Boston Marathon Race Report

Here GOES!! 

Pre Race

The night before Boston, I had dinner with my mom, brother, sis in law, and BF  (how awesome is it that they traveled all the way to Boston for this?? --  perhaps they heard my BQ time was 2:37 not 3:37??).  

For dinner, went to tasty Afgan place called "The Helmand".  Before my last marathon (Chicago 2009), I went out for Indian food.  I think I'm playing Russian Roulette with my pre-marathon dinner choices  (tmi?).

I couldn't sleep the night before at all due to nerves and excitement.  I couldn't believe that Boston (dream come true) was finally here! 

Here's my pre-race pile of gear.    

The next morning I woke up, and went downstairs to find that our B&B had gotten up early to make us coffee and bags of snacks!  How awesome is that...

Morning Pre Marathon Terror

We (the Charlotte Running club and I) took a couple cabs to catch a bus and finally found ourselves at the start of the race!  

Race Start:

The first few miles were pretty uneventful.  I knew I was going out a bit ambitiously (7:58 pace or so), but I kind of didn't care.  The marathon was different in that it almost felt like I was on a run with a ton of people rather than racing them.  This is probably because we were all seeded similarly and going about the same pace.  I went through the 10k around 49 minutes and the 10 mile mark at a similar pace.  I ate some sport beans right around then too.  There were tons of residents out supporting the runners with water, orange slices, etc.  The giant bunny ears I was wearing definitely helped get some cheers!  

I realized that I wasn't being very original wearing the ears though - I passed two girls who were wearing bunny ears as well!  

After about mile 10 or so, the race started to get a little more interesting.  We passed the Wellesley girls who were holding all sorts of "kiss me" signs and were cheering up a storm.  I high fived 90% of them and was having the time of my life.  

Mid Race

I passed the half right at 1:44 and some change and took a gel right around then.  This pace was still a bit ambitious for me, and by mile fifteen (I was trying to fool myself and was saying to myself that it was mile 5), my quads were starting to hurt.

Mile 16 was when things got a little tougher but I knew my family was going to be at mile 17 cheering for me, so I was still pretty excited.  I saw the Fam at 17....

    Freaking Awesome Sister In Law

This is what they saw:

Ridiculous rabbit running for glory

I had to bend down my ears because the wind was blowing them too much.  

Around mile 18, I started feeling tired.  I knew that I was slowing down as well, which wasn't helping my morale.  I wish I could say that I had some wonderful mantra to power through these miles, but really, I just focused, drank a lot of water, and ran. 

Last Leg

I told myself that the real race didn't start until mile 19.  By this time, my energy to slap fives with the kiddies and interact with anyone yelling "Bunny Ears"  was leaving me.  However, the crowd and volunteers continued to be amazing.  There was Gatorade at every stop, spectators with other food, and the Boston College students there to cheer us on.  It really was amazing.  

I also kept telling myself that no matter how uncomfortable I was, this was an experience of a lifetime and I gosh darned well better enjoy it!   It kind of worked :).  

At mile 22, I looked at my watch and realized I had to run the final 4.2 in around 40 minutes to PR.   I figured I could do this, and set a new goal - to "requalify" for Boston using the more difficult standards.  I mistakingly thought the new standards were 3:35:59 (I later realized I was wrong about this, it's 3:35:00!).  

The last miles were a bit of a blur.  Wonderful, Painful, Exhilaration.  

Is this woman text messaging??

The last miles clicked by and soon I saw the finish sign.  

I crossed at 3:35:16.  A PR of 2:07.  

Here's the online data:

14683	Faster Bunny	28	F		CA	USA
5k 10k 15k 20k Half 25k 30k 35k 40k 0:24:47 0:49:32 1:13:54 1:38:54 1:44:22 2:04:02 2:30:04 2:57:23 3:23:58 Finish: Pace Proj. Time Offl. Time Overall Gender Division 0:08:13 3:35:16 9209 2046 1524

All in all, a good race and a good effort.   I wish I had legit "new qualified" for Boston, but there are always goals for next races.  It was probably the most fun I've had in 26 miles ever, and that's pretty freaking wonderful.  I also think I finally feel like a "real" marathoner (that was #3) and that's pretty cool too.  :).  

Now time for the shout out to 

SkinnyRunner 

and 

BlueEyedRunner

and ALL the other bloggers who ran Monday (or raced at all this weekend for that matter)!  (I'm still new in blog-town, sorry if I didn't remember to shout out for ya!).   

Well that's all I've got - hope you enjoyed !