Marathon! Last post.... for now!:

Well, it's been awhile since the race, and time to make my last post. I was waiting until I had some photos to add, but still have not gotten the great photos of Jacques running with us. I will post them as a textless post once they are in.:

The race day started well- we woke up and got our things together and had some breakfast. Our next door neighbor who was also running offered us a ride, which we gladly accepted, and we left the house around 9:15.

The drop-off was a good ways from the athlete's village, with a bus shuttle set up. We made our way CLOSE (I mean, it was still a good 10-15 minute walk) to our village, then started the hike in. There were ALOT of people!

And all these people were drinking fluids. By the time we got to the 2nd wave village, the line at the bathrooms was deep, I mean, deep! I dropped my things and got in line right away. Our coaches had cautioned 'Get in line right away, and when you are done, get in line again.'. I made the decision to wear shorts instead of leggings and brought my excess clothing back to find Tim. Tim however, was in a line of his own, and I didn't see him until the announcers had cautioned us several times to start moving to our starting corral. Our teammates had picked up and headed for the start. If I do this again I would a)get there a little earlier and b)make sure I had my two turns before our trek out.

This was the first year of the 'two wave' start, one at 12 and another at 12:30, and I must say that it was less than organized. The method was to have two lines, first wave to the right and second to the left, and we both saw and heard of second wavers and bandits (non-numbered/registered runnners) getting into the first wave start. We held back, and as a result, found ourselves in a 50:50 mix of 2nd wavers and bandits.

By the time we crossed the start line, it was roughly 16 minutes past the 12:30 gun. What a lot of feet! This is the part of the race where falling is easy, so your pace ends up being more of a careful shuffle. We had been cautioned to start off slowly, and lucky for us, the general bottleneck kept us to it. It was a tough adjustment as usual getting used to the drink station set-up- we had decided upon an 'every three mile' stop, but it took awhile for us to get organized.

The first few miles were lined with hydrated runners (mostly men) peeing in the trees. I was jealously wanting to join them. I had thought that porta-johns would be at every mile stop, but it was not until mile three that I saw a single one with a line 4 deep of women. I begged a stop, and unfortunately, lost a good 5 or more minutes. Oh well- when you gotta go, you gotta go!
I exchanged my frustration at the lack of facilities, which all the ladies in line with me shared.

On to Natick! The course made its way down the hills and up a few rolling ones and flattened out in Natick. The best memories were of people playing music and cheering outside a biker bar and in general, of the sheer numbers of people lined up to cheer the runners. It was a far cry from our desolate training runs, dodging the oncoming traffic!

Our strategy to keep relaxed and steady worked well, and we knew that Jacques would be joining us at about mile 15 in Wellesley. We had the Wellesley College experience to go through. Our coach had warned us about the reaction we might have to all the cheering, and his reminder to keep 'running within ourselves' ran through my head. I was not prepared for the wall of sound that hit us at the college. College women lined the street in layers, many with signs offering kisses to runners. The man to my right was so excited he was hyperventilating, and I saw many men step off to get their free kiss. It was exciting, all right! But the vision of all the hills ahead kept us to our pace.

Through a few rolling hills and in to the community center. We spied Jacques right away, who jumped into the fray and ran with us for the next three miles. These were the tough miles- the transition between the first part of the 'relaxed' running section and heading into what is called 'Hell's Alley'- a series of hills leading to Heartbreak Hill at mile 20. To have his company and encouragement through this section, especially on the hill leading up to the Newton Fire Station at Comm Ave, was incredible. We had a good time talking about the atmosphere and working off of his fresh-legged vibe, and though we said goodbye at Comm Ave and the Newton Fire Station, his trip with us made the race. Thank you, Jacques!

The transition from the Fire Station marked the section called 'Hell's Alley'. Appropriate, as Tim started feeling cramps in his legs. We dug out the last electrolyte pill, but it was a little late, as cramps set in to his calves, hamstrings, feet and quads. At this point, we decided to downgrade to a walk/run strategy. Honestly, I don't know how Tim managed to make it another 6.2 miles, but he was brave and persistent. Plus- the crowds simply would not LET us stop. Crowds chanting 'TIM, TIM TIM' would surround us at points like Heartbreak Hill and Boston College, until we had no choice but to pick up our feet.

At the top of Boston College, I knew the rest of the course was mostly downhill. We had to mete it out but we made it back. We finished after seeing Bert's face and camera round the corner on Boylston St and Yuko and Andy soon after.

It was GREAT. Running over the finish line, having our time chips turned in in exchange for a finisher's medal- what an incomparable feeling! Our time reflected the problems at 4:15:43, but I felt great throughout. I think the training on the course was the best possible way to prepare for Boston, and if I did this again, I would say that a sub-4 marathon was very possible!

Let's see what happens- next year I will be in the 40+ age bracket and my qualifying time at 3:50. Possible? Who knows?

Thanks everybody. You have been the best. Remember that if I can do it, so can you, or so can you do the other goals you have set out!
-M