Thursday, April 24, 2008

Is it normal to fight back tears every 5k?

About 10 months ago Kirk decided he was going to run the Boston Marathon. Why? First because he still feels the need to get even with the marathon for kicking his butt back in 2000 and second because we wanted to see the Women's Olympic Marathon Trials that was scheduled to take place the day before the marathon. Needless to say, I decided to run the marathon as well...you know, since I was going to go anyway.

The weekend was great. Watching the trials was a lot of fun...what a great race. After running around to the first few viewing points we stood in one spot for the rest of the race. Deena seemed to be a crowd favorite, but the crowd was full of love for everyone. It was inspirational to watch these strong, fast women compete for the chance to run in the Olympic Games, and to see the women who were just out to enjoy the ride. The three women who were running together in last place after one mile went by us with HUGE smiles on their faces as if to say "I'm running in the Olympic Trials and IT IS AWESOME!" really made my day, and made me miss my running friends.

The next day was my turn. The Boston Marathon. I've run it once before, in 2003, and the course definitely fooled me. The course is downhill for the first 6 miles and if you don't realize this ahead of time you just might go out too fast. I would bet 90% of Boston first timers do. I was paranoid enough to hold back and keep a close eye on my watch, which I thought would pay dividends later.

For the first 7 miles or so I had people passing me left and right. I just kept hearing Gene-o's voice...run within yourself...be patient. I would see people go past me and KNEW I would see them later in the race, especially that woman who pushed me at the start. The first half of the race seemed really long...I just kept thinking I needed to make it to the halfway point, THEN I could start thinking about the finish. I even started thinking about the miles as they correspond to miles on the Twin Cities Marathon course, just to help me gauge how much longer I had to go. That helped a little, but the first half still felt like 20 miles.

I knew my legs were in trouble when they were really hurting on a downhill about mile 15ish. I hadn't even hit the big hills and my quads were already in pain. I think it had to do with walking and standing a lot on Sunday while watching the trials. Once I got to the Newton Hills (about mile 17) I started passing a few people. By the time I hit mile 22ish I was passing a lot of people. There were so many people who went out too fast and had paid the price on the hills.

During the race the crowds were amazing. Wellesley (mile 12.5), Boston College (mile 22ish?) and Boston University (mile 24ish) were especially loud and gave me a huge boost when I needed it. Since I ran a smarter race than I did last time I was able to enjoy the course, noticing things I missed first time around. The different towns were much more memorable, I noticed Fenway (I think I missed that last time)and the Citgo sign, and the last few miles were so much fun with the crowds and so many runners. However, the finish line area was the most amazing. It's a really wide street filled with runners heading toward the line, the crowds are crazy...it was invigorating. I crossed the finish line with tears in my eyes and a huge smile on my face.

I think I got beaten by a guy in a Paul Revere costume, but I passed the two guys in hats with bunny ears. I felt pretty good about that...

After the race I met up with Kirk and Nathan, then we ran into Mike on the way back to the hotel. We walked about a mile, crossing through Boston Common, rehashing the race along the way. It was a beautiful day.

When we got back to the hotel the lobby staff saw our medals and gave us (Kirk, myself and another guy who just happened to enter at the same time) a standing ovation. Words can't explain the feeling.

Today I'm burned, my legs are sore, but the pain is tolerable. I'm really happy I ran the marathon. All in all it was a great experience...

6 months ago when I decided to run the marathon I thought I was in for a very lonely experience. Between training for 4 months on my own and running the race by myself I thought I would be alone every step of the way. I couldn't have been more wrong. My running friends joined me for my long training runs, my short training runs and for coffee afterward. It seemed I was never alone!

Every 5k during the race the runners cross a mat that records your time, then it gets posted on the runner tracking website. During the race I knew my running friends as well family members and some co-workers were watching me online at home. As I crossed the start I thought to myself "ok ladies, here we go". For the rest of the race I knew I wasn't alone.