Fiona Runs Boston

Marathon Weekend, part 3

You’re probably interested in hearing how the marathon went, but first I have to show you this picture of the cake we ate on Sunday night.  The candles were from a set that originally said “Happy Birthday,” but we were able to modify the wording for the occasion.The B stands (perhaps obviously) for Birthday and Boston Marathon.  Luckily, cake is filled with carbohydrates so I ate a lot of it.

After dinner and dessert, I started organizing my clothes, shoes, food, etc. for Monday morning.  The BAA had sent out a number of emails throughout the week warning runners about the hot conditions, and we got another few emails that evening.  They generously offered that anyone who decided not to start the race would be allowed to run next year.  And they specifically suggested that anyone who hadn’t qualified think seriously about accepting the offer of deferring entry.  Coach Steve also emailed with some advice on what to do if we decided to go ahead and run: start with an 11:20 pace for at least the first 16 miles, and then maybe go faster if you can.  Steve also suggested that we consider taking the deferment, which I considered for a little while.  Then I got in touch with Tyler, the other Community Servings runner, and we decided we would start off together and take it slow.  So I finished packing up my stuff and went to bed around 10:30.

I actually did get some sleep, although not a ton.  I woke up a little before my alarm, which was set for 5 am.  I took the T to meet up with Steve and Tyler to drive out to Hopkinton.  We had to leave so early because they close down all the roads into Hopkinton around 7 am.  We waited at Steve’s friend’s house with some other runners until a little after the elite women started at 9:30, and then walked up to the athlete’s village and finally got into the corrals for the start.

The first few miles have a lot of downhill and a fair number of people cheering, and of course were the easiest to run and most difficult to take slow.  The road is pretty narrow also so I think there was some shade.  At least, I didn’t really feel the heat until miles 4 through 7 when the road was pretty wide and there was no shade at all and relatively few people watching.  After we got past the first 10k, I was looking forward to reaching Natick and mile 10 because we had several practice runs that started from there and I was more familiar with the course after that.  I think it was somewhere between miles 6 and 10 that people along the course started to bring out their sprinklers and hoses for us to run through.  I knew that would wash off my sunscreen, but I was getting so hot that I couldn’t resist running through nearly every sprinkler we went by.  We ran past 3 or 4 fire stations and at each one they had a special spray tunnel that I think they use to dowse people who are coming out of burning buildings.  Those really cooled you off, although one of them also took one of my earbuds out of commission. 

After the 10 mile mark, of course I was focusing on getting to the halfway point.  At Wellesley College Tyler and I had a great time high five-ing the girls in the “scream tunnel,” although we didn’t actually kiss any of them.  (Wellesley girls line up by the road and scream and hold signs that say “kiss me, I’m _____”, like “kiss me, I’m from California” or “kiss me, I’m a math major.”)  A little ways after that, I saw some friends of mine, including Erin and Sam, who had taken the commuter rail out to Wellesley to watch.  That was really encouraging because by this time I was definitely starting to feel the heat, and the sunburn on my right side. 

Once I got past the half, I really wanted to get to the steep downhill section in miles 15 and 16.  Somewhere around mile 14 or 15 Tyler and I ended up separating.  The downhill section was great, but I knew what came after that was the turn onto Commonwealth Ave and the hills.  I ran the I-95 overpass and enjoyed the last downhill section before the turn.  A little ways before the turn I ran past Alan and Caroline, who were walking at this stage.  I said hello briefly but didn’t stop running because of how difficult it was to get started again.  I ended up walking most of the first hill (Caroline and Alan passed me), running most of the second hill (I passed them again), and walking all of the last hill, Heartbreak Hill.  This was, not surprisingly, the toughest part of the whole race.  I did think about dropping out of the race but decided it was fine to walk up all the hills and resolved to at least run all the downhill parts.

After mile 21 (end of the hills), I was just thinking about getting to mile 24 where the Community Servings cheering squad was waiting.  There were so many people on Beacon Street, which helped, but there were a lot fewer sprinklers to run through.  I’m pretty sure I ran pretty much all the way from Cleveland Circle (mile 22) to Coolidge Corner (mile 24), although this section all runs together in my head.  It was really motivating to see the Community Servings team and my sister, Lyrana, was waiting to jump in and run the last 2.2 miles with me.  That was a huge help, although we didn’t actually talk that much. 

My left knee was getting really sore at this point so I kept switching between walking and running, and was just thinking about getting to the finish!  Mile 24 sounds close to the end, but it didn’t feel that close at the time.  There were a ton of people cheering in Kenmore Square (I wished I had thought to write “MIT” somewhere on myself because I bet that would have gotten a lot of cheers).  I kept hearing people cheering my name and trying to figure out if I knew them or not, but mostly I didn’t know them.  I did see my friend Annette, which was a great boost for the final mile.  At this point I knew I could do it, and I realized that I would probably be able to finish in less than 5:30, so I set that as a goal.  I walked up the slight incline on Hereford St., and then started running on Boylston.  I had heard from other people that you are tempted to start going faster once you hit Boylston and then realize it’s farther to the finish than you think.  I’m pretty sure I ran all the way down Boylston though, and even managed to smile at the finish line!  And my time was 5:29:28, so I accomplished my last minute goal of finishing in under 5:30.  It was brutal, but I’m glad I signed up for the marathon and I’m glad I ran, even in the heat.

We still had to talk a ways after we crossed the finish line, as volunteers handed out water, Gatorade, snacks, and shiny blankets (although with the heat we didn’t really need them).  Crossing the finish was great, but it wasn’t until I actually got my medal that it really sank in that I had done it!  I can’t wait until MarathonFoto puts their pictures online because me and Lyrana had our picture taken right after I got the medal.  Hopefully that will be a good one.  

Wow, just writing that all out took awhile!  I hope you enjoyed reading the blow-by-blow.  Over the whole race I was so grateful for all the spectators who cheered for me (even and especially while I was walking!), brought out their sprinklers and spritz bottles, and handed out water, ice, Twizzlers, oranges, and high fives.  I would have been much slower, or perhaps not finished, without all the people who came out to watch and to help.  AND of course I couldn’t have done it without all my friends, family, Coach Steve and Ana and Tim from Community Servings.  Thank you all!!  Now this sounds like I’m accepting an Oscar, and I think I hear the music starting.  I’ll be making a few more posts of pictures as I get them, so at least this week you can keep checking here for updates. 

Here’s Tyler and me at the start:

And here is my medal:

Marathon Weekend, part 2

It’s already quite warm today, and tomorrow is scheduled to be even hotter.  But, I’m trying not to worry about that.  My sister arrived last night and today we have mostly been taking it easy.  We took the T to check out the finish line of the race.  After numerous attempts to get a good picture of both of us and the finish line without any help, we got another runner to take this picture: 

We chatted with the runner and his niece for a little bit, and he said that since the weather isn’t really cooperating for a “great race,” he was instead going to try to have a “fun race.”  I think that’s a good strategy.  Originally I was planning on holding a 10:30 pace, but with the heat I will probably start off around 11:00 and see how it goes. 

We found this chart (http://www.runtri.com/2010/04/boston-marathon-weather.html) that plots the average Boston marathon finishing time vs the temperature that day.  In 2004, the high was about 85, and as you can see the times were pretty slow.  In 2007 the marathon was just after the worst of a Nor’easter blew through, and as you can see the average time was still a lot better than in 2004.  It’s really really tempting to just start off at my planned pace because that’s what I’ve been training towards, but it would be horrible to melt down partway through and end up with heat exhaustion, so I’m going to do my best to back off on the pace.

At 6pm I’m going out with my sister and some friends to get a final carb-loading dinner of Italian food.  Then we’ll have some birthday/marathon cake and ice cream and I’ll be heading to bed pretty early.  I can’t believe the marathon is tomorrow!  

Marathon Weekend, part 1

Marathon weekend is here, are you excited?  I sure am!  Last night the Community Servings team had a pre-race dinner (let the carb-loading begin!).  It was really fun, and we got our jerseys for the race!  So if you are watching the race on Monday, this is what I’ll be wearing.  It even has my name on it to help you find me.  Our jerseys came packaged in a Community Servings food tray with a little medal, which you can also see in the pictures:

Other big news is that earlier in the week, my marathon fund reached $5000!! Thanks sooooo much to everyone who contributed!  If you still want to donate, you still can!  Here’s the link, just in case you need it: http://www.crowdrise.com/teamcommunityservings/fundraiser/FionaHughes

Later today I’ll be heading over to the race expo to pick up my bib number.  And I’ll probably run 2 or 3 miles just to stay loose and see how my legs are feeling.  This weekend I’m staying with some friends in Coolidge Corner, Brookline, which is right along the marathon route. 

I’ll also be watching the weather forecast closely: http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/USMA0046?dayNum=2.  Right now the prediction for Monday is 87 F and sunny.  Luckily it shouldn’t be too humid, but that is WARM!  I won’t have to wear any extra layers under my jersey. 

10 days to go!

Today marks 10 days until the marathon, and you know what that means: April 16th is now visible on the 10 day forecast!  According to weather.com, the current forecast for marathon day is cloudy, high 63, 20% change of rain.  Not too bad as long as the rain stays away!

Earlier this week, I got even more into the marathon spirit by watching a documentary called Spirit of the Marathon.  If you’re interested, you can watch it on NetFlix and Hulu.  The movie follows several runners (at all different levels) preparing for the 2007 Chicago Marathon, and also has interviews with a lot of famous marathoners.  One of my favorite interviews was with Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially enter the Boston Marathon.  She actually entered as K. Switzer, and the race officials didn’t figure it out until mile 4 of the race.  Other women had run before unofficially, but it was still five years until finally opened up the Boston marathon to women in 1972.  It wasn’t until 1984 that the Olympics got around to adding a women’s marathon.  Anyway, I would recommend watching Spirit of the Marathon if you are at all interested in marathons. 

If you won’t be in Boston on April 16th (or even if you will be), you can sign up online to receive emails or text messages telling you my progress along the course.  Here are the instructions: http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/att-athlete-alert.aspx

And if you’ve been meaning to donate to Community Servings, you still can!  But April 16th is the deadline.  Here’s the link: http://www.crowdrise.com/teamcommunityservings/fundraiser/FionaHughes

Less than two weeks to go!

This past weekend the Community Servings marathon team had our last team run, which was also my longest training run.  We started from the marathon start in Hopkinton, MA (where it was snowing), and ran along the actual marathon course.  My run was 20 miles, which should put me in pretty good shape for the marathon.  Although I wasn’t that excited to be starting the run in the snow, it was good to realize that I can still have a good run even if the weather is not ideal.  But, you should still keep your fingers crossed for nice weather!

On Saturday afternoon, I met up with Caroline and Alan and we got our official marathon jackets!  The rule is that you’re not supposed to wear the jacket until after the race.  So here are some pictures of the jacket while I’m not wearing it:

I’m excited to wear it starting the evening of April 16th!