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.

And the Freak-Out Begins

I have to simply say that seeing "12 Days Until the Boston Marathon" right there at the top of this blog made me nauseous just now.

In a good way, I think. As much as nausea can be good, that is.

Bear with me. I'm going to be a lunatic for the next 12 days.

How GREAT is This?

On a fitness related board I frequent, I met a guy who had run 35 marathons, and who was hoping to run 50 by the time he turned 50 (at 46 he's already surpassed that goal, and is now onto Ultra marathons!). Here is part of my welcome post to him:

Welcome!!!! Oh, PLEASE stick around!!!!!!! You are my idol!!! 35 'thons??? Wow. Wow. Wow. I REALLY want to do one at some point. I ran a 1/2 thon last fall, and just loved it. I live in the Boston area, so Boston of course is on my wish list, and in addition I'd love to run NYC - that seems like a great one. My "secret plan" is to actually run Boston the year I turn 40 (2008) - the marathon is JUST before my birthday (usually just a week and a half before, depending on where Patriot's Day falls...), so I always thought running it weeks before the "big four oh" would be a cool way to ring in the new decade, especially THAT one, which so many people seem to dread (I don't actually mind it - I had my "age issue freak out" at 30, so I'm done!)...

And, imagine that, here I sit, just over a week before the RACE THAT WAS MY SECRET WISH LIST PLAN! How often does that really ever happen?

Wow.

And the taper begins...

Yesterday, I ran my last long run with my running club, along the course route. We met up at town center at 5:55am, and our two transport vehicles promptly left for Hopkinton at 6:00am. We drove to the starting line, where I marveled at the simplicity of it. Hopkinton is a small town in central Massachusetts. If it weren't for the marathon, I'm doubtful anyone would have ever heard of it. It's cute enough, but quite unremarkable. I'm sure it will look totally different with 30,000+ people lined up on race day! We then drove 4 miles along the course to Ashland, where we were dumped from the cars and started our run. HUGE snaps to our drivers - they acted as our support vehicles throughout our run, meeting us every 5 miles so that we could reload our drink bottles, gels, act as privacy guards for "nature breaks," etc. They ROCKED.

It was incredible to run along the course, with folks who were Boston veterans. They gave me great tips about what to expect all along the way - where the crowds got thin (a VERY short stretch around mile 6...), where the downhills can kill you if you aren't careful, etc. It was also fun to hear all the old race stories - I just kept thinking that I can't wait to do the same for a Boston newbie someday. "I remember my first Boston marathon, many years ago. You'll love this story..."

The miles just clicked by - before I knew it, we were turning onto Comm Ave, heading into the Newton Hills (aka Heartbreak). As I had already known, they aren't in and of themselves all that bad - it's that they come at mile 20, after nearly 20 solid miles of downhill running, and that kills you. I still felt good after getting through Heartbreak, but I did start looking at my watch once I hit the 19 mile mark. It was AWESOME to be with folks I've run with for years when I clipped my 19.34 mile distance PR - we all whooped and hollered for me as I passed that milestone! By then I was getting tired, and hurting a bit. My feet and ankles hurt, which was a new one for me. I don't think it was anything bad - just the newness of running 20+ miles. The curbs we occasionally had to maneuver felt like they were each the size of Mt. Everest, and I was insanely happy to see the famed Citgo sign and Fenway as we approached the final mile. Turning onto Boylston St. was incredible - knowing that it's going to be about 10,000 times more incredible on race day is just mind-boggling.

I came just up to the finish line, but did not cross it - that's special. And I can't wait to do it a mere 3 weeks from now!!!!

I was tired and a bit sore for the remainder of the day, but generally felt pretty good! Today I feel great and can't believe I am honestly ready for this.

So now I start my taper, and before I know it, race day will be here!

Saturday, March 22

Happy Saturday! I've had an uneventful day - you know, just the usual stuff. Nothing major, really. Got up, ran 19 miles, did the errands with the kids, made the dish I'm bringing to Easter brunch, etc. Just a regular day.

Wait a second, you say? 19 miles, you ask?

Yeah baybee! You read that right! 19 miles (well, 19.34, to be exact) CRUSHED this morning! It was a BLAST running with my club - the miles really just flew by - it was SO much easier running with the crew. We'd get talking and suddenly 5 miles were gone. You go through a few stories, and before you know it, you're done! Only 30 minutes on the bike after the run, although I could have easily done 40 - I felt great. I'm feeling slightly sore as usual, but other than really, really, really just wanting to go to bed at around 4:30 this afternoon (I'm beyond exhausted right now), I feel fantastic.

Woo Hoo! OMG, you guys. Seriously. Can you believe this?????? NINETEEN MILES?!? That's just .... ridiculous! And not only did I do it, it wasn't horrible. It was fun. In fact, it was GREAT. Why aren't people who do this regularly walk around screaming at the top of their lungs how INCREDIBLE this is? They should be trying to recruit EVERYONE they meet, constantly. It's downright selfish not to share this incredible experience with the world!!!!

After I got off the bike, I was so pumped. Did an obnoxious pose for the hubby and announced: "I am an Endurance Animal!" I think, perhaps, a monster is in the midst of being created here folks.

I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!

21563

That's me. 21563.

The bib numbers are up, and I am so excited it's ridiculous.

"Fa, a Long Long Way to Run..."

As in 17 miles!

Yes, another personal record on the books my friends. Seventeen miles. SEVENTEEN MILES! That's crazy. Ludicrous. Totally and completely absurd.

And so freakin' cool.

Look out, Hopkinton - I'm on my way!!!!!

Have Mercy!

To be more precise, "Have Mercy, the Sequel!" My Saturdays have been devoted to killer bike workouts recently. The latest torture in the basement has been Spinervals Have Mercy, The Sequel: This brutally intense 2 hour workout is a compilation of some of the most demanding interval sets from Spinervals 8.0 through 14.0 designed specifically to make the fittest athletes suffer and beg Coach Troy to once again 'Have Mercy"!!

Niiiiiiiiiice.

While utterly and completely killer, the sense of accomplishment when this workout is completed is priceless. This week was no exception. The cool thing is that doing these killers for the last many Saturdays (my coach had me doing the original Have Mercy for a few weeks, then changed it up with Have Mercy, The Sequel) have definitely improved my biking strength. While these are still puke-in-a-bucket hard, they are a bit less so now.

I'll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours!

I mean my PLAYLIST, of course!

So, what are your favorite running or workout tunes? I need to add more songs - my 15 miler made me lap my recently expanded playlist, and that just won't do. Here's what's currently on my iPod (don't laugh - this is a ROCKIN' playlist for running!):

Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode)
Always Something There to Remind Me (Naked Eyes)
Get the Party Started (Pink)
Gettin' Jiggy Wit It (Will Smith)
What You Need (INXS)
Tubthumping (Chumbawamba)
Unbelievable (EMF)
Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Queen)
Real Gone (Cheryl Crow)
Devil Inside (INXS)
Mr. Jones (Counting Crows)
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
She Drives Me Crazy (Fine Young Cannibals)
You Spin Me Round (Dead or Alive)
American Girl (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
I Feel Love (Blue Man Group)
Love Shack (B52's)
New Sensation (INXS)
Zoot Suit Riot (Cherry Poppin' Daddies)
Roll to Me (Del Amitri)
Life is a Highway (Rascal Flats)
Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N' Roses)
You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC)
Don't Stop Me Know (Queen)
Route 66 (John Mayer)
Simply Irresistible (Robert Palmer)
Living In America (James Brown)
Good Thing (Fine Young Cannibals)
Runnin' Down a Dream (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
Land of Confusion (Genesis)
Wild Wild Life (Talking Heads)
Summer of '69 (Bryan Adams)
Another One Bites the Dust (Queen)

Random Thursday

It's Thursday, which means it's a medium run day (6 miles that turned into 7 - funny how that always seems to happen!). I love these runs, as they are supposed to be simply an aerobic run (so no hard stuff!), and it's a very easy distance. I'm up and out by 6:00am and I head around Mystic Lake, which is always gorgeous to run around. There are some folks out running (and of course we exchange the Runner's Nod, which roughly translated, means: "Morning dude. Keep up the good work!"), some out biking ("Ride on!"), and some early birds heading out to work ("Sucks to be you. But please don't pull out as I run in front of you - it's not my fault...").

It's these runs that make me believe everyone should love running. I totally understand why everyone won't jump at the chance to run a marathon - it is a bit crazy, after all. But there simply is nothing better than an easy run on a crisp, clear morning. Watching the sun come up over Mystic Lake while most of the inhabitants of the houses that surround it are still asleep? That's simply priceless.

It's Thursday, which means I ran this morning. And therefore, life is good.

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's .... Michelle?

My long run last Sunday was .... let's say, eventful. So there I was, around 5:00pm running on a glorious Boston Sunday afternoon, smiling as I'm thinking about the marathon which will be here before I know it. Smiling because I'm feeling great, my calf feels great, no twinges, no tightness, no nothing. Just running and feeling great about it. Life is good. Then ... I'm flying! Literally, superman arms outstretched, FLYING through the air, as both of my feet have apparently been lassoed by a rogue cowboy. Then KABAM! I come screeching to a halt as my superpowers do not engage and I do not, in fact, take off into flight. SMASH! BOOM! BAM! I'm lying face down on the shoulder of Rt 3, wondering what the HELL just happened to me. I roll over (and get onto the curb so I'm not soon to be roadkill) and see a circle of thick wire about 1' in diameter tangled around my feet. I really was lassoed!!! I didn't see it under some leaves and must have kicked it up with one foot, and then trapped myself in it as I took the next step.

Ouch.

After the stream of obscenities stop flying from my mouth, I recover my composure and notice my new, awesome running tights (ironically the very tights I say make me feel like a superhero - I actually find this funny a bit *after* I recover from the fall and start running again) have a HUGE rip in the right knee. And through that rip, I see what looks like ground beef in the area that should be where I'd be seeing my knee. Ugh. That can't be good.

Nothing appears to be majorly hurt, so I get up and start walking a bit to make sure I didn't seriously bang up anything. I'm VERY VERY thankful that I had my running gloves on - my hands would have been trashed without them. But both knees hurt pretty badly and my left elbow hurts. Well, I'm 3 miles from home and I know nothing is REALLY damaged, so I continue to walk a bit to feel better then just start running again. Eventually I start laughing thinking about what had to have been a SPECTACULAR fall to witness.

I make it home as I note that my supposed 6 mile run ended up just shy of 8. Oooops!!!! But I really did feel great and honestly underestimated the loop. Let's see how much my coach beats me up about it.

It took some time to peel my tights off as they were stuck to both knees - again, ouch. My right knee was DISGUSTING. Just a huge mess of a scrape. My left knee was also impressively scraped, but nothing compared to my right. And my left elbow was banged up as well. So, Sunday night, there I sat, watching the Patriots stink up the joint, on the couch with ice packs ace bandaged to my knees jacked up on Aleve.

I was fine - sore knees for a few days but nothing major. My tights, on the other hand, are goners. I'll try to mend them. Or not. It did look sort of bad a$$ to have a ripped knee. At least that was what I was telling myself later in the run, when I was lamenting the potential loss of my beloved superhero tights.

Although, they didn't ACTUALLY make me fly, now did they? Harumph. Superhero, schmuperhero.

Fundraising Angel

I have a fundraising angel! He came to me over the holidays when I was home visiting my family. I received an email from someone I didn't immediately recognize, simply titled: Boston. I almost deleted it without reading, as I thought it was spam! Thank goodness I didn't. After a brief introduction, I read the following line:

I will match any contributions you collect up to $6,000 and you are free to make this known if it will help your effort.

Did I actually read that correctly? He's going to MATCH ALL OF MY CONTRIBUTIONS UP TO $6K? No, that can't be right. I read it wrong. Let's try that again:

I will match any contributions you collect up to $6,000 and you are free to make this known if it will help your effort.

Holy smokes, it's for real! This is Reagan's Great Uncle (a serious athlete himself), and he is, in fact, The Real Deal.

Uncle George, my Fundraising Angel!

While I've got the Adopt-A-Mile program going for folks to sponsor specific miles along the marathon route (I'll be thinking of you during "your" mile), Uncle George will be thought about for the duration of the race, as well as Reagan and Lauren, my wonder girls who are providing the inspiration for doing this in the first place.

So, what do you say, everyone? Let's get to that $12k mark, thanks to my Fundraising Angel!

Adopt-A-Mile

I'm stealing a fundraising idea from another Boston runner: the Adopt-A-Mile program. Here it is in a nutshell:

For $100, you can sponsor a mile of your choice (choose one of the 26 that make up the course). For $250, the coveted last .2 is yours! I'll be thinking of you for the duration of "your mile" which will be a great help to keep my mind occupied for the duration of the race.

Let's get started - I'll keep this updated as we go along. If you see a free mile you are interested in, pony up the $100+ to stake your claim, and let me know you want it!

Mile 1 (toeing the line in Hopkinton): Mom & Carl
Mile 2: Mom & Carl
Mile 3: Mom & Gram
Mile 4 (Ashland Clock Tower):
Mile 5:
Mile 6 (Framingham Train Depot): Dan
Mile 7:
Mile 8:
Mile 9:
Mile 10 (Natick Town Common):
Mile 11:
Mile 12 (Wellesley College - the Scream Tunnel!): Kristin
Mile 13 (Halfway!): Drew
Mile 14:
Mile 15:
Mile 16:
Mile 17:
Mile 18 (Newton Fire Station):
Mile 19:
Mile 20 (the mental/physical halfway point): Therese, Dave & Morgan
Mile 21 (first unchartered mile / Heartbreak Hill!): Lisa & Katy
Mile 22: Erin
Mile 23: Cherry
Mile 24 (Coolidge Corner):
Mile 25 (Citgo sign): The Kamons
Mile 26 (the last full mile!): Brad
Mile 26.2: Hazel & George

For the gory details, check out this link from the marathon site: Course Map

Who's going to claim the first mile? The last? Heartbreak? I'll need someone every mile, so let's start filling this in, shall we?

79 Days?!?

Yipes! As of today, the Boston Marathon countdown shown at the top of this blog states I have 79 days left until the big day!

Wow.

79 days.

That doesn't seem like much, does it? Training is going well though, so I'm not worried. While I'll definitely be toeing up to the starting line fairly undertrained (my longest long run will only be 20 miles due to my slow start), I know that I have a talent for enduring great physical suffering. I've got my son and his 23 hours of unmedicated back labor to thank for that tidbit of knowledge. An hour of ungodly pain for the great unknown that will be the last 10k of the race will seem like a blink of an eye in comparison.

The good news, as you may have gathered by now, is that the calf / achilles is feeling great. I graduated from physical therapy just before the holidays, and have been slowly but steadily increasing my running time ever since. My long run this week is up to ... 6 miles! Next week is 7, and from there, I increase by 2 miles almost every Sunday up until the big day (there is a recovery week tossed in there somewhere, and once I hit 20 I start my taper). I'm looking forward to racking up the mileage - the runs have been feeling really good lately, and all of the workouts I've been doing in the pool and on my bike trainer have been keeping my overall fitness level very high.

Onwards and upwards!

I'm Ready for my Close-Up, Mr. DeVille

It's official. I'm a fitness video star.

Ok, ok. So I'm really just a participant in a fitness video, but it's still seriously cool! My video was FINALLY released just before the holidays, and upon viewing, I was thrilled that my two greatest fears weren't realized: 1) I didn't look stupid, and 2) I didn't look fat.

Whew.

It all began back in .... April, I think, when Coach Troy and IronGirl sent out a casting call for participants in an upcoming series. The series was going to consist of a strength workout, a treadmill workout and a Spinervals (bike) workout. Interested participants had to send in a short bio and a collection of photos, and we'd be notified a few weeks later if we got the nod. I was thrilled (and somewhat terrified) to have been chosen for the strength workout - I would have been happy with any of them, but I thought I'd be most comfortable in this slot. I had a few months before filming, and my first tri of the season was two weeks before the film date, so I quickly forgot about it and went about my business. However, once my race was over, I threw myself into strength work to make sure that 1) I didn't look stupid, and 2) I didn't look fat, come film day (recall greatest fears mentioned above).

Filming was WILD! I flew down to Baltimore, MD on Saturday evening, and drove up to Sparks, MD where the gym was located. I shared a room with Nancy and Cherrie, two friends I'd last seen at Coach Troy's triathlon training camp back in March. We had a ball catching up and getting excited about the shoot the next day. Nancy was working behind the scenes, and Cherrie was going to be in the treadmill workout that was being shot earlier in the day. We got to the studio/gym early on Sunday and basically stayed out of the way while the guys set up. And there was a LOT of setting up to do! It was amazing to me the amount of equipment that is necessary to pull together a production like this. You'd think, a few treadmills, a few cameras, and that's about it, right? The few treadmills was right, but everything else I imagined was MUCH too small scale. The cameras and all of their rigging were HUGE. The lights were GINORMOUS, and there were a ton of them. All this and the slew of folks required to work all of the equipment jammed into what wasn't a terribly large studio space to being with.

Troy is so ... Troy. He's so good in front of the camera - his personality really does shine through. Although it made me laugh to see him do his characteristic intro - he definitely puts on his "film voice" for this portion! The treadmill workouts were fun to watch - I haven't yet tried them myself, but the advanced workout in particular looked just fantastically brutal. At one point during the workout, when Troy saw one of the girls at a 10% incline and, get this, a 10 mph pace, he exclaimed "Holy Crap!" Hopefully that made it past editing, as it really was a "holy crap" effort by this athlete! It was amazing to watch.

Then, it was our turn. As the studio was being prepared for the strength workout, we coordinated our outfits and chatted nervously while we waited. When Troy placed us in the studio, we quickly reviewed the elements of the workout, and just dove straight in!

I was surprised to find that the cameras didn't really bother me at all - I think I was too busy concentrating on the hard work of the workout. What did bother me - all of us - was the unbelievable heat from the lights. Before we lifted a finger, we were all sweating buckets. It felt as though we were working out in an oven - it really was unbelievably hot. Before long, my forearms were sweating. Now, while I'm definitely a sweater (I come from a long and proud line of sweaters) this was really absurd! The workout was a lot of fun, and definitely challenging. During the lower body workout there are some great shots of my legs shaking like jello during one of the MANY sets of isolation squats!

I'd definitely recommend giving this a shot if you are looking for an effective and efficient strength workout to add to your training schedule!