Finally! The Race Report!!!!

Here are my thoughts the day after the race:

It was much warmer than expected which definitely worried me - all of my long runs were in 30 degree temps. But, it wasn't terrible or anything, and we did get some occasional stretches of shade and breeze, which felt wonderful. What I discovered was that honestly, the first 1/2 marathon is ... filler. The first 5 miles or so are really fun, as you are so jazzed about the whole thing and you are just looking at the crowds, the other runners, soaking it all in. Then you realize you've got a LONG time to go, so you just sort of dial it in and .... run. I did a pretty good job of keeping my pace in check (thank GOD!), and I was very careful about regularly taking in fluid and gel. I had a few moments during the first 1/2 where I was a bit concerned about my stomach, and I even felt a bit "pukey" a couple of times, but the feeling went away easily enough so who knows what was going on.

I was getting a *little* worried when I found myself really looking for the 1/2 - I wasn't hurting, but I was simply looking forward to hitting that point. In hindsight, I think I just wanted to feel like I had made some measurable amount of progress. But, at the same time - the race was barely beginning at that point. Boston starts at mile 18. Which also worried me a little. I did my best to check my worry and just ... run.

The Wellesley Scream Tunnel (hundreds of SCREAMING Wellesley college girls) at mile 12 was AWESOME. It was truly unbelievably loud - really, really fun. I then could look forward to seeing my friends at mile 16.5, which pulled me through the next 4 miles. It really was key to have people at various points along the course - when things got tough, I could mentally break it up into "I see David and Kathleen in 3 miles - only 3 miles - I can run for 3 miles." You just can't think about the fact that you have 13 miles left - that is WAY too much to wrap your brain around.

Just after the 1/2 mark I also started to feel like I really had to pee, which I think was contributing to my stomach issues. All the port-a-potties had lines, and there was NO WAY I was going to stand in line. I stupidly chickened out of joining 2 guys I saw dash behind one of the VERY few stretches of trees that were on the course - as soon as I passed them, I regretted it tremendously. I finally found an empty port-o-potty at mile 18, and took advantage of the opportunity (FYI, according to my watch, which stops when I stop moving, the potty break added 2 minutes to my time. Well worth the investment!). I felt MUCH better, so next time, I hit the tree when I get the opportunity!!!!

The break was well timed, as just after was the turn onto Comm Ave at the Newton Fire House - the start of the Newton Hills (and Heartbreak). I did not mind running the hills at all - while it wasn't a walk in the park, the hills really just were NOT bad for me at all. There are 4, and none of them are terribly long nor terribly steep. Honestly, it was a nice break from all of the downhill running! And the crowds along this stretch are AWESOME! Folks were handing out soaking wet sponges (OMG, heaven, pure heaven! My face was totally coated with salt by that point and being able to wash it off felt really, really good....), and someone had a hose set up to spray on us - that was truly glorious. There were also quite a few people who had buckets of ice set out - I definitely took advantage and jammed a few cubes into my sports bra. And, of course, I can't forget the BC students. Thousands and thousands of drunk college students, screaming their fool heads off. Love. Them.

At the crest of Heartbreak, the last of the hills, is where things got ugly. You are definitely entering a more urban area, so you feel like you are getting close to the end, but ..... you're not. That's about the 20-21 mile mark, and those last 5-6 miles seem like an E T E R N I T Y. I kept trying to psyche myself up, saying things like "6 miles is NOTHING, you know it's NOTHING - just buck up and get this done." I wasn't buying it. My lizard brain was tired, and it wanted to stop. So I just shut everything else down and ... ran. No thinking, no planning, no mantras. There was just tunnel visioned running. At about mile 23, I felt better knowing that I'd see my patient partner family at mile 25. I literally ran TO them those 2 miles or so - it was all I could focus on. At about that point, I noticed that I was repeatedly counting my foot falls - but only to 6. Then I'd repeat. So from there until literally the finish, I was thinking: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 -... It was weird. But it worked. One foot in front of the other, 6 times. That's all I cared about. Then, do it again.

I saw the Citgo sign at about mile 24, and I started weeping. Not tearing up, I'm talking full blown weeping. Why? Two reasons: 1) it's a symbol of the end - it's right in the city, and you can finally believe that you are getting close, and 2) it looked SO very far away. Then it disappears as you dip down a bit along the course, and I was certain that I didn't actually see it - that it was a mirage. Which made me cry harder.

Thankfully, the crying didn't last long, and I gave myself a little tough love - shut up, and run. So, I did, and I went back to my repeated counting which seemed to have been working.

Tear Jerker Alert: Soon after, I saw someone running for the Alzheimer's Association, which made me think of my grandpa. Popi went to EVERY SINGLE ONE of my softball games, basketball games, and track meets. Every home game, every away game/meet. He was there. He'd practice with me in the yard, we'd talk about strategy, etc. He was my personal coach when I was growing up. Although he passed away 7 years ago, he would have been SO proud of me on Monday. The sight of the Alzheimer's charity runner made me think of Pops, and that made me run a little bit faster, with a smile on my face, as I heard him say "You can do it, Missy!"

You can see how I felt when I saw my patient partner at mile 25 - I said to them "This is SO FREAKIN' HARD!!!!!" But I think I used a different "f-word," honestly.... They grabbed my arm and literally SHOVED me ahead - it was just what I needed to focus. 1.2 miles left - piece of cake. I picked up the pace big time at that point, as I knew, really and honestly knew, that I was there. After running under Mass Ave just before turning onto Hereford, I got all teary and emotional. All the reasons for running, understanding that I was achieving this long-standing goal, just totally swept over me. But the teary-ness was making me get a bit wheezy, so I had to essentially tell myself to stop it and just focus on running. I REALLY picked it up on Hereford and onto Boylston, and essentially sprinted to the finish line, which was simply AWESOME. I checked my Garmin at some point and was PSYCHED to see 6:47min/mile - yeah, sub-7's to bring it home. Sweet. I was waving my arms around to get the crowd yelling, and it worked! I felt like a rock-star.

Crossing the finish line was spectacular, truly spectacular. I actually didn't cry, believe it or not, until I was into the corral area - I was PSYCHED. Fist pumping, "I ROCK" psyched. It was so totally awesome. I just kept yelling "YES!" over and over again.

It was such an achievement - I'm so stinkin' happy. Sure, I could have run it a bit better - I went out too fast, even with my trying to hold the pace back, perhaps I should have hydrated more/differently, dunno. But for a first timer, I think I did a really good job, and I'm really happy with my race and finish.

And, best of all, I'm already psyched about the idea of another one! I am determined to qualify for Boston someday soon.

It doesn't get any better than this, does it? So sore I can't get out of a chair, but I'm already plotting my next marathon. I LOVE this!

I'm a Boston Marathon Finisher!

Too tired to really write much, other than to say:


I DID IT!!!!!!!!!

Race Day Tracking

The Boston Athletic Association's website will have an athlete tracker on race day - just visit the site (http://www.baa.org), and enter my bib #: 21563 (or you can look me up by name), and you'll see my split times at various points along the course. I start in the second wave at 10:30, and will likely cross the starting line within about 10 minutes of that 10:30 wave start (it takes a while to get 10,000+ runners across the starting line, the narrowest of ANY marathon!).

If you'd like to get a feel for the course, check out the Boston Marathon Course Guide, a video of the course narrated by the BAA Race Director.

The Big Day!

Tomorrow! It's tomorrow!!!!!! Wow - incredible. I can't believe race day is essentially here. I had a GREAT day on Friday - I picked up my number at the Expo, spend obscene amounts of money on Boston Marathon stuff (my favorites being the t-shirts I got for the kids that say "My Mom Ran the Boston Marathon!"), and just had a ball drinking it all in. My local running club had a pre-race party on Friday night, which was great fun.

Yesterday was Children's pep-rally in the afternoon, and now it's time to continue to hydrate, rest, and get my gear pulled together for tomorrow.

I can't believe that tomorrow, I'm going to be a marathoner!

Yes, Coaches are for "regular Joe's" too!

I think I've made mention to "my coach" a few times over the course of my marathon training, but I've never really talked about him. After I completed my first triathlon last summer, I realized that I desperately needed to work on both my swimming and my biking skills. But ... how? Did I need more pure aerobic work? More tempo work? Speedwork? Could I have a hard swim day followed by a hard bike day? Or did I need to separate the hard days? How many workouts in each discipline did I need? AAAAAHHHHHH! I was totally overwhelmed.

Coincidentally, I had talked quite a bit about coaching with Coach Troy (of Spinervals fame) at his tri camp that I had attended a few months prior. He highly recommended that I find a local coach that I clicked with to help me with my training and racing. At the time, I thought he was nuts. Me? Hire a coach? I'm just a Regular Joe, not some elite athlete or something! But as I continued to feel overwhelmed about how to move forward after my race, I realized that I certainly could benefit from a bit of knowledge. So I dug through the pile of fliers that I had collected at the New England MultiSport Expo a few months back, and found the information from Tri-Hard, a local coaching outfit. I trolled around their site, and eventually stumbled upon their Testimonials page, where I found a comment from a local Winchesterian. I figured, what the heck, and I looked up his number and gave him a call.

Thankfully, he called me back and we talked for a long time about the wonders of Will, his coach, who had helped him to not only improve at the sport, but improve to such a degree that he qualified for the 70.3 Championship race in Clearwater last year! Ok, I'm sold.

Will is incredible - besides providing excellent training plans for me every 2 weeks, he listens when I enter my crazy "pre-race" phase, and helps to keep my head on straight. He's pushed me to achieve results I didn't think I had in me. And he designed a training plan that is getting me to the starting line in Hopkinton on Monday feeling strong and confident, after what was looking like a pretty serious calf injury just a few short months ago. I can't wait to see what he helps me accomplish this season!

So, a coach. It's a good thing. Even for Regular Joe's.

Michelle's Marathon Madness: Take 2

So, I just get my next training block from my coach, which covers the marathon. Here's what he's got in there:

"Almost party time! You passed all the tests. Those were waking up and heading out to run miles and miles and miles in iffy New England Spring weather. They were doing tough bike intervals and keeping the motivation up to hop on the bike after running for 2 plus hours! They were paying attention to your diet and recovery and your health. You passed em all with a 4.0!

My one note on the race at this point is to keep the excitement in check early. 9-9:30. No faster. Cruise. Let people go – they will. Then you will pass their cramping, aching carcass’s along the road some place around or after 14-17 miles. Cruise. Smile. Laugh. It’s the Boston Freaking Marathon! How cool is that! You, Michelle Spina, are running the Boston Marathon. You know what? Your ready for it! So Smile, Laugh and Enjoy ok!"

Yeah, you guessed it. I'm crying. At my desk at work.

I'm such a loser.

Michelle's Marathon Madness, Take 1

I'm crying constantly, essentially at the drop of a hat. EVERYTHING makes me think of race day. Which makes me think about: 1) how long I've been running, 2) the memory of my first 10 mile run many years ago which seemed like I had summited Mt. Everest, after many years of 5 mile runs, 3) the thought, years and years ago, that it would be SO COOL to run Boston the week before I turn 40, 4) Children's Hospital and Lauren's stay there, 5) thoughts I think I'll have along various parts of the course, and always, 6) imagining the finish line. These all flash through my head in rapid succession, as in a "life flashing before your eyes" kinda way, and I start crying.

"Damn, I'm late for a meeting. Gotta run." Gotta run -> run -> marathon -> rapid thoughts -> next thing I know I'm getting all choked up in the elevator as I make my way to the meeting on the 10th floor.

It's ridiculous, really. God help me when the radio plays "Runnin' Down a Dream." I'm a blubbering mess.