I've been keeping up with my running, while the Boston weather tries to decide whether it's November or May. With less than a month until the marathon, I'm mostly focusing on keeping my head down and cranking out those miles. Which brings me to...
3/22
Distance: 12 miles
Time: 2:00:00
Pace: 10:00 min/mil
Most Challenging Moment: Sleeeeepy...
Most Inspiring Moment: New sneakers, new me
I feel like I'm finally at the point where anything less than a half marathon is, like, psh. I get out there, feel great, and come home refreshed and energized. If you had told me in October that my response to running 12 miles would someday be "Oh nice, that'll just take me two hours," I would have laughed and laughed and laughed.
What helped enormously was that I finally decided to swap out my much-loved, much-abused sneakers for a fresh pair. I visited my local running store (more on them later) and spent many minutes talking with the amicable and knowledgeable owner (more on him later).
Putting on those new sneakers made me realize just how much I'd worn the old ones into the ground.
Old sneakers:
New sneakers!:
Yes, I was as happy as a fox who's just discovered the ground has turned delightfully springy. I was shocked by the difference, which in retrospect just makes me feel like an idiot. I blamed my decreasing agility on good ole fatigue and getting older, but it turns out it's actually really difficult to run in what are essentially cement blocks.
Hello, new sneakers. We are going to run many miles together.
While shopping for my new shoes, the owner told me about a running club he coached out of the Newbury Nike store. When I said I was doing my 20 miler soon, he invited me out to the Nike-sponsored run that weekend, which included a bus ride out to the marathon start in Hopkinton and a 20-mile course to their other running store location. A free dress rehearsal for the marathon? Sign me up.
And sooooo....
3/28
Distance: 20 miles
Time: 3:36:48
Pace: 10:50 min/mil
Most Challenging Moment: Ugh. Snow.
Most Inspiring Moment: All those happy, inspiring runners all in one place :)
Last Saturday, I woke up bright and early and wandered over to the Nike store with my water bottle, Nuun tablets, and some peanut butter toast. I wasn't totally sure what to expect. Coach Dan, who sold me my shoes and told me about the run, told me there would be free food, drinks, and pacer runners, but when I rolled in, I was a little intimidated by the sheer force of healthy athleticism. I texted Dave in a panic:
By which I meant:
Everyone was sooo nice and sooo serious about running! There were easily a hundred people there, most of whom looked like they were on their third or fourth marathon and were pumped to get out and run. But they were so sweet! When Dan had all the first-timers raise their hands, the crowd let out a YOU CAN DO IT cheer that almost made me teary (possibly I was also just thinking of the sheer number of miles I'd agreed to run).
We loaded onto the buses and headed out to Hopkinton, which is just adorable. Since pretty much everyone in Boston was doing their long run this weekend, the police helped shut down and block different roads along the route. There was also this sort of ominous/ironic/unintentionally funny sign hanging in the town square:
I admit, it was pretty cool getting ready to run. We all huddled together and one of the pacers shouted, "I'm going to ask you three questions and the answer to each question is BOSTON. Ready?!
"Where do you live?"
"BOSTON!"
"Where do you train?"
"BOSTON!"
"What are you running?!"
"BOOOOOOSTOOOOOOON!!!!"
It was very adorable in an adrenaline-pumping way. And with that, we were off!
Nike had a photographer taking photos as we ran, which is how I have this picture of me smiling like a goon:
That white stuff flying through the air would be snow, which was not super awesome to run in. In fact, conditions were pretty miserable--wind, puddles, freezing cold. As a group-running newbie, I thought it would be rude to run with headphones, so I didn't bring them, which meant when the group spread out after mile 10, I had only my own thoughts to keep me company. My ankle started acting up around mile 16, and by mile 18 I would have happily sawn off a leg if it meant I got to finish.
The whole time I also wasn't sure if I was supposed to run 20 miles or 22 miles. Coach Dan told me 20 miles, the online registration just said 22, and no one would tell me where exactly I was supposed to stop. At the 17-mile stop, the nice guy handing out Gatorade said there were only 5 miles left, so I was pretty much resigned to doing 22, but at 20, I saw the beautiful Heartbreak Hill Running Store, complete with tent full of bagels and coffee. The people outside welcomed me over.
"You did it!" they said.
"Wait," I said. "Is this it? Like, can I be done?"
Yes. Yes I could be done. High five, get some bagels.
For the first half of my run, I made amazing time, mostly because I stayed glued to my pacer (the girl in the yellow) like a toddler afraid of losing her mom in a busy department store.
Even when the pacer peaced at 10 miles, I still kept a pretty decent pace for me. Between the weather, the achiness, and the sheer ridiculousness of the distance, my 10:50 pace has me pretty happy, especially considering I beat my 19-mile time by a good half hour.
Look at the pretty picture I made!
And, oh! Coming home was so amazing. Hot shower, long nap, delicious calzone... I slept like a champion and woke up ready to enjoy my 29th birthday.
From now on, I'm winding down my mileage in preparation for the marathon, but if the 20-miler was any indication, the real thing will go great.
I'm even starting to make post-marathon plans! For example, getting my running partner back out there:
Channeling Abby's determination: last three weeks, let's do this.
