25 sign- and that’s when I began to get emotional. For many runners, mile 25 is where they were stopped last year- and to run past it I felt a bit of what I think they were feeling- triumph. I didn’t manage to speed up much- because in all honesty at mile 23 my quads had begun to SCREAM.
Thank goodness I got my head back in the game- because before I knew it we were taking the right onto Hereford- left onto Boylston- and that, for me, was the best moment of the race. Last year- that was when I thought- Oh boy- I am going to FINISH the Boston Marathon- and didn’t get to- and this year- here I was- and it was as if the line would never come. Not in a bad way- but in a slow-motion, savor the moment kind of way.
I am glad that I had this elongated finish- I RELISHED in it. When I crossed the line, I had finally accomplished something that many runners place on their bucket list- the super bowl of running- the BOSTON MARATHON.
I felt every emotion during this race. I felt strong, good, buoyed by the crowds; I felt weak and withdrawn and filled with doubt and negativity- and finally- I felt victorious.
Overall time: 3:38:40, average pace 8:20.
The analysis: If I had been able to stop the pity party, I think that I would have been able to finish 3-4 minutes faster. Nothing would have helped the heat or my breathing- but I think that my negativity was a major factor. Running my goal time of 3:25 was out as soon as I realized out freaking hot it was.
I also feel like this is a distance that I am relatively inexperienced at racing- with this race and all of its emotion and pressure under my belt, I feel ready for a fast course- a PR course.
What’s next? Stay tuned- I am finishing up planning my spring season and can’t wait to make some PR attempts!
(PS- I am definitely buying the photos- I think some of them came out AWESOME!).
Source: www.reddingroadrace.com
