Boston Marathon 2011 Race Recap

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Best, as in my best Boston trip ... yet. Worst, as in my worst marathon time ... ever.

On Monday 4/18 at 2:41 pm, I completed my 8th Boston marathon in my PW (Personal Worst) time of 4:01.10, a 9:11 pace. But looking back, it was a race to remember! And I got to share the whole experience with my hunky hubby Curt!

Funny how last year I went into the race with only 8 weeks of training, two long runs and a week off due to a sprained ankle and I ran 7 minutes faster than this year where I trained for about 5.5 months, did 3-4 long runs and finished in the dreaded 4-hour time. I feel officially slow!

But, it inspires me to work harder, push further and most of all, train smarter. Back in 1996-2002 it felt so effortless to pull off a 3:24. Back then, disappointing finishes were anything over 3:30! How times have changed.

Curt has heard me talk about Boston for years and I've always wanted to drag him along to experience the greatest marathon in the world. This year, I convinced him to join me. And we convinced my parents to watch the kids for 5 days. This was our longest trip without kids since we went to Hawaii for five days in 2005, when Kyan was 14 months old.

We arrived late Friday night to a chilly 38 degree Boston and went straight to Legal Seafoods after checking into our hotel in Boston's 'Back Bay' neighborhood. The restaurant was unusually quiet but then it was almost 10 pm. We dined on crab cakes and clam chowder as we enjoyed our first date night on vacation.

The next morning was a bit cloudy with a glimmer of sun poking through the clouds. I woke up with tight hamstrings and after stretching I decided to go for a short run along the Charles river while Curt explored downtown. Later we went to the marathon expo where we met my good friend Hugo who had flown out from San Francisco to watch the marathon.

The expo was extremely crowded and I felt myself getting annoyed. As Hugo shopped at the Adidas booth I looked around at some of the other booths. Got some over-the-counter orthotics, socks, Nike Boston apparel and headed back to the hotel to drop our bags. There we met my friend Lauren, a Boston local, who joined Hugo and I while Curt went to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game.

The three of us hopped on the "T" (Boston's subway) and headed to MIT to watch Curt's niece, Abby, run for Tufts University in an invitational track meet. It was overcast and freezing with a very chilly strong wind. This goes down in history as the coldest Boston I've ever experienced! We found the track and found Abby and her sister Roxy inside the gymnasium adjacent to the track. There were maybe 8-10 local division III schools represented at the meet. After a series of the 200 meter dash Abby was up to run the 5000m - 5k event. We watched from the bleachers and huddled to keep warm. Abby was wearing training shorts and a tank top with black arm warmers. She must have been freezing! The gun went off and Abby was off in the middle of the pack of 30+ girls. I tracked her splits and she was doing consistent 90 second splits equivalent to a 6-minute pace! She held pace and finished around 18 minutes. My personal best is 20:00 so I was in awe!!!

We congratulated Abby and headed to The Crossroads to get a bite to eat. Curt, Abby, and Roxy joined us and we enjoyed wraps, sweet potato fries and a few pints (those of us over21 that is ;-).

After a walk along Newbury Street we were back at our hotel for an hour or so before catching a cab to the north end for some of Boston's finest Italian cuisine. We met Evan there who works for John Hancock and knows Cheryl Young, our financial advisor and good friend. Evan treated us to a boisterous, Italian meal at Antico Forno. Great food! My friend Diane and her son Tyler had just flown in so they joined us but poor Tyler (4 years old) fell asleep while eating a piece of bread. After our bellies were full we headed back and got some sleep.

Sunday morning arrived and Curt and I went to the 9:00 am service at the Old South Church of Boston for Palm Sunday services. The church was packed with international runners dressed very casually. The service was geared towards the marathon, the race, and trusting God to get us all up "Heartbreak Hill". After some spiritual time we called Lauren for a restaurant recommendation and ended up at a cafe called "The Other Side" close to Mass Ave and Newbury. A bit of a grungy scene but good fresh food and strong coffee!

Another walk back to the hotel to rest before our 2 o'clock Duck Tour led by "Captain Supersize", aka Tad McKitterick, the brother of a friend of ours. Definitely a highlight of our trip was the 80 minute tour of historic Boston. For those who don't know (like Cheryl), a duck tour is a sort of bus that is also a boat. Or a boat that is also a bus. So you tour on the streets, and then you tour on the Charles river. And best of all, the tour guides are extremely hilarious. Especially our guide, Captain Supersize. He had us laughing the entire time!

After the tour we met my San Diego running friend Hank Donigan at our hotel. While Curt headed off to have to dinner with his nieces and nephew, us runners headed to the VIP pre-race dinner hosted by John Hancock that Cheryl got us into. Amazing food - my fave was the huge round portobello mushroom raviolis with lemon zest and sauteed asparagus tips. After dinner we heard from the head coach of the Boston Red Sox (who won their games against the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend). The highlight for us was hearing from and meeting Joan Benoit Samuelson and Bill Rodgers. Both in their 50's, they are all time American Boston marathon record holders from the mid 70's to mid 80's. Both were super humble and gracious. Joan ended up running the marathon Monday after an 18-year hiatus in a blistering 2:51!

Back in our room, Diane and I talked until 11 pm. Enter Curt at 11:30 pm. Helen still awake at 2:15 am. Not good. I must have fallen asleep as I awoke to my iPhone alarm at 6 am. Ugh I thought. I decided to wake up since Diane was already getting ready.

After putting on layers of clothes we headed down to grab some oatmeal, coffee, and got in line to board the busses at the Boston Commons. The lines were very long but moved quickly. Before we knew it we were on the bus off to Hopkinton. I sat next to a woman from Portland, Maine and Cheryl sat next to a woman named Ro who Adidas sponsored to run as she had been shot in the leg while conducting a workshop in an underprivileged country. Tragic. We hung out together in the Athletes Village after a few stops at the porta potties.

At 10:05, Diane took off for her Wave 2 start at 10:20. At 10:22 Ro, Cheryl and I headed to the school bus sweats gear check and then made the 3/4 mile walk to the corrals for the Wave 3 start. We didn't allot enough time and before we knew it the race had begun. We crossed the start line in 9 minutes and 30 seconds. It was a very sluggish start. Cheryl and I decided to run together. We played it conservative the first 7 miles clocking mostly 8:30-8:40's. By mile 8 or 9 I didn't see Cheryl and stopped looking behind me. I was on my own.

The next few miles I took off my arm warmers and settled into a groove keeping my pace around 8:42. The first half felt easy and I really enjoyed the sights and sounds. Mile 12.8 we hit Wellesley, the screaming girls tunnel, and I enjoyed "high-fiving" the girls who lined the course. This section of the race is notorious for wild college girls taunting the male runners with promises of kisses and other energizing "favors". One year i saw a guy stop in front of me to do one-handed push ups that sent the crowd into a frenzy!!!

The next few miles were quiet in comparison.

Around mile 16.5 or so a girl jumped in and I realized it was Abby, our niece! Was she a sight for sore eyes! I immediately asked her if she would wear my fuel belt and she happily agreed. From that point on she became my support crew. I asked for water, Gatorade, salt tabs, and Gu and she obliged kindly and without complaints. We spoke about the men's and women's elite race and I asked her where Curt and Roxy were - at the finish she said.

By mile 19 I was confused and asked Abby if we were done with Heartbreak. She didn't know since this was her first time running the course. By mile 20 I realized we were on the last hill and my quads were starting to cramp up. I stopped to drink enough water and catch my breath. I started to mentally fatigue and asked Abby if she could carry me. She laughed and said, "I would if I could". I believed her. At the top of heartbreak I knew the rest was downhill. I asked for a power gel around mile 21 and after a few bites felt sick to my stomach. I threw the packet away and after about .5 mile slowed again. I decided to do walk breaks and could not WAIT to be done. At mile 22.34 I was so disappointed that I wasn't going to make my goal time of 3:50 so I mentally started to give up. I walked a few more times but never for more than 30-40 seconds. I powered through mile 23-24 even though they were slow 10 minute miles. Had I not trained hard enough I wondered? I realized I didn't train running down hill and that as grateful as I was that my hams didn't hurt I realize that my quads weren't as strong as I thought.

On Beacon street people were giving me encouragement and I had no strength to high-five anymore. I was desperately hoping the CITGO sign would be right under me so I would only have one more mile to go. Beacon merged onto Commonwealth Ave and it was like the runners death march as people were walking, stretching, fatigued and giving it everything they had. The cool winds appeared to blow sideways and I appreciated the natural cooling my tired body needed. Finally we turned right onto Hereford and I knew I was close. My nausea had subsided but my fatigue had not. The final left turn onto Boylston hit and there was the finish line. I looked at my watch and wanted to break 4 hours. I calculated in my head that if I pushed I could do it. The end was the longest stretch imaginable. Everyone was cheering their heads off and I know I looked terrible. Abby peeled off the course with maybe 300 yards to go. Curt, Hugo, Lauren, and Roxy were screaming their heads off trying to get my attention. All i could hear was deafening cheers and screams from the crowd. The finish line still seemed to be far away. Finally I got closer and closer and finally my foot hit the rubber finish mat and I immediately walked, looked up and was so utterly happy to be DONE!!!!!

My final time was 4:01.10. My slowest of all my marathons but definitely one of the most memorable races and certainly Bostons I have done. This marathon not only goes down in history for the most prestigious but in my opinion, it is the most organized, most well-run marathon out there. For $130 a much, much better event than any "Rock & Roll" event.

So the build up is over. The race is over. I'm replaying it in my head and wished I'd pushed harder. I'm beating myself up a bit but I know I did the best I could. I'm so grateful to have finished without any injuries (although on mile 24 or 25 I tripped twice and almost went flying). So now it's a goal to requalify as it used to be so easy. I used to wonder how one could NOT qualify but I realize I was younger, single, didn't have kids or as demanding a job as I do now so I suppose it's all relative.

Cheryl did great but went into the race with a chest cold that got worse during the run and was in the medical tent for 7 minutes and then dealt with nausea to make matters worse. She still finished in a respectable 4:30 overcoming a situation that would make most people quit.

On a high note, Hank finished in 3:44 (he's in his 50's!!) and Diane finished an incredible 3:28 (7:55 pace) after a 10-year Boston hiatus.

After the race, we all wearily met at the family reunion area and exchanged hugs, stories, and thanks. That night we dined at a local Irish pub with great fat hamburgers with bacon and steaks then headed to the post race party at "House of Blues" where we watched race coverage and had front row views of all the elite runners who met the crowds and shook hands with enthusiastic fans, and danced for hours to high energy music led by two guys who looked like they were from the Black Eyed Peas. They threw out neon necklaces, sparkly glow-in-the-dark bracelets, hats, glasses and tons of other fun giveaways to the crowded venues attendees. Cheryl and I moseyed over to Ryan Hall who joined the party and was a dancing fool. We danced with the 4th place finisher for almost 30 minutes joking around about how he must do this after all his marathons!

Finally we decided we should probably head back. You've heard of the runners high I'm sure - well after a marathon you're on about 5 runners highs so the energy level you have is over-the-top! We were so wired but despite this decided to forego dessert at "Finale" and instead went back to our hotel where we slept like we had just run 26.2 miles and danced for 2-hours! All in all, a fantastic trip with some memories we will never forget!

Thanks to all my running friends - Clare, Cherl, Kelly, Steve, Kat, Gill, Karla, Hank, Cheryl and Diane for all the talk on training, recovery, and obsession on body pains and aches. Thanks to my parents for watching the kids for five days and also all the mornings babysitting while I got my long runs in. And especially to Curt, who has put up with my running since we met almost 11 years ago. He knows I probably won't ever give up running but I do appreciate all the single parenting he has had to endure during my training. And finally to God for giving me the strength to do this - mentally, physically and spiritually it is all through faith that got me through it.

Now for some rest!