Boston Marathon 2019: Lucky #7

Boston Marathon 2019. Lucky number 7 for me. (7 Boston's, I have done a few other marathons here and there.)

This is one of the only times I have gone into this race without my BQ for the following year already in the bag.
Years ago, I randomly decided that I really wanted to qualify for, and run, 10 consecutive Bostons. Kind of an arbitrary goal, but isn't that the way goals are sometimes? Anyway, Boston 2020 (#8) was most definitely NOT locked down yet, and I was certainly feeling some self imposed pressure.

Eric and I were walking down Boylston on Sunday evening, while looking at the forecast for the next day. The prediction was holding steady from the day before- temps rising from 60-70 during my race hours, humidity, possible thunderstorms, maybe some rain, or some sun, or some wind who knows!!! I had received no fewer than 3.2 million texts wishing me luck in "the sauna". I was like "Eric! I have to go for it, I can't mess around. You think I can do this, right?" And he like, snorted and said "duh, of course you can." So the plan remained intact, run BQ pace for as long as possible. Do or Die.

We were awakened early on Monday by a fire alarm. While it did not affect our floor, Ellie woke up quickly and needed to go out, and then she and Eric were stuck in the lobby for close to 40 minutes. I was glad that I stayed put in the room, as I was able to putter along and get ready according to plan. Just as Eric returned, a huge thunderstorm blew through Boston.
This is a first for Marathon day (for me, anyway.) It was pretty exciting, although I was glad to hold off on hiking to the bus until it had let up.

This is the thunderstorm

I had originally planned to dress in 19 layers of winter clothing, to avoid frostbite in the village. That ended up being completely unnecessary, as it was both warm and humid. I chucked on a couple bonus layers, my trusty muck boots, and (umbrella in hand) I headed off into the storm!!!

Ellie and I ARE READY TO BRAVE THE STORM

I hopped onto lucky bus #15 (as one does) and enjoyed the LONGEST RIDE EVER (in the HOTTEST BUS EVER!!) I was lucky to make friends with a super nice woman from NYC, and we passed the time chatting and sticking our heads out the window to stay cool (not really.) It was just a really long trip this year. I was on the bus at 8:06, and off of the bus at 9:26. Not a problem at all, but pretty rare.
(I have never been on the bus for more than an hour.)

I MADE IT TO HOPKINTON! And it was warm and not raining.

Athlete's village was an absolute delight compared to last year. I mentioned to my bus friend that I expected the rain to finish up before we arrived, and it did! The clouds were still quite ominous, and it was cool-ish. I stood in bathroom lines, and ate some food, and my feet stayed nice and dry in my huge boots.

Pics of potty lines are critical

It was not long at all until my wave was called for corral loading. I was not in the mood to procrastinate this year, because I wanted a few minutes to pee, and get my kit in order. So I actually left the village on time, possibly for the only time in my life.

Off we go!

On the walk into town, the clouds began to break up, and the temp began to rise in a very noticeable way. I was sad to part with my too big boots, but it was time!

Bye big boots

I had become nervous in the morning, and had applied a layer of sunscreen but was uneasy that in the following hours (and sweating in the bus, and pulling layers off) that it easily could have rubbed off. So who do I find? A wonderful fellow Mainer, who was also running for Crow, who knows me on the Insta (as Ellie's mom!) who had a tube of sunscreen and was happy to share (spoiler: this was a LIFE SAVER.) (and hi Leslie!! Thank you and congrats on a great race!)

Due to my mindful planning, I made it into Corral 1 with two whole minutes to spare. Impressive!!

Down to bare min clothing at the start.... Not always a great sign.

 I felt good from the start. Really good. The snap that I hope to feel in my legs after a nice taper was right there, and I felt ready to roll. Oh, and it was humid AF. Like a dripping mess. I kept thinking "wow, we need a puff of wind" and right on cue, a little puff of wind would come along. This gave me the amusing notion that I was somehow in charge of my climate zone, like in a little bubble of magic. This was quite cheering.

I stopped to pee at mile 7 because I can not not pee. It took me an actual 5 seconds. NBD. This was the only time I stopped for bodily functions. (YAY!)

Here's the thing. At mile 10 I knew it was my day. WHO KNOWS WHY THIS WAS, THERE WAS STILL SO MUCH RACE LEFT! But in my mind, I knew it was going to happen. I did not care that the sun had come out in absolute blazes (WHAT?) I totally ignored how warm I was. (and it WAS warm- close to 70.) I was running calmly, and still was running with a healthy buffer for the second half of the race.

Yes. I came in with a solid plan to positive split. I have run this course enough to know how to manage the miles to meet my needs. Even on a day when I feel good, I plan to add several minutes to the back half of the course. (because it is a bitch. and because, let's be real, I'm just not that strong! Fuck it. I get it done.)

I came into the half with a nice bit of time to play with. 1:42:37. This, absurdly had me not just on a BQ pace, but a borderline PR pace. I was like, "hahah woman, nope. today is NOT that day!" (and this was not self sabotage, but an honest reminder to myself about my current fitness, the weather, and realistic expectations. I came to run a 3:37 not a 3:25.)

At mile 17 I shouted a text to my Dad. "MILE 17 104 PM. RUNNING WELL, THIS WILL NOT BE A LONG STOP." Poor Lee drives 8 gazillion miles, and then he and my Aunt and Uncle set up camp by Chestnut St to see me for 12 seconds. I felt bad! But with the sun beating down on me, I thought an epic crash could possibly happen and I needed the banked time safely in hand. I had sent in a pre-order for chapstick (I was desperate for it)

Thank heavens for Lee's chapstik!

So I basically cruised though my mile 18.2 pit stop in a complete flurry.

Hi Lee. Bye Lee.

Everyone was like "GO GO GO!!!" And it was very exciting. So off I went! (literally, 16 seconds later)

GO GO!!!

At mile 19 my body decided, rudely, that it had had enough gel, enough water, enough sun, and enough running and it was going to be sick. I'm like, "body, you are NOT." I began to calculate exactly how much time it would take me to barf and get going again. I did not like how the numbers looked, so I shut it down. ALSO. ALSO, you don't want to be the person who blows chunks on heartbreak hill. That is just wrong. I decided that that when I felt super sick, I would keep running but keep my mouth shut and tread gently. And when I felt better, I would speed up! This was a good plan, and it kept me going (although, in a rather heater skelter way) until mile 23 when I suddenly felt better. YAY! Feeling better is the best.

So, barfy feelings left behind, I decided to finish the damn race.

Shockingly (especially since I really had not been able to eat since mile 16 or so) my legs were feeling good. I was poaching a bit in my own sweat, but I had hiked up my singlet and had been dumping cups of water on my torso for quite some time. (I was very *moist* GROSS.) But I was happy.
I was happy to have had a great race on a day when the weather easily could have messed me up. Or, messed with my head.
I was happy that I was going to BQ again, and with a "safe" amount.
I was happy to have enjoyed almost every mile!
I was very happy that I had not succumbed to a fit of violent vomiting.
And MOSTLY I was happy that I was close to the finish, and would be able to get an extra extra large ginger ale, with extra ice. I had been thinking about that since mile 20, and I was SO SO thirsty that I never thought I would not be thirsty again. I could not stop imagining the deliciousness of a ginger ale. (I get a weird ginger ale craving after certain long runs. Clearly, this was one fo those runs!)

As I cruised down Boylston, I was able to pick it up for one last "sprint" (haha.) I heard my name being called, and saw Eric, Evan and Ellie waving to me! I was so happy to see them!

YAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

I finished and went all weird hands-on-knees gasping for air ugly crying. This is the kind of behavior that beckons the medics, but I assured them that I was fine.

AND I HAD DONE IT. 3:30:38, my BEST Boston time Ever!!!!!!

I was 100% delighted

I was tired. THIRSTY, SO THIRSTY. Salty. Definitely not jogging to the family meeting area like last year. I was pooped, I had left everything out there. I ran a much better race than I thought I could. I refused to let the heat, or the hills, or anything get in my head. When it got tough, I refused to stop. And I was pretty exhausted because of that. But happy. VERY happy.

And believe it or not, I saw Mainer/sunscreen goddess Leslie again! I babbled incoherently to her about lord knows what. Marathons make me even more verbose than normal. And dumb.

And go figure, by the time I made it to meet Eric (and Elle, and Evan) clouds had rolled in (and 30 minutes later, it was raining! CRAZY.)

My babykins. Too big to hold post marathon!

The 3 of us humans, and one of us dogs, walked the one magical block to the hotel. Evan immediately collected a giant, icy gingerale for me (which I drank in one big gulp.) And I babbled to Eric for a solid 40 minutes about my whole day! I took a painful, blistery, chafey (but NOT sunburney!) shower and then proceeded to lie in bed for 90 minutes, drinking endless ginger ales and eating the Kings Hawaiian sweet rolls that we get in the finishers snack bags. I love those stupid things.

Then, so as not to spend the rest of the day in bed, we took a magical family walk (and the wind had picked up, and was all aggressive!)

My hot husband

Because we are bossy parents, we made Ellie pose on/with things.

Ducks!!

Big trees!!

So that's a wrap! What a great Boston experience. I'm extremely happy to have secured my spot for next year, (and it's a weight off my mind, to be honest.)

I'm very happy with this race, and felt that I did my best in many ways. It's races like this that remind me why I work hard to get here in the first place! See you in 2020, Boston.