Boston Marathon Recap Number 1

I say number one because this race was epic, it will most definetly require more than 1 post :)

Where to begin, tonight I am a sea of emotions. I wanted to write part of my recap now so I do not forget it.

The day began around 5:30am when I woke up, I got showered and dressed and then woke up Peanut. We got ready together and I gave her the Boston unicorn I got her the day before at the expo. I explained to her that mommy would be running in a big race while she was at school today and tried to get her to say marathon. I have her on video its too cute she says maracon. hehe close enough

 I wished she could have been there today, but she is just not quite old enough to battle those crowds at Boston, maybe next year ;)

So I dropped her off at school and headed to Hopkinton :) I got into the athletes village at about 730, and was well, bored. This is my first year running Boston and I wish I had known how it was I could have been better prepared waiting around. I would have had a disposable blanket and napped for a lil while. But we will save that for next year.

I ran into my friend Lauren there and hung out with her and it was fun once I had found a familiar face for sure! After what seemed like forever it was finally time to head out. By then the heat was glaring and it was obvious that this was going to be a tough run.

I walked to the start line in the long line of people and prayed. I was thankful for being there and asking for strength to get through. I knew this was going to be a struggle but I was prepared to tackle it head on and most importanly have fun. I wanted to enjoy my first Boston Marathon with some smiles and laughs. And as I crossed that start line that is exactly what I did.

There were so many people. I have never run in a race this big and I was blown away by the amazing crowd support. I was smiling the whole first few miles. I crossed the 5k marker and I blew a kiss. I knew my family and friends were tracking me and this would be the first update they got of me. I started doing this each time I crossed a check point like that, it was my way of remembering that I had a whole bunch of people counting on me to finish.

I took it easy and just settled right into my happy pace. A happy pace for me is 9 minute miles. I knew that if I ran in those miles that I would be OK. That is why I call it my happy pace. Ultra running and training has taught me that you have a happy pace that when you are running it is tough but not too tough and you can easily endure long distances at that pace. I like to call it my happy pace and I certainly embraced that today.

The crowds were amazing, did I say that, if not I will keep saying it. It was hot out there but people had hoses going, ice out and water everywhere. I never felt like I needed anything. You can totally tell the parents when you are running too. We are the ones who stop and high five every little kid who has their hand out. I always try to do that during a race I make sure to high five the kids, it reminds me of my Peanut :)

At mile 5ish I saw my dad! He made his way out to Ashland on his Harley and had a good stop. He was waiting with a big hug and ice water. It gave me a little boost to see him. This is the first time he has seen me during a marathon so it was nice having him there.

After I saw my dad I settled back into my pace. Today was not about time it was just about finishing strong and alive and well. I began to feel the sun and heat on my shoulders around mile 6 and by mile 10 I was burning up. It was hot. My feet felt the worst, the heat was radiating off the pavement and it was already hot out, my feet felt like they were on fire. At one point all I wanted to do was rip my shoes off.

I held on. I kept saying that all I had to do was get to mile 16 next. I knew my family would be there waiting to see me and that it would carry me through till the end.

I will post more tomorrow!!!!!

Miles 17-26.2 to come hehe