Boston Marathon

The marathon is nothing more than 20 miles of hope and 6 miles of reality


i am go thankful for the wonderful support of my family and friends.  i had people encouraging me and praying for me the entire time (proof of this is all over my facebook wall) and i feel so truly blessed.


if i could sum up the boston marathon in one word it would be: HOT!  haha.  i was raised in texas and i generally consider myself immune to heat.  but, this is the first time i've ever run 26.2 miles in an effective temperature of 95 degrees.  standing in the starting corrals there wasn't any shade and the temp was already above 80 before the gun went off and it only got warmer from there.  keep in mind i've been training during the winter so i was definitely not prepared.  

race day morning i woke up before my alarm, had an amazing breakfast of pumpkin pancakes with peanut butter and banana and sarah took me to catch the bus (thanks for waking up extra early, friend!).  on the way to the start the bus driver took the wrong exit - imagine 50 nervous runners knowing you're going the wrong way.  and then we didn't have money to pay the $1.25 toll so we had to sit and wait while the man wrote us a ticket.  hahaha.  but, eventually we made it to hopkington.

my big concern going into the race was my stomach staying calm and settled and my hip getting tight (the two things that have been bothering my lately).  praise the Lord, both were fine.  

the entire course was downhill, uphill, downhill so your quads were screaming by the time heartbreak hill came around - i live near the course so i've run heartbreak a few times before but it's usually five miles into my run and in the early morning when the there was no sun and the temps were a high of 40.  it was much much more heartbreaking on monday!! i do need to point out that i did NOT walk!  and, going down was worse than going up.  
the crowds were amazing.  people lined the entire course.  i had my mp3 on in case i got bored, but i didn't hear the music the entire way because the people were so loud.  they were cheering and handing out popsicles, water, ice, pretzels, red vines- pretty much anything they had on hand to keep us runners hydrated and salted.    i saw friends as i ran through wellesley (thanks pincheras and meltons!) and then again at mile 24 (thanks, raj!).  

not exactly sure when it happened (but i think right around mile 22) i hit my "i'm SO ready to be done!" and "never again!" point that all marathoners feel. but, i survived and i made it to the finish without walking.  and, just like having a baby, the pain is merely a vague memory at this point and my brain is already rationalizing it saying "it wasn't THAT bad. 

official results: 3:25:30 (4:18:27  was the average finishing time)

Net Time:	3:25:30 (slower than i was hoping for but understandable under the conditions)
Overall Place:	2447/21554 (that puts me in the top 11% of finishers - not counting the 4300 that deferred and the 1000 that started but DNF)
In Gender:	259/8966 (you can check my math but i'm fairly certain that is top 3%)
In Division:	223/4580 (ages 0-39)

the first place finishing time from this year was 9:38 slower than last year and those people are ELITE so i didn't do too bad 

Here are some action shots:

not sure why i'm smiling as i'm fairly certain i wasn't having fun.  haha. 

yes, i'm a dork! 

tongue out = working hard?? 

just in case the former pictures didn't accurately represent how miserable i was, here are a couple where you can tell i'm tired

focused face 

crossing the finish - so happy to be DONE!!!

of course this story wouldn't be complete without mention of the post race... 

as i said, it was hot and i was taking in water every mile.  i took in a little gatorade but not much because i didn't want to risk upsetting my stomach- in hindsight a bad decision.  at the finish they provided gatorade refuel (instead of regular gatorade or chocolate milk) which i wasn't a fan of so i drank three bottles of water instead - another bad decision.  

long story short, an hour or so post race (after i had met up with anna and liz, taken pictures, taken a shower, and started walking to the car) i started not feeling well.  i asked anna and liz if we could please go to a medical tent, which we did (side note: boston is incredibly organized and they have volunteers everywhere to answer questions and get you where you're going so we got an escort to the closest tent which happened to be right up the street).  then i started really not feeling well.  long story short, my sodium levels dropped.  ended up in the emergency department with hyponatremia and hypovolemia.  ironically, i ended up at Tufts which is where we were walking to in the first place since that is where anna had parked.  having worked there for two years (and supporting the E.D.) i saw people i knew which was kind of funny but mostly embarrassing.  when my levels didn't rise as fast as the doc had hoped (and i didn't pee for about 10 hours) they ended up keeping me overnight just as a precaution.  i'm sure my parents were moderately freaked out - i'm not a parent but i can imagine being 2000 miles away and not being able to see me or talk to me to know i was really okay.  allison was a wonderful friend and came and stayed with me as well as contacting my family to keep them somewhat updated (i am so blessed to have such caring friends).  a little rest and lots of salt later i felt like a brand new person and was discharged tuesday morning and i passed my follow up neurological exam on wednesday so i'm good to go.  

i do need to give a shout out to road id.  my daddy made me get one a couple of years ago because i run by myself and sign up for the interactive profile where i can store all my information.  since i had taken a shower and changed clothes before getting sick i had no identifying information, not even my race bib with my name.  since i hadn't planned on going to the E.D. i wasn't carrying a wallet so no photo id, no insurance card, etc.  but, they were able to take my road id and look up all my information - photo id, insurance info, emergency contact, blood type, allergies, medications, health history, even my tufts medical center mrn and pcp.  so, while it is something i hoped to never have to use, it came in very very handy.  if you run or race or ride or do anything by yourself i highly recommend getting one.  it cost under $30 and the interactive profile is only $9/year.  

^{Ecclesiastes 4:9-12}

⁹ Two are better than one, 
   because they have a good return for their labor: 
¹⁰ If either of them falls down, 
   one can help the other up. 
But pity anyone who falls 
   and has no one to help them up. 
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. 
   But how can one keep warm alone? 
¹² Though one may be overpowered, 
   two can defend themselves. 
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.