Boston Marathon qualifying time

Running a wicked fast PR at the Wicked Fast Poconos PA Marathon

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Before signing up for the Wicked Fast Poconos PA Marathon, I’d never raced a downhill marathon.

Yes, Boston is technically a net downhill, but with the Newton Hills it’s nowhere near the same as a race with a steady decline from start to finish. I know downhill marathons are controversial, but I wanted to try one. Wicked Fast is point to point with a very slight downhill slope— I originally saw that the course dropped 800 feet, but then I read that it was a net decline of 680 feet. Not actually sure which was correct.

But I took down a 3-year-old marathon PR at last month’s race, beating my 2022 Chicago time by just over a minute. And I freaking loved it!

Getting paced by a caterpillar

Wicked Fast, formerly known as the Jack and Jill Marathon — they also have a sister race in Washington state that has been going on for years — actually held two half marathons and marathons, one on Friday, September 12 for anyone who wanted a last ditch attempt to qualify for Boston 2026, and then one on Saturday, September 13, the first day of the Boston 2027 qualifying window. I signed up for Saturday’s race.

I stayed at Staci’s house and was up bright and early (3:30 am) to make it on time to the bus that would take me from the Lehighton Outdoor Center to the starting line at the Lehigh Gorge State Park. My goal was to run sub 3:25 and I was hoping for a 3:25 pace group, but the fastest was 3:30. So I just decided to line up ahead of them, close to the start line. Just before we began, 4 women connected by a caterpillar costume approached the start, and the race director announced that they were going for a Guinness World Record and were aiming for a 3:20 finish. Definitely not anything I’d ever seen at a marathon before!

The course was simple — 5K out on the D&L Trail, then we turned around and ran straight back down to the finish at the outdoor center. I didn’t notice any downhill until about mile 10, and even then it was very slight. The route was also absolutely gorgeous and we had views of the Lehigh River the whole way. And the weather! Couldn’t have ordered a nicer day!

Two things that made this hard packed gravel trail a little more challenging than expected, though. One, uneven terrain. I almost rolled my ankle around mile 4 on a rocky patch on the trail. Two, running in the mountains really jacked up my Garmin and I pretty much had to run by feel, because the pace it was telling me was not accurate (and only got worse in the later miles!)

Somewhere around mile 7, I caught up to the caterpillar and realized I was going faster than I expected. They were keeping a steady pace and I felt pretty comfortable, so I decided to hang with them as long as I could! These ladies were so fun and I’ll never forget being paced by a caterpillar in a marathon! (Spoiler: They did get their record; it just has to be verified by Guinness!)

Around miles 15 and 16 is when my Garmin really started to shit the bed, at one point saying I was running an average pace of 18 minutes per mile. So I relied on the caterpillar, the mile markers along the trail, my elapsed time and just my own sense of what my marathon pace is. But it was a bit of a mindf*ck.

Wait– I’m going to PR?

I completely spaced out during miles 17-19 and then was legit surprised to spot the mile 20 marker. How the hell were we at mile 20 already? The elapsed time on my watch told me I had been running for 2.5 hours and then it hit me that if I just kept running my current pace, I could finish under 3:20…. And maybe even PR!

I pulled ahead of the caterpillar around then and the next few miles were kind of a blur, as the later miles in a marathon usually are. The course flattened out and we passed by the town of Jim Thorpe, where there were more people around cheering us on. My watch was still going bananas and I’m sure the trees lining the trail didn’t help. At mile 24ish, I saw Kristen, whom I had met in the spring at the Spring Ahead Half near Philly. She had been one of the pacers for the half marathon, and she was running some extra miles so she joined me until almost the end of the race.

The end had a surprise (to me anyway) overpass before we made the final turn toward the finish. That was mean! About 800 meters from the finish, another woman, Aimee (I stalked her online pretty quickly after and we became Instagram friends) came up behind me. As we approached the finish line, the announcer called out “we have a fight to the finish!” We both were running as hard as we could and she outkicked me by 7 seconds. We finished as 2nd and 3rd female respectively and both PR’d!

Official time was 3:17:41, a BQ with almost 27 minutes of cushion for 2027 (since I’m 45!)

The downhill factor

As I mentioned before, I didn’t notice any downhill until about mile 10, and even then it was very minimal. Did it give me extra speed? Probably, but the hard packed gravel terrain was more difficult for me than running on pavement, so that might have canceled out any benefits I got.

My previous PR was 3:18:46 from the 2022 Chicago Marathon, a pancake flat course. I also ran 3:19:53 in Boston in 2023. I think I was in similar shape for those races. My A10 time this year was almost identical to my A10 time in the weeks leading up to Chicago in 2022, so again I think my fitness was comparable.

Regardless, I worked hard, had fun, and am happy with the result. I highly recommend the Wicked Fast PA marathon if you’re on the East Coast and looking to try a downhill marathon (that adheres to Boston’s new restrictions on downhill marathons!)

What’s next?

I am also running the Atlantic City Marathon in 11 days with BibRave! I was so back and forth on this race. First, I was planning to run the half and train to run a fast half (low 1:30s/maybe even sub 90 again.) Then I signed up for Wicked Fast and decided to focus on marathon training instead of half training. And THEN I decided what the hell, let’s just run two marathons this fall. When I ran Philly six weeks after the Chicago Marathon, I ended up having so much fun and running even faster than expected. So I am hoping for similar vibes in AC!

Summer 2025 running: A mud run, a mile PR, and more marathon training!

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Does anyone even still read running blogs anymore? I have to wonder, ha! I started this blog in 2017 (which was probably way past peak blogger era anyway) when I was trying to qualify for Boston for the first time. 

Here we are 8 years, 12 BQs, and 5 Boston Marathons later. I’m still blogging, just much less often, though I am very active over on Instagram. 

I figured it was time to give a brief update on what I’ve been up to since I ran Boston in April! 

I Did a Mud Run

To be honest, I’ve never had any interest in doing anything like a Tough Mudder or a Spartan race. The risk of injury always seemed far too great. But when my friend Staci asked me last Christmas if I wanted to run the Mud Girl women’s race in the Poconos at the end of May, I said why not. They let kids as young as 7 participate, and the obstacles didn’t look too scary (plus, you could skip any you weren’t comfortable with.) It’s not a timed event, so it was purely for fun. 

And we did have a lot of fun, despite dealing with some pretty awful weather. Even though it was the last day of May, the weather didn’t get above 50 degrees and there was a steady cold rain for most of the run, which took place at the Pocono Raceway. But honestly, that kind of added to the experience. There were 17 total obstacles where we did things like carry weighted bags through mud, climb up mud piles, and swim through muddy pools of water underneath netting. I don’t love being in cold water at all, so that was a challenge for me, but both Staci and I got through. Total distance was about 5K, but we mostly ran/walked it, so it wasn’t like a 5K race. We both laughed a lot throughout the race and said afterwards that we would do it again!

I PR’d My Mile Time at the John Wall Memorial Mile

I’ve said it before, the mile scares the shit out of me. I am a long distance girlie for life. But the Annapolis Striders host a track mile race every summer, and I have always been intrigued by it. However, I am usually on vacation when it happens. Not this year, though– so I decided to really push myself and sign up, with the goal of finishing in under 6 minutes and hopefully even breaking my previous mile PR of 5:56. 

I trained for the race for about 6 weeks, doing mile-specific workouts on the track once a week. And oh my GOD, they were hard! Think 10 x 400 at goal mile pace with brief recoveries in between. Made me long for marathon training. I also participated in an informal track meet held by the Striders earlier in June, racing in the 800 meter (finishing in 2:49) and the 400 meter (76 seconds). 

The race was held at Severna Park High School and I was way more nervous and scared beforehand than I ever am before a marathon! I had a lot of friends there, some who were running and some who just came to watch, so that helped take the edge off. 

We were segmented into heats, with the last heat for anyone who was going to try to run 6 minutes or faster. I ran in that heat and was honestly just hoping I wasn’t the last one to finish. The whole thing was kind of a blur, as racing the mile is. The first lap felt hard, the second lap felt harder, I felt like I wanted to die during the third lap and then just tried to hang on for dear life for lap 4. When I turned the final corner on lap 4, I saw 5:3x on the clock up ahead and I knew I had sub 6. My official time was 5:51 and I was so happy with that! I was the top female Master and second female overall. Maybe I’m a miler after all! (I still prefer marathons, haha!)

I’m Running a Marathon in September…..

I said after Boston that I was going to take the fall off from marathons and focus once again on running a fast half, like I did in 2023. But what do I do? Sign up for the Jack and Jill Poconos Marathon on September 13. 

Why? A few reasons. One, well…. I like marathons. Two, the race is in Jim Thorpe, one of my favorite small towns in PA, and it’s 15 minutes away from Staci’s house. Three, it’s a downhill marathon, dropping 800 feet from start to finish. I know downhill marathons are controversial, but I’ve always wanted to try one and there are very few on the East Coast. This isn’t even that downhill and still falls within the Boston Athletic Association’s new standards for downhill races. Who knows how much of an advantage I will even have. But I am excited to run it! I am actually working with a coach for the first time ever. I got a very part-time job (like 5 hours a week) at my favorite local running store, and with that comes some cool perks– like half off coaching. So I decided to take advantage. So far it is going great, but this summer humidity is kicking my butt. Is it just me, or is it worse than usual lately? 

I’m shooting for around a 3:25 finish. A year ago, I had my heart set on a 3:15, and maybe I can get there, but– I am getting older and the amount of training I would have to do to beat my 3:18 PR from three years ago is daunting. If I can still keep qualifying for Boston with a comfortable cushion, that may be good enough for me.   

…..And Maybe One in October?

I am signed up for the Atlantic City Half on October 19, and now I am thinking of bumping up to the full marathon there, too! I ran the Chicago and Philly marathons, which are 6 weeks apart, in 2022 and both races went awesome (Chicago holds my PR.) Jack and Jill and AC are 5 weeks apart; maybe I can make magic happen again?  

Regardless of what distance I ultimately choose, BibRave is kindly sponsoring me, so I have a comped entry, plus a discount code to share: 15% off your registration with the code BIBRAVE25! Price goes up the first of August, so don’t hesitate to sign up! https://www.acraceseries.com/

How is your summer running going? Any big races you are training for?

Long overdue 2025 Boston Marathon recap

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Boston was more than a month ago at this point, and I am just getting around to updating my blog! If you follow me on social media, you have already heard most of this, so feel free to skip this entry, LOL. For the rest of you– I hope you enjoy it!

I’m beginning to think it wouldn’t be a true trip to Boston without some dumb drama. Last year, Micah forgot his C-PAP cord and I had to book him his own room so I could sleep the night before the marathon. The year before, I lost my gels somewhere between leaving my hotel room and mile 4 of the race. This year, Micah wasn’t able to travel with me because of his new job, but that was OK– my sister Catherine came with me. I decided to fly this year since I was traveling solo. However, when Micah dropped me off at BWI Saturday morning, I reached into the back of the car and realized I had forgotten my backpack with all my essential race gear at our house, 40 minutes away! I panicked and asked/told/begged Micah to drive back to the house and get it for me. I frantically re-booked my flight and got on one at 10:30 am that morning. He drove off and arrived back at our house, only to realize the damn backpack WAS in the car the whole time. How did we miss it? I have no clue.

But, I got the backpack, got on my rescheduled flight and landed in Boston with EVERYTHING I needed. Catherine was already there and we spent the day hitting the expo, enjoying a day at Fenway watching the Red Sox play the White Sox, and stuffing our faces with Italian food. I figured if that mishap was the worst thing that could happen all weekend, it was all good! And it was!

The day before the marathon was Easter Sunday, the second time I have run Boston where it’s fallen on Easter weekend. After I completed my shakeout run, we spent the day doing more shopping and eating delicious food! I usually stay in a hotel out in Bunker Hill/Somerville for the marathon, but the hotel had a fire in February and Marathon Tours gave us the choice of three other hotels. So this year, we were at a Fairfield Inn in Chelsea. It was fine, but I thought the location was kind of inconvenient. Next year, I will probably stay out in Bunker Hill again. It is so easy to get around on the T from there, and it’s really affordable.

Marathon Monday!

Since I was staying in a new hotel this year, I was nervous about transportation to the Boston Common. I was in wave 3 this year and ended giving myself a ton of extra time and got down there an hour and a half before my wave’s buses boarded. Which in the end might have been a good thing; I got on one of the first buses in line for Hopkinton and was on the road pretty quickly. But the drive there took over an hour due to construction! I know some people who boarded later buses missed their wave start!

As a result, once I got to Athletes Village, I didn’t have much time to chill! I got in a porta potty line and then met Instagram friend Bethany, who walked to the corrals with me. It was her first Boston Marathon! Before I knew it, I was in my corral and the announcer said we had 30 seconds to go.

There is a lot of downhill in the first few miles, and it is crowded. I went out around 7:45 pace and it felt comfortable.  Saw KJ, another IG friend, with her amazing colorful ponytails at mile 3 or 4! The early miles seemed to fly by and before I knew it, we were around the 15K mark. I think it was right around then that yet another IG buddy Carissa tapped me on the shoulder to say hi and I crashed into a runner in front of me 😂 I was happy to see her!

I always look forward to the Wellesley Scream Tunnel, just before the halfway point, every year and they did not disappoint! I high fived so many Wellesley ladies and was smiling so hard the whole time. By the end, my watch told me I was running 6:45 pace. Whoops. Usually I get some good photos in the Scream Tunnel, but not this year.

After the halfway mark, I started to hear the faint call of nature. I’d felt a mild stomach cramp earlier on in the race, but wasn’t too worried about it and it went away by mile 8 or 9. However, by the time we approached the Newton hills, nature’s call got louder and I started hunting for a porta potty. Luckily, there are tons on the course and I darted into one around mile 17.

I definitely felt better after that, but lost some momentum and I swear there felt like an extra Newton hill this year 😂 I started to slow down after that poo break and never really picked the pace back up. I can’t blame the weather, as it was pretty darn good, though definitely sunny and I heard other runners say it was too warm. But it was nothing like last year! My feet started to hurt a bit — I wore my Alpha Fly 3s and they busted up my toes, much like the Alpha Fly 2s did last year. What I wouldn’t give for a pair of OG Alpha Flys 😭 They didn’t feel terrible, but they didn’t feel great. Maybe the newer versions just aren’t for me. 😢 I even felt a blister pop on my right foot just after summiting Heartbreak Hill, and that was annoying, but I was able to run through it without too much discomfort.

All that to say, I was still enjoying myself out there, waving at spectators who called out my name (thanks to my friend Pat who made me a personalized shirt!) or yelled go Maryland! when they saw my shorts!

I knew Catherine was going to be in Brookline around mile 23-24 so I was excited to see her with her cowbell! At this point in the race, the cheers were just deafening. I think the boisterous crowds are what keep me coming back for more of this roller coaster of a race!

The last 3 miles of the marathon hurt, as they always do even when you are having an awesome race, which I really wasn’t. The temperature seemed to drop as we got into Boston, and we had a slight headwind that actually felt refreshing. The crowds got heavier and heavier as we approached Hereford and I continued to hear lots of people cheering for me by name or by state 😀 Then it was time to turn right on Hereford and left on Boylston and I was reminded once again how far away the finish line feels when you make that final left! But I just tried to soak in that last part of the race because it really is so special.

I finished in 3:30:09, my second slowest Boston, but not by much. The bathroom break cost me a solid minute or two, but it is what it is. This shit ain’t easy (no pun intended!)

Though I thought I could be a bit faster, overall I’m happy. 5 years ago, all I wanted was to run a 3:30 marathon. This year, I banged out a 3:30 on an off day in my 5th Boston Marathon. That’s something to be grateful for!

And because I turn 45 this summer, this gives me a BQ with nearly 15 minutes of cushion for the 2026 race (the standard for women ages 45-49 is 3:45.) Aging is a privilege in so many ways!

I already can’t wait to go back.

Oh! And the local news interviewed me at the race after party. You can read the article here. My mother is mortified that I told the reporter I wanted to party with my favorite patriot Sam Adams, but as a former reporter, I know how to give a good quote!

Recap of the Great Allegheny Ohiopyle Marathon

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Last Christmas, I decided it would be fun to run a “bonus” spring marathon after Boston and before Memorial Day. I asked my husband to pick it out and surprise me with it, and he chose the tiny Ohiopyle Marathon in Pennsylvania on May 4, 2024, not quite three weeks after Boston.

Going into the marathon, I didn’t feel super confident, nor did I feel terrible. We had a tough day in Boston. I missed my goal of 3:15 and to be honest, even though I knew Ohiopyle was going to be a much flatter course with better weather, I still felt 3:15 was kind of a pie in the sky goal at this point. I just didn’t feel fully recovered. But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Here’s how it went!

Before the Race: A Shoe Dilemma

I wore my Alpha Fly 2s in Boston this year and they beat the hell out of my toes. To be honest, I have not liked the 2s as much as I liked the OG Alpha Flys and I am nervous to try the 3s now. When I saw the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3s were on sale for about $120, I snapped them up, knowing they are popular with a lot of runners. I got them in the mail probably a week before Ohiopyle and tried them out a few times and they felt fast and comfy– but then I noticed a chunk of foam was missing from the outside of the right shoe! WTF? I still have no idea how that happened, maybe one of my cats started chomping on it in the middle of the night? Or it came like that and I didn’t notice? I was 95 percent sure this was a cosmetic issue, but still didn’t want to risk it during a marathon. So I decided to race in my Hoka Mach 6s. They are not carbon plated super shoes, but I still think they are light and fast. This was my first time NOT racing in super shoes since 2021. (Spoiler alert: This was also my slowest marathon in 3 years, but I think that was more due to not being recovered from Boston!)

We’re Not In Boston Any More

When I say this marathon was the opposite of Boston in every way, I mean it. Ohiopyle is a tiny mountain town in western PA known for white water kayaking and rafting. There is also a lovely rail to trail bike path that runs from Pittsburgh to DC, which is where the race was held. We stayed in a little place called the Ohiopyle Suites, literally 100 feet from the start line. How convenient was that? The race, as I mentioned before, was very small, though in addition to a marathon there was also a half, 10K, and 5K. There were only 44 finishers in the marathon! It was also VERY casual. The official race start for the marathon and half marathon was at 7:30, but the race director let people start any time they wanted that morning, Covid style, in case they knew they’d be on the trail for 6+ hours or maybe they just wanted to start early. I would say a lot of people opted for the early start, and it was hard for me to tell during the race who was doing what distance!

But I chose to start right at 7:30. The weather was pretty good, in my opinion — 50s and light drizzle. I’ll take that over what we had in Boston. That being said, I could tell from the first few miles this wasn’t going to be a PR day. I was running around 7:40-7:45 pace, and it felt decent, but like I wasn’t going to be able to go any faster, either. Oh well. Again, I knew that would be a tall order after having just raced a tough marathon. I ran a good portion of the first half with a young guy named Ryan, who was running his first marathon, and enjoyed the peaceful path through the woods. There were no spectators, but the path was open to the public so there were people out walking and cycling who cheered us on. I also got to “meet” Instagram friend Leigha out on the course and was so excited when she called my name!

This course was a double out and back for the marathon, which to me is the most mentally challenging course you can run. I was still feeling really good at the beginning of my second lap, and holding onto my pace pretty easily, but I knew the race was going to get a lot harder! And it did!

As I headed back out onto the trail for my second loop, my pace started to dip into the 7:50s. One mistake I probably made: Not taking in enough fluids. The race only had two stations with volunteers handing out cups of water and Gatorade. Since it was a double out and back, I passed them eight times and took hydration each time, but that wasn’t enough. The race director did put packs of bottled water at certain other points during the race to grab and go (again, Covid style!) but I hate running while clutching a bottle of water. I should have done it anyway! I also forgot to take a gel at the start, but did take 5 during the race.

I still felt relatively strong through mile 20, and then it was time to turn around and head to the finish. I started to slow down significantly around 21. In fact, I don’t think I’ve bonked like that since the Tidewater Striders marathon in March 2021 (also a double out and back!) Pace was now in the 8s and I really didn’t want to walk, but I did walk a bit each time I hit a mile marker. I also started doing runner math. “Once you’re at mile 22, you just have to run 3 miles and you’ll be at mile 25! Then you’re practically done!” At this point, I had no idea what my finish time was going to be, and didn’t want to look at my elapsed time, but I was guessing around 3:34. Still felt pretty confident I could finish with a BQ time and keep my streak alive, but I knew I wasn’t beating my Boston time.

By the time I hit the high bridge going over the rapids around mile 25.5 or so (what a view, by the way!) I felt like I was practically crawling! But before I knew it, I was passing the former train station at the end and saw my husband and my dad, and then my mom right at the finish line. Crossed the finish, stopped my watch and was shocked and elated to see 3:29:40 (official time was 3:29:39.)

I sat down for a minute, then asked about the results and the race director told me I was first overall female and gave me a plaque!

Again, small marathon, but I was still very proud! This was my 16th marathon and 10th BQ.

It might have been my slowest marathon in 3 years, but 3 years ago, I would have cried tears of joy if I’d broken 3:30. So — I’d say this was a win, in more ways than one!

What’s Next?

After running two marathons in three weeks, I am ready for some down time this summer. I am not even signed up for anything until the Annapolis Ten Mile Run in August, and I won’t start training for the Ocean City Marathon on Nov. 2 until early August. (P.S. I have a discount code for that race! Use RUNOCRAVE for 10 percent off when you register.) Currently I am focused on running easy and maintaining my base mileage of 30-35 miles per week. I am actually kind of missing following a training plan, but know that it’s good to take a break now and then. So that’s what I am going to do!

That Was Hot: Recap of the 2024 Boston Marathon

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Two weeks ago, I finished the Boston Marathon for the 4th time!

It was a tough one. Even Accuweather, in the days leading up to the race, said in its forecast “great day for baseball. Warm for the marathon.” Um…. yes. At 73 degrees and sunny, it was the hottest Boston I have run, including in 2019 when the weather got a lot warmer than originally expected. Reports of a tailwind were also greatly exaggerated, in my opinion!

But I finished and while I didn’t hit my goal time, I did BQ by a pretty significant margin and ran my 2nd fastest Boston time!

Here is my recap of the 2024 Boston Marathon.

My Boston weekend actually started off pretty shitty. We drove up from Maryland (yes, we drive because my husband and I both hate the ordeal of flying and we have more control over our schedule this way) the Saturday before the race. Before we left, I asked him if he had everything he needed for his C-PAP, as he’s an awful snorer and has forgotten it before. He insisted he did. Guess what? We got to our hotel and he’d forgotten the power cord, and it’s a very specific one that you can’t just pick up anywhere. To say I was angry was an understatement. Almost immediately I booked him his own room for Sunday night, because how tf was I supposed to sleep with him snoring like a freight train the night before a marathon? No regrets. Yeah, it was extra money, but a good night’s sleep is priceless!

Sunday was a nicer day. We saw the Red Sox game and I got to reconnect with one of my old editors from my Capital days. I felt a lot more relaxed.

Woke up on Marathon Monday feeling well-rested and ready! Got to Boston Common and on my bus to Hopkinton with no drama, though the bus driver messed up and just dropped us off right at the start rather than in Athlete’s Village. It was just as well — I love the walk from the Village to the start, but I was also psyched to not have to walk that 3/4 of a mile before a marathon! I saw my friend Kurt from Instagram and he told me he was happy about the warm sunny weather as a Southern Californian (famous last words!) I was also pumped to see Carissa walking to our corrals and Jess in my corral! Seeing familiar faces definitely helped me chill out.

Although Highway to Hell was playing as I walked to my corral, which I thought was quite the choice right before a marathon. Turns out it was very appropriate!

My goal going into the race was a 3:15, though my recent 1:29 half indicated I could be a few minutes faster. Still, I knew that would be tough with the warm weather. I was trying not to push the pace too much in the first few miles, which are mostly downhill. Was mostly between 7:35-7:40 pace for the first 6 miles, then dropped down to 7:30ish through mile 10. The sun was out and I felt a slight breeze here and there, but not much of one! Again, did anyone feel the tailwind we were maybe supposed to get? The crowds through Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham and Natick seemed bigger and louder than last year, probably because of the great spectating (not running 😆) weather. I was grabbing Gatorade from every aid station, but the heat didn’t feel too bad quite yet.

Heading into Wellesley, my favorite part of the race, I felt strong and continued to run in the 7:30s. I thought if I kept that up (big if) I could at least squeak out a course PR (sub-3:19:53.)

I heard the screams from the Wellesley Scream Tunnel at least 3/4 of a mile away. The Wellesley College women were on fire this year with their “Kiss Me” signs, and I high-fived so many of them and saw some dudes kiss a lot of them, too! This section of the race really pumped me up and had me smiling for the next mile.

At this point, the race was halfway over and the hardest part was still to come.

After passing through the Scream Tunnel and the town of Wellesley, which was lined with spectators, we headed toward the infamous Newton Hills. I was definitely starting to get pretty hot so I was grabbing either Gatorade or water to drink and then dumping water on my head. Some spectators were passing out popsicles and I wanted one so badly, but didn’t know what my stomach would do. I was successfully getting down my gels — and I didn’t lose any this year!! — so I was happy about that.

Mile 14: 7:37
Mile 15: 7:46
Mile 16: 7:28 (mostly downhill)

Around mile 17, when the uphills really begin, the race started to get harder especially with the blazing sun. My pace dropped into the 7:50s for the next few miles until I reached Heartbreak Hill, which broke my heart this year! I clocked an 8:35 mile for mile 21, my slowest of the race. But seeing another Instagram friend, Jude, on the side of the road cheering was definitely a bright spot! By the time we got to the top, the crowds were extremely enthusiastic and I wanted to high five some drunk college kids, but didn’t have the energy!

The rest of the marathon after Heartbreak is relatively flat, but of course after 21 miles of downhills and uphills, your quads are pretty trashed. Mine certainly were!

After you summit Heartbreak Hill, you’re in the home stretch — just about 5 miles to go! To be honest, this section of the race was a bit of a blur for me. It was hot. I was really thirsty. I started walking through the aid stations and drinking two cups of water or Gatorade, plus pouring water on my head. (An aside, the volunteers at Boston are the absolute best of the best!!!) I felt like I was slowing to a crawl, but I ran mile 22 in 7:45. Mile 22 is also where I tripped and fell and skinned my knee two years ago, so I’m always careful on that stretch of road!

The crowds got thicker and louder as I ran through Brookline and they truly carried me through those later miles.

Mile 23 — 8:14
Mile 24 — 7:57
Mile 25 — 8:01

At mile 25, you run past Fenway Park and the infamous Citgo sign. I’ve NEVER gotten a photo of myself with the Citgo sign and was really hoping this would be the year! Sadly, it was not. I ran on the right side of the road and everything, but the Marathon Foto photog wasn’t even looking up when I ran past 😭 One of these years!

With about a half mile to go, I saw my husband! He later said I looked really strong, but I certainly didn’t feel that way! Then it was time to go right on Hereford, left on Boylston. (Mile 26: 8:08)

Once you turn onto Boylston, you can see the finish line, but it always feels so far away. I was torn between wanting to soak it all in and also just wanting to finish. I had no idea what my finish time was going to be; in fact, I wasn’t even looking at my watch the last few miles. I knew I wasn’t getting a PR or even a course PR, but thought I’d squeak in under 3:25.

And I did: My official time was 3:24:26. It wasn’t as fast as I’d hoped for, but it was the absolute best I had to give and I was happy. I also BQ’d for 2025 by more than 15 minutes. It honestly took me years to break 3:30 in the marathon, so I really can’t be upset about 3:24 on a hot day and a hard course.

See you next year, Boston!

What’s Next?

Um…. let’s run another marathon? Like, this weekend?

Some of you may remember that for Christmas, my husband signed me up for a “bonus” spring marathon in a surprise location. It is this Saturday in Ohiopyle, PA! It is a marathon that will basically be the opposite of Boston. Just a few hundred finishers (and that actually includes a half marathon, 10K, and 5K), double out and back, I get to stay basically 100 feet from the start/finish for not that much money. But I am really excited! I have pretty much no clue how it’s going to go. I could be faster than I was in Boston. I could run a 3:15! Or…. it could be a total dumpster fire. Who the hell knows!

But that’s kind of the fun of the marathon, right?

My running goals for 2024!

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Here we are already in the 2nd week of February, and this is my first blog post of the year! 

I guess I haven’t had that much to say. I haven’t had any races recently and I don’t have any planned for February. My first race of the year will be the 10K at the Annapolis Running Festival in March. I came in 3rd place female last year and would love to place again, but as always, you never know how you’ll actually perform or who else will show up who’s a lot faster!

I did want to take a quick moment to jot down my running goals for 2024! Here we go! 

Boston Marathon in 3:15 or faster! 

I think I have it in me to run a 3:15 marathon, possibly faster than that if I have a great day in Boston. My recent 1:31 half indicates a marathon finish time of 3:12-3:15. Is Boston a hard course? Yes, it certainly can be if you go out way too fast and get crushed on the Newton Hills. It can also be a relatively fast course if you play your cards right, i.e., start conservatively and then crush the later miles. I blew up in the final 10K in 2019, my first year running the race. But then in both 2022 and 2023, I came within about a minute of my then-PR both times. I don’t think PRing in Boston is impossible by any means. I’m going to go for it! I am currently following a modified version of Pfitzinger’s 12/70 plan, turning it into 12/65. Peaking at 70 miles per week is just a little too much for me. I’ve only done it once, when prepping for the 2022 Chicago Marathon. It did get me a 3:18 PR, but then for Boston last year, I peaked at 62 miles per week and ran a 3:19. So, mileage-wise I want to shoot for something in between that. Plus, running 15 miles on a random Wednesday before work is overkill to me and takes away from my enjoyment of marathon training. 12 miles is kind of my limit for a weekday run.  

Run the Ohiopyle Marathon for fun

Or maybe for a PR if Boston is a Dumpster fire. 😉 

If you’re a regular reader, you might remember that I asked my husband to sign me up for a bonus marathon this spring as part of my Christmas present. He picked a tiny marathon in western PA, about an hour from where I grew up, called the Great Allegheny Ohiopyle Marathon Race Festival. I was sure he would pick either Buffalo or Gettysburg, so I was very surprised and excited! Ohiopyle is really a pretty area – I have been there, but it’s probably been 25 years or so. My plan is to race Boston and run Ohiopyle for fun, kind of like I did when I ran Chicago and Philly in 2022. But again, if my race in Boston goes to hell, I’ll have this one to fall back on! 

Sub-90 Half! 

Still chasing that dream! I actually had no plans to run another half any time soon, but then I decided to sign up for the Rock ‘N Roll D.C. Half Marathon on March 16, mainly as a way to test my fitness a month before Boston. But let’s be real, I’ve been open about my goal to break 90 minutes in the half and I absolutely am going to try to do that again at this race. I ran this half marathon once before, in 2015, finishing in 1:46 – a PR at the time! I’ve obviously gotten a lot faster since then, so I know I can at least count on a nice course PR unless things go horribly off the rails. I also ran the marathon in 2016! 

So, that’s this spring. I haven’t thought much beyond that. I am most likely going to try to run the New York City Marathon in the fall. I did meet their qualifying standards, but that’s no guarantee I’ll get into the race – the race accepts qualifiers from New York Road Runners races first, and I have never run any of those races. If I can’t do NYC, I might sign up for Richmond. We’ll see! 

What are your goals for 2024?

Shippin’ up to Boston for the 3rd time: Getting ready for the 2023 Boston Marathon

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I’m less than a week out from running my 3rd Boston Marathon! 

How am I feeling? Excited. Like I’m surprised how excited I am. It’s my third time, after all. I figured the novelty would have worn off by now – but it hasn’t. I just feel so lucky that I get to do this! 

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, but I had a busy March in terms of racing. Here’s a brief recap of what I’ve been up to! 

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup “4 Miler” 

3rd overall female, 24:20/6:40 pace

Why the quotes? Because a bunch of us at the front of the pack missed a turnoff after the wind blew over a directional sign and accidentally cut the course. 

This race in PA was more than 2 hours from my house, but it sounded fun – grilled cheese and tomato soup after, hello! – and the race director Pat is great. He’s the one who organized the Chasing the Unicorn marathon in 2020 and did everything in his power to make that a safe and fun event at the height of the pandemic. So I signed up, hoping to be able to run 4 miles in 26 minutes or so to test my speed.

The race was held in a municipal park and it was windy AF, a common theme of pretty much all of my runs this training cycle. In fact, it was windy enough that one of the directional signs after the mile 3 mark blew over, and so a bunch of us missed a turn and accidentally ran 3.65 miles! Pat didn’t DQ us, I guess because so many people effed it up, and I was awarded the 3rd overall female prize – a nice blanket! I had fun and pushed hard.

Annapolis Running Festival 10K

3rd overall female, 42:44/6:53 pace

I said to friends a few times I wasn’t planning on the Annapolis Running Festival – I’ve done so many races on that course over the last decade that I just wasn’t excited about it. But then I saw I had 10Kish worth of speedwork on my plan the week of the race and I’d rather do that in a race than on my own! Plus, my friend Shannon was running it, too. 

The weather pretty much sucked – it was once again super windy and I tried my best to draft off other, taller runners! My shoelace also came untied right before mile 3, costing me precious time. I didn’t really have a time goal, but I thought 41-42 miles was doable. I also had no expectations of placing and it was really hard to gauge where I was in the race since there was also a 5K and a half marathon and we were all mixed together at various parts of the race. So I was pleasantly surprised when I crossed the finish line and the volunteer handed me a card that said I was 3rd female. 

I’m glad I ended up doing it – just wish we’d had better weather! The after party was a lot of fun, and the band playing was awesome, but it was just so cold and windy. That’s March in Maryland for you – you could get 20 degrees or 80 degrees. 

Barlowe Bolt 5K

1st overall female, 21:28/6:42 pace  

Well, this one was a cluster. 

A little background about me and the Bolt – I am not new to this race. In fact, this was the fifth time I’d run it – I ran in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022. I even won it in 2020 and 2022 and was hoping to win it again this year. (It’s a pretty small race.)

But!! Even though I had run it multiple times in the past, I couldn’t remember the course, so I made a wrong turn about three-tenths of a mile into the race. I was running up at the front with two teenage boys, so I led them astray – sorry! When I realized my mistake after we literally ran into a dead end, I was so annoyed with myself. 

We turned around and I hauled ass to get back in first place, which I paid for dearly with a huge positive split in the end. I did manage to still win and in the end I added about a tenth of a mile onto my race, so it could have been worse. I mean, I ….could have cut the course again.

My mileage hasn’t been as high as it was last fall when training for Chicago, but I’ve averaged between 55-60 miles per week, peaking at 62 miles. Basically, I took Pfitzinger’s 12/55 plan from Advanced Marathoning and modified it to add a few more miles each week. Thinking about doing 12/70 this fall again for Richmond, but that is a heavy training load and I don’t think I can mentally (or physically) handle it every marathon training cycle.

The plan included two 20-milers, the second of which I ran during the B&A Marathon last month. I didn’t register for the race, but the trail was open to the public and I knew so many people running either the half or the full that I thought it would be fun to run alongside them. I ended up running mostly with a fast friend of mine and averaged 7:29 pace for 20 miles. That is obviously WAY faster than I would normally ever do a 20 miler, but I also ran the Charm City Run 20 Miler three weeks before Chicago last fall at a 7:25 pace and it didn’t hurt me in the marathon.

When your training run coincides with a race, you show up in the pictures!

Goals/plans for Boston

I don’t know! LOL. Enjoy myself and get another BQ.

My Garmin thinks I’m running a 3:03, but it’s clearly full of crap. That would be a 15-minute PR and I do not think I am in PR shape – that 3:18 I ran last fall is really solid, plus I ran it on a flat course in damn near perfect weather. The Boston Marathon is a tough course and the weather is looking warm and wet. Not the worst, but not the best either. I do think a 3:2x is doable and I should be able to BQ (3:40:00 or faster) unless things really go to hell. 

Other than that, no major goals. Sometimes it’s more fun that way anyway!

The 2022 Philadelphia Marathon: A cold, windy 26.2 miles around the City of Brotherly Love

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In the days leading up to the Philadelphia Marathon, I said a few times that I’ve been spoiled by the weather at my last three marathons, so I was due for one with crappy weather. 

Coastal Delaware? Perfect. Boston 2022? Perfect (a true miracle for Boston!) Chicago? Perfect. 

So when I saw the forecast for Philly, complete with starting temperatures in the high 20s (cold even for me) with wind gusts reaching 45 mph, I just had to laugh. Of course it would be terrible! 

But I was OK with it. I said all along that Philly was just going to be for fun. I had an amazing marathon in Chicago and absolutely gave that race everything I had. I had a loose goal of finishing Philly between 3:25 and 3:30, but I knew I wouldn’t be upset if I were slower than that. And being an optimist by nature, I looked on the bright side – at least it wouldn’t be heat and humidity! Or a cold rain! 

I ended up completing Philly in 3:24:43– my second fastest marathon time. More importantly, I had an absolute blast running this race, despite the crazy winds! 

Here is my recap of the 2022 Philadelphia Marathon! 

Before the Race

A week before the race, I ran the Bay Bridge Run, a 10K race that I do every year. Normally, I’d never race the week before a marathon, but Philly was just for fun, right? So I decided to race it as I normally would. 

I ran my 10K PR at the Bay Bridge Run a year ago, and knew that time would be extremely tough to beat, but I gave it my all and finished in a strong 41:04. First in my age group, 2nd Masters female, and I believe 9th or 10th overall female. I admit I was a little disappointed not to be under 41, but that long incline up the bridge took a lot out of me this year and I guess I was in the middle of another marathon taper, so it should be expected. It was also a very windy and cold day, though I heard other people talking about the tailwind and how much they loved that it pushed them along. I didn’t feel it at all!! I didn’t actually mind the temperature when running, but I was so cold afterwards that I didn’t even take advantage of the all-you-can-drink beer bracelet I blew $20 or whatever on. Will remember that for next year!

The Philadelphia Marathon was on Sunday, November 20, so I headed up to Philly the day before. I went back and forth a lot over what to wear during the race. I get pretty hot when running, but with that wind forecast, I worried I’d be underdressed in shorts, a singlet, and arm warmers. At basically the last minute, I decided to run in tights, a long sleeved shirt, gloves with Hot Hands tucked in, and a hat. (It ended up being the right call– I never got that cold during the race and didn’t overheat, either.) I also got a throwaway coat at the local Goodwill to ditch at the start of the race, which was then picked up by the Salvation Army in Philly. I headed straight to the convention center, picked up my bib, and then met up with my friends Staci, Sarah, Melissa, Melissa’s husband Harry, and their daughter Lucy for lunch at Iron Hill Brewery. Then we explored the German Christmas Market and headed back to Melissa and Harry’s house to watch Brittany Runs a Marathon (fitting!) and order takeout from Haveaburger, where I ordered my usual veggie burger and French fries, determined not to make the same mistake I did in Chicago! Melissa and Harry set me up in their basement and I was in bed before 10. I was nice and comfy, but I still didn’t sleep great, typical the night before a marathon! 

Race Day! 

My pre-scheduled Uber arrived early at 5:10 am and I was off! I’d heard horror stories of the lines to get through security being super long at the half marathon the day before, so I didn’t want to take any chances. Got through with no problem and just chilled (well, OK, the opposite of that!) in the warming tent before the race. I remembered having a warming tent before the Philly Half in 2019 and thought that was such a great idea. I saw my friend Amy from Rip It Events and we hung out for a bit. Before I knew it, it was time to get into my start corral. I had wanted to hit the porta potty one last time, but the lines were ridiculous so I told myself if I had to stop on the course, whatever. 

Once I got in the corral, I lined up behind the 3:30 pacer, who was wrapped in a heat blanket from another race and totally shivering. I saw my friend Sami, who was running her first marathon ever (and ended up absolutely killing, running a 3:17!!) and we chatted for a bit and decided to ditch our throwaways at the side of the corral. As soon as we did this, a HUGE gust of wind blew through and several of us huddled against each other. I knew right then we were in for an interesting race! The race started about 10 minutes late, making me wish I’d held onto my coat a little longer, but what can you do? Pretty much as soon as I started running, I had to pee. I knew I’d have to stop eventually, but I decided to see how far I could get before I absolutely needed to hit a porta potty (luckily, they were all over the course.)  

The first few miles felt OK. The wind had died down a little and the sun was out, and I even contemplated taking the Hot Hands out of my gloves. I’m glad I didn’t, because once we got to mile 7 or 8, the wind picked up again and it was fierce. The crowds were amazing, though!! The cold and wind did not diminish their enthusiasm one bit. I knew Sarah was planning to be out on the course around mile 9, even though I’d told her not to feel obligated to come out and spectate in the cold. I really think it was worse to be standing still than running in those conditions! At mile 8, I saw a line of porta potties and quickly ducked into one, after walking in on some dude in another pot. Lock the damn door next time, buddy! I peed quickly and caught up to the 3:30 group within the next mile, and Sarah was right where she said she’d be! I also got to see her just before the halfway point, because she was standing at a spot where we ran by twice. She also said she saw me around mile 25, but I completely missed her then, probably because I was deep in the zone. 

There were some hills between miles 9 and 14 of the course, but nothing too crazy. I knew it wouldn’t be pancake flat like Chicago anyway. I did have to be careful around the water stops, because people were spilling water out of the cups and it was starting to freeze on the ground. I saw a few runners slip and fall! 

At mile 16, I was still with the pace group and feeling strong, so I decided to pull ahead. Soon after began the very toughest part of the race, the long out and back down Kelly Drive along the Schuykill River. I’d heard that it’s windy through that stretch even on the nicest of days. Well, the wind on marathon day whipping off the river was just nuts! It was kind of blowing me sideways at some parts and I did my best to tuck in behind some taller runners to block it. But there wasn’t much I could do. Definitely the craziest wind I’d ever raced in. I still wasn’t too cold, though. I was wearing a neck gaiter that I’d gotten for free at the expo, so I pulled that up over my face a few times, but overall I was OK. 

We entered the neighborhood of Manayunk at mile 20, which is where you turn around before heading back to the finish in front of the art museum. This was by far my FAVORITE part of the race. The crowds were so, so much fun. A lot of people were partying hard (a fraternity at Drexel was handing out beers and I think shots, too) and just loudly cheering for everyone by name – a cool thing about Philly is they print your first name on your bib! I saw someone holding a sign that said “Welcome to the Manayunk 10K” and that made me smile. After I passed the turnaround, I saw I was a few minutes ahead of the 3:30 pacers, but I had no idea how far ahead since I wasn’t really looking at my watch. I just decided to keep on pushing and was hoping that maybe we’d get a tailwind on the way back (we didn’t!) 

There was a guy handing out small plastic cups of beer at mile 21, and I NEVER take beer during marathons or any other races, but since my goal was to have fun and I felt good – way better than I felt at mile 21 in Chicago, in fact – I took one and chugged it and went on my way. I definitely was reaping the benefits of starting out at an “easy” pace and was clicking off miles in the 7:20-7:30 range. 

I never felt like I hit a wall. I did feel a blister pop on my left foot at mile 25.5, and that sure sucked, but it hurt for a minute and then went away– and I was so close to the end by that point anyway. The crowds were deafening during that last stretch. But it felt like the finish line was SO far away and I remember thinking the same thing when I ran the half in 2019. You go around the art museum and you know you’re near the end but can’t really see the finish. It’s weird. 

I crossed the finish line, stopped my watch, and was absolutely stoked to see 3:24. Sub-3:25 in a marathon I was running “just for fun” a year after I finally broke 3:30 for the first time. I ran a smart, controlled race in shitty conditions and I’m as proud of it as I am of my 3:18 in Chicago the month before. And most importantly– I had so much fun!  

The volunteer who gave me my medal noticed my Boston shirt and said “It looks like you’re going back to Boston!” I smiled and said yes I am! Yes, I already had my 2024 BQ from Chicago, but any BQ is special!  

Sarah came to meet me at the finish area after I picked up my checked bag full of my sweats and puffy coat. She was holding onto my Uggs for me and it felt so good to take off the Alpha Flys and put those on. Then we met up with Melissa, Harry and Lucy and had lunch at Schlessinger’s Delicatessen. 

The Philly Marathon was an awesome experience. It’s a well-organized race, the spectators kick ass, and the route around the city was fun and scenic. I highly recommend it! This was my 13th marathon and I would say Philly is now high on my list of favorite marathons. If you’re looking for a great big city marathon in the later part of fall, check this one out.  

My experience running the 2022 Chicago Marathon

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I’d just passed the sign that told me I had 800 meters left to run in the Chicago Marathon, and all of a sudden, I felt like I was running the 2019 Boston Marathon – the race that earned me a qualifying time for Chicago more than three years earlier – all over again.

Just like in Boston 2019, I started to get really emotional. Hundreds of screaming people lined both sides of the street. I was about to cross the finish line. I wasn’t just going to meet my goal of running 3:20 – I was going to smash it. I’d trained for three months for this moment, running up to 70 miles a week, but this race was really three and a half years in the making. And finally, after everything, here I was. 

And just like in Boston 2019, I told myself, “Get it together, you can’t keep running if you’re gasping for breath because you’re sobbing.” I made the final right turn onto the *only* hill in the entire race (it’s a very small hill, but given how flat the course is and the fact that the hill is at the tail end, it’s an ass kicker!), then left into Grant Park and across the finish line. I stopped my Garmin and saw 3:18:46, and then I really did shed a few tears. An 8 minute PR and a qualifying time by more than 21 minutes for Boston 2024, my 6th BQ. I did it! 

I keep saying that I can’t believe it, but that’s not really true. I can believe it. I put in the training and worked really hard. Of course, that’s never a guarantee in a marathon – a lot can happen over 26.2 miles – but I felt as prepared as I’d ever been.

Did I feel amazing the entire time, like I did last year in Coastal Delaware or in Boston 2022? Nope! I kinda felt like I had to barf from mile 18 on. But I powered through and I am so proud of myself. 

Before the Race

As I mentioned, this race was more than three years in the making. I registered for the 2020 race with a qualifying time from Boston 2019. Then COVID hit and of course, the race, a World Marathon Major and one of the largest races in the world, was canceled. Everyone registered for 2020 got three years to use their entry, and I decided to wait until 2022 because I was afraid there would still be restrictions and maybe even a possible cancellation in fall 2021. There wasn’t, but the 2021 race had brutal temperatures into the 80s, so I am glad I waited! We had great weather this year. 

I flew to Chicago from Maryland two days before the race and met my sister Catherine, who flew in from Pittsburgh, there. She loves to plan trips and choose all the restaurants and bars we’ll go to, so I turned the agenda over to her since I know she has good taste! On Friday night we went to Girl and the Goat, a fantastic place, and then had some tiki drinks at Three Dots and a Dash, which was right across the street from our hotel in River North. We probably would have stayed out later, but we were both doing the Chicago 5K the next morning. When I saw that was happening, I wanted to do it as my shakeout run and I talked Catherine into running, too (she agreed because she liked the beanies we got, ha!) 

The 5K was fun and I did run very easy (finished in 28:06). I had heard ahead of time that GPS watches don’t work well in Chicago due to the skyscrapers, and that was definitely true in the 5K and in the marathon as well. Note to future runners in these Chicago races– you can either manually hit your lap button at every mile, or you can just set your watch on elapsed time and do marathon math the whole 26.2 miles. I chose the latter, because…. I like to make things more challenging for myself? Anyway, I digress! 

We did a lot of exploring the day before the race. After going to the expo, where I bought NOTHING – seriously, who am I? But all the stuff was so overpriced and honestly not that cute!! –  we went to a sushi restaurant where I enjoyed two sushi rolls and a flight of sake. Then we walked to the Navy Pier, where we met up with my friend Danielle from Rip It Events. It was an absolutely gorgeous day!

We then tried to go to the 360 Observation Deck atop what was formerly called the John Hancock Center, but the line to get onto the deck was 45 minutes long, so we stopped and had beers at the Signature Room overlooking the city.

Then for dinner, we went to RPM Italian just a few doors down from the hotel. This place was AMAZING and I kind of pigged out, which, as I alluded to earlier, came back to bite me in the ass a little bit. I had cheesy bread, then some rich cheesy pasta, then Catherine and I split a huge piece of cheesecake, and I washed it all down with prosecco. If you’re reading this and thinking, “Well Allison, sounds like you weren’t making good choices with your sake and your cheesecake and your prosecco the day before a marathon…..” you are correct. 

But listen, I was also in Chicago to have a good time, too. I didn’t want to just sit in my hotel room and foam roll and stretch (and LOL if you think I do either of those things regularly, anyway.) Catherine’s birthday was also Sunday, marathon day, so of course we planned to celebrate all weekend!

The Race! 

The race recommended that people in my corral, C, should be at Grant Park by 5:30 am, which ended up being overkill….. But I always get nervous about being late to races, so I set my alarm for 3:45 and was in an Uber to the start by 5 am. 

PS – Don’t take an Uber or Lyft if you’re doing this race. The staff at the hotel had even warned me not to, and I did not listen. Most of the roads were already closed by 5 am, but my Uber driver was a baller and managed to get me within two blocks of Grant Park anyway. He got a big tip for his efforts!  

I checked my bag with my clothes for after the race and then was able to find an open bathroom in the park to just keep warm until we started at 7:30. A lot of other runners had the same idea and I got to chat with some ladies from the Netherlands, Ireland, and England, as well as others from all over the country and world. I have never heard so many foreign languages spoken at once – it was really cool! The time passed relatively quickly and I felt excited, but calm. Around 7 or so, I left to walk to my corral and positioned myself behind the 3:20 pace group. There was a group of three 3:20 pacers in corral C and then another group of 3:20 pacers in corral D. Apparently, it’s a popular goal time. The race started at 7:20 with the wheelchair and handcycle athletes, then wave 1, which corral C was in, went off at 7:30, but I didn’t actually cross the start line until around 7:37.  

Unsurprisingly, it was super crowded for, well, most of the race, but especially the first 10K. I felt like I was elbow to elbow with the other runners who were with the pace group, and I worried about bumping into someone and tripping, or causing them to trip, etc. Luckily, that didn’t happen! The first few miles felt pretty easy, as they should at the beginning of a marathon, and I tried to take in the spectators and their funny signs as much as I could. The crowds were absolute fire!

I knew to look out for Catherine at mile 9, where the infamous drag queens would be dancing. I had told myself I was going to stay with the 3:20 group at least through mile 20, and then see how I felt. But when I saw her at mile 9, I was already ever so slightly ahead of them and then pulled ahead even more. I was feeling good! She cheered and screamed and waved her Terrible Towel at me (we won’t talk about how shitty the Steelers played later that day!) and I knew she planned to be at mile 23, too! 

Miles 10 through 15 went by quickly. I took Maurten gels at miles 4, 8, and 13, with plans to take the last two at miles 18 and 22. Around mile 15 or 16, I kept hearing people yell Go Blue at a runner who was in head to toe University of Michigan gear. As an Ohio State grad, I couldn’t help but yell out “O-H!” and then another runner yelled back “I-O!” The Michigan runner gave me a dirty look. I think he was having a bad race and I pissed him off even more. Whoops.

I was maintaining a super steady pace – not that you would know it from my very confused watch, which told me I ran mile 14 in 6:22? False – and things felt good, not necessarily GREAT, but good until about mile 18 or so when I took that 4th gel. And then my stomach started to bubble a little bit. It wasn’t a horrible wave of nausea, but enough that I was like, OK, time to just take sips of water from the water stops and maybe avoid the Gatorade. I really do think it was the extremely rich meal I’d consumed the night before. It sure was good, though! 

Running through Chinatown starting at mile 20 and smelling all that Chinese food was a bit rough. By mile 21, I knew I couldn’t take my last gel because I was likely to spit it right back up. But I knew I was at least a minute or two ahead of the 3:20 group and was able to maintain the pace, and I was looking forward to seeing Catherine at mile 23. She is pretty much the best and loudest race spectator there is and got a video of me as I ran past her waving my arms and yelling out “sub-3:20!!” At least I look strong and happy in the video. 

At mile 24, there was a DJ playing music and calling out “all my party people, throw your hands in the AIR!” and all of my energy was just focused on just holding a steady pace and not throwing up. I knew that if I kept it going I was going to be right around 3:18 or 3:19. Things were kind of a blur at that point! The crowds were super boisterous and enthusiastic and before I knew it, I was coming down the final stretch and about to make the last right turn onto “Mount Roosevelt” (seriously, it’s barely a hill, but why tf is it right there at the end?) and getting all weepy. 

I crossed the finish line and saw volunteers were handing out cans of Goose Island beer with Finisher written on them, but I wanted to wait to have a beer with Catherine at the after party and didn’t want to use my beer ticket quite yet. I later learned the finish chute beer was actually a bonus beer and so I was mad I left that on the table! As soon as I stopped running, my stomach felt better and I could have totally slammed a beer then. Oh well. 

We more than made up for it later at Happy Camper, where the waitress brought us chambongs (champagne in a bong, just as it sounds) on the house, Pilot Project brewery, and Cafe Moustache for karaoke, where we wowed the crowd with our renditions of I Wanna Dance With Somebody and Hot In Herre and enjoyed a few Chicago Handshakes. Needless to say, I woke up Monday morning more in pain from the hangover I got than from the marathon. I might still be able to run relatively fast, but I am 42 years old, so, you know.

What’s Next? 

Philly! I am running the Philadelphia Marathon, another 2020 deferral, on Nov. 20. I’ve never run two marathons this close together and since I met my goal and then some in Chicago, Philly will really just be for fun. I am doing a reverse taper right now and will build my mileage back up a little over the next few weeks before tapering down again. I’ve heard great things about the Philly Marathon and can’t want to run it!

And! Six days after Chicago, I raced the 5K at the Baltimore Running Festival and BROKE 20 MINUTES for the first time ever! Stay tuned for that recap.

8 days until I run the 2022 Chicago Marathon

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Nearly three years after registering with a qualifying time from Boston 2019, I will get to run the Chicago Marathon next weekend! 

I feel ready. My training couldn’t have gone better and my body held up well throughout the high mileage weeks. As long as I stay healthy this next week, I am good to go! I got my new COVID booster and my flu shot at the beginning of September, not wanting to take any chances! I do have a quick business trip to Dallas at the beginning of the week – I fly out Monday and come back late Tuesday night. Then I go to Chicago on Friday. Crazy week and I’m trying not to be too anxious about it! 

OH! And I also got my official Boston Marathon 2023 acceptance this week. This was my 4th time registering for the race and the first time I had a big enough cushion that I knew I was in no matter what. Can’t wait to go back for my 3rd Boston in April! 

I ran a race every weekend in September. Here’s a quick recap of my last few weeks of training and racing! 

Rip It Events’ Police Pace 10K

I wasn’t too happy with my time of 44:28 in this race, and I recognize how silly that is. Until just about a year ago, my 10K PR was 44:50, and that was from 2017. It took me years to beat that! But I had just won the Mike Sterling 10K in Crisfield with a 40:52 the week before, so running more than three minutes slower was tough to swallow. 

That said, it’s not surprising I was so much slower. First of all, the weather was God awful. It was pouring down rain on race morning, to the point where I did not want to get out of my car. (At least it wasn’t 90 degrees and humid?) The course was at Centennial Lake Park in Columbia, which was hilly and also had a lot of windy curves. Those always slow me down. And, because it was so wet outside, I was afraid of tripping and falling, so I’m sure I was running more tentatively than usual. I did like the course, but it was a double loop (the race also included a 5K, which ended after one loop.) That is mentally challenging. I did pass a ton of people, but at least for the first half of the race, it was hard to tell who was doing the 5K and who was doing the 10K, so I wasn’t sure what place I was in. 

After I crossed the finish line (almost mowing down an older lady – sorry!!!), I checked my results and it said I was third place female. Cool! Except the first place female’s time was listed as 31:xx. So, we had an Olympian in our midst? Hmmm. I knew that couldn’t be right and was pretty sure that was someone who had registered for the 10K and then noped out at the 5K. Sure enough, the awards ceremony was canceled because of issues with the timing chips. I actually came in second, behind a 17-year-old who ran 39:xx.

So overall, a good race even though I wasn’t excited about how I did!

As a Rip It Events ambassador, I ran this race for free. Opinions are entirely my own!

Photo by Anthea Diano

Charm City Run 20 Miler

I had been wanting to do this race, meant to be a supported training run for people registered for fall marathons, for years and was originally supposed to run it back in 2018 while training for the Baltimore Marathon. But then I strained my calf doing a stupid 5K fun run two days before the race, so I did the smart thing and bailed on it, hoping that I’d be able to run Baltimore with no issue. (And I did.) 

I just had no idea how the hell to pace this race. Long run pace? That seemed like the logical thing to do, but racing it would be more fun. However, I was concerned about burning myself out before Chicago. I decided to make a game day call and determine how I was going to run it once I started running it. Strategy! The weather was nearly perfect, though it got kind of warm toward the end, and I started out running a 7:50ish pace. Then I picked it up a bit … and picked it up more. This race is a point-to-point (my favorite!) that takes place on the NCR Trail north of Baltimore. The whole thing is just slightly downhill, so it was kind of hard not to go fast. After four or so miles I started clicking off miles in the 7:30s, then a string of sub-7:20s. Well, OK, I thought to myself. Let’s just see how long I can hang on.

Pretty long, in fact, and I felt decent — never hit a wall or anything. I ended up averaging a 7:25 pace for the whole thing, finishing in 2:28:25. Whew! I came in 7th place female and third in my age group. While I was pumped about the time, I immediately started to worry I’d ruined my marathon by going so hard in what was really supposed to be a training run, three weeks out. 

However, the day after the race, I felt just fine – not at all sore. And I continued to train that week normally, including a hard track workout. All good. So, I decided not to worry about it any more. That 20 miler also topped off a 70-mile week, and I obviously was not tapered or anything. I feel like that’s gotta be a good sign for the marathon. Or, at least not a bad sign! 

Kensington 8K

My plan called for me to run a race two weeks before Chicago that was between 8K and 15K, and way back in May, when I was plotting out my fall marathon training, I saw the Kensington 8K happening on September 24. Perfect! Except, as the day drew closer, I also saw a few other races that fell in the 8K-15K range that I would have preferred to run instead. There was a 13.1K (8+ miles) scheduled for September 25 on the Eastern Shore, and then a 10-miler, my favorite distance, the same weekend in Reston, VA. So I started to have some serious FOMO. When I woke up the morning of the race, I didn’t really want to do it! Shorter distances really are not my thing. 

But! I’m so glad I ran it because I had an amazing race! 32:17/6:30 per mile pace, good enough for first place female master – which came with a $50 cash prize – and fourth overall female. There were some really fast people in this race. Like, I was not even a little bit close to the third place female – she was four minutes ahead of me. The top three females all ran at a sub-six minute average pace! Blazing fast. 

Also, I just really liked the race! It was mostly flat except for one last little hill at around mile 4.5. The weather was fantastic – cool enough for arm sleeves. And, most importantly, we could use the nice bathrooms in the Kensington Town Hall at the start, so I didn’t have to pee in a porta potty! Score! It was a great experience and I shouldn’t have been so sour on it. 

It also has me thinking that maybe a sub-20 5K is within my reach after all. So much so that I switched my Baltimore Running Festival registration from the (hilly) 10K to the (flat) 5K. This race is actually six days after Chicago, so it’s probably still a tall order, but YOLO!   

But first – CHICAGO! Going for that 3:20, but I’ll be happy with any PR (sub-3:26:00!)