Tag Archive | boston marathon

(Shipping up to) Boston!! Who is in???

You know the song, right? If not, it should be on your playlist for this weekend!

I have seen Dean’s post so I expect to see a few of you there! I am coming up Sunday morning as I will be coaching at a Natural Running expo all day tomorrow (should be fun!) in New Jersey. Sunday I have lunch and dinner reservations but I expect to be at the expo around 3. If anyone is there, how is the RW booth, like the last two years at 3 pm? Hope I make it in time! Bring your swimsuit!

After the race, I’ll be meeting up with people at the family reunion area under the M letter. Easy enough, right? Hope to see you all having a wonderful day out there!!!!

I wish you all have an amazing day as I did there. Or BETTER!!!!

And, just so you’re prepared, I am microwaving an OLD post I did on how to do BAASTIN TAWK, from here:

In my quest to get familiar with the Boston Marathon (which I am signed up for and *might* be running in April), I’ve been lurking in the Boston Marathon Forum… I am still a bit injured and not training, so I haven’t been quite active, but it seemed like I had to learn a new language before I even got involved…

They talk about the race but also about specific training, and a lot about hill training. Your training run could be a Beast (10 miles), or a 1/2 Beast (5 miles); a 20 miler, obviously, is a Double Beast. If you’re like me, you can RLAG (Run like a Girl) or SAS (Slow as Sh*t). As for run types, it could be GA miles (General Aerobic miles: not a hard run and not a recovery run either) or a Goldilocks: a run that isn’t too fast and isn’t too slow. It’s just right…

If you’re adventurous and decide to skip the watch, that’s a Country Mike style run. A Zombie run is a morning run that starts at Stupid O’Clock.

Now, if you’re injured and have to cross-train (or if you actually enjoy cross-training!) you could use the Buttmachine (the stairclimber) or the Karimill (treadmill, and you’ll be logging Kari miles). But if you hate them as much as me, then they could fast turn into Bacon Pudding (aka, the repulsive workout).

Your marathon could go well, or it could make you pull a king (having to complete an open air confession during the final stages of a marathon). But these people are tough, and will do anything to avoid a MILF (NOTwhat you’re thinking… it’d be a Marathon you’d like to forget.)

The most important thing, in Boston talk and for the Boston marathon is that you HTFU (Harden the **** up. Or Hurry the **** up).

(Shipping up to) Boston!! Who is in???

Boston Marathon – Cheering until you Collapse!

Apr21

Part 1, Sunday before the race (the Expo and other stuff) is here. Real-time tweets inserted.
Monday, race day, we got up at 5:30 and Patricia left by 7 am. Luckily, the…

Boston Marathon – Cheering until you Collapse!

Feb25

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Hmmm: the new Boston Qualifying times are out

Feb17

Hmmm: the new Boston Qualifying times are out

Boston Marathon RR – Part II

Apr21

Part 1 is here

Race Monday

Up at 5 am. I was sleepy, I felt like crap and I was worried I hadn’t slept or eaten enough.

Monday morning. Race Day. Lots of Busses. Boston Commons.

But once I sat on the bus, I was totally relaxed. I was happy and READY. Ready to “make it happen”, ready to “get my Boston”. The trip to Hopkinton is an hour long and by the time we all get there there’s very very long lines at the stink-a-potties and not enough time to get ready. Still, Andrea and I met with medievalistrunningincircles (in the pic below) and runwithjill for a short bit chat while lining up.

I was so totally relaxed that we got the start line 9 minutes late; so we started like a few corrals back, and who cares! I was ready to enjoy it and soak it all in, in my 26.2 “victory lap”. The plan was to enjoy the race, go cautious and pace for an even effort. Basically, hold it in for the first 22 miles and then see what we had left for the last 4, where the race starts.

I like to divide and conquer, and split the race into segments to make it easier, so I’ll do the same here.

Mile 1 to 5

Bushes, downhills, and a very very crowded road. Andrea and I started together as we have similar finish times, but we didn’t have a plan to stay together or not. I always have to stop to drink water, and who knew what my leg would do. She had a messy toe. We just decided just to do whatever we felt like doing, but there was no space to move at all. She was a step or two ahead of me most of the first miles. I held my pace tight, not pushing at all. The weather was perfect (though most people were over-dressed), 50s, sunny, with a little cross-wind. Thank you very much.

Mile 6 to 11

This is looking too easy, this “being relaxed”, but I don’t question the plan. I was really pumping the crowd for attention and we run into Jill, she does pictures while running!

We are relaxed and enjoying it, such a change from all my other races!! I also had never raced a marathon with anyone before; we chatted a lot, we grunted, I swore a few times, it made it so much better. By Mile 8, I just couldn’t wait any longer to get to the Newton Hills; I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I was shocked I was having this much fun; why do people say such mean things about this course? We high-fived about 200.000 people. Got a few “Vamos Argentina”, and lot of “Go Liz”. By then, Andrea had agreed to put her name on her shirt for the next one. I was counting the seconds to the famous Wellesley College screaming girls, and the minutes to my hills! They couldn’t come soon enough!

Mile 11 to 20

You hear the screams from far away, and the signs they hold up urging you to kiss them are hilarious. And it was over too soon ;-). Mile 14 I feel a sharp pain in my hip flexor, it hurt like hell for half a mile and then it goes away just as fast as it appeared; but the ITB is mute so far. Shhhhhhhhhh, don’t wake him up. Now I am being pulled to Mile 17 where Dimi would be, I stopped for a hug and went right back to it. Andrea and I are still together and when I see the Mile 18 sign I scream in disbelief “Mile 18 already?? This is going to end too soon!!!!”... yeah, ridiculous, but I am not lying. I was feeling the course slip right by. I barely noticed the first two hills. I had been gelling every 4 miles and drinking every two. By the Mile 20 marker I screamed “There is no wall!!”. Yes, I was screaming most of the race. It was fun like that.

Hard left onto Boylston. very hard left.

Mile 20 to 22

Bring it. I was SO ready to make it happen. I had stuck to an “easy” effort and it was paying off. I was feeling great up Heartbreak, which I now renamed Heartfix Hill and I can not tell you how great it is when you get to the top and you realize it’s done, you’ve conquered the hills, and then you also leave all your fears behind. Heartbreak is really not bad, if you are running this relaxed and happy. This was my first marathon ever where I never stopped to walk or listened to even 1 minute of music (and so much work went into that playlist!). I was IN THE ZONE! The crowd had gotten thicker and louder and at Boston College it all goes out of control. I might have lost my pace there a bit. These kids were just OSOM, louder than Wellesley, and fun; I think that was my favorite part… I am now ready to check the tank and see what I have left.

Mile 22 to… Heaven!

From here it was all downhill, and that’s when the race starts for many. My ITB was not a problem. I had NO pain whatsoever so far; I felt good, strong, and, HAPPY. I saw my friend T with a sign on the course

and off to mile 25 where Dimi would be. I spot him and then I saw a bank with those big clocks…

I am horrible at math when I run, but for the first time, I look at my watch to see what’s going on… I tried adding numbers, and it seems like I am doing decent time… I recheck, and seems like I could come under 3:50, which would be amazing. But I am starting to lose Andrea now, I turn around every few seconds and I see her behind me but she doesn’t seem to catch up. I tried to alter my stride but my legs are locked I couldn’t. We are close to the finish and with less than a mile to go I see I could come really close to my PR from last November, and I hit the gas. I turn left, I see the finish line 500 yards ahead and I find the extra gear. My last mile at Boston was my fastest. I finish in 3:45:21. A PR by 1 second! In Boston.

Someone wanted to go back and do the whole 26.2 all over again right then!

Ready for three bottles of Gatorade. more or less.

The most amazing thing is that I felt like a million dollars at the finish line. I could walk. This is totally new to me. I had NO PAIN. NO pain!!! This is the first time this happens. My ITB said nothing, not a peep, just the regular blisters. Andrea comes in a few seconds later, we hug and cry like maniacs. We then take her to the medical tent as she’s dehydrated and needs a whole bag of IV. She was fine after a bit, we hugged some more, and once you see the official pictures you’ll see how well she recovered, we even got pictures with all two Elvis Pressleys! We met our friends, took some more pictures, and I just couldn’t shut up about what an amazing day I had just. Well, I still can’t.

I did get my Boston but I didn’t have to make it happen. Once I relaxed, it all happened on its own. You just have to trust yourself enough. It all just came together, and on race day there is not much you can do but put one foot in front of the other, trust yourself, and let it all just happen. I could not be any happier today. I feel like the Queen of the World. That’s what I’ve been screaming all day.

I feel like I’ve turned a corner here.

Boston Marathon RR – Part I

Apr20

WOW

What can I say about the feeling of a first timer running the world’s most prestigious marathon in the world?

Well, WOW!

I had an amazing time come race morning. And I had been so worried about this race for months… Only 3 months to train, then getting injured in the middle of it, had to skip a lot of training (tempos and speedwork were gone, less long runs), and no time on the pavement. I expected pain, pavement shock, the promised ITB friction, and having to gut it out just like in NYCM09. And everything was the oppositeof what I had thought. EVERYTHING. Don’t you just love it when life proves you 100% wrong like this? But let me start at the beginning…

Saturday

My friend Dimi and I got to Boston early and went for seafood in the pier.

I was still struggling to eat as I had no appetite whatsoever and I was afraid to lose any more weight. Any kind of food looked disgusting to me, even the Nutella, but I kept at it all weekend, sighing a lot while eating. The weather was cloudy, rainy, cold, and windy. As long as Monday is nice, we’ll take it. We hit the expo next (the finish line is right there!).

It’s funny how this weekend I was more “MsRitz” than Elizabeth, but I loved it. I went by the RW’s booth and as Jeff and the Mayor were busy with people for a bit, I discovered the OSOM (because there is NO better word to describe her) Jennifer Van Allen there!

She’s just super super nice and SO inspiring. She says 1 word and I tear up. The expo, in general, was mayhem. Very crowded and very little space for this much people. I was ready for a panic attack every 2 minutes, so glad Dimi was there to keep me sane. We ran into Grete Waitz signing autographs, she said she was going back to Norway…

And Khalid Khannouchi, and it turns out we go to the same sports doctor and podiatrist in NYC.

While Dimi met his friend, I sat and watched the course video; by the second run, I was freaking out. I was so scared of what my leg would do with all those hills, I had to get out of there. My brain was spiraling out of control. We went to get dinner and (this is me showing off my hard-earned numbers)

then to Beerworks to meet the FE folks. There’s a Beerworks across the street from Fenway park (and there was a game right then, so the streets were crowded), but it was the wrong Beerworks and I decided my legs had had enough and I needed some rest.

We went back to the hotel but I didn’t sleep very well. My head was in total freak out mode.

Sunday

I woke up early and headed to the Sheraton for the RW’s “How to run your best Boston” seminar. Bart was moderating; Warren Green had osom tips (sun is in the back, no sunglasses needed!). Mark Remy had the funniest tips ever, which he published right away as I told him they would make a great post and if he didn’t post them, I would! They are here, and I really don’t know what’s wrong about #8 and #9. If you only know Mark from his running pictures, you’ll very happy to know he’s a good looking man, I was shocked too! And he’s ridiculously funnier in person. Jennifer knows the course really well but she mostly talked about the feeling of doing Boston. Again, she says a word and I tear up. She’s that amazing. Tish was there too and I was so glad to finally catch her as I had missed her Saturday, we had tea after the seminar and I love love love her! You can tell she’s a task master, I like how her brain works!

But all this Boston talk was making me more and more nervous; met Dimi and his friends and we went to brunch at the top of the Prudential building, great views of the city:

See the finish line right there at the bottom left? Went back to the expo to wait for Andrea and run into Josh Cox (J, you OWE me!),

and … I had a OMFG moment… I knew I’d run into a lot of people this weekend, but I REALLY wanted to meet Bill Rodgers, the Legend, or Boston Billy as you might know him too… and I see him coming up the halls, people following him shyly. Not me! He asked me what the pikermi shirt was about, where I was from (I have an accent!), and he said he had many friends from Argentina. Then he said: Go Get Your Boston! Ok, Billy, now I am READY!

Andrea would be staying over with me that night. I met Andrea last year through the Loop: she commented on my marathon pictures as I was wearing my Argentinian soccer jersey. Turns out, she’s Argentinian too and lives in Michigan. You probably know her, she comments a lot. So, Dimi would stay with his friends Sunday night and Andrea and I would go full marathon crazy mode. While I waited, and to stay off my feet, I sat at the RW’s “Running Legends” seminar, with Amby Burfoot, Dick Beardsley, Kathrine Switzer, Lisa Rainsberger and Greg Meyer.

Dick told the story of the Duel in the Sun and how he was getting stiff but then he hit a pothole close to the finish and seemed to jerk his leg out and he felt better. It shows how something that would injure or stress you could turn into something great. Dick and Katherine both emphasized how you can turn adversity into opportunity… She was able to had the women’s marathon added to the Olympics basically because the marathon race director attacked her in the race course.

It was great to hear them talk but the more I kept hearing how important this race is to everyone just added a bit more stress… I went back to my hotel to relax, I needed to be alone, watch a couple of movies and regroup. Still, I wasn’t able to eat, but I emptied as much of the Nutella jar as I could. It was a struggle. If you know me, you’d never believe I had trouble eating. My stomach was all knots. I really feel bad for anyone who had to deal with me this weekend, I was a nervous mess! I should learn a bit from this… 😉

By 10, Andrea was out cold, and I was still trying. Short story is, I couldn’t sleep. That is SO not me… Eating and sleeping is what I DO; they’re my specialty, my talent. I gave up and just breathed all night. Toby had said “don’t hope for a good race, make it happen”. That really stayed with me. I just couldn’t wait to make it happen. I was going to “get my Boston”!

Part 2 is here