I always bring post race food. Having celiac disease forces me to do this, usually post race is always bananas, oranges and bagels. I packed up a nice home made fruit salad with coconut shreds, a peppermint patty vixibar, and some berries. I also had a change of clothes, head phones, Polar Heart Rate monitor, and water. I picked up Garblah one of my team mates on DetermiNation and we headed into Boston!
We got the the Seaport World Trade center and headed into our room. Working with the DetermiNation team has some perks and having our own private race room and bathroom was the best one! This race there was about 9000 people registered so the place was packed. But we had our own room with music, tables, chairs, and refreshments. Katy was there of course bright and early waiting to get us all fired up.
She helped calm down the pre race jitters!
My 2 coworkers and rest of the Walgreens Warriors team was there ready to run:
These 2 guys did awesome by the way! They both have found a love for running again in the past few months and someone has gotten them hooked on racing (I wonder who) haha! I love how passion for running can be spread and gets contagious! I am hoping by next year we have even more Walgreens Warriors on our team ;)
Coach Geoff Smith was there helping us as well. He was great he coached us before the race for the past few months and met with the team twice a week. I only got the chance to meet him a few times due to my hectic schedule but he was great at giving me running advice. He won the Boston Marathon and raced for many years and was a successful runner. It was an honor to work with him and again another benefit of being a part of DetermiNation.
Again amazing amazing team!!! Together we raised $41,291!!!!! I was blown away by that!!!
If you ever want to run with a charity this is the one to work with. I really enjoyed it and I know my Grandma would be so proud of me. I pinned her picture to my shirt and together we headed to begin the race.
The crowd was huge!! This is the biggest race I have ever been in and it was amazing so much energy going on I loved it!
Saturday in Boston was cool and breezy, Sunday race day it was warm and humid, just my luck. We had a long cold winter here and it literally just started getting hot a few days ago so I have not had much time to train in the heat and humidity. This was a huge problem for me during this entire race. It started promptly at 8AM. As the race began I set my pace about 8 minutes per mile. It felt good for the first few miles the sun was not in full force yet. The crowd was big and I was jamming out to my music and having fun. I kept reminding myself that this is exactly what I lived for right there in those moments I was in love with running and racing.
Then around mile 4 my troubles began. I began to feel really hot and I was dripping sweat. There was little relief I got water at the next station and dumped half onto my hat to help cool my head down. I was glad I put sunblock on before leaving the house that morning because I could feel the sun cooking my arms. My foot began hurting, I could feel a blister forming on my right foot and it just annoyed me every single time I landed on it. I shut my eyes for a minute and pictured Quincy's half marathon, I remembered how great I felt in those last few miles, remembered the glory of setting that PR and I reminded myself of why I was here doing this now. It kept me going.
The course was an out and back so around mile 5 you begin to see the elite runners passing you on their way back. I was cheering and clapping for them as they passed us. That gave me some more energy to keep going. As I looped around and headed back I began to feel relief as I realized I was half way done. I looked at my monitor and saw 51 minutes and told myself I needed to speed it up if I wanted any kind of PR. Mile 7 was probably my hardest. I do not know why exactly, maybe the heat, maybe the knee that was crying in pain. At mile 7 I honestly wanted to quit. This was the first race where I had to talk myself into staying in it. I took out my gel and finished it up. I put my hand on my chest where Grandma's picture was and remembered why this race was so very important. I had to finish if for no other reason than to make her proud.
By mile 8 I was back on my game and though I was hot I was trying not to think about it. I liked how you were never really alone during this race. The whole route had people on it cheering and runners were around me so it helped to keep going. When we hit mile 11 and I looked at my watch my face sunk. I knew then I would not hit a new PR that my average pace was still 8:30 per mile and yes it was good but not good enough to beat my 1:48 of Quincy. I just put my music up and at the water stop doused myself again.
As we headed back towards the finish line all I felt was RELIEF!!! I was so happy this race was over. My legs felt like lead. I tried to sprint in but this finish line seemed like it was an eternity away! There were crowds lined up heavy along the road but I could not see the actual finish line. I am used to a big banner above but that was not the case for this. When I finally crossed those blue bumps I stomped on the final one and yelled woohoo. I was not feeling like woohoo though.
This was by far the hardest of my half marathons. The third one I have done and my most miserable. I was hot and tired and probably dehydrated by the end of it. It was tough for a lot of people as I looked around lots were passing out, many did not finish. As I stood waiting for my medal I just kept wondering how the hell I would feel doing a full marathon. It was consuming my mind by the whole last few miles of this race and now I felt this fear like a heavy pit in my stomach. After Quincy I felt I could do a full marathon, after this race I feel like maybe I am not cut out to be a distance runner. I know it may be the heat and humidity talking but those are just the thoughts running through my mind.
I was also disappointed with myself. I wanted a new PR. I was so much faster in shorter runs these past few months I was expecting to be faster with this one too. But it just was not the case today. Coach Geoff knew I would be mad when he saw me and I told him my time. He told me I raced too much in May and did not do enough long runs because my weekends were wasted on shorter races. He was right. So I have no one to blame but myself.
I finished in 1:49:11 so I should not be too mad but there is this little competitive monster that lives inside of me and she was let down. I reached down to scratch my arm and it was powdery feeling. I looked and saw it was all salty. I realized then how much I had sweat and felt really grossed out haha. I got my medal and started walking and stretching. I got out my arctic ease wraps and wrapped up both knees right away! I needed those after this race for sure. I headed back to the room to meet up with the rest of the team and see if my family had made it out. Everyone was asleep when I left at 5:30 am of course hehe
He may have not wanted to come but he did in the end!!! I grabbed my little girl and gave her a big hug it was so nice to have her after that race!
And for the first time ever my Dad was at a race and that really made my day!!!
I felt really blessed to have my family there to support me it really does mean a lot to me. I could not be here running, racing and accomplishing it all without their support. After all it is having that little peanut that began the feeling of needing to change in me from the beginning. And it is her father who watches her while I spend hours training each and every week. So I love that they get to come and see the end results and hopefully understand why I work so hard to train.
My team mates did well!!! Garblah finished his first ever half marathon in 2:35 which is pretty good considering he did not get the chance to train much. Damian did the 5 miler and ran his fastest miles yet! He just started running 5 weeks ago and has come a long way in such a short time! We were pretty happy to have out medals!
Post race I tried to just relax and begin hydrating. It felt good to change into clothes and get some of my snacks. I did forget my sandals though so I was upset about that. My toe nails were killing me and still are! One thing I will add to my to do list for the next one haha. Oh and now that will be on August 7th! Another fear I have after this hot humid one, doing a half in August! Luckily Kate will be there with me and we will have music along the way since it is the Rock and Roll Providence race :)
8 comments:
I love how honest you was in this recap... but I have just one thing to say...
YOU WERE BORN TO RUN!!!
You were a little over a minute from your PR - with everything you dealt with...there is absolutely NOTHING to be ashamed or disappointed about.
You already know that you're my hero - you're everything that I hope to be... you can fly higher than an Eagle.... You are the wind beneath my wings. :)
Love ya, girl. ;)
Great race report, Colleen. Not getting a PR is definitely disappointing, but this was also a completely different race than your 1/2 PR race. Heat and humidity are killers and not having a chance to train in them suck. Overall, I think you did great. I'm in freaking AWE at how far you've come this year. I can only dream of an 8:30 pace and you are maintaining that for 13+ miles. I'd say that's pretty awesome.
Great job Colleen!!! It was a hot one out there so great job holding it together! You were still so close to your PR from Quincy despite the rough conditions. Great work!!!
Colleen, I am on the ACS Determination committee but could not be at the race and I loved reading your recap. It was heartwarming and honest and I know we all have good and bad days running but don't be so hard on yourself. The heat and humidity affect you in ways you don't even realize and you have come so far in such a short time. You will continue to learn the tricks of the trade with more practice but take a moment and step back from the race and be proud of what you accomplished. Sometimes finishing a tough race where you struggle mentally and physically is much more of a victory than a PR where you have a great day. Trust me, those great days don't come every race and it's the perserverance to get to the finish no matter what your time that makes you who you are. So be proud of yourself, for what you did, for your grandma and for the funds you raised for ACS. And don't count yourself out as a distance runner, you are strong and an inspiration to many, I am pretty sure you can do whatever you put your mind to. Good luck and congrats again!
Not every race can be a PR - but i understand why you would want it to be.
you can do a full. period. but you cannot beat yourself up like this if you don't as fast as you'd like.
I know you're disappointed to not hit your PR, but you did AWESOME in really tough conditions!! Don't doubt yourself - you're gonna rock your full marathon, no doubt!!
Congrats on a great race! Don't hang your head too low for too long about not getting the PR -- those lessons learned in falling short with something are often more valuable in the long run.
Congratulations on an incredible race!! You beat my PR (1:51) way to go!!!
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