Sunday, April 24, 2016

The Boston Marathon 2016

WOW!!!!  This is going to be hard to put into words but here we go....  Marathon Monday, Patriot's Day, Boston Marathon ...

Thankfully Collins let me sleep and I fed her around 6 am before I got ready to head to the buses at Boston Common.   Our hotel, The Lenox, is amazing and they had a great selection of race day breakfast foods and my morning essential...COFFEE!!!  I had 2 cups of coffee, a cup of oatmeal with honey, a bottle of watermelon Nuun and a bottle of water.  A quick pit stop in the potty and off we went to catch the buses.  Thankfully this year I had bus buddies!!!  Laura and Teresa are amazing, talented and calming women! 

Time to wake up!!

So many runners!!

We saw John at Athletes' Village!!

Laura, Teresa, Me and John!!
As we were standing in the port-a-potty line I ran into a Oiselle teammate!!   She was the exact person I needed to see at this moment..... I was super anxious about the race and questioning my abilities and concerned about breastfeeding ... Connie was awesome!!  She reminded me I can do it and that the shortest, quickest way to my baby girl was to run the course!! 




Another reason why I LOVE Oiselle!!!!

I made my way to the Operations tent and pumped one final time before we walked to the start line!  A HUGE shout out to the B.A.A. on being so "Breast Friendly"!!  Just think 50 years ago women were not even allowed to run the Boston Marathon...Now they are supporting woman who are nursing and providing us with a safe area to pump, hydrate and use the port-a-pot!  THANK YOU B.A.A!!

Pumping selfie!



We then had a brisk almost mile walk to the start... one final pit stop, another cup of water and to our corral Teresa and I went!  Laura was 3 corrals behind us.   The gun went off and it was go time!  I set my watch to only see my mileage and not my pace...I was so nervous I was going to stress over my pace and allow the negative thoughts to attack!  I was worried when I hit the 10k mark because I was already salt covered and feeling pretty dry!  I decided I would walk the water stops and make sure to grab a drink at least one cup ever 1-2 miles... I also did my first gel at the 10k mark!  This strategy seemed to work pretty well.  I saw so many Oiselle teammates out on the course and cheering their heads off for us runners!!  I told myself to just get to Wellesley and to Cowbell Corner where my AMAZING Oiselle cheer squad would be!!!  They did NOT disappoint!!  I could hear the screams and cheers and it was exactly what I needed to fuel me to the Newton Hills!!  I took another gel at 13-13.5 miles. 

I went into the Newton Hills telling myself just get to Heartbreak Hill then it is smooth sailing from there to the finish.  Well.....since I was hydrating so well, my milk "came in/let down" at mile 18.32....  holy moly!  I decided now was a good time to take another gel and cup of water!  Miles 21-24.9 flew by... I saw my friends from Nova timing at the 40K mark and then walked the beast of a "hill" at the Citgo sign!!  ( This overpass literally gets me every year I do Boston) I told myself  "up, down, right on Hereford, left on Boylston and FINISH!!! The roar of the spectators was amazing!!!  I could see the finish line and I knew my family, friends and baby girl were waiting for me at The Lenox!!!  I kept thinking make your boys proud and run faster for them!  The moment I saw my family was unlike anything I can explain:



I wanted to scream, cry, laugh ...all at once!! My mom shout "Go, Go, Go" ... So I figured I must be close to my BQ time!!  3:36!!!  I DID IT!  I re-qualified for next year!! 


HAPPY RUNNING!!!

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