BOSTON MARATHON-PART 1

As per usual, summing up my Boston marathon weekend is likely going to be a challenge.  Because also, as per usual, I had about a hundred different things going on and I want to tell you about all of them.  I’ll do my best to break it down without going into too much detail.  Fair warning, there's still a lot of details.  Every year my house is a home base for friends, teammates and family and this year was no different.  I love it.  The more the merrier.  Rolling in first was my Oiselle teammate and dear friend, Jackie Grendel.  Jackie was coming up from Virginia and would be running the marathon.  She arrived on Thursday night and between the long day of travel and her marathon nerves, which were already in high gear, she settled in pretty early.  I did, too.  Because I always do.

We got up early Friday morning and ran an easy five mile shakeout followed by quick showers and coffee.  Well, coffee for me.  She doesn’t drink it.  No, I don’t get it.  Note the clothing in the above photo.  It was still pretty chilly at this point.  Not for long.  I'll get into that later, though.  Around 11:00, we drove into Boston to grab our bibs and hit the expo.  My girls didn’t have school on Friday because of staff development, so I roped them into coming with us by promising them lots of free samples and random goodies.  Worked like a charm.  Parking in Boston is always a real treat.  But, as luck would have it, we pulled into a spot on Hereford street directly across from the Hynes Convention Center.  I probably checked the street signs five times before trusting that we could stay put.  It was a good sign, we agreed.  After getting through security, we walked up about six flights of stairs and finally got to the floor where they were handing out numbers and shirts.  This first step, alone, probably took us about 45 minutes.  As we made our way back downstairs, Grace looked at me and said, Mom, this really isn’t as cool as I thought it would be.  Jackie and I laughed as we explained that we hadn’t even gone into the expo yet.  She was not buying it but we told her to trust us.  And then, well, it was like walking into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory.  All four of us were giddy.

First things first.  We walked right over to the wall to take photos with our numbers.  Rosie patiently took these for us, understanding the importance of it, which I loved.  Then we turned around and ran smack into Joan Benoit Samuelson.  Jackie and I almost had a heart attack.  If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll remember that I got to run a few miles with Joan during the Sugarloaf Marathon.  I'd been trying to break 3 hours and she was using it as a training run for her then upcoming Chicago marathon.  After pushing me along for a two or three mile stretch, she let me know she was dropping back but encouraged me to pick up the pace and get it done.  In the end, I missed it by 16 seconds. But, post-race I found her and thanked her despite the fact that I hadn't hit my goal.  Be patient. she’d said. You’ll get it.  As you also may know, a year later, I finally did.  So, of course, I wanted to tell her about it.  

Now, I’m no dummy.  I knew she’d probably forgotten about Sugarloaf and running with me.  And while she admitted that she didn’t remember my name, she did say that she’d thought about that race often and wondered what had happened in the end.  It was pretty cool that I got to come full circle and share the fact that I’d done it with her.  Samuelson won Boston back in 1979 when she was 21 years old, setting a course record of 2:35:15.  This year, exactly 40 years later, her goal was to run within 40 minutes of that time.  I had no doubt that she would do it.  Spoiler alert, she did.  THIS WOMAN!  I’ll always be in awe of her and all that she has accomplished.  Not that she’s even close to done.

Rosie and Grace had stood by patiently while I had my starstruck moment with Joan but shorty afterwards they told me they were ready to split up and do their own thing, so we picked a meeting spot and time and they were off and running.  Literally.  Next stop for me and Jackie was the NUUN booth.  Both of us have been on the NUUN team for several years and we were eager to meet Mason French, our team manager and someone we talk to regularly via email, in person.  I already knew he was a cool cat, but hanging out with him in person re-confirmed this.  We had so much fun talking NUUN, running and other things that I don’t remember.  We said our goodbyes and he sent us off with lots of NUUN goodies.  He's the best.

After NUUN, we hit up Saucony.  They always partner with Dunkin Donuts for the marathon and their expo booth is usually pretty sweet.  This year was no exception.  We found Rosie and Grace enjoying the free donut samples and the next thing I knew I was buying both of them the cool Dunkin-themed shoes.  Yes, I am a sucker.  

We all went to a few more booths, and then Rosie and Grace took Jackie and I back to some of their favorites; Rice-A-Roni, Cooked- Perfect Meatballs.  OMG the meatballs (their words).  Finally, we got out of the expo, but before we headed back home, we wanted to make one more stop to say "hi" to our friend Jenny, who works for Salomon.  She was conveniently working in a pop-up shop about three blocks away so we walked down and grabbed ice cream on the way.  Rosie and Grace were more than happy to help Jackie with her carbo loading.  Jackie and I had the pleasure of meeting Jenny at last year’s Birdcamp and were thrilled to give her hugs and catch up for a bit. 

Then, imagine our surprise when we walked in and saw the one and only Kathrine Switzer giving a talk and signing books.  I had another little mini freakout as I explained to Rosie and Grace that Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston marathon as a numbered entrant back in 1967.  When she was through talking, I walked over and introduced them to her.  All of us were so moved.  It was a pretty special moment to share with my girls.  I'm sure I embarrassed them.  I don't care.

By now it was about 2:00 and all of us were totally wiped; definitely time to get home.  We pulled in to my driveway just as our Oiselle teammate, Sasha Gollish, was getting out of her cab.  Sasha’s a pro runner for Oiselle and would be racing the 5K the next day.  She was coming in from Canada and I don’t get to see her often, plus Jackie had never met her, so we had another little love fest with hugs and photos.  Yes, there would be a lot of these throughout the weekend.  

Later that evening, Sasha cooked us a delicious dinner; perks of having guests for sure, as I don’t cook and my husband was at the Red Sox game.  After that, Sasha and I got ourselves organized for the 5k, which I was also racing the next day and Jackie hit the hay.  We needed to get going around 6:30 the next morning as the race started at 8:00 so we both turned in shortly after Jackie.  Before my alarm went off, I could smell coffee which was no surprise as Sasha loves coffee as much, if not more, than I do.  At 6am it was already warm out and a little humid out.  First time in months.  Of course.  We had an easy trip into Boston, parked and headed over to the tents to drop our gear before leaving for a warmup.  As we cruised through our first mile, it started to rain and by the time we got back we were soaked.  And hot.  Very hot.  Gotta love New England weather.

THE RACE

I always love to do this race for a few reasons.  First, held down at the Boston Common, it has a really similar vibe to the marathon, which is pretty magical.  Second, I don’t ‘race’ the marathon as a guide, so even though I would be running the marathon on Monday with Michaela, doing the 5K gives me a chance to test the wheels and see what I can do, something I tend to crave come marathon weekend.  Third, since it’s a fast and flat course a good time is a high probability.  And fourth, while I hate the 5K because of how short it is, I do like to test myself in them every once in a while and I find it oddly fun and painful at the same time.  My goal for this one was just to push hard and see what I could do.  I hadn’t run a 5K in over a year so I didn’t really know what to expect but was feeling like I could likely manage a 6:10 average pace if I played my cards right.  My first mile was actually a 6:20, but this was primarily because I had to do quite a bit of bobbing and weaving due to the heavy traffic in the beginning.  For mile 2, I found a groove and started repeating my mantra out loud which was, RELAX. HAVE FUN. I mean, you can’t really do ether during a 5K, but I was trying to trick my mind into believing it was possible.  I was not checking my watch too often, just trying to run by feel.  My second mile was also a 6:20.  Not what I’d hoped but I was now fighting a headwind and was feeling the effect of the humidity in my breathing.  With one mile to go, I focused on finding a new gear.  I knew my Oiselle teammates would be on the corner right before the finish and that after I saw them I’d be on the final stretch.  That alone propelled me forward.  Fortunately, my body responded to the shift and I cranked it up to a 6 minute pace for mile 3, finishing in 19:03, a time that is not far off from my current 5K PR.  I was pretty excited about that.

Right after I crossed the line, I found Sasha.  We cooled down together, threw on some dry clothes and went to find the rest of the Oiselle crew.  Oh my...just...all the feels.  I haven’t seen a lot of these gals in such a long time and it was yet another love fest.  We hugged and talked over each other as we made our way to the Thinking Cup to grab coffee and chill for a bit.  It was so much fun to reconnect and share stories with everyone.  It's never enough time, though, so a little bittersweet.

Sufficiently exhausted, Sasha and walked back to the car and headed back home; both of us craving some much needed down time.  I got a solid 30 minutes before I had to turn around and get back out to my my older daughter’s soccer game on the other side of the city.  Mom points for me.  The upside was that my dear friend Erin, aka Chicken (long story) had since arrived chez Trax and was happy to join me for the trek.  It was a gorgeous day and we sat on the sidelines and caught up as we soaked up the sun and watched Rosie and her team play.  By the time the game was over, I was a walking zombie and thus when Rosie asked me if she could have ice cream for lunch, of course I said, yes.  We drove back home and I finally got some time to just sit on the porch and relax with my buds.  Heaven.

Around 5:30 that evening, my sister-in-law, Locky, rolled in from NYC.  She was also running the marathon.  Fortunately, Rosie was at a friend's house so Locky could crash in her bed.  We now had a ridiculously full house.  Fun?  Yes.  Restful?  Not really.  Worth it?  Totally.  We finished off the night with burgers and more conversation.  Then all of us turned in early.  I know, shocker. The next day  Locky would be going to meet up with her daughter.  I would be making an hour long trek out West to watch Grace play in her soccer game.  And Chicken and Sasha would be going back into Boston to do a shakeout run with the Oiselle crew.  Then we’d all be reconvening for the dinner which I’d be hosting for Oiselle friends and family later that night.  So, I’ll close it off here, and we'll pick it back up with the team dinner and, of course, the marathon itself, which I promise, will not disappoint.

Listen to this:

Halfway There - Rozes