Boston: The Aftermath

Boston wrecked me, body and mind. I didn't get as sick after the race as I did after Houston 2020, but the difference was that when I ran Houston sick I was at the very beginning of the illness (became sick the day before the race) whereas with this one I was in the middle of it. I keep coming back to beating myself up about running so much worse this time being sick than I did in Houston, especially because I wasn't wheezing this time and I was in Houston, but I think it was just timing. In Houston I hadn't lost my strength yet and this time I had. I took 5 days off running post-marathon, tying my PR for days off that I set after Houston. On day 6 I woke up itching to run so I did - though slowly. Right now I feel like it's going to take me forever to feel normal again, but that is probably dramatic and I am vowing to be patient.

I had a great training cycle and I know the fitness will help me in the future, though currently I feel too weak to believe it. I am thankful that I had two solid [but not perfect] races this season with my 50k and 20k, plus five for-fun training races that were really enjoyable. I wish I could celebrate my performance in Boston, but I can still celebrate the training cycle. Pre-race someone said something like, "You don't have to wait to celebrate your race; celebrate the successful training that brought you here!" That is hard for someone who is performance-oriented to swallow but I really did love the training, every crap weather bit of it!

It's also hard to swallow the end of my sub-3 streak; I hadn't run over 3 hours since I broke it for the first time in 2016. I am sure no one but me cares that I've run 14 (and counting, hopefully!) sub-3s instead of 14 consecutive sub-3s, but it saddens me. However, the streak was not worth a Boston DNF to me so I don't regret that part. [Although this solved my dilemma on whether or not to count my 50k marathon splits as sub-3s, with Frisco being sub-3 but Prairie Spirit being 3:00. I can say they both go into the count without changing the streak, meaning that the streak actually ended at Prairie Spirit and that Frisco counts into the 14 total!

It's going to take awhile for me to come back from this, but I really do love running every day, so I will focus on that privilege. During the race I heard the song "The Dance" playing, which is an odd song to be playing at a race, but it really resonated with me. I could have missed the pain of a sickly much-slower-than-goal marathon, but then I'd had to miss the thrills of the training cycle and the racecation memories that will last forever.

“There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.” - G.K. Chesterton

Boston: Touristy Things, Other Escapades, & Travel

After the Monday race, Amy and I had two more days to be tourists! I worked at the rabbit pop up on Tuesday morning, which was really good timing because it was raining. Amy dragged Colin to two Lululemon stores, and they came by rabbit while I was there. rabbit had some insane deals on their last day being open and I bought 14 shirts to give to my running group.

rabbit pop up on Newbury

Colin headed to the airport after we all ate lunch at Which Wich (which I love but we no longer have in Springfield), and Amy and I headed to the Freedom Trail. It passes nearly all of the major historic sites in Boston, so we got to see it and shake out our legs with over 7 miles of walking. The downside was that it was cold and sporadically rainy. We had to tuck in under awnings and into coffee shops a few times, and by the time we finished seeing the U.S. Constitution we were pretty much frozen and done. We had dinner at Joe's on the Waterfront, missed going to Mike's Pasteries, and took the subway back to our hotel (my first subway experience, not recommended).

Freedom Trail

Boston Common

Paul Revere

We walked through 3 historic cemetaries

The North End, as seen on TV

Old North Church

U.S. Constitution

Scary subway

Back in our room, I cut off the top part of the sign to take home with scissors from the front desk of the hotel. On Wednesday we enjoyed touring Newbury Street, including the Tracksmith Track House. We looked into doing a trolley tour but we'd already seen nearly every site on it during our other touring trips. I also looked at going to the Boston Tea Party Museum but it was closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We went to Marathon Sports and Eataly before heading to our 4:50 p.m. flight. Travel home went much smoother than travel to Boston, and we actually got to eat dinner in the Chicago airport instead of running through it. We were both exhausted on the final day of trip, but I didn't want to it end!

Beautiful church on Newbury

Marathon Sports

Signs like this were everywhere

Things I left Boston with that I didn't bring:
the large sign, 14 rabbit shirts, 16 Maurten gels, a
pair of Vaporflys, marathon shirt/medal/bag/elite pass

My biggest athletic feat of the trip
was closing this suitcase

Although the race itself was very much not what I wanted, the trip as a whole was amazing. I'm thankful that I felt well enough to enjoy every other aspect (if I'd have felt like I did on the Tuesday and Wednesday before we left, I'd have had to lay in my hotel room the entire trip). I felt free of responsibilities and laughed more than I have in a long time. We made countless inside jokes, and I have memories that will last a lifetime. Hopefully the disappointment of the race will fade and I will pointedly remember the rest of the racecation fondly. I am already dreaming of my next!

Nugget enjoying Boston smells

The story concludes here.

Boston: Professional Post-Race Area

After I crossed the line, I walked on my jello-like legs through the chute. Before I made it very far, I was pulled into the VIP area. I hadn't received my finisher's medal yet, so when I was diverted all I could manage was, "Do I get a medal?" haha! I had not nearly killed myself to finish my worst marathon in years to walk away without a Boston medal. They had me continue walking to a medal and space blanket area, then grab a bag of food and head into the pro area we'd started the day in.

Someone gave me my bag after I walked in, and I reunited with Jen, who had also had a rough day (3:08) and was sitting on the floor. I am currently in a clinical study for a performance glucose monitor, so I had a glucose monitor on my arm and one of the medics started asking me about my blood sugar levels and telling me I needed to eat right away. I tried to explain that I wasn't diabetic but he never seemed to believe me. I also connected with Nick, who was in the room with Mary who he currently coaches, and the medic kept yelling at him to make me eat my sandwich. The medic then wouldn't let me leave the room to change so I had to go behind this half partition thing to get into dry clothes. Later he went on to give me and Jen lectures about how you should drop out if you're having such a bad day and find another marathon to nail [facepalm].

Nick was the first person I said more than a sentence to, and I ended up bursting into tears while talking to him. I've had marathons that I thought were bad before, but nothing compared to this one! It made laugh at 2015 Sara ("You thought 3:01 was terrible when you were aiming for 2:59?!"), 2020 Sara (2:58 with bronchitis), and really at the Sara who ran 2:46-2:47 thinking it was terrible - and sometimes you do just have to laugh so you don't cry! I know it was because my body was wrecked and weak from being sick, but it's still quite heartbreaking, especially on this stage (although if it would have been a local race I would have DNSed).

There were a few pros left in the room, including Steph Bruce getting a massage. Since Jen was also getting one, I had a short one before we walked back to our hotel together. The masseuse tried to get me to see their podiatrist if I had blisters, and when I declined she tried to pull my socks off to check but couldn't manage to remove the compression socks (I had on pants at this time too). The medical staff were pushy! They didn't have Ibuprofen either, so I had to grab some at Walgreens since I'd forgotten to pack it.

Jen and I met Colin back at our hotel, and celebrated his 2:48 PR! I definitely need to keep running the same goal races as athletes I coach, because it gives me something to be proud of if my own race is crap. Jen was flying out that evening, so she rushed to shower and pack up. Amy eventually returned from her post-race Unicorn Club area and we celebrated her 10th consecutive Boston and 3:32 finish - she was hoping to slide under 3:30 but was overall happy. Then I pretty much just laid in bed while chatting and answering messages until we decided to go buy some wine before heading to dinner at Atlantic Fish! 

I wore my pro athlete lanyard around
instead of my medal and jacket

We got lost and walked what felt like miles to find the restaurant, then service took forever but we enjoyed ourselves. We then had some wine, told a lot of stories, Colin headed back to his hotel, and Amy tried to go to sleep while I was still wide awake. I typically struggle with sleeping after marathons, and wine seems to help (post-marathon is the only time I drink anything alcoholic) but I think I was just so wrecked from this one that nothing really helped. I managed about 2 hours worth of sleep but chalked it up to better than zero!

Wine & spirits

The story continues here.

Boston: Race Details

I knew the start of the race would be televised, which was exciting! My parents took a video of the start while watching the broadcast, and their excitement is the best - watch here. I was off the back of the pack with one other woman very quickly, but you can't really tell from the first couple of minutes of TV footage.

Here you can tell I'm at the back!

I hadn't been thinking much about actually running a marathon through all of the pro excitement, and when I did consider it pre-race, my thoughts were not positive ones. Jen and I had planned to run together starting around 6:30 pace and aiming to drop into the 6:20s after the first 4 miles. We both thought we could run 2:47-2:49 and knew it would be really helpful to work together, but with being sick I told her I'd go out with her at the slowest she was willing to go out. She ended up blazing her first mile to be with the group, but then backed off and I caught up before mile 2. The other woman I was with pulled ahead of us and we took on the headwind side-by-side.

Normally I am good at racing by feel, but even my 8:17 pace warm up mile had felt hard on April 18, so I didn't know what to do. I told Jen I'd stay with her as long as I could so neither of us would be alone. The thing about running in a women's only pro field is that many women who aren't in the very front pack end up running much of the race solo; in races without separate starts there are usually men around all of the top women.

Jen felt much better than I did and really engaged the crowds that lined the course as we passed. She kept asking, "Are we almost there?", "Are we catching them?", etc. and laughing. I ran with a smile plastered on my face but didn't have any extra energy. There were crowds everywhere on the course and it felt like were were the only people in the race once we lost sight of the main pack. I didn't look at my watch, but we averaged about 6:40 for the first 9 miles. I felt terrible, but like I said, even 8:00+ had felt terrible for the week before the race so I wasn't at all surprised to feel puny racing.

All smiles

The main field started at 9:00, 15 minutes after us. I'd figured that the top men would start catching us before the half on a good day, and I of course was not having a good day. They caught us around the 15k bottle station, and at that point I lost Jen. I'd just been hanging onto her for the beginning miles, and I probably relaxed once the others caught me knowing I wouldn't be in no man's land if I backed off. The men's field was pretty thin initially, but became thicker as the race drew on and I always had a lot of people around me. It was a relief to be camouflaged in the masses as the race went on.

I knew my race wasn't going to be what I'd dreamed of, but I just tried to keep a smile on my face and enjoy the experience. I looked at my watch for the first time at the half marathon point, coming through in 1:29:53, and that's when I knew my sub-3:00 streak was going to die that day. I knew that was a risk starting this race and just hoped that I could still slide under, but with how depleted I felt at the half I knew I would positive split. It was disheartening to feel so weak, especially after some really stellar recent workouts, but I decided I would finish with whatever I had. It's really hard to have a pro bib on your chest and be fading hard, though (I suppose it's never not hard to be fading hard in a marathon, but this was worse for my pride!).

I watched the crowds pass me, looking for people I knew. The first man I knew passed around mile 15, then I was watchful for the top women of the main field to come. During the final 8 miles of the race, several people I knew passed me and were all very encouraging but it was hard for me to have nothing to give. I usually feel so strong when running, and to feel so weak during a goal race was a gut punch.

Around mile 17 we hit the Newton hills. With as slow as I was running, they didn't really matter. I didn't think any of the hills were very steep, and there was quite a bit of ground to recover between each one. I think it's just the length of them and where they fall in the race that is hard on people. I actually thought the course could be really fast if I felt good, because it has a lot of downhill. As I neared Heartbreak hill, I suddenly had to use the bathroom really badly, which isn't an issue I have in marathons. I blame being sick for that too! The first porta-potty I saw was halfway up Heartbreak, so I tucked into it to prevent disaster. Then I was back out and onto the final 5 miles of the course that are net downhill.

I'd envisioned flying down those hills, but on race day my only objective was to make it in! By then my pace had somewhat evened out with those who were dying around me and I was passing some people that the hills really got to. I enjoyed it all as much as I could, but I'd been ready to be done since about mile 9! The final stretch seemed to last forever, but I made it in and without walking, which was my one small victory of the day. I felt really betrayed by my body, but also relieved that I didn't have to drop, which would have been worse than a 3:13:01 by my name. I fought with all I had to finish that race, and although I'm embarrassed I didn't have more, I can truly say that I did not give up.

Finally when people ask, "Have you run Boston?" I can answer in the affirmative, and I will probably add "as part of the women's professional field." I may conveniently forget my time and place, though!

The story continues here.

Boston: Race Morning Warm Up & Walk to the Start

The pro field had a short area of road to warm up on in addition to the church parking lot. Everyone ran back and forth on that ~200 m long stretch of road. I joined in and my run linked with many of theirs on Strava! It was great to see the best in the world running 8:00-9:00 pace, and due to the back and forth nature of the short road, I got to see everyone who was out there. Many people then did drills and strides in the parking lot. I felt weak on my warm up, which didn't inspire confidence, but I've had ugh warm ups before fantastic races before so I didn't give up yet.

The men's pro start was at 9:37 a.m., so I got to see the men's field gathering by the door, dropping their bags, and heading out before it was our turn. I changed into my race shoes, and my left felt like it had something wrong with the insole. I didn't think I had time to take it off, but I noticed most others weren't ready, so I did and found 4 safety pins inside! I was really glad I took the time to check and didn't race on those to add to my problems.

The walk out

The women's pro start was at 9:45 a.m. and we were taken out about 10 minutes before the gun. I ended up walking out right in front of Nell Rojas, who went on to place top American woman in the race. We were able to do a few strides and to take it all in. The crowds were cheering and it was amazing to be a part of that star-studded field. The past winners and Olympic gold medalists were announced, but announcements were kept to a minimum - listing the accomplishments of everyone in that field would have taken all day. We lined up where ever we wanted, which surprised me; I expected to be assigned spots. I got in the back on one side, but it was only 2-3 deep and I was behind some of the top Kenyans, getting me on TV! 

Picture of the television coverage from a friend

I basically just stood there with a huge smile on my face the entire time. Several people told me my two buns hairstyle made it easy to spot me, so I was glad I went with that one!

The story continues here.

Boston: Race Morning Staging Area

On race morning, we had indoor space at a church to stay in near the starting line. One of the reasons I've never run Boston is because the main field has to wait outside in Athlete's Village for 2+ hours. While I'm sure it's not as bad as I've imagined, I just do not want to sit out in the cold for hours before a marathon! I was very thankful for the indoor space, because marathon morning temperature was pretty nice for marathoning (mid-40s with wind) but pretty cold for sitting around in!

When the bus dropped us off, we filed into a main gymnasium area that was set up with mats and chairs. Jen and I claimed a mats and as luck would have it, Jake Riley sat on the one right beside me! He had earbuds in so I didn't get to talk to him aside from a few words after he removed them to head to warm up, but I talked to his coach Lee Troop. I did have Jen take a picture of me that he happened to appear in the side of...

We were able to take our bags to the church and keep all of our things with us until we walked out to the start (something else that isn't possible in the main field). They had food, drinks, and a ton of Maurten gels available. Every time I walked by the table with refreshments set out I'd grab a few more gels to put in my bag - I ended up making it home with 16 of them, haha! It was nice being able to have my phone to take photos and videos, most of which I'm not sharing here for the privacy of the other runners but that I want for the memories!

The church had several other rooms that were open to us, and I walked around to kind of see where everyone was when I went to the bathroom. There was one room upstairs that several of the top women were in. My rabbit teammate Mary was there and encouraged me to move up there because it was significantly warmer than in the cold gym. Jen and I did, in the midst of seeing pros pin each others bib numbers on. We had a bib on our front with our names and then a number on our backs.

I went to the bathroom several times during the waiting period, and each time saw famous runners in there. I was definitely fan-girling the whole time! I generally don't get nervous about races, but I really didn't give my own race a second thought this time - that was kind of the way of the whole trip, which was also kind of choosing ignorance is bliss because I felt weak and doubtful I'd even finish the marathon whenever I did think about it.

About an hour before the race, people started heading out to warm up. I followed outside to join!

The story continues here.

Boston: Race Morning Meeting & Bus Ride

Jen and I again arrived early on race morning. The pro meeting area was set up with chairs, but there was a stage area where you could sit on the floor with your back against a wall, which is where I elected to sit to stretch out my legs. I couldn't have chosen a better spot, because as everyone filed in I could see all of the pro field seated in front of me! I posted a "discrete" live video in my running group. 

Jen in our seated area

We picked up our bus assignments, which I think were done at random. Since I was one of the first to pick up, I could see the notecards for everyone else on my bus still on the table, so I knew I shared a bus with Molly Seidel, Steph Bruce, and Jake Riley. We also picked up our pro lanyards, which I was pretty excited about.  A lot of people coming in weren't sure where to get their bus assignments so I got to help direct them to where we'd been. There was a short meeting with a few announcements about how the morning would go.

Bus assignment & pro lanyard

They called the busses one at a time, and I lined up with bus 2. We walked down a long hallway from the staging room out to the busses. The hallway was lined with other runners and running fans, and it became a huge cheer tunnel as we walked through. The clapping and cheering were loud and I felt truly famous at that point!

A friend I'd connected with pre-race, Kathy, was also on my bus, and she and I sat together. There was enough room for everyone to sit alone, and many athletes did. I chose an open seat for Kathy and I across from Molly Seidel and her coach Jon Green.

While on the bus, some people slept, many people put in ear buds, and it was eerily quiet and serious. Kathy and I chatted in whispers. Refreshingly, Molly and Jon were talking and laughing the whole bus ride. I admittedly listened to them anytime Kathy and I weren't chatting.

When we arrived at the Korean church that was our starting line indoor staging area and stood to exit the bus, I told Molly that I appreciated her laughter and laid back attitude on the quiet, super serious bus. We then began talking - she told me she liked my space buns (hair), she asked where I was from, we talked about people disliking the city of Boston, I said I was the slowest on the pro start and she reminded me that she hadn't even been ranked at the Trials, I told her my running group enjoyed her social media post about Bumble, she told me more about how hard it is to meet worthwhile men in Flagstaff, and I told her I had a single running buddy for her who was a fantastic guy (she said "you know where to find me", which I'd have made Colin pursue further if she hadn't had a rough race day). We walked past television cameras on our way to the church and she and I were caught on camera together, with Kathy right in front of us, shown here. We were all supposed to have on masks but based on the guys behind us I wish I'd have taken mine off outside!

Just casually walking in with Olympians

I did see the TV camera

The story continues here.

Boston: Professional Technical Meeting

As was our standard, Jen and I were the first athletes to arrive at the technical meeting. This gave us yet another chance to nerd out and take photos, and discretely whisper as we watched all of the famous runners file in around us. Most came in right at 1:00 or just after. 

Pre-Technical Meeting

Des Linden walked in and we heard Jake Riley right behind us offer her a seat next to him. Surrounded by Olympians! Molly Seidel was one the last to enter. The list of the professional fields is here. I am most familiar with top U.S. women, so particularly notable to me were Steph Bruce, Sara Vaughn, Nell Rojas, Dakota Lindwurm, Elania Tabb, Kate Sanborn, as well as Des and Molly already mentioned. I also noted Charlotte Purdue (Britian) and Edna Kiplagat (Kenya). I know Kathy Derks, Paula Pridgen, and Joanna Thompson from other races/OTQ chasing/social media, and I run on rabbit with Mary Denholm. For men, I quickly recognized Jake Riley, Jared Ward, and C.J. Albertson.

Jen and I both wanted desperately to take pictures of everyone, and she mentioned asking for a group photo, but the vibe wasn't really one for photography and most people ran out of there when it ended, likely to get lunch. Some of the coaches/agents were taking photos of the presentation itself so I settled on that. We listened to the race director and professional athlete coordinator talk about logistics. The professional athlete coordinator gave an inspiring speech, including, "I invited every one of you here because you have a chance to win the Boston marathon tomorrow."

Jen knew Jared Ward from Utah running,
so I did get an actual photo with this Olympian!

After the meeting we went to lunch with Amy and Colin, and my friend Dave stopped by while we were finishing up at California Pizza Kitchen in the Prudential Center. My soon-to-be coach Nick also stopped by. We then headed back to our hotel room to prep our race kits and relax until dinner, which was at Wagamama's like the day before.

The gold Easter egg is from uniform check

On our walk back from dinner, we passed by a work crew taking down the massive marathon expo sign. The sign had the date on it so I knew they couldn't reuse it, so I walked up to the man on the ground (the others were on a lift getting the sign down) and sweetly asked, "So what do you do with those signs?" He asked if I wanted it, which is how I became the owner of a huge 2022 Boston Marathon sign!

The sign

They told me it weighed 40 lbs but I
don't think that was accurate

The story continues here.

Boston: Professional Bottle Drop

After our shoe and uniform checks, Jen and I headed to the pro bottle collection area. We could place up to 8 bottles on the course, at 5k, 10k, 15k, 20k, 25k, 30k, 35k, and 40k - practice your metric system math there! I've had elite bottles before but this was a more technical experience. We were given 8 stickers to place on bottles, and we had to return the stickers for any bottles we didn't want to use so they could put those in the bottle bins, as an extra assurance that everyone's bottles were accounted for. In addition, we filled out a form indicating which bottles we were using and what the contents were. When we turned it all in, they marked down on a master form which bottle stops each of us were and were not using.

VIP pro bottle drop

Jen and I definitely enjoyed the bottle prep experience more than anyone else! I'd packed hot pink duct tape, which was brighter and larger than any tape available there, so our bottles were very visible. We sat down and prepared out bottles while watching other athletes come and go. Molly Seidel walked in with her bottles in an Easter basket that included a stuffed rabbit - I loved that! I wanted to take millions of photos and videos of everything pro that we did and of all of the other athletes, but I kept it to a minimum so I didn't get kicked out or something.

Bottle prep

I placed 4 bottles, at the 5k, 15k, 25k, and 30k since I take gels around 5, 10, 15, and 20 miles. I just put water in my bottles; mostly the bottle serves as a vehicle for my gels so I don't have to carry 4. I knew I could grab water cups from other aid stations as needed and additional Maurten gels from the 3 gel stations on the course in case of an emergency.

Aren't they pretty?

The story continues here.

Boston: Professional Uniform & Shoe Checks

Easter Sunday started with a shake out with my 3 core travel crew members and my friend Jessi. We ran early along the Charles River in order to head to the 9:00 service at Old South Church. While the Easter sermon was brief and not what I expected, the service included a blessing of the marathon athletes which was very special. As I mentioned before, the whole city really rallies behind the marathon and makes every runner feel remarkable.

Old South Church

The church was right next to the finish line, so we took the opportunity to take some more finish line photos when it wasn't quite as crowded. Then Jen and I were off to the pro uniform and shoe check!

Finish line

Finish area

We arrived at the Copley hotel early, our first of many times being the first in the pro field to arrive at something. We quickly learned that the real pros come in right on time or late! We lined up with a few other pros but mostly agents and coaches to have our uniforms and shoes checked for compliance. They also gave us each an Easter egg as we went through the line.

While we were waiting in line, a man from another country dipped into the pro room and excitedly asked Jen and I to take a photo with him. We did, then kept laughing, "Joke's on him, no one knows who we are!", hah!

rabbit sent me a great Boston singlet to wear for the race, but I thought the logo was too large. I brought both the Boston singlet and my usual rabbitELITE singlet to the uniform check, and as expected they rejected the Boston one but my typical uniform checked out. My shoes were standard issue Vaporflys, so they quickly got approved and got a Boston126 stamp on them. We also picked up our bib numbers at this time.

Shoe stamp

After the uniform/shoe check, we got to see Cori Copley, the hotel's Boston dog.

The story continues here.