Marathon #42: LA Marathon, February 2016

Rodeo Drive! I LOVE LA!

Finally, after years of on again off again plans to run the LA marathon I finally did it! This would be the best opportunity to run it, since it would be held one month earlier in order to accommodate the running of the Olympic marathon trials the day prior. This meant we would get to run in cooler weather and get a chance to watch our Dallas women run in the trials. Well, at least one of those two things came to pass! Onward to my race recap...

After landing at LAX and dealing with ridiculous LA traffic, the first order of the day was to get to the expo at the convention center downtown. The expo was a little disappointing for a marathon of this size. Skechers had a lot of LA marathon apparel, but there weren't a lot of vendors there. Later that night we met up with Dean and the Pastre's for dinner within walking distance of our hotel. They tried to entice us to continue onward to a wine bar, but we knew better! (Although it was only Friday, and not the night before our race).

The next day we all headed down to the USC campus to position ourselves on the Olympic Marathon trials course. Since they ran on a looped course we saw them 3 times. Toby got some great photos. It was great watching our local runners run strong races, but it was also painful to watch the suffering in the "blistering heat", as the commentator kept repeating. Indeed, LA was having near record temperatures this week-end, and the trials didn't even start until 10:00 AM. I started getting a dreaded feeling in my gut that my own race was going to be really really painful the following day.

After 41 marathons I don't get that nervous, but this one was rattling my cage the night before. I really had to work to get my head wrapped around it. Even so, come race day morning I was ready to face whatever the day was going to bring. Mark, Jamie, and I boarded the bus to the Dodger Stadium, leaving Toby and Zelda with the immense challenge of trying to navigate LA traffic to spot us on the course and make their way to the finish in Santa Monica.

Ready for battle

It was crazy at the stadium with the long lines and the searches for everything like where to check our bags or find our corral. Jamie and I handed our bags off at a UPS truck and asked, "Is this right"? We couldn't tell. There were several trucks, but the kid said yes, so that was that. Good-bye stuff. By the time we got to our corral (we were in a timed corral ahead of the masses) I had to go pee again, but they were going to close off the corral entrance in 5 minutes, so I decided it would be better to suffer than end up starting further back. (We're talking over 20,000 runners). We had another 30 minutes to wait, so it was not comfortable, but at least I was pretty confident that I was well hydrated. I made Jamie and Mark move up further ahead, as I stayed near the 4:00 hour pacer. We started just before 7:00 AM with Randy Newman's "I Love LA" blaring from the speakers. Seriously.

The first 6 miles were probably the hilliest, with really steep declines that my quads hate with a passion. Luckily I had been training for them, so I got my feet under me and leaned into them, saving my quads. We were all packed together as we wound around the stadium and then through Chinatown. By the time we started heading west my tank top was already soaked. "It's going to be one of those days" I thought, as I hit every water stop and started breaking into the electrolyte pills earlier than planned. This is about when Toby and Zelda showed up for the first time, and it was really great to see and hear (Zelda) them! Shortly after that I flew into an open porta potty, finally!

Mile 6, when smiling is easy

I couldn't believe we were actually running on Sunset Boulevard! Off in the distance you would see the Hollywood sign on the hillside. It gave me chills. We ran by so many interesting sights, Echo Park Lake, the Hollywood Walk of fame, Grauman's chinese theater, and Chateau Marmont. Not only that, but the course was alive with diverse groups of people out cheering, playing music, or handing us water. I didn't turn on my music, in fact, when I saw Toby and Zelda again around mile 16 I tossed my mp-3 player to them. After that sighting they were off to Santa Monica.

Mile 16, Mark looking strong

She looks strong, but said she was dying

I got a lot going on at this point, hands full

Even though I could feel it warming up I think I was distracted by more sights, like the Troubadour and Whiskey A Go Go. This was the real deal! Hollywood! We even ran along Rodeo drive in Beverley Hills! All of a sudden there was Jamie at a water stop, somewhere around mile 19. What the heck? She was having a really bad day, said she felt like she was going to throw up and had been walking. It was obvious to me that she was dehydrated, so I gave her one of my electrolytes and tried to get her to drink more. She had her bottle with her and was able to get fluids down, which was good. We ran together for a couple of miles, but she said she had to walk again and told me to go on. I hated that! I knew once we got closer to Santa Monica we would start feeling the ocean breezes and she'd start feeling better and finish ok. We only had a few miles to go, but in the marathon those miles seem to go on forever.

The image I had in my mind of the last 5K is what carried me forward. I was imagining the wide open, palm-tree lined Santa Monica boulevard with the ocean in the distance and the cool ocean breeze blowing in my face...well it wasn't like that at all in reality. The sun was baking us, as there was no shade, with no sign of an ocean nearby. It was pretty much all downhill though, which helped. Suddenly, with about a mile to go we went from full sun into a thick fog, and the temperature felt like it dropped over 10 degrees. As we turned onto Ocean boulevard I could hear the ocean, but the fog was too thick to see it. A bit disappointing, but it did feel good! I couldn't even see the finish clearly in the distance. I could hear it, but couldn't quite see it, very eerie! And suddenly, there it was! The glorious finish! Shortly after Jamie finished too! She was NOT happy, but a finish is a finish, and from what I can tell our medals look exactly the same.

We tried to find our UPS truck, but quickly realized we had no idea which truck our bags were in. There were 10 trucks with letters on them, which were supposed to be for your last name. What? We couldn't remember a letter on our truck and we don't have the same last name, so OOPS. After what seemed like an eternity of trying to find our bags I figured we better find Toby first. I found a phone and called him and he came over in the cluster and managed to find our bags! Toby always takes care of us! He is one amazing man!

In the meantime it turned out that their illustrious beer garden was a total bust, which was fine with us, since Dean and the Pastres were at a really cool patio bar nearby. We joined them there, then later to the pier and beach. Priceless afternoon!

Stats: Mark ran a 3:38 PR! I ran my usual 4:08, and Jamie ran a 4:19. I really loved the course, but I am not sure I love the big marathons and the cluster effect they seem to have on everything from trying to get fluids at stations to getting your belongings back at the finish or even a damn beer. Still, it was a wonderful week-end of fun in LA, even if they were having a heat wave!

Marathon #15: Vancouver International Marathon, 2005

Currently this is my only true "international" marathon, although a lot of west coast marathons happen to have the word "international" in their title. I've never been too excited about traveling abroad to run a marathon, so this will have to do. (Although yes, Japan has been on my radar lately). What's funny about this marathon is that it's the one marathon that nobody else I know has ran it before or since, so it never comes up in conversation or in my head. I take that back. Earlier this year Jordan mentioned that she and Evan were considering it...until they talked to me...

As far as destinations go, Vancouver Canada is a great place to visit. There's great food, lots of things to see and do, and logistically pretty easy to travel to. It was a perfect choice for me and Toby. We hit all the highlights: Stanley Park, Grouse mountain and the wildlife refuge, the Capilano suspension bridge park, and the waterfront area of south Granville. I highly recommend traveling to Vancouver, but the marathon, not so much.

Before I get into my own personal experience, I must tell you that the number one reason I give a resounding HELL NO to this marathon is this: 2 years ago they modified the route to cross over two busy streets. Their solution to crossing these busy streets is this: They STOP THE RUNNERS to allow cars to pass in timed intervals. Not to worry, they have chip mats on both sides of the streets so they can subtract the time you were stopped from your total marathon time at the end. Apparently some runners find this acceptable, as it continues to operate this way, but I just want to put it out there! (And it may change, so if interested check their web site for updates). The course terrain and scenery is still pretty nice, and with the marathon being held in May, the potential for good weather is high.

The course I ran in 2005 varied greatly from the current course, so keep that in mind when reading. We started and finished at the BC Place Stadium, did a short loop through the gaslamp district, then along the Vancouver Harbor into Stanley Park, which was absolutely stunning, then out along the English Bay, which again was beautiful. The majority of the hills were in the last 10K, which consisted of a lack luster residential out and back. I saw a lot of runners cheating; cutting across the road to avoid running to the actual turn around. I've never seen anything like this in a marathon before or since! There was no chip mat at the turn around, so one has to assume it wasn't considered important enough to prevent. We crossed the Burard bridge in the worst possible place, mile 24, which I recall having to walk a little bit, but from there it was flat to the finish. I loved the course for the most part, but there were issues with the aid stations. First of all they continue to use Ultima instead of Gatorade or Powerade, which is just flat out nasty. Ultima continues to have their hold on a lot of west coast races, which I find baffling. Who drinks this stuff? Secondly, there were several miles in between some aid stations, which set me at a deficit early in the race, as it was a really warm and humid morning. Luckily, I was just starting to take electrolyte pills in training and had them with me to test out, so this is what saved me! Late in the race they did have sponges at some of the stations, so that really helped too. I don't remember a whole lot about what was going on in my head. I know I was angry about a lot of things: the Ultima, the heat, the cheating, the lack of water stops, but then I was blown away by the varied scenery along the way. I know I had fuzzy math problems while walking the Burard bridge, thinking in all certainty that I was going to come in over 4 hours, and it was only as I approached the finish line that I realized I was going to finish under 4...with a 3:51 finishing time. How messed up is that? Toby had ran the half marathon, and was there waiting for me at the finish. The finish area was inside the Stadium, and it was a pretty decent set up, but I don't recall spending much time there.

Later, when we headed back out into town I decided to wear the race T shirt, which was a distinctive long sleeved light brown shirt, thinking I'd see other marathoners, but I never did. It was like it never happened. We spent the remaining days touring all the sights in Vancouver and not once did I spot the shirt.

In summary, we had a great trip to Vancouver, which included some water fall hikes while on a drive up to Whistler as well. I just can't say I'd recommend the marathon. Toby did enjoy the half marathon though, posting a 1:27 finishing time.  So there you have it--just run the half! Thought you'd never hear me say that, huh?

I wore headsets before headsets were cool...but these are clearly an uncool version

At Whistler, yes a bit cold and wet!

What to Wear (updated)

I've revised my post-it note on what to wear while running. Although there are some pretty cool mobile apps out there for this purpose, I have found that my post it note works best because it is tailored specifically for me. What works for me doesn't necessarily work for my running buddies. My hands get cold easily, I don't like layering tops, and if it's 60 degrees or more I burn up with short sleeves. When looking at the temperature in the winter I don't go by the wind chill temperature or the actual temperature-I use the average between the two.  If the temperature is in the teens or if there is ice involved I have a tendency to wimp out. Not sure what the northerners wear for that, but I am pretty sure I don't own it! This is Texas after all...

Marathon #14: Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon, 2004

Running this marathon was Cheryl Crawford's idea. She loved the flying pig theme and was really eager to break the four hour barrier in the marathon. Since I was consistently running marathons around the 3:50 mark I decided this would be a fun goal to help get her there. I knew she was capable of doing it, but she had a mental block that would have her crater as she hit the 20 mile mark. I only worried about 2 things: the unpredictable May weather in Cincinnati and the very hilly first half of the course. If we didn't go out too fast we'd be ok on the course, but if the weather was going to be warm and humid we would have a lot of work on our hands regardless. Luckily, it was cool on race day morning. It was pouring down rain, my first marathon in the rain, surprisingly enough, but at least it wasn't warm. It actually felt good! My memory is just bits and pieces of small and sometimes funny events, like being passed by a guy running in a shark costume, Cheryl's encounter with a relay runner who attached herself to our backsides around mile 22 (priceless... more on that later), and the constant rain, water puddles and frozen feet...

Luckily, I kept Cheryl's article that she wrote for our cycling club newsletter, so let me introduce to you my guest blogger, Cheryl Crawford, and her story!

This was my 4th marathon, and I was bound and determined to break the elusive 4-hour barrier. My last marathon was a 4:05 three years ago in Austin. Luckily, I had awesome training partners this time, and I even convinced them to go to Cincinnati with me to do the Flying Pig. Thank you, Andi and Teresa! I couldn’t have done it without you! Now, on to the marathon. We arrived in Cincinnati two days prior, and it was warm and humid, and supposed to be raining up until marathon day. However, consistent with two of my prior three marathons, the rain held off until the marathon, but I’ll come back to that later. The marathon expo on Saturday was great! It had a ton of “pig” themed things, which I proceeded to buy. I bought a Flying Pig fleece jacket, a Flying Pig running shirt, and a Flying Pig running hat, so the pressure was on to do well the next day. As part of the race packet, we got a really nice Flying Pig backpack, a poster, and a t-shirt. After the expo, it was an early dinner, and off to bed.


Surprise, surprise! I awoke the next morning to the sound of rain. And it had cooled down to 50-ish degrees. So, I had to abandon the idea of wearing the pink sleeveless top I had bought just for the marathon, and stick with long sleeves and gloves. Luckily when we all met up in the lobby, Toby had orange rain ponchos, so we marathoners were able to stay dry as we walked to the race start. Thank you, Toby! The race started at Paul Brown stadium, and they were nice enough to have the stadium open so we could stay dry and use the facilities prior to the start. At the 10-minute-to- race-start announcement, we headed to the line. Apparently we weren’t the only three girls with pony tails wearing orange rain ponchos. We lost Billy as we exited the stadium. He thought he was following us, but it was someone else. Hmmm… I didn’t ask him if those girls were cuter. Teresa, Andi, and I made our way to the start line. Suddenly, the gun went off, and it was time to go. We, and several thousand other folks, quickly shed our ponchos and tossed them on the ground.

The first couple of miles were pretty tricky since you had to watch your feet for discarded rain gear, garbage bags, and shirts. The first mile was a little slow, but we had gotten close enough to the front that we were quickly able to get into our pace. Across the bridge into Kentucky and back, a loop around downtown Cincinnati, and then the hills. Yes, Cincinnati has hills! Matter of fact, miles 6-10 were basically one big hill. Our pace slowed a bit to compensate, but we were still on target. And the scenery was beautiful, even with the rain. After the big hills, we continued to run through some beautiful neighborhoods and more rolling hills. I was amazed at how many spectators were out cheering us on even with the bad weather. In some of the smaller towns, we could only run two abreast because the crowds were so thick. The miles kept ticking away and the pace remained steady. I was feeling amazingly good! Before I knew it, mile 20 was coming up. I started preparing myself for the big crater, which has happened in my prior three marathon experiences. Along side me, Teresa is claiming that we’ll do the last 10k in 58 minutes, because that’s what she always does. I assured her that that was not possible since I always hit the wall and slow down to 10+ minute miles the last 10k. Regardless, we hit mile 20 under 3 hours, so I had over an hour to work with to meet my goal. Suddenly, we hit mile 21, and I hadn’t slowed down yet. Then mile 22. Then mile 23. What was wrong? I wasn’t bonking! Suddenly, there was Andi, and the three of us were together again. I looked at my watch and claimed “I’m gonna smash that 4-hour mark!” And off we went. And there went mile 24. Still feeling good. At mile 25, there was one more surprise for us. Another hill! I think I was in such a state of shock that I was still feeling good, that it didn’t even faze me. And the crowd was amazingly loud. Right behind me, Teresa yelled “Don’t slow down!”, and off we went picking up the pace. Believe it or not, that last 1.2 miles was the best! We were laughing, smiling, almost crying, coaxing the crowd to cheer louder, and suddenly, there it was: the finish line! And the official clock was reading 3:55! I crossed, and quickly stopped my watch. My time – 3:54:01! Eleven minutes faster than my prior best, and almost six minutes faster than my goal! I was ecstatic. After hugging my awesome running partners, it was on to get the foil blanket. Then the precious finisher medal (Flying Pig, of course.) Food, chip removal, really cute finisher’s shirt, and finally out to meet the guys, who were waiting with dry clothes and hot chocolate. A quick change, and back to the hotel, which unfortunately was about a mile walk away. Through chattering teeth and uncontrollable shivers, that walk was made with a big smile on my face.

So that's Cheryl's story. It's pretty much what I remember of the day as well. She and Andi took off ahead of me right from the start though, going faster than I wanted, and I didn't catch up to them until just before the halfway point. (after the major hills). And this is something I want to point out about marathons I've learned over the years: you may have a plan, but when the race starts you have to be willing to adjust those plans to run YOUR race and trust that in the end it will all work out for everybody. If you try to force something you will end up paying the price. So it worked out. Andi and I worked like a tag team. Somewhere around mile 16 or so Andi left us, then we caught her again around mile 23 or so to finish together the last few miles. Oh and the meltdown story at mile 22...so this relay runner was breathing heavily on our necks and at times trying to nudge between us. She tried to talk to us--mentioned she liked our pace (obviously), but Cheryl wasn't having any of it, and finally turned to her and said, "You're really annoying me!". Oh my God I laughed so hard and told that poor lady, "This is mile 22 for us, sorry." I guess it's so funny to me because Cheryl is such a nice person, and I've never seen her crack like that. We've ridden God knows how many miles together on our bikes and I've never seen her bonk on the bike, and I mean NEVER, so yeah, it was priceless and I am grateful to have shared that moment!

The medal turned out to be adorable! One of my favorites:

In conclusion, thanks to Cheryl for suggesting this marathon. It's really well ran and surprisingly scenic and a lot of fun!

Marathon #13: Motorola Austin Marathon, 2004

Every year several Dallas runners would flock to Austin for this race. Our group would always include at least 15 people either running the full marathon, half, or the 2 person relay. I had ran the half or the relay countless times, but didn't get around to running the full until the year of 2004. I'm glad I did because only a few short years later we all stopped going to Austin. I can't remember why, except possibly because they started changing the course; initially to the disastrous Freescale start in 2006--this is the one with the ice storm and the crazy deer that jumped into the starting corrals and the year that Toby ran his sub-3 hour marathon, all of which is worthy of its own blog entry someday, but I digress. They moved the start again to downtown near the capitol, and as far as I know it has remained largely unchanged since then. I do remember they changed sponsors and the prices jumped really high. Maybe that was the final straw. At any rate I find it strange that I never hear of any local runners heading down there for the event any more.

I liked the original course, a mostly point to point route, with one long out and back in the middle, and a finish into Zilker park near downtown. It had some rolling hills, but overall it was decent terrain. The course was always lively and fun. Every race I ran was an enjoyable one, and the marathon was no exception, so I really don't have much of a story to tell. The race started early--it was still dark when we assembled. Here is the group shot from that year. Doug, Shelly, and I ran the full, and Kathy and Shelly's daughter ran the half, in fact, Kathy ran with me for her entire race, which was a lot of fun.

Pre-race nervousness? Not this group!

We ran a decent first half, around an 8:35 pace, which was reassuring, since my last marathon was the disastrous Boston marathon, where I was reduced to walking. Looking back now it's obvious that the course of Boston combined with lack of downhill training is what did me in, but back then I was still nervous about running another marathon. It was a great relief to get back to "normalcy", and run my usual marathon time again. (3:52 chip time). Years later, after meeting and running with LSP we realized we both ran this race and were within a couple of minutes of each other, back when we didn't know each other! I have scoured all my photos, looking for a shot of her in them to no avail.

Strangely enough it just occurred to me that this was my last Texas marathon! I'm not a repeater, so courses that have remain unchanged are out for sure, and those that have changed haven't changed enough to draw me back. I'm keeping my eye on the fairly new BCS marathon. The only problem is that it's held on the same week-end as the Dallas marathon, which I'm usually involved with one way or another. I enjoyed running the 20 mile distance of the Ft. Worth marathon. Maybe I'll run the whole thing someday, but it's not high on my list. People always ask me why don't I run White Rock-Dallas again and the main reason why is because these are my stomping grounds! I'm afraid I'd be bored to tears. But then again I'd know everybody, ha ha. I don't know, maybe in a few years. I'm having too much fun traveling to new places right now.

As for the Austin marathon...if anyone is up for it I'd love to run the half marathon! But I'm going to have to say NO to the Hula Hut...maybe the Oasis on Lake Travis? Fun times back then...

Marathon #41: Wineglass Marathon, Corning NY. October 2015

Immense gratitude sums up the marathon week-end; a week-end spent with 12 great friends, aka the "cat herd", or in some circles loosely referred to as the "TB's". In addition to our group the White Rock Running Co-op (WRRC) had a huge presence, as did several other Dallas runners who ran in Luke's Locker's training programs.  Oddly enough, even though Wineglass is not a mega-sized marathon, each year many Texans flock to it. There isn't even a direct flight into Corning from Dallas. Our group decided to do it mainly because we had so much fun together last year when we did the Newport Rhode Island marathon for Kathy's 50th state celebration. The Wineglass marathon and surrounding area appeared to suit us.

The day before the marathon it was cold and rainy, but luckily the forecast called for the rain to end that night. Since my last 2 marathons were in the cold rain I was happy to see that forecast. Yay, I'd be able to feel and use my hands! Our group consisted of 8 marathoners, 3 half marathoners, and 2 on the injured list, Laura Hebert and Toby. Laura had a leg injury, but Toby's situation turned out to be a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. It appeared to hit him all at once, early into the training, and he is still working on getting treatment for it. If you don't know much about RA know this: it's serious stuff, and very debilitating. Watching it take an athlete like Toby down is pretty scary.

Race day morning: 7 of us are on our bus ride up to the starting line in the town of Bath. (Mark was already there by the time we got on our bus). The full marathon course ran from the town of Bath southward to the town of Corning, a point to point course. The half marathoners started halfway in between the two towns. We got a text from Vicki, a half marathoner, that their bus driver accidentally took them to the full marathon start, ha! Talk about a bus load of people ready to kill the bus driver! When we got off the bus we all made a beeline to the restrooms. They were playing a David Gilmour song, which made me think of Toby since he loves David Gilmour and I found myself getting emotional. I know he didn't have any real investment in running this marathon, but not having him there with us really hit me hard at that moment. There's nothing more pitiful than crying in a stinky porta potty, except praying, and yes, I've done plenty of that in my day! Thankfully my moment was brief. Rejoining the gang, 8 of us who trained together all summer really made me grateful for our health. We're not exactly a spring chicken bunch!

Grateful for being here

The forecast of a cloudy day was already proving to be incorrect, so right before we turned in our warm ups I switched into a tank top and put on my sunglasses, which, finally, I nailed it on what to wear! They didn't play the National Anthem, in fact, they played nothing! We took off into total silence. Very odd. Early on we all settled into our respective paces, with Jamie, LSP and Amelie together in front of Kathy and I. Mark and George were long gone right away, and Mike stayed behind us. The only bad thing about a point to point course is that we would never see each other again unless in passing, until the end. The out and backs and chances to say hi to each other were a lot of fun in Newport!

I was trying to stay positive, but I did have to say to Kathy that I didn't think this was as scenic as I had hoped. We had a lot of stretches along the highway early on. Also, we were a little early for the turning of the leaves this year. Still, it was nice. The temperature was pleasant, but we did have some head wind to deal with. (Not too bad, in fact I felt it helped keep me cool later on). We had some inclines to contend with, but I have learned a long time ago that "net downhill" doesn't mean "all downhill". Toby was on the course a LOT with his camera. And I mean A LOT.

I was feeling the urge to play my music and keep the pace up--I felt like it was starting to slip a little around mile 11 or so, and I hated to leave Kathy, but eventually I told her my music was going on and I had to go it alone. Unlike during the training runs I am not much of a talker in the marathon. The music really pulled me along for the next several miles, and happily the scenery improved as well.

Last pic of us together

Looking at the marathon's elevation map, there was what we referred to as "the pointy thing" at mile 15. I was really curious to see what it was. Sure enough, it was a pretty steep little climb. It was kind of funny to imagine everyone else going, ah so this is the pointy thing? I was kind of hoping for a bridge, but we did have a few bridge crossings later on. (Yes, I have a bridge fetish).

Not feeling the love of the bridge at this moment

My game plan for pacing marathons these days (if things are going according to plan) is to try to stay within my "comfy zone" of 9:00-9:15 minute miles as long as possible. Miles 19 and 20 were at 9:15, but then I couldn't hang onto it anymore. Once it slips my goal is to try to keep it under 10 minute miles, which usually equates to no walking or lingering at the water stops. At this point the marathon got more interesting because we entered a bike path, where there were a lot of spectators and hoopla--much needed! I was hitting a rough patch around mile 22 when I spotted Toby AGAIN with his camera and I was so mad! I wanted him to cheer or talk to me or something, anything besides point that camera at me. I told him I was really sick of his camera and people laughed, but man, I meant it.

I may be smiling, but I was really bitchy

Finally, at the water stop at mile 24 I took a walk break, took in 2 cups of water and got my head on right for the rest of the run. At that point the 4:05 pacer ran by and I kept him in my sights. This really helped me focus on running and not give in to walking. My marathon math was playing tricks with me, because I was projecting a 4:04 finish, but figured I must be pretty close with the pacer right in front of me. On mile 25 I came across my co-worker Susan. She asked me something about the distance we were at and I said we were at 24.5 and not understanding what that meant she asked, "What mile are we on?" I told her we were on the 25th mile. I know what marathon math is like, and later realized that she may have thought the next mile marker would be 26 instead of 25, so I felt really bad about that. If you run marathons you know what I am talking about! At any rate, I kept my pacer guy in my line of sight over the final bridge to the turn onto the finish line. When I approached the finish I heard screams, and I mean LOUD SCREAMS from the half marathoners cheering for me, and it choked me up as I crossed the line, where Toby, Mark, George, LSP and Jamie greeting me with hugs. One by one we hugged each other as we finished, then made our way to the group photo. It was truly a joyous finish, unlike the cold rainy ones I had last done. (Although frankly, all finish lines are awesome, even if nobody is there to cheer you in).

Final stats on marathoners in our little group:

George ran a 3:21, first place in his age group!

Mark ran a 3:47,  a PR

LSP and Jamie ran together the entire way with a 3:53

I ran a 4:04 (The 4:05 pacer came in a little early, oops)

Kathy ran a 4:09

Mike ran a 4:25

Amelie ran a 4:31. Somehow we passed her without knowing it!

The half marathoners rocked as well. Kelly and Zelda even ran PR's!

The remainder of the trip involved lots of singing, dancing, hiking, wine tasting, and laughter. Lots and lots of laughter.

Group finish line photo--just amazing friends!

Marathon #12: The Boston Marathon 2003

So I had just "finished" the Boston Marathon, the most highly anticipated marathon of my life, the one I repeatedly tried and failed to qualify to run, the one I had visions of an emotional finish down  Boylston Street and across the famous blue and yellow Boston Marathon finish line...
That just happened. But when I finally did cross that line I had nothing. Tears? Elation? Joy? Self loathing at my personal worst by over a half an hour? Nope. Nada. I just hobbled off into the masses and made my way to the hotel to find Toby, because my only thought was concern that he'd be worried about me. As I entered our hallway I saw a few of my friends wandering about in and out of their rooms. I opened up our door and... nothing. Toby wasn't there, and worst still, he hadn't been there. Nothing on my phone either. So I went out into the hall to chat with the others about our races and took my phone with me in case he was trying to contact me.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. If you're going to talk about Boston it all begins months prior, when you're training for Boston, and by training I mean hill repeats with lots of downhills, and long runs with lots of hills...Only I didn't do any of that. I was going to run and have "fun" and not worry so much about my performance. After all, I had finally made it to the big show, the Mecca of running, the Holy Grail, the Boston Marathon! Also, I had a nagging hamstring, so all of my training runs were pretty flat. Nevermind that I dropped out of the Mt. Rushmore marathon at mile 16 because of the downhill terrain...The excitement of finally making it to Boston overshadowed all of that.

The moment you arrive in Boston it's alive with marathon frenzy. The locals refer to it as "the invasion of the skinny people". There is an undeniable buzz in the air. We had a large group from Dallas, and we also joined up with Janet Hughes, who was one of the girls I ran my first marathon with who had since moved to Colorado.

The first order of business was to get to the expo ASAP and buy buy buy. It's a good thing I have devil dog shopping skills, because it was a total madhouse! I walked away with a singlet, shorts, long sleeved tech top, fleece, gym bag, and the coveted jacket. If you run the Boston marathon you must buy the jacket. The second thing you do is walk over to the finish line nearby and take your picture.

Toby, Kathy, and me. 

Boston's course, although historic, is somewhat problematic in that every participant is bused out to the tiny town of Hopkinton on race day to await a noon start (in 2003). We had an issue with our van. He either didn't have permission to take us all the way to Hopkington, or got lost, but either way we found ourselves dumped off the side of the road about 3 miles away. We kept trying to flag down buses, but they were all full, until finally a bus pulled up and let us get on! That madness cut into race prep and didn't help, mentally!

At Hopkington--not the best picture, but notice the Texas Flag shorts

Toby went off to his corral and Janet, Kathy, and I went to ours, which was around a corner and so far away from the start that you couldn't even hear the gun go off! In fact, it took us over 11 minutes of walking until we finally crossed the starting line! (It was better in 2011 with more waves and earlier start times).

Initially, things were going well. The crowds were simply amazing--in every small town the streets were lined with cheering people. It helped that it was a holiday, Patriot's day, and with the noon start people were already celebrating. It was very common to see grills and yard parties along the way. But I knew I was in trouble around mile 11 or so. I just felt hot and felt like our pace was too fast for me, so I let Janet and Kathy go and decided to slow down and try to recover. I did the classic "hide from your friends at the water stop" maneuver. When I approached the famous Wellesley girls I was annoyed by the shrill of their screaming, although I did find humor in their signs regarding kissing. The annoyance was yet another red flag. I was struggling by then, even with the slow down. When I got to mile 15 I started walking. The best way to describe how I felt was that I felt like my quads were being pulled off their bones! There I was having to do a walk-run shuffle and thinking, "Crap! I can't drop out! I just bought all that Boston stuff!" What makes matters worse is I was taunted by the trains running parallel to the course. At one point a spectator yelled, "Texas, what's your name?" I said my name, so he yells, "Teresa from Texas!!! Run!" and the crowd cheered for me, but once I got around the corner I walked again. At one point I smelled grilling burgers and I swear I almost stopped right there to ask for a burger and a beer. I was so so hungry--after all at that time, near the end, it was probably around 4:00 PM and all I had eaten was breakfast, a banana, and the gels! I came by Fenway park right as a game was ending, and the gauntlet of people there was so tight I could smell the beer on their breaths.  All the Texas cheers--I was so mad that I wore those stupid Texas shorts!

You can see the pain in my face and weirdly contorted hands

Finally, there I was, running down Boylston street, the finish line in the horizon, the moment I had dreamed about, and my only thought was that it was long, long, ridiculously long...

Sitting in the hallway of our hotel my phone rings. It's Toby. He says he's coming up the elevator. I have no idea where he's been or what his story is, but when he steps out of the elevator I see the tell-tale cotton ball taped to the inside of his arm. Oh boy! Once again, let me introduce my guest blogger, Toby, to tell his story...

Teresa does superior work in describing the sights and sounds of Boston, so I’ll give you my perspective.  (And yes I did buy the jacket too).

There were runners everywhere and for some reason they seemed  really excited about Boston!  To me (“The Cyclist”) it was just a marathon.  Don’t be too offended, I came to appreciate the history and tradition of the Boston Marathon. I reviewed my 2003 logbook for writing this blog and even I was surprised by my lack of running.  Apparently I had convinced myself all I needed to run a marathon was minimal mileage, cycling fitness and talent from above.  My average miles per week, a staggering 12 (yep, that's sarcasm).  Did one long run of 18 miles, 24 days before Boston.  (I did manage ~200 miles of cycling per month for Jan-Apr).  With all this superior training (sarcasm continues), I needed a time goal for Boston, mmm, ran ~3:15 in my first two marathons, so I should try to go faster, nothing too crazy, just a 3:10.  Yep, a marathon idiot.

Teresa mentioned our “little warm-up” getting to the start area, which probably didn’t help my attempt at a 3:10, nor did the weather, sunny and 70°F.  And you know what?  Boston isn’t flat.  I’m oblivious to all of these things.  Off to the staging corrals! Any guesses where this one is going???

I’m also clueless with Boston’s systematic staging corrals you’re surrounded by similar paced runners, so you shouldn’t be concerned about taking ~3 minutes to cross the start line and you shouldn't feel the need to get past people in the beginning, mile 1, sub 7, oops.  I recall my quads feeling “something” by mile 1, but I’m not smart enough to know any better, nor am I smart enough to realize the first mile is mostly downhill.  Average pace for first 5k is 7:09, (3:10 equates to ~7:15 pace), so I’m on a ~3:07 pace, more oops  I was completely clueless how deep of a hole I had dug myself into in a mere a 3 miles.  I’ll blame it on the crowds, especially the Wellesley College Scream Tunnel, which you hear before you see, https://youtu.be/WbuXW647hCA?t=10s

Half way, 1:34:47, still on 3:10 pace, but imagine this, I’m hurting, I know shocking.  No biggie, I was hurting at Disney and managed to keep pace, after all isn’t a marathon supposed to hurt?  Recall from the Disney story I said warm weather and / or hills would have done me in, well...  Also I’m not smart enough to know that warm weather or hills can impact your marathon, told you I was clueless. 

The Newton Hills, miles ~16-20, although they are not named after Sir Isaac Newton, they should be as his laws of motion and universal gravitation had grasp of me.  The wheels were falling off.  Somewhere along the way I stopped at a medical tent to take off my shoe to treat a major blister on my right big toe.  Reality had set in, 3:10 was gone.  Didn’t take long to see 3:15 was gone too.  I can say that Heartbreak Hill (~mile 20) did not break me, I was already shattered.  I “sneaked” behind the crowds to the sidewalk and walked up Heartbreak Hill.  Maybe my stroll down the sidewalk gave me time to set a new goal, 3:30, quite the tumble!

The last 10k was a struggle (duh).  Plenty of crowd support, but wearing Texas flag shorts was a mistake, “Com’on TEXAS, you can do it, don’t stop!” And everybody say it with me, “You’re almost there!” Ugh.  The aroma of outdoor cooking lined the course, remember at this stage it’s ~3pm, who knows when I ate breakfast and oh yea, I’ve ran 20+ miles.  Around Fenway Park it smells like a frat house washed in beer, lovely.  Remember it’s Patriot’s Day, a civic holiday in Massachusetts so the afternoon crowds while friendly, do have plenty of adult liquid energy in them to support your cause.

The damage had been done, my 7:17 pace through mile 15 went up to an 8:55 for the last 11 miles.  Told myself I was going to run from mile 25 on, but it was more of a hobble / wobble and a 9:20 pace.  The result, a poorly executed 3:28.  While even today a 3:28 sounds good, it’s never good when one’s second half pace per mile is 1 minute and 40 seconds slower than the first half.  I’m also sunburned.  That makes me officially done and the next adventure begins…

Chaos is a good way to describe the finishing area.  Volunteers are destroying the finish fences to get to collapsing finishers, the warm temps and sun had fried people, including me. I’m dizzy headed and am struggling to make progress through the finishing area.  Volunteers ask me if I need assistance, I politely tell them I just need to “rest” and I’ll be okay, off I stumble.  Next volunteer asks me if I’m okay, same response, I’ll be okay, plus there are numerous finishers that have collapsed and really need assistance.  After a few stumbles I find myself being hoisted over the fence by volunteers, being placed in a wheelchair and carted off to the medical tent.  Crazy scene inside the medical tent!  It’s being ran like a triage M.A.S.H. unit, they're well organized / staffed and have things under control .  “Bair Hugger to 36” - “IV to 21” – “wheelchairs to the finish”, their PA system was abuzz with instructions to the staff.  They take my vitals and once I appear stable, (i.e. they don’t think I’ll puke), they start an IV.  Wondrous invention, although I’ll be requesting a blanket very shortly.  They even bring your finisher’s medal to you.  Don’t recall how long I was in the medical tent, an hour, maybe two?  While I don’t recommend  the adventure of medical tent, I did get my money’s worth out of my entry fee.

Off I wander to find the luggage buses. Sad sight as most the bags around my bus are gone, making it obvious I’d had a rough marathon.  Luckily they hadn’t given away my belongings, so I made my “claim of shame” to collect my stuff and venture to the hotel to see how others fared.

No matter what my future marathon times are, hopefully Boston 2003 will stay my worst marathon, although it did teach numerous marathon lessons.  My next marathon attempt would not be until Feb 2006 and I would run Boston in 2010 to “redeem myself”, those are stories for future blogs, maybe…

Back to Little T… 

Looks deceptively good in finish line photo

So many parallels! Boston 2003 still stands as the slowest marathon for both of us, and yes, we both returned to Boston in 2010 (Toby) and 2011 (me) (See blog titled, "Blast from the Past: Boston Marathon 2011", dated 3/28/13). It wasn't all bad. We met the Melders, now great friends of ours, on that stupid van and 2003 was the year Will Ferell ran Boston. Neither one of us saw him, but Kathy did! And nobody remembers that 2003 was a warm one because 2004 ended up being a heck of a lot warmer!