Boston Marathon

The 2021 Boston Marathon: My thoughts on this year’s race

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Last week, the Boston Athletic Association announced a date for the 2021 Boston Marathon — Oct. 11, 2021. This all hinges, of course, on how the pandemic progresses over the coming months and whether the state of Massachusetts will even allow an event of that magnitude this fall. 

The BAA hasn’t announced when registration will open. But obviously, this announcement has stirred up major excitement throughout the running community. I belong to several Boston Marathon Facebook groups, and they’ve been lit over the past few days, with many people posting that they’ve booked their hotel rooms already. And of course, lots of speculation about the infamous cutoff. 

Because that’s the thing. The BAA has said that the qualifying period for Boston 2021 began Sept. 15, 2018 and continues through registration (whenever that will be.) So basically, that means everyone who qualified for Boston 2020 (the race that had to be held virtually due to the pandemic) can apply. Plus everyone who ran qualifying times during the typical 2021 qualifying period (September 2019-September 2020) and now, the typical 2022 qualifying period (September 2020-present.) 

My recent BQ, achieved on Oct. 31, 2020 at the Chasing the Unicorn Marathon in Bucks County, PA, would usually fall into that 2022 window — but now it looks like it will count for 2021. But there’s the issue of the cutoff. 

What is the cutoff, you ask? It’s a source of stress for everyone who qualifies for Boston, unless you’re one of the super fast runners who beats your qualifying time by 20 minutes or more every year. For the last decade or so, the BAA has declined to accept everyone who runs a qualifying time, due to field size limitations. This means they only accept the fastest qualifiers, and if you don’t beat your qualifying time by a certain amount — which varies every year, and there’s really no way of predicting it — your application to run the race is denied. 

For example, when I ran Boston 2019, the cutoff was four minutes and 52 seconds. I beat my qualifying standard by five minutes exactly. So I barely squeaked in. And then for the 2020 race, the BAA tightened the qualifying standards by another five minutes. I aged up and am now in the 40-44 year old group for 2021  — which just means I have to meet the same standard (3:40:00) I had to meet when I qualified for 2019, in the 35-39 year old group! Sigh. 

I ran a 3:36:34 at Chasing the Unicorn, which means I beat my qualifying time by three minutes, 26 seconds. I *highly* doubt that will get me into Boston 2021. Not if I’m competing against everyone who ran a BQ since September 2018. Right now, I’m just holding out hope that the BAA might also let me submit my time for the 2022 race. 

Here’s what I think they should do — not that my opinion holds any weight. I think everyone who was registered for Boston 2020 should get to run Boston 2021. Yes, they all got to run the virtual Boston if they wanted. But we all know that’s not the same as running Boston. All of those runners worked hard for their BQs and deserve to have the true Boston Marathon experience. As for the registered 2020 runners who were running for charity (about 20% of the field), they should also get to run in 2021. They still put in work to get there, and they raise money for many incredible and very worthy charities. 

So that would take care of the 2021 race. Then, the BAA should lump everyone who qualified in the usual 2021 and 2022 qualifying windows into one field for Boston 2022. And of course, leave room for charity runners, too.

Why? Think about it. Plenty of runners qualified for Boston between September 2019 and March 2020. But then COVID brought the racing world to a grinding halt. Slowly, races began to come back over the summer and fall — including small marathons like Chasing the Unicorn. However, all the major marathons that produce a lot of qualifiers (Chicago, Berlin, Philadelphia, the actual Boston Marathon) were canceled in 2020. And plenty of marathons scheduled for the first half of 2021 have already been canceled, too. So there are fewer BQs not only for the traditional 2021 qualifying window, but also for the 2022 qualifying window.  

I just think that’s the most fair thing to do — and not just because it would mean I’d most likely be in for 2022! 

I’m still going to apply when they open registration for 2021. And I will try not to get my hopes up. I got to run Boston two years ago, after all. And I’ll get there again. I’m still extremely proud of my Chasing the Unicorn BQ. It was not easy, what with the last minute cancellation, then last minute uncertainty over the rescheduled date ….. And then all the obstacles that happened at the race itself (I hope I never have to climb over a fallen tree at mile 23 of a marathon ever again. It makes for a good story after the fact, but yikes.) I did my best that day, and it was a great experience. If it’s not good enough for Boston this time — I’ll have other chances. I really believe that. 

A magical Halloween: I qualified for Boston at the Chasing the Unicorn Marathon

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I really did it. 

I ran a real live marathon in 2020 — and I qualified for the Boston Marathon! 

I’m honestly still in shock that it happened. Not that I ran a BQ — I was confident in my training and felt pretty certain that I could qualify. I just can’t believe the race itself actually happened. 

To recap, I registered for the Chasing the Unicorn Marathon in Washington Crossing, PA earlier this summer, when I thought that the Chicago and Philadelphia marathons would be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. (I was right about that.) The marathon was originally scheduled for Sept. 13, with a ton of COVID mitigation protocols in place. It seemed very likely that it would occur as planned. I never missed a beat with my training, putting in 40- and 50+ mile weeks in the most disgustingly humid summer in recent memory. And then, three days out, the race was called off and rescheduled for Halloween. Still no idea why that happened. I almost said the hell with it, but my husband encouraged me to keep going with my training. I do love Halloween, and I thought running a Halloween marathon sounded like a blast. So I rejiggered my training plan with an Oct. 31 race date in mind, and ordered a pair of running shorts and matching arm warmers with a fun candy corn design on them. 

Then, three days before the race, Pat, the race director, sent out an email saying that he still didn’t have the permits for the event, but didn’t anticipate any issues. Didn’t inspire a ton of confidence, but OK.

THEN, the day before the race, I woke up and checked Facebook and saw he had posted a link to an article about a rally for Trump happening near Washington Crossing Historic Park. “Tell me this is why we still don’t have a permit,” he wrote. 

WTF? At that point, I’d already taken the day off of work and it was too late to cancel my hotel room for free. But whatever happened was completely out of my control. I figured we would travel to Washington Crossing and if I had to, I would run an unofficial marathon on the towpath along the Delaware River Canal where the race was supposed to take place. I wasn’t super excited about that, but I figured there would be other disappointed runners who would be doing the same thing. It’s 2020—of course that would happen.

BUT! Around 11 am, Pat posted on Facebook that he had the permit. “I still can’t believe it,” he said. Neither could I! However, Micah and I piled into my car and headed north to Bucks County, PA. I checked my email obsessively all day long, wondering if I was going to get an email telling me that the race was a no go.

Once we got to Newtown, near Washington Crossing, we checked into our hotel room and I headed to the towpath so I could do my shakeout run on the race course. The area was so gorgeous! I did notice that there were a lot of fallen leaves on the towpath, and I knew I would have to be careful not to slip and fall while running. But the scenery was so pretty. I also ran into Pat, who was setting up for the race. “Is this really happening?” I asked him. He assured me that it was, and even gave me my race packet so I didn’t have to pick it up on race morning.

Everything seemed good to go! I ran 5K on the trail because I had registered for Rip It Events’ virtual Day of the Dead 5K, back when I thought the marathon was happening on Sept. 13. I certainly wasn’t going to race a 5K either the day before or the day after a marathon, so I ran the 5K in 26:23 — an 8:30 pace. Everything felt great. 

Race Day! 

The marathon was scheduled to begin at 10 am — really late for a race, but I’m not a natural early bird, so I was fine with that! I set my alarm for 6:45 am and pretty much leapt out of bed when it went off. I felt so ready. I got dressed, drank my coffee and ate my usual bagel with peanut butter and half a banana and went to the bathroom about a million times. I was a little concerned about the temperature, which was only in the mid-30s. I had packed my candy corn shorts and arm warmers, plus my Rip It Events singlet and knee-high compression socks. I hadn’t thought to bring a throwaway sweatshirt. I knew I would be fine while running, but worried about freezing my ass off at the start. I decided to just take an extra blanket from the hotel room to wrap myself up in, and hoped that I would be able to retrieve it at the end of the race. (And I was! I promise I didn’t steal from the hotel!) Since no spectators were allowed at the race due to COVID protocols, Micah dropped me off about a half hour before the start and I wrapped the blanket around me while I waited. Per COVID restrictions, everyone had to wear masks in the starting corral and we were all asked to space out six feet apart from each other to adhere to social distancing guidelines. With only about 220 runners total in the full and half marathon, that was pretty easy to do. Runners crossed the start line individually three seconds apart, putting well more than six feet in between each of us. I thought that was handled very well. We were allowed to take off our masks while running, and I did, though I noticed some runners opted to keep them on through the whole event. 

As expected, I warmed up pretty quickly, and never felt too cold or too hot (though I am glad I made the last-minute decision to pack my running gloves! My hands tend to get colder than any other part of me.) My goal for this race was to run a 3:30, which for my age group, 40-44, is a Boston Marathon qualifying time by 10 minutes. Based on my training times, I thought this was totally feasible. I started off running around an 8-minute pace and was able to hold that consistently through the first half and then some of the race. There were two other women who were running around the same pace, so I decided to stick with them (while keeping proper social distance!) One of them commented that I looked really strong. “You’re going to crush a 3:30 if you keep it up,” she told me. “That’s what I’m trying to do!” I replied. I was trying to focus on keeping a steady pace and also just enjoying my surroundings, which again were so pretty! 

The marathon was an out-and-back course — it went from the Washington Crossing Historic Park up to New Hope, PA, then back. Marathoners repeated the course twice. Between miles 5 and 6, I think, runners encountered an unpleasant surprise — the canal was actually flowing up over the trail. So we had the privilege of running through several inches of cold ass water. “Great,” I thought. “So I get to run over this four times?!” My socks and shoes luckily dried quickly, but it really sucked. I’m glad it wasn’t any colder outside. An Instagram follower of mine commented that she injured her foot by stepping in a hole in the concrete under the water. Ugh! I was lucky that didn’t happen to me. 

I finished the first half in just under 1:45, and was feeling strong. Of course, if you’ve run a marathon before, you know that first 13.1 doesn’t really mean a whole lot. I was hoping I could eek out another 1:45 for the second half, and it was looking really good up until about mile 20. Isn’t that always the way it goes? When I started running marathons, I heard that when you get to mile 20, you are halfway there. It’s so true. And it was REALLY true for me during this marathon. 

There weren’t traditional water stops with volunteers handing out water during this marathon because of COVID– rather, there were self-filling water stations where you could step on a pedal on the ground and refill your own bottle of water. I had been carrying an 18-oz. handheld bottle with Nuun Kona Cola in it, but I’m not sure I was taking in enough water. Usually, I grab either water or Gatorade at every single stop on a marathon course. I was trying to remember to drink from my bottle at least every two miles, but not sure how well I did. At one point I accidentally spilled most of what I had, so I did have to stop and refill with water. Also, I was carrying the bottle in my left hand and my left arm started to get really sore around mile 16. This never happened to me during training, so maybe I was gripping it too hard. 

Anyway, I don’t think I was drinking as much as I normally would  in a marathon, and when it was time to take my 4th energy gel at mile 20 — I like to take one at miles 5, 10, 15 and 20 — I wanted to puke. But I forced it down anyway. 

My stomach was pretty unsettled for the last 10K of the marathon. I kept trying to tell myself that a 10K was nothing, and I had well under an hour left of the race! The fourth time running through that cold water was brutal. I knew I was slowing down at that point, but that a finish time of 3:30 or very close to it was within reach. I hit mile 22 at around 2:58, and I knew I could run the last 4.2 miles in 32 minutes if I kept pushing. But I was fading and it was getting much, much harder!

Somewhere between mile 22 and 24, I came upon a huge tree that had fallen right in the middle of the towpath. Seriously! It definitely wasn’t there when I had run through the area earlier …. But there it was blocking the whole path. I had to climb over it, which is NOT IDEAL that late in a marathon. Yikes. I hope no one got hurt by it. It wasn’t even windy, so I have no idea why it suddenly fell then. 

The final two miles were brutal. BRUTAL. I felt every stone and twig on the towpath beneath my feet. I looked at my watch and knew my 3:30 goal time was slipping away, but it looked likely that I could be sub 3:35 (which would be a PR.) I knew at that point I was definitely going to run a BQ unless I completely gave up and decided to walk it in. Which of course I was not going to do!

When I made the final left turn of the course, I saw my car parked in the grass and knew Micah was nearby, even though we weren’t supposed to have spectators. Sure enough, I saw him standing alone in the field just before the finish line. I waved to him and as I got closer, I heard him yell, “Empty the tank!” which is what he said to me just before I crossed the finish line and BQ’d in Rehoboth in December 2017. “It’s already empty!” I yelled back. I pushed as hard as I could and crossed the finish line in 3:36:34. It’s a minute and 34 seconds slower than my PR, and about six minutes off my goal time, but it’s a solid BQ and I am proud of it.   

Approaching the finish!
Boston qualifier at the Chasing the Unicorn Marathon
I’m a Boston Qualifier again!

I finished third in my age group, and I think I will be getting a prize in the mail. Don’t get too excited — there were only five women in my age group. It was a competitive race! I was 9th overall out of 67 women.

I qualified for Boston! But which Boston?

Great question! I have no idea. 

Because of the pandemic, the Boston Athletic Association has said there will be no Boston Marathon in April 2021. They said they may try to hold the marathon in the fall of 2021, but there is no guarantee of that. In “normal times,” this race would have fallen into the 2022 qualifying window anyway. So I’m going to assume that I qualified for Boston 2022. 

But again, there are so many unknowns. Maybe we will still be dealing with COVID in spring 2022. (I sure hope not, but I didn’t think we’d be dealing with it this fall, either.) Everyone who had 2020 qualifying times also is waiting to run the race. Sure, they got to run the “virtual” Boston experience, but we all know that is not the same and everyone who qualified wants the experience of running from Hopkinton to Boston! So, when it is safe to hold the Boston Marathon in person again, the 2020 qualifiers would likely get first dibs, as well they should! Then, of course, there are the 2021 qualifiers. What about all of those runners who ran 2021 BQ times from September 2019 through March 2020? They should get their shot, too. But if there’s no Boston Marathon in 2021, that means that group of runners will be pushed back a year, I’m guessing. 

I’ll say this, I definitely don’t envy the BAA for having to sort all of this out, and I feel very lucky that I got to run Boston 2019. I’ll get back there eventually. 

Of course, there’s also the issue of the cutoff — I ran 3 minutes and 26 seconds under my qualifying standard, which means I will have to wait until the second week of registration (whenever that occurs) to try to squeak in. It will probably be enough to get into the race, but you never know.

At the end of the day, I’m just so excited that I actually got to run a live marathon this year and put all of my training to good use. It did pay off, even if I didn’t hit my goal time. I qualified for Boston again! I will look back on this race as one of the bright spots in 2020.

Coronavirus and running: How COVID-19 spoiled my spring racing plans

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About three weeks ago, Micah and I got into an argument over the Coastal Delaware Running Festival. 

“You know that’s not going to be happening,” he said. “Coronavirus is coming here and that race is going to be canceled.” 

“That’s ridiculous,” I said. (At this point, COVID-19 was merely a threat overseas, though I knew it was likely to show up in the U.S.) 

“No, it’s not. It will be here and we are not equipped to deal with it,” he said. “I would look for another marathon just in case, and soon.” 

I kept on training for Coastal Delaware, and news about the coronavirus continued to swirl. Doesn’t the flu kill more people? I thought. Why would this lead to cancellations of events like races? 

Micah and I kept arguing about it. “I’m in the best shape of my life and I know I can qualify for Boston again,” I told him. “Yeah, that may be true, but coronavirus doesn’t care,” he retorted. 

And last week, I started to get nervous. Speculation that the Boston Marathon would be canceled for the first time ever caused a ruckus in numerous running groups I belong to on Facebook. There were people in Maryland who were tested for COVID-19 infection. The first confirmed cases of the virus began to appear in my area, and the governor declared a State of Emergency. 

So, with a week and a half ago, I signed up for the B&A Trail Marathon.

And then this week, everything blew up. 

Public schools in Maryland are closed for two weeks beginning Monday. Restrictions were placed on visitors to hospitals across the state. Public gatherings of more than 250 people have been banned in an attempt to stop the virus from infecting more people in Maryland (as of this post, there are 17 confirmed cases.) The NBA and the NHL suspended their seasons. MLB’s Opening Day has been pushed back at least two weeks.

On Wednesday, the Annapolis Striders announced B&A was canceled. The next evening, Coastal Delaware followed suit. And so did just about every road race in the DMV and beyond. The St. Patrick’s Day 5K Staci and I were going to run in Allentown, Pennsylvania got canceled. The Get Pumped For Pets race on the Eastern Shore has been postponed. (I co-authored a story about the coronavirus and race cancellations for RunWashington, but it’s largely out of date now.)

I contemplated continuing to search for another marathon to save my hard work from going to waste — the Pittsburgh Marathon in May is still on as of this writing, but I feel like it’s only a matter of time until that gets canceled, too. There’s really no point in registering. I’m still registered for the Chicago and Philly marathons this fall, and I assume things will have calmed down by then — but that’s outside of the Boston 2021 qualifying window, so I’ll have to shoot for 2022. 

(As an aside, the Boston Athletic Association announced today that they are postponing the 2020 marathon until September. Totally the right decision — runners work way too hard to get there to have that just taken away from them!)

I’m bummed out, but I also recognize that these are steps that we need to take to hopefully prevent a major public health crisis. Am I worried about getting COVID-19? Not really. I’m very healthy and rarely get sick. I can’t even recall the last time I was seriously ill. I am pretty sure that if I got coronavirus, I’d be like the vast majority of people who get it and recover relatively quickly. Maybe I’d barely notice the symptoms. The bigger concern is passing it along to someone who is not as healthy and has a compromised immune system. I don’t want to get the virus and then pass it on to someone who could develop pneumonia and die. 

And is running Boston 2021 really THAT important? I ran the marathon last year. I loved it. Seriously, the day I ran the Boston Marathon is easily among my favorite days ever. But there are so many more Bostons to come and I know I have so many more chances to qualify and run from Hopkinton to Boston. 

Lining up at the start of the 2019 Boston Marathon
I was just so excited to be running the Boston Marathon!

It sucks, because I really thought a BQ and a marathon PR were mine next month. But I’ll dial back on my training (I’ll still keep on running a lot — I just won’t be following any kind of training plan at the moment) and then kick it back up again in June to prepare for Chicago. My calendar is now clear of races until the Get Pumped For Pets 15K and the St. Michael’s Half Marathon, both in May. We’ll see if things are back to normal then — I know there is a chance they won’t be. (Hence my hesitation at signing up for Pittsburgh.)

At the end of the day, it’s just running. I’ll keep on doing it because I love it and look forward to the day that I can race again. Because that day will come!   

My running goals for 2020 and a look back at 2019

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I ended 2019 doing two of the things that I love the most: Drinking beer and running a race. 

Yes, in that order.

 I love to have a beer or two the night before a race, but I have never had a beer the hour before a race. First time for everything! I had a free race entry to the Fairfax Four Miler on New Year’s Eve through my freelance work with RunWashington, and got to the race about an hour and a half early since I needed to pick up my race bib and premium. Since I had time to kill, my husband and I wandered over to Ornery Beer Company so he could get some wings and have a beer. (He was not running.) I didn’t want to just sit there and sip my water, so I ordered a beer, too — the West Indian Viagra, 7.1 percent ABV, which I knew was risky but the name indicated it would give me stamina, right? Ha.

In the end, it didn’t really have any effect on me aside from me feeling like I had to pee about halfway through the race. I finished in 29:20, meeting my goal of finishing in under a half hour, and I felt really strong. Maybe I can run it again and not drink first and see if I can improve!    

 That race — a rare nighttime race that was an awesome way to start ringing in the new year — capped off a busy 2019. I ran the Boston Marathon and finally broke 1:40 in the half marathon — three different times! I also raced my first triathlon and didn’t drown, and I enjoyed the experience enough that I am going to do it again this June! 

I did a triathlon!
HistoricDrawbridgeHalf
My first time breaking 1:40 in the half!

Looking back at my 2019 goals, I said I wanted to run a fall marathon. I never did that and decided just to stick to Boston this past spring. But in 2020, I am running three marathons — Coastal Delaware on April 19, Chicago on Oct. 11 and Philadelphia on Nov. 22, so I am making up for it. 

Which brings me to my goals for 2020: 

  • I want to qualify for Boston again and I want to PR in the marathon. This is my goal for Coastal Delaware. I need to run 3:40:00 or faster to qualify, as I will be 40 (!) for Boston 2021. In reality, I have no idea what the cutoff will be, so it’s hard to say what I actually need to run to get into the race. I suspect I would be safe with a 3:37 or so, but I want to PR and run sub-3:35 — my “A” goal is around 3:30. I feel like it’s attainable based on my recent half marathon times, and I just finished up week four of Hal Higdon’s Advanced Marathon Training plan, which is what I followed when I BQ’d at the Rehoboth Seashore Marathon in December 2017. I am running with my friend Tammi, who is also shooting for a BQ. She needs 3:35:00 or better, as she is a few years younger than I am. I have to admit that I am a *little* salty that the Boston Athletic Association chopped five minutes off the qualifying standards starting with the 2020 marathon. I was soooo looking forward to that 3:45 standard, but I do understand why they did what they did.

It’s too soon for me to have goals for Chicago and Philly — I registered for both with a projected finish time of 3:40 (might as well dream big, right??), but mostly I want those weekends to be fun girls’ weekends. I’m going to Chicago with my sisters as a belated birthday trip, and I’ll be in Philly with some of my good friends who live in Pennsylvania!  

  • I want to run fewer 5Ks. I ran 10 5Ks in 2019. Including two in one day. Why?! I don’t love shorter distances and I don’t think I do great at them, but I always end up signing up for 5Ks because I have friends who want to run them and then I get FOMO. I am vowing to only sign up for 5Ks that I am excited about! I’m planning on a St. Paddy’s Day 5K with Staci (whose birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day) and I will likely do my annual Turkey Trot in November, but that’s it for now, I swear to God.
  • On that note, I want to to be more selective about my races in general. I love to race, but in previous years, I jumped on the opportunity to run every race that my friends are running (that FOMO again.) I need to be more selective. Racing can take a lot of time and money, and I do think it’s a good use of both of those things, but I also don’t want to burn out.      

On another note, I’m pumped to be back on Rip It Events’ ambassador team for the fourth year in a row. Contact me for 15 percent off any 2020 Rip It race. I’ve also joined Nuun Hydration‘s ambassador team, which is awesome as I have been a loyal user of their products since I was training for my first marathon back in 2015.

Happy 2020! What are your goals for the year?

Catching the unicorn: Boston Marathon 2019

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Last week, I achieved a goal that was about two years in the making when I finished the 2019 Boston Marathon. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, and I am so happy and grateful that I had my husband, parents and one of my sisters there with me to see me accomplish my dream!

I finished in 3:47:46, slightly off my goal time (I was shooting for sub-3:45) but whatever! I ran Boston! I will be proud of that finish time forever!

Because I qualified in December 2017, I’ve had to wait a LONG time to actually run the race. As Marathon Monday approached, my neuroses kicked in and I started to get more and more nervous. What if I got suddenly injured and couldn’t run? What if the race got canceled because of some crazy weather event? (More on the weather in a minute.) What if I got a retinal detachment and had to have surgery? (Not as crazy as it sounds. I am extremely nearsighted and this probably will happen at some point in my life.) What if, what if, what if ….

But I made it to Boston with a big smile on my face, despite the doom-and-gloom weather forecasts that threatened to quite literally put a damper on the whole thing.

The 2018 Boston Marathon will always be known for its horrific weather conditions, with cold rain and 30 mph wind gusts. Last year, I remember watching coverage of the race and thinking, “That would never happen two years in a row.” Yet sure enough, a week out from the race, meteorologists were calling for very similar weather for Boston 2019. What were the chances?

Turns out, not very high, because that wasn’t even close to the weather I actually ran in! Luckily, I brought about five different running outfits so I could be prepared for any situation.

When I woke up on race morning at 4 am — wayyyyyy before my alarm, but I just could not wait to get going — it was raining, but it didn’t look too terrible outside. The temperature was in the 50s, which is actually quite nice for running, in my opinion. I decided to wear an ancient pair of running shorts (oldies but goodies!) and my Rip It Events singlet, with a sweatshirt I could toss at the start line and a poncho provided by Marathon Tours and Travel that I also planned to ditch before starting the race. I also put on an old pair of Target rain boots that I purchased back in 2011 during Hurricane Irene news coverage. I’d heard that Athlete’s Village in Hopkinton, where the marathon starts, was a mud pit last year, so I packed the boots at the last minute. My plan was to carry my running shoes and put them on just before the race. Since all of the discarded clothing is donated to charity, I was more than OK with leaving the boots behind, as well.

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Stylish!

I met up with two other runners that I connected with through a Boston Marathon Facebook group who were also staying in my hotel, and we decided to share a Lyft to go to Boston Commons and board the buses to Hopkinton. Right before we got in our Lyft, it started raining really heavily and there was thunder and lightning, and I started to wonder if they would in fact delay the marathon. I found out later that runners in the earlier waves were made to shelter in Hopkinton High School and Middle School, while other runners had to stay on their buses. Craziness. But by the time we boarded, around 8:30, the rain had slowed to a mild drizzle, and by the time we got to Athlete’s Village, it wasn’t raining at all! But it was muddy enough that I was glad I brought those boots with me. I hope they found a good home! I tossed my sweatshirt as I walked toward the start line and didn’t even feel chilly, so I knew the race was going to be much warmer than anyone had anticipated and was so happy I opted for shorts instead of running tights.

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At the start!

26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston   

As I’ve been reading everything I could get my hands on about the Boston Marathon, I knew that the race starts out on a pretty steep downhill and it’s really easy to go out too fast, something you never want to do in a marathon. So when my wave went off at 10:50, I did my best to pace myself and start out slow. I tried to take in all the sights and sounds around me, including the spectators (I’d always heard that people cheer you on the entire way from Hopkinton to Boston, and it’s so true!) I ran the first few miles in the 8:20s, which felt very comfortable and not too fast, but looking back, probably was a bit too speedy in light of the infamous Newton Hills that come in the back half of the race. Almost immediately, I was glad I was in a singlet and shorts and I heard a few runners around me commenting on/complaining about the humidity, but it was still overcast so it didn’t feel too awful to me yet.

After Hopkinton, we ran through the towns of Ashland and Framingham, and my trusty SpiBelt– which I’ve carried in numerous races including marathons for the last three years– started to annoy the crap out of me! I had stuffed it with four energy gels, which I take faithfully during marathons at miles 5, 10, 15 and 20. For whatever reason, it started bouncing all around my waist and flipping up and down and generally just making me uncomfortable. So I took one of the gels out and figured I would hold it in my hand until mile 5 when I would take it. That solved the problem of the SpiBelt sliding around, until I dropped the damn gel in the middle of the road. One of the spectators was blasting the Boston anthem Sweet Caroline, and when I raised my arms in the air to chant, “So good, so good, so good!” the gel went flying. For a few seconds I tried to run back to retrieve it, but didn’t want to be trampled by dozens of runners. I knew volunteers would be giving out energy gels on the course, so I hoped whatever they were giving out (I’ve always used Gu brand) wouldn’t jack up my stomach.

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Natick-Wellesley: Miles 6-13

The rolling hills (mostly downhills) continued through Framingham and Natick, and my pace remained in the 8:20s-low 8:30s. The crowds were thick through downtown Natick, and again I tried to concentrate on taking it all in, waving at people, high-fiving little kids, and reading all the funny signs. (My personal favorite of the day was one that read “Did Aunt Becky get you your Boston qualifying time?”) I knew the spectators were going to get even more exuberant with the Wellesley Scream Tunnel coming up near the halfway point, and they certainly lived up to my expectations!

The Scream Tunnel is seriously one of the best parts of the Boston Marathon. Students from Wellseley College line the the street, screaming their hearts out (you can hear them from at least a half mile away) and holding signs encouraging you to kiss them. “Kiss me, I’ve been in school with all girls for four years!” “Kiss me, I’m an Aussie!” “Kiss me if you’re dead, too!” (That one was held by a girl wearing a T-Rex costume.) I actually saw one dude stop running and grab one of the girls and start full on making out with her. OK then! I didn’t kiss anyone, but I did give out a bunch of high fives! It was so much fun.

Miles 13-16: Getting hot

Around the time I hit the halfway point of the race, I started feeling the unexpected heat. At this point, there wasn’t much shade and it was the middle of the day, so we were getting cooked. I was chugging water and Gatorade — I like to alternate between the two during marathons — at every aid station. At one point, someone turned on a huge sprinkler and I ran through it and it felt incredible. The race felt like it was going by so fast at that point — I remember looking down at my watch and thinking “I’ve really been running for two hours already?” I also was able to grab an energy gel (Clif brand, vanilla flavored) from one of the stations and took it at mile 15 and my stomach cooperated. I was feeling good at that point and ready to tackle the Newton Hills ahead.

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Miles 16-21: The Newton Hills

Numerous people who have run Boston before have said the race really begins at mile 16, and it’s true. There are four hills through the town of Newton, with the most famous being Heartbreak Hill. I did a lot of hill training for this marathon, so I feel like I was as prepared as I could have been — however, it’s tough to prepare for running several miles of uphill after many miles of downhill. (At least I live in a somewhat hilly area. I feel bad for runners from very flat parts of the country!)  

I didn’t actually think any of the hills were all that bad — what makes them challenging is where they fall in the race. For example, Heartbreak Hill is steep, but no worse than the Naval Academy Bridge where I do my hill training. It’s also not that long — but since it’s at mile 20.5 in a marathon, it’s a real kick in the ass. The spectators were on point, though, yelling words of encouragement and holding signs that said things like “Don’t let this hill break your heart.” I’m not exactly sure what my pace was through this part of the race — I know I was slowing down a bit, but I didn’t stop to walk at all. There were a lot of other runners walking by that point and I was passing quite a few of them, so I can thank training on the bridge for that. But I was very excited to get to the top of the hill and see the sign at Boston College that told runners “The Heartbreak Is Over.”

Miles 21-26: Oh my Quad

After you get over Heartbreak, the race is almost entirely downhill to flat until the end. But at that point, my quads were so destroyed from all the downhill and uphill that it hardly felt easy (of course, you’re at mile 21 of a marathon; nothing feels easy then.)

I realized I was distracted by Heartbreak Hill and had completely forgotten to take my fourth gel, so I took that when I passed the mile 21 marker. Then I focused on the fact that I only had a few more miles until I could see my family. They were spectating the race at mile 24 in Brookline, though I had no idea what side of the road they would be standing on.

My quads were screaming at me, and I was hot and thirsty (I continued to stop at every water stop.) Around mile 23, my trusty Garmin Forerunner 10 died on me, which was annoying. Usually it lasts through an entire marathon, and I am hoping I don’t have to replace it — I’ve run thousands of miles with it at this point and I have a sentimental attachment to it. I knew I was slowing down anyway, so at least I didn’t have to look at my mile splits and get depressed.

I saw my mom first, and I started yelling and waving to her and finally she and Micah saw me and started cheering. My sister Catherine started waving a sign she had made for me that said “Allison’s Cheer Squad” and yelled extremely loudly, prompting some other spectators to start chanting my name as well. So that was fun. I never saw my dad, so I assume he was still at the bar drinking his Guinness (kidding! But they did hang out at a Brookline bar while they were waiting for me to run by.)

It wasn’t long afterwards that I looked up and saw the famous Citgo sign, which signals you are at mile 25 and the journey is almost over. The crowds were deafening and probably at least six people deep along this stretch, and it’s like that until you cross the finish line. It’s awesome.

Right on Hereford, left on Boylston

Everyone always talks about making that right turn on Hereford Street and then the left turn on Boylston Street, where the finish line is. I started to get really emotional when I looked up and saw the sign for Hereford Street — like, I started crying and gasping and had to tell myself, “GET IT TOGETHER, you need to keep breathing to be able to finish!” When I turned onto Boylston, I could see the finish but it looked really far away (it’s about four blocks from that intersection.) By then, everything felt surreal and I kind of felt like I was floating toward the finish line. I ran as hard as I could, past the Convention Center where I picked up my race packet, past the random Trader Joe’s on Boylston (such a weird place for a TJ’s), past the New Balance store with Run Like a Bos written in huge letters on the side.

And then I ran across the finish line and just like that, it was all over. Then the skies opened up and we got the cold rain that meteorologists had been calling for all along. Boston weather is so bizarre.

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Can you see me in the middle? I wish I had a better finish line photo! 

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Final thoughts

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t *slightly* bummed about my time, at least initially. I think I could have run in the high 3:30s/low 3:40s if it had been a flat course, but the Boston Marathon course is what it is. It’s tough AF. This article sums it up better than anything else I’ve read, down to the sunburn I got only on the right side of my body!

I’m proud of my training and proud of the fact that I only ran the back half of the course five minutes slower than the front half, even though I felt like I slowed down a lot. I’m also really happy about the fact that I’ve broken four hours in all seven of my marathons, and beat 3:50 in five of them. I know that’s “slow” to a lot of Boston runners, but it’s all relative. And isn’t finishing strong and with a smile on your face the most important part of marathoning?

I’m also so grateful for all the support I got from friends and family! I had literally dozens of people who downloaded the Boston Marathon app and/or signed up for race day alerts so they could track me during the race — high school friends, college friends, former co-workers, current co-workers, my kickboxing crew, my cousins. It was a bit scary, because you never know when a race is going to go off the rails, but I was honored that everyone was so excited for me! Thank you all!

Oh yeah, and of course I had to get new ink to commemorate my Boston experience:

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Finish line coordinates! Thanks Ariana for the pic! 😉  

What’s next for me?

Everyone has been asking me this. My dad wanted to know if this was my last marathon. No way! I plan to do many more marathons, and I plan to run Boston again, too. But I need to qualify again, obviously. I’ll be aging up for Boston 2021, and would like to shoot for a qualifying time for that race. (Of course, with the new tougher standards, I’ll have to hit the same time I did for Boston 2019!)  Initially, I was planning to run a marathon this fall and go for it then, but I think I need a bit of a break from marathon training. I want to focus on running a fast half marathon this fall — sub-1:40, I am coming for you– and run my next marathon next spring. I’m thinking about the Coastal Delaware Running Festival next April, which is in Rehoboth. Since I’ve already had good luck BQing there, why not try again?

But my most immediate goal is training for and competing in the Columbia Association Triathlon in June. I’m signed up for the super sprint — a 200 yard swim, 5-mile bike ride and 1.75-mile run.

So my personal project for May is learning how to be more comfortable in the pool– something that will undoubtedly be as challenging to me as training for a marathon!

I won a local 10K race (?!), and now it’s time to taper!

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I had just passed the halfway point in the Seashore Striders’ Get Pumped For Pets 10K race on Kent Island and was running back toward the finish when runners headed in the opposite direction started to call out to me.

“Hey! You’re first female!”

“You go girl! First place!”

“You’re in first!”

I knew I was holding a pretty decent pace, and I didn’t see any other women around me, but I wasn’t paying a ton of attention — plus, there was also a 5K and a 15K race happening, and it was kind of hard to tell who was running what. So I was pretty excited. I thought an age group award was likely (I had already checked out last year’s times– haha, it’s not like I am competitive or anything!), but wasn’t expecting to win the whole thing. When I crossed the finish in 45:12 (just shy of my 10K PR), I was thrilled.

Then I found out I’d won my age group, and another woman had won the race. I was mildly disappointed, and surprised (seriously, like eight people had told me I was in first), but still happy with an award. The woman announced as the winner had finished in 41 minutes and change, so it wasn’t even close anyway.

Then another runner came up to me.

“You won the race,” she insisted.”There was a mistake.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “You probably just missed her out there. It’s fine! I still won my age group.”

Then another woman pulled me aside, telling me the same thing — someone screwed up and I had indeed won the 10K race.

Long story short, these other runners went to the event organizers and told them there was a mix-up, and they agreed that there appeared to be. The original winner never claimed her prize — a large wooden paw and a $50 gift card to a local restaurant — so it wasn’t like we were fighting over it! As near as I can gather, she probably messed up the turnaround for the 10K and cut her race short. (I highly doubt anyone doing this would have willfully cheated.) Because there were three separate races going on, the turnarounds were a bit confusing and not terribly well-marked. It would have been very easy to turn around at the 5K mark, or blow past the 10K turnaround and get mixed in with the 15K runners. Who knows! Anyway, it was nice of the other runners to have my back, because I was totally not going to make a stink about it. I was really just happy about my time. I am feeling REALLY good going into Boston after three weekends in a row of successful races.

This was my first year running in Get Pumped For Pets and I would definitely do it again, confusion aside. The course is flat and fast and I love the variety of distances (again, confusion aside!) I ran with a group of friends, including several of my coworkers, and between us we tackled each distance. The race, now in its 9th annual year, raises money for local animal rescues. So much fun, and it was for a great cause!

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Hoping the weather allows me to rock these pants in Boston! Maryland pride, baby!

Boston Marathon taper time

With that race under my belt, my marathon taper has officially started. Because I am following a 12-week plan, my taper is only two weeks long. Yesterday, I ran my second 20-miler and felt strong. (It didn’t hurt that the weather was sunny and beautiful and I was totally comfortable running in a tank top and shorts!)

The only hiccup is that my feet started to hurt a bit — and not just toward the end of the run, either. When I took off my shoes, I noticed some wear on the soles. I wouldn’t normally buy new kicks so close to a big race, but I was paranoid about running Boston with achy feet, so I went to Charm City Run in Annapolis and bought the exact same shoe (Brooks Ghosts, my go-to for at least the past six years.) I wore the new shoes today and they felt comfy, so I’ll wear them throughout the taper and plan to bring them to Boston with me!

15 days to go!

Cramming a last-minute half marathon into Boston Marathon training

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On Friday night, I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to run the Caesar Rodney Half Marathon in Wilmington, Delaware. This morning, I ran the race in 1:42, and had an absolute blast doing it! I love it when last minute decisions work out!

Let’s back up. This weekend, I was scheduled to run for two hours one day and race a half marathon the next, per my Hal Higdon Boston Bound plan. I figured that actually finding a local half marathon to do was going to be a long shot, so initially I planned just to run 13.1 miles all by myself. Then I saw that the Caesar Rodney Half was happening in Wilmington, less than two hours away from where I live, and it was being held at the very civilized time of 9:30 am (meaning I could drive in that morning without leaving in the middle of the night.) At first, I bulked at paying money for yet another race, but saw that the proceeds went to a good cause (the American Lung Association.) And running with a big group of people sounded way more fun than running a solitary half marathon. So I signed up.

This is a really cool race. The half marathon, now in its 56th year, is actually the oldest one in the country! It’s named for Caesar Rodney, who rode his horse from Delaware to Philadelphia to cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the Declaration of Independence. There is a big statue of him in Wilmington’s Rodney Square, which is where the race started and ended. In addition to the half marathon, there is also a 5K and a relay option.

I wanted to get to Wilmington on the early side so I could find parking, get my bib, use the restroom, etc., before the race started, so I left my house at 6 am. There was zero traffic on 95 at that hour on a Sunday, plus I drive fast (which has gotten me into way more trouble than running fast has, hahahaha) so I arrived in Wilmington by 7:30. Packet pickup didn’t begin until 8. Whoops. Could have slept in more.

Once I got my bib, I hung out by the Rodney statue and chatted with another runner who is working toward running a half marathon in every state. He asked me my time goal, and I told him sub-1:45. He said his was 1:16. OK then! I caught up with him after the race, and he ended up placing eighth overall — so it was a very fast field today.

I was really excited to see there was a 1:45 pacer. After running for two hours yesterday, I really didn’t know if sub-1:45 was in the cards for me, but I figured I would just stick with the 1:45 guy and then move ahead in the end if I was feeling good. The back end of the race is hilly, and he said he was going to try to bank some time early on to make up for those hills.

We did the first three miles in the high 7s, which felt really comfortable. The temperature was absolutely perfect — high 50s to start — and the beginning of the course was pretty flat. The only annoying thing was how crowded it was during the part of the course that wove along the riverfront. We were running on a boardwalk and it was elbow-to-elbow at times. For all the other runners I bumped, I am sorry!

About those hills — the course was advertised as hilly, and it was, but none of them were all that steep. Just long. I felt like we were really cruising along until about the halfway point, when the hills started. Miles 6-9 were pretty much a continuous steady climb followed by a leveling out followed by another steady climb.

But after that, the inclines were pretty much done. In fact, there was some significant downhills from mile 9-12  …. meaning my quads will be feeling the burn tomorrow! But I was able to go pretty fast, even running mile 9 in a speedy 7:22, and passed the pace group for good. I was secretly hoping I could catch up to the 1:40 group, and finally beat my half marathon PR from 2016 (1:41:01, set at the Annapolis Running Classic half marathon.) But that never happened. One day! I still think I have a sub-1:40 half in me somewhere….

There was one last hill that kicked my butt pretty hard, and it was at the worst possible time in the race! The last quarter-mile of the race goes uphill, and it was actually probably the steepest hill of the whole entire race. What the hell? I did get some nice encouragement, though, from a spectator who noticed my Boston Marathon Qualifier shirt. “Just picture the crowds at Boston!” she yelled to me. “They’re all cheering for you!” That put a big smile on my face, and I made it up the hill and crossed the finish line in 1:42:35– 20 seconds faster than my last half, the Rehoboth Seashore Half Marathon.

Could I have gotten a PR if I hadn’t run a long run yesterday (and hill repeats Friday night?) Or if the course had been flatter? Maybe. Who knows. Races can be so unpredictable! All I know is I felt great the whole time and that I had a lot of fun, and what more can you ask for as a runner?

And while I know I just said races and race times can be unpredictable, I was curious to see what the McMillan Running Calculator predicts for my upcoming marathon — and it says 3:25:10. That seems like just a bit of a stretch, but I do think I could go sub-3:40 again! (Would need 3:35 or better to re-qualify.)

We’ll just have to see what happens on race day!

A near-PR in the Barlowe 5K Bolt +week 8 of Boston Marathon training complete!

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“Almost only counts in horseshoes” may be an old and tired cliche, but I couldn’t be more excited about my almost-PR in last weekend’s Barlowe 5K Bolt, when I ran a 21:35 and won my age group!

Even though I’ve run a bunch of 5Ks in the last year and a half, I believe this was the first time I went under 22 minutes since I was training hard to BQ in the fall of 2017 (I ran a 21:55 in the 5K at the Baltimore Running Festival that year for a 2nd place AG award.) Yes, technically I did run a 21:08 in the Reindeer Run in December, but that course was short, so I don’t count it. Fall 2017 was also the last time I was doing serious speedwork, so I think there has to be a connection there. Hope it bodes well for my time in Boston!

My 5K PR is a fluke 20:49 that I ran when I relayed in the 2016 Waterman’s Sprint Triathlon, and I really don’t know if I will ever beat that. For all I know, the whole thing is a figment of my imagination, because I’ve tried to find proof of those results online and I can’t. *shrug* But that’s what I remember running that day. And so, to the best of my knowledge, last Saturday’s run was my second-fastest 5K time!

The annual race, held in Millersville, Maryland, raises money for a natural playground in the area. I ran with a huge group of friends from 5 Peaks, and because it was the day before St. Patrick’s Day, I got decked out my holiday best:

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It was the Lucky Hat that did it.

It was cold the morning of the race, but nowhere near as bad as last year. But it was VERY windy, to the point where I wasn’t sure my ridiculous hat was going to stay on my head! I got to the race, which started at 7 am, by about 6:15 to pick up my packet and do a quick warm up. I never warm up before 5Ks, but I had five miles on my training plan for the day, so I figured I would do a 1-mile warm up and a 1-mile cool down.  (Maybe the warm up helped, who knows!)

At the start of the 5K I told myself, “Don’t go out balls to the wall in the first mile. Pace yourself!” But…. I wasn’t successful. The first mile is largely flat, with maybe a small, small incline or two, and my watch beeped 6:47 at me when I finished it. Well, shit, I thought. At that point, I was keeping up pretty well with Tammi’s husband, Drew. I told myself I would try to run with him or very close to him for as much of the race as I could.

Somewhere during the second mile, which is more up and down, I passed him. I *definitely* slowed down in mile 2, to a 7:15, but that was better than the Valentine’s 5K when my second mile was in the 7:30s following a sub-7 first mile. And I was feeling pretty good and like I could still finish strong.

I ended up staying ahead of Drew until the very end when, no joke, he passed me on the exact same little hill that Tammi passed me on last year. I would have laughed out loud if I hadn’t been extremely gassed at that point. I ran another 7:15 mile and he ended up finishing three seconds ahead of me! Tammi didn’t do the 5K this year because she ran the 1 mile fun run with their son, who won that race! Fast family!

I won a car care package with a free car wash to a local place and a goodie bag of other prizes, including a nice water bottle and some gift cards to Ledo Pizza.

Honestly, I am MOST excited that my average race pace was 6:58. I’ve only ever seen my race pace begin with a 6 one other time — that freak 5K I mentioned above — so that was huge for me!

If you’re looking for a local and low-key race that raises money for a good cause, I highly recommend the Bolt!

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5 Peaks life! 

An update on Boston training 

The day after the 5K, I ran the first of two 20-milers on my training plan. The weather was great — it got into the 50s with no wind — and I headed to Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis to run. An entire loop around the park is five miles, so I planned to do that four times. That may seem a little boring, but I love Quiet Waters and find running there so peaceful.

The run went fine except for the fact that I tripped and fell a mile and a half into it. There are a lot of hills in the park — which makes it a good place to do a long run if you are training for a hilly marathon like Boston. Well, I was running down one of the steeper inclines and I tripped over a root and fell. I wasn’t seriously hurt, fortunately. My knee got scraped up and I snagged one of my favorite pairs of Under Armour leggings, which really made me mad. (On the bright side, I almost wore a brand new pair of leggings and decided at the last minute not to, so at least there is that.)

And life being the way it is, of course I had an audience for my spill. A man was walking with his son and I fell as I ran past them. If an Allison trips and falls in the park and no one witnesses her complete lack of gracefulness, did it really happen?! Ironically, I was just talking with my friends at brunch after the 5K about the time I fell off a treadmill at my old gym (someone left the machine on, I stepped on it to run and flew ass-backwards off of it … you can visualize the rest) and how it had been a while since I’d fallen. Totally jinxed myself there!

But it could have been worse. I got my 20 miles in, though it wasn’t as fast as I would have liked. I was trying for three hours, and it took me three hours and 10 minutes. I was trying to be very conscious of where I was running after my fall, so that slowed me down a little. It happens.

The next day, I came down with a mild cold that has messed up this week’s training a little bit. Ran my easy 5 on Monday after work, but felt like crap on Tuesday and skipped kickboxing. I felt MUCH better yesterday, but the plan called for 7 hill repeats and I wasn’t sure I wanted to risk a relapse by pushing through that workout, so I just ran another easy 5.

I’ll do the hill workout tomorrow. I mean, who doesn’t love spending Friday night running up and down the Naval Academy Bridge? 😉

 

Halfway through Boston Marathon training + a note on the comparison game

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The 2019 Boston Marathon is 39 days away, and I am officially more than halfway done with Hal Higdon’s 12-week Boston Bound training plan!

Last weekend was a big training weekend for me — 8 mile tempo on Saturday and 18 miles on Sunday. I feel really good about how both runs went. I averaged a pace in the 7:50s for my tempo, and felt awesome throughout. I think the weather definitely helped– Saturday it was in the low 40s and dry, totally ideal running weather!

Sunday, well, it was less than ideal for my long run. About six miles in, it started to sleet, and it only got worse from there. I actually felt OK when I was running– I had on running tights, my long-sleeved Boston Qualifier Adidas shirt, my tried-and-true windbreaker from the 2014 Annapolis Ten Mile Run, and a hat from the 2017 St. Mary’s Half Marathon to keep water off my face. My goal was to run an easy pace and finish within 2 hours and 45 minutes, which I did, almost on the nose. But as soon as I stopped running, I was FREEZING (it was only about 35 degrees outside.) I was also starving (18 miles will do that to you!) I drove home, took a hot shower and made a huge bowl of pasta with meatless meatballs, spinach and pesto, and lounged around the rest of the day!

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18 miles later….

That was probably the crappiest weather I’ve had to endure during this training cycle, although tonight wasn’t fun. I had six hill repeats to run, so I headed to the Naval Academy Bridge after work. It was about 30 degrees and windy, and I did not feel like grinding out that workout. But I did it and feel good about it. Fitness coaches like to say, “How bad do you want it?” Well, tonight I had to want it really f*cking bad.

Overall, though, I feel I’ve really lucked out. This winter has been fairly mild, really, and it’s already March 6! I know sometimes we get Nor’easters in March here, but hopefully that won’t happen this year. I have two 20-milers on the schedule this month, so let’s not have like a foot of snow falling on a Saturday or Sunday, thanks!

The comparison trap

I wanted to spend some time talking about an unhealthy habit I’ve struggled with for years — comparing myself to others.

We all do it, and I think this behavior can be helpful as a form of self-motivation — but it can also be destructive, too.

I’m trying to find a balance between those two things.

I’m in several Boston-related groups on Facebook, and I’ve learned a lot about the race and gotten some great pointers on everything from training to running the race itself to sightseeing in Boston.

But I’ve also gotten a glimpse into others’ training plans and it makes me second-guess my own training and wonder if I’m doing enough. For instance, I noted earlier that I’m following Hal Higdon’s 12-week Boston plan, which means I started officially training in January for the April race. I know I had a good base going into the training — I ran a 1:42 half in December and maintained long runs of 10-12 miles on the weekends, so it wasn’t like I was starting from nothing — but I also know a lot of my fellow Boston runners started training back in November or December. Should I have started training earlier? Too late now, I guess.

And while I’ve always known my weekly mileage as a marathon runner is lower than average, it’s become REALLY obvious that it’s WAY lower than your average Boston Marathoner. During marathon training, I typically run somewhere in the 30s for my weekly mileage. I will probably top out in the low 40s for this training cycle. I run four days a week and go to kickboxing class the other two days. (And I take a rest day.) I suppose I’d run more if I didn’t do kickboxing — but I love kickboxing and the friends that I’ve made through my class, and I’m not willing to give it up even if running more would theoretically make me faster.

I generally don’t even keep track of my monthly mileage, unless I’m doing a monthly challenge as I did in January. But boy, every runner on Instagram sure does! I see post after post of runners posting their monthly tallies of 200+ miles, and I can assure you I am nowhere close to those numbers. It’s hard not to feel like a bit of a slacker!

I also don’t watch my diet as closely as a lot of other more serious runners seem to. I don’t eat horribly, but I like to treat myself, too. I drink good beer on the regular. I’m obsessed with edible cookie dough lately. I eat a lot of cheese (except on days before long runs, ’cause that’s a gastrointestinal disaster waiting to happen.) I’m a smaller, thinner person anyway, but when I see others talking about dropping five pounds to get to their “racing weight,” I think, should I try to get leaner, too?

I try to tell myself that I earned my spot in Boston just like everyone else who qualified, and if my training works for me, then that’s enough.

It’s going to have to be!

A 10K, a 5K and an update on Boston Marathon training!

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The first time I trained for a full marathon (the 2015 Pittsburgh Marathon), I swore I would never train for a spring marathon again. That winter was awful, with numerous snow storms and ice storms and brutally cold temperatures. My now-husband and I were forced to run three long runs on the treadmill — a 10-miler, a 14-miler and a 16-miler (my God, it was brutal.) Nope, nope, nope, I said to myself. If I ever do a marathon again, it will be a fall marathon. Screw this.

Then I ran the marathon that May and loved it. And the next month, I signed up for the 2016 Rock ‘N Roll D.C. Marathon, held the following March. And now I’m spending my fifth consecutive winter training for a marathon and I truly can’t imagine a winter without having a marathon to look forward to! Honestly, I wouldn’t say I’ve become a fan of winter, but having a goal to train and work toward during the darkest, coldest months of the year helps me get through a time of year that I’d always dreaded. Plus, I warm up a lot when I run (and I maintain that I’d rather train in 25 or 30 degree weather than 80 or 85 degree weather, especially with how humid and gross Maryland summers can be!)

And last weekend, I got a true taste of winter running when I ran in Rip It Events’ 3rd annual Little Patuxent River Run Half Marathon and 10K. This race, held every year on Super Bowl Sunday, takes place on the Patuxent Branch Trail in Howard County. I had run the half marathon the past two years, but opted for the 10K this year. Why? Honestly, I was paranoid about falling and injuring myself with less than three months to go until Boston. I’ve fallen off the treadmill and also while running in downtown Annapolis on the cobblestone streets, so yeah, it’s safe to say that I am not always the most graceful. Wasn’t worth the risk this year. (You can read my recaps of the 2017 and 2018 Little Patuxent halfs here and here!)

That turned out to be the right decision, because this is what the trail looked like at the start of the race:

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Pretty, but slick!

Yikes. Because it was only in the 20s that morning, there was no chance any of that was melting any time soon. My only goal was not to fall and hurt myself — I knew I wouldn’t be setting any PRs (which would have been extremely unlikely at a trail race in the very best of conditions anyway!)

Because I had run this race twice in the past, I was familiar with the trail, and I remembered how beautiful the surrounding woods and river were — especially with the snow. So I tried to enjoy the scenery while also paying close attention to my footing. For the first mile or so, there were a lot of icy patches that we had to dodge around, and because the race is an out-and-back, I knew I’d have to watch out for the ice at mile 5, too!

The course is a challenge even when there isn’t snow and ice on the ground. There are two rather steep climbs, at miles 2.5ish and mile 4, that force even the speediest runners to slow wayyyyy down or even walk. There are some long declines, too, which can be equally scary if you trip over a rock or a root or something. And when packed snow covers the trail and you can’t even see any tripping hazards, well, it’s really tough!

But I never once fell, so mission accomplished! My finish time was 56:32, by far my slowest ever 10K time. Somehow, that was fast enough to get me 3rd in my age group, which surprised me!

LPRR

As a Rip It Events ambassador, I ran this race for free. Opinions are entirely my own! A full list of 2019 Rip It events can be found here. If you’re interested in running any of them, let me know and I’ll share my 15 percent discount code with you! 

Annapolis Striders’ Valentine’s 5K

Wow, that was a cold one. My husband and I ran the Valentine’s 5K at Kinder Farm Park in Millersville yesterday with a bunch of friends, but it was so frigid I couldn’t bear to take my gloves off to take out my phone and get some pictures at the race start/finish. 16 degree windchill, ughhhhh! This is the two of us thawing off in the car afterwards:

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I had hoped for an age group award, and even looked at last year’s winners to see how fast I needed to run to be a contender. It appeared that I needed to run sub-23, which I thought was doable. And I did, finishing in 22:43, but it wasn’t fast enough. There were some SPEEDY runners out there, and I finished 6th in the 30-39 age group. (Although, Tammi, who finished a few seconds ahead of me, pointed out that if there had been a 35-39 age group, she would have finished first and I would have been second. And then her husband said, “Well, if my aunt had nuts she’d be my uncle.” So. Yeah.)

The run was OK. As I’ve said before, 5Ks are my nemesis and I often execute them poorly. This race reminded me of the Turkey Trot 5K that I ran on Thanksgiving Day. You know, that time I ran the first mile in a blazing 6:34 and then blew up during the rest of the race?? That basically happened again, except this time I ran the first mile in 6:46 (such restraint), then the second mile in 7:32 and the third in 7:35. At least those miles were consistent? But just think if I hadn’t busted out a sub-7 mile right out of the gate! Stupid! At least this 5K was faster than the Turkey Trot.

I would like to get better at 5Ks, but it’ll take some specific 5K training (i.e., not running them as part of marathon training.) I think I’m going to run another 5K on March 16, just about a month before Boston, so we’ll see what I can do then and if the speed work I am doing as part of my plan might actually help me run a good 5K.

Boston 2019 training

Nine weeks until Boston 2019! Having BQ’d in December 2017, I’ve been waiting SO long to run this race and I can’t even believe it’s almost here! I’m following Hal Higdon’s Boston Bound 12-week plan, and so far, it’s going well. He has me alternating hill repeats with speed work (Yasso 800s) every week, similar to what I did when I followed his Advanced plan to get my qualifying time. The long runs also alternate by mileage and time. For example, last weekend I had to run an easy 14 miles. This weekend, my long run was an hour and a half, with the first three-quarters run at an easy pace and the last quarter run at marathon pace. I’ve never done a long run by time before now, and I have to say I am liking it a lot. The time passes quickly, and it’s fun to finish a long run strong!

So what marathon pace am I shooting for in Boston? Good question. In a perfect world, I’d BQ again, but with the tighter standards for 2020, I’ll have to run 3:35 or better. And Boston is known to be a tough course, and my last two marathons were 3:53 (Baltimore) and 3:47 (B&A). I think continuing to work on my speed will get me back closer to where I was when I ran Rehoboth and qualified with a 3:35:00, but I’ve got a long way to go. That said, I believe a finishing time somewhere in the 3:40s is feasible.

And if I don’t meet that goal — it’s Boston! It’ll be awesome no matter what.

Have you run Boston? What advice do you have for me?