DE Running Mom: Boston Marathon ... THE BIG RACE!
EPIC!!! I woke up at 5:15 am and was excited for the day! The Lenox always has a nice breakfast for runners ... Danny grabbed me a cup of coffee so I could start caffeinating while getting dressed! Once I was ready we went downstairs and I grabbed some oatmeal, banana, PB, and more coffee! Oh yes, I also drank a bottle of Nuun before bed and one again to take with me to the start.
Don't mind my sleepy face!
I really liked the set up for the buses this year. It was way more efficient and controlled. I still do not like the fact that we could not take a bag to athletes village with us. The bus ride is about an hour to the Athlete's Village and it was nice to have a friend on the bus with me!
Our cheer squad claimed their spots while we went to the start! I LOVE them so much and can never thank them enough for their love and support! BLESSED!
We had about 2 hours before we started the race and thankfully the weather was nice! My first mission was to get a bagel and get in the port-a-pot line ... Success!
Jen and I chatted and relaxed until it was time to walk to our corral....then it was game time!
The crowd support was FANTASTIC! From start to finish there were thousands of spectators screaming and cheering for us! My watch and I just don't get along ... I know it is probably a user error but I just stopped looking at it around mile 8 when it kept saying 8:27 pace!! I decided to just pick a friend and stick with them until I passed them.
Smooth sailing and smiles until mile 15 when my legs started to feel a little heavy... I took a honey stinger at mile 16 and kept with the pace through the Newton Hills and was so happy to get to the top of Heartbreak Hill! I love seeing " the heartbreak is over " inflatable!! I felt strong running the hills and was so proud of my effort. Miles 21-23 were good and I kept saying " run faster when the legs are tired, run for those who can't". Mile 23ish my calf and toes started to cramp ... I had to stretch out my calf and walked for a few seconds to work out the cramp in my foot. I saw Ed from Nova timing at the 40K mark and cruised up to the Citgo sign until my toes curled again ( crazy feeling )... A guy yelled to me " you can't slow down now " and yes he was right!! I cleared my head and got to work .. This is were I really wish my watch worked better .. If I had known my time and how close I was I feel like I could have push WAY harder!!!! Oh well ... I turned right on Hereford and Left on Boylston and took in the roar of the crowds!!!! This was my FAVORITE part of the whole race...you can see the finish line and here the thousands of people screaming for you. I knew exactly where my hubby and parents were and I could not wait to see them and cross that line!
I really like the finish line capes that we received this year! They were perfect and kept me nice and warm post race.
Haha!! I love this and I love him.
THANK YOU to everyone for all of your love and support! I feel so honored to have been able to experience such an epic day in history! Meb won, Dawn was able to properly cross the finish line and I had a PR! Life is good, God is good!